So earlier this week one of the greatest QBs of all time retired. Not only was Brett Favre one of the best to ever play the game, he was also one of the most consistent fantasy football players. That wasn't always necessarily a good thing, but you each year you could pretty much count on 3500+ yards passing, 20+ TDs and probably 15+ INTs. With his retirement, not only is a good option at QB eliminated for next season, but those that surrounded him on the Packers offense will feel the impact. Favre had a tendency to take good WRs and make them seem great. In his final few years his passing set up the run, which is why a guy like Ryan Grant had a great rookie season this past year. I'm 100% sure that Favre isn't coming back, that this isn't all a stunt and he'll change his mind somewhere down the road. So with that said, its never too early to see how this loss to the fantasy football world will effect the rest of the Packers' key offensive players.

The most obvious change will be that Aaron Rodgers will finally get his chance to be a starting QB. Rodgers hasn't had much of a chance to showcase his talents and show why the Packers drafted him out of California back in 2005. Fortunately for him he won't be stepping into an offense with the cupboard barren. He has good WRs and an up-and-coming TE and RB to boot. With Rodgers getting his opportunity to play full time, as long as he stays healthy, a 3500 yard, 20 TD, 18 INT season isn't out of the question. He has the stuff to be a good backup QB on fantasy rosters and could emerge as a good choice as a starter once he starts to prove himself.

The loss of Favre shouldn't impact the RB spot for the Packers much. Ryan Grant had a breakout rookie season, rushing for almost 1000 yards and scoring eight TDs. If anything, the Packers will rely a little more on the run to take some of the pressure off Rodgers. If that's the case, Grant's numbers could improve greatly. Expecting to get 1200 yards and double digit TDs out of him as your RB2 wouldn't be expecting too much. Sounds about right to me.

Favre's retirement will have the biggest impact on WR/TE position for fantasy next season. Donald Driver had a great connection with Favre, something he will have to find with Rodgers throughout the course of next season. He could definitely have another 1000+ yard season like he did last year. He should score more than two TDs as well. Really Driver had a down year this past season, so his numbers could go up as long as he and Rodgers work well together. The reason Driver's numbers were down last year was because of the emergence of Greg Jennings. He ended up 80 yards short of 1000 but his major contribution came in the TD department where he scored 12 time. Don't expect that to happen again. He could end up with a 1000+ yard season, but his TD totals for next season should come down some. I'd expect 6-9 TDs out of him next season, if not less if Rodgers and Driver establish a great connection early on. I would honestly consider drafting Jennings before Driver next season, regardless of Driver having the experience. Driver has only played with one QB in his 10 year NFL career. Jennings has only been in the league a few years so he could adjust to Rodgers quicker, thus becoming his go-to guy.

In addition to Driver and Jennings, WR James Jones and TE Donald Lee will be impacted by Favre's exit. Both of these guys came out of nowhere last season to become decent options on fantasy rosters. Jones became a good fill-in player while Lee really became a TE that you could consider starting every week. With Favre gone, expect Jones to come down a little in his numbers as Rodgers focuses on his key guys in Driver and Jennings. I'd say he'll end up with about 550 yards and a couple TDs next season. Lee, on the other hand, will be a great security blanket for Rodgers. His six TDs last season were great for a TE and if Rodgers can find him he could repeat that next season. I'd expect his receiving yards to go up a little too from 575 to maybe around 700 yards or so. He could be a good option at TE next year, a position that's pretty slim when it comes to guy that can contribute on a regular basis.

Favre retiring has not only effected the NFL and the fans of the sport, it has also effected those of us that play fantasy football. Some guys on the Packers' offense may be affected negatively, but in the end I think the numbers across the board will be relatively close to what you'd expect from having Favre at the helm. Until they get to camp in the summer and we see how Rodgers plays with his offense we won't know for sure how things will go, so I'd be cautious in your expectations until then.

Remember in Major League when Rick Vaughn came out to the song Wild Thing? Now, remember when Rick Ankiel did his best Rick Vaughn (pre-wire rimmed glasses) and completely lost his confidence and eye for the plate. It was one of the saddest things you've seen in baseball. Ankiel couldn't find the strike and threw pitches all the way to the back stop, in the postseason no less. Well, that same Ankiel, now only 28, put his athletic ability to work for him. Last year, he made his debut in the majors as an outfielder for the Cardinals.

In only 47 games for the Cards, Ankiel hit 11 HRs and drove in 39 runs while hitting .285. Very, very impressive for a converted pitcher. The big knock on Ankiel is that, since he is still a "new" hitter, his eye is bad and he's prone to swing at bad pitches, which accounts for his 42 Ks last year.  This season, Ankiel will have an everyday job with the Cardinals and manager Tony LaRussa has expressed enormous confidence in Ankiel as a hitter. He's working in Spring Training on developing more discipline at the plate and trying to take pitches. If he can accomplish this, the sky is the limit.

Even so, Ankiel is a major sleeper candidate in all league formats. I just drafted him in round 22 of our mock draft. For this late, he could be quite a find. Some fantasy sites have Ankiel projected to hit 30+ HRs and drive in over 90 runs. Consider that his combined MLB and AAA season in 2007 was 43 HRs/128 RBIs, I would say this Wild Thing can make a fantasy owner's heart sing. 

St. Louis Caridinals' slugger Albert Pujols will try to play through pain again this season.  The team's website reported on Thursday that team physician Dr. George Paletta informed the slugger that surgery on his ailing right elbow isn't a wise option until a complete reconstruction is needed.

Pujols has a "high grade" tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, as well as bone spurs, inflammation and arthritis in the joint. The ligament has not worsened since it was first injured in 2003.

According to the report, Paletta said that Pujols was given three options over the winter — continue to play with treatment, have arthroscopic surgery to addres the bone spurs and inflammation, or have that surgery in addition to Tommy John surgery to address the ligament tear.

"This is not a curable problem without a reconstruction," Paletta said, according to the report. "What we hope is that it's a manageable problem. We've been managing this problem since 2003, when he first tore it. So we've been managing it fairly successfully for five seasons now. But there comes a time when it's not manageable anymore. And if it's not manageable anymore, the best answer for Albert probably, long-term, is to consider having the reconstruction done."

The Cardinals' young lineup already has several question marks revolving around it and the loss of Pujols for any period of time would be devastating.

OTHER INJURY NEWS:

• Alou out 4-6 weeks w/hernia (Daily News)
• Lowry could be out until late April (Giants.com)
• Ross continues to have back problems (Cincinnati Enquirer)
• Kent dealing with hamstring issues (LATimes.com)