The Thursday night game between the Patriots and Jets was a quarterback-friendly, overtime shootout. The kind of game fantasy owners dream of, unless of course they were part of the faction that watched New England quarterback Matt Cassel’s 400 yards and three touchdowns waste away on their bench. Brett Favre, meanwhile, had the far better game in reality, efficiently completing 26-of-33 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-31 overtime win.

For football fans and Bill Belichick bashers, there was more joy in reality than in fantasy Thursday night. For fantasy owners with enough reason to put Cassel in their starting lineups, there was plenty of joy in a breakout performance that went into the NFL record books. In addition to monster passing numbers, Cassel rushed for 62 yards and became the first quarterback in league history to accumulate 400 passing yards and 60 rushing yards in a game. Read more »

CB DeAngelo Hall’s short career as an Oakland Raider is over.

After managing to survive only eight regular season games in the Bay Area, Hall was released from the organization Wednesday morning. Yet as shocking as this cost-cutting move seems to the media, it does not appear to be as stunning to either the Raiders or Hall.

The former pro-bowl cornerback is one of many who have played way under Oakland’s expectations, especially when considering the team basically backing dump trucks full of cash onto the front lawns of numerous free agents. Hall’s deal in the offseason was a seven-year; $70 million contract to become a Raider, joining a team that was 4-12 only a season ago. Read more »

“Flux” is a positive term in fantasy football. Positions or situations that remain unsettled leave opportunities for less heralded players to make contributions. Of course, who’s getting chances and what they’ll do with them are two things that will challenge owners on the waiver wire each week.

The modern NFL, with team and league-mandated suspensions being handed down, has even more challenges. Is Chiefs running back Larry Johnson going to be suspended this week? Are either Kolby Smith or Jamaal Charles worth pickups in his place? Read more »

To accompany Imaginary Gridiron’s list of sleeper candidates for 2008, here is a list of 15 potential bust players who are being given star treatment in preseason drafting.

As teams open their camps through July and August the names on this list will undoubtedly shift and change, and while it is difficult to call someone a “bust” without having seen them play yet, enthusiastic owners have placed some players on pedestals that are frankly too high. Read more »