Fantasy-Info  

The third week of the preseason is the most important week to evaluate what we might come to expect in the real season. While it is just preseason and you can only take so much from it, there are always interesting points of information that we can come away with.

Probably the most disappointing part of this week for me was that LaDainian Tomlinson did not play against the Falcons. I was hoping to see LT show that he had the burst of speed to hit the hole and make big plays this preseason.

Unfortunately we did see that explosion as he was clogged up at the line of scrimmage or he stumbled when he did have a chance for a nice play. While Norv Turner said he did not hold Tomlinson out because of an injury but he did note that he was concerned about LT playing on the turf.

Watching how LT ran the ball in the first two games of the preseason and the fact that he was held out this week makes me believe his turf toe from a season ago is still a problem. This is not a surprise as players that have this injury and play on it can have lingering problems for years.

Just look at Deon Sanders with the Cowboys, he had the injury and it took him a few years to get right.

Below I have some interesting observations from the third week of preseason and how I see those points of interest playing out from a fantasy perspective.

Note: We will be doing write ups for every preseason game for all four weeks of the preseason. Below I have a link to every game/ article that is written up for the third week of the preseason.

2009 NFL Preseason Week 3

Jaguars vs Eagles

Rams vs Bengals

Dolphins vs Buccaneers

Patriots vs Redskins

Packers vs Cardinals

Colts vs Lions

Saints vs Raiders

Bills vs Steelers

Titans vs Browns

Chargers vs Falcons

Ravens vs Panthers

Jets vs Giants

49ers vs Cowboys

Seahawks vs Chiefs

Bears vs Broncos

Texans vs Vikings


Fantasy Football Week Three Preseason Notes:

Cutler Struggles Early

The boo's were loud and the camera's were shaky as the Broncos fans wanted to let Jay Cutler know how they felt about his trade demand. Early in the game you could tell that the crowd noise had an effect on the Bears offense as they were stalled on the first couple drives.

As the Bears offense settled down Jay lead the team down for 17 first half points that was capped off by a touchdown pass to Matt Forte.

In the end Cutler did a good job and the Bears look like a good team as we get set for the regular season in a couple of weeks.

Ray Rice has Eight Catches

Last week starting running back Ray Rice scored a touchdown at the goal line and fantasy writers went crazy as it looked like Ray might be the goal line man in Baltimore. For my money I was happy to see that Ray did receive an opportunity to score and did convert on the play but I never believe he would be the only runner to get touches in that area.

This week Ray flashed off his receiving skills as he had eight catches for 67 yards receiving. This will probably make PPR fantasy players giddy about what this guy can do in their scoring structure.

In the end I believe Rice will run some and will catch some and will even get opportunities to score during the season. The question really is can Ray put the total package together and be a every week producer this season.

At this point I still think Ray isn't worth a starting spot even in PPR leagues because their are still to many hands in the pot running the ball.

Willis McGahee had another touchdown today and you can't forget about Le'Ron McClain and his abilities in this offense as well.

Right now Rice is a good early backup player for your team but not a starter to begin the season.

Rivers is Coming Into His Own

This may seem like another preseason game but it's really a game in which we saw a preview of what the Chargers would be like if they should lose LT for any stretch of time. In this preview what fantasy owners and football fans can come away with is that this is Philip's team and he has a lot of weapons to have success.

The model of this passing game is very simple and that is to attack down the field with aggressiveness throughout the game and than dump the ball off to your running backs underneath.

Once you make the secondary respect the deep routes it opens up opportunities like we saw tonight for running back Michael Bennett whom had a 52 yards touchdown catch and run. The play was just a dump off on a 3rd and about 24 yards to go but Bennett made a few shifty moves and took it to the house.

Oh and by the way Rivers also has this tight end guy named Antonio Gates and he's not all that shabby over the middle and in the red zone for touchdowns as well.

Fantasy Football Information Writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com