The Rookie To Watch for this week goes to James Hardy of the Buffalo Bills. The former Indiana Hoosier could start the season as the counterpart on the field to Lee Evans in Buffalo. The 6'7", 220 pound wideout is going to be a big target, especially in the redzone, for Bills QB, Trent Edwards.

In Hardy's junior season at Indiana he amassed 1125 yard receiving and 16 TDs. With his size, he could end up being a big surprise in the upcoming season and end it with a 6-8 TDs. The only issue is who he has throwing the ball to him. Edwards is coming into his second season as the signal-caller for the Bills, so depending on how he's progressed from his rookie season could determine how well of a season his wideouts have.

Hardy has the skills to be a productive wideout for your fantasy team. If you're in a deep league with 12 to 14 teams, definitely consider taking him late in the draft as a WR4 option. As the season plays out he could very well end up as a viable WR3 option, but again, that all depends on how well Edwards plays and how quickly Hardy can pickup the plays in the playbook. While he didn't make an appearance on the first installment of the GSI.com Preseason Cheat Sheet, Hardy was recently ranked No. 58 on ESPN.com's WR rankings, ahead of veteran guys like Mushin Muhammad and Brandon Stokley. He was ranked No. 42 by CBSSports.com, ahead of a number of decent fantasy options at WR.

Keep an eye on how Hardy does in the preseason. He may jump up the depth chart by the time the season rolls around. And while he may not end up getting drafted during your league's draft, keep a close watch on him early in the season. He could end up being a decent waiver wire/free agent pickup as the season goes along.

We are looking for a few good men to fill up the annual GSI Fantasy Football House League. The league is a head-to-head format that uses fairly basic scoring and lineups. There will be a live, on-line draft on Wednesday September 3 at 8:00pm. The league is set up on ESPN.com which is where the draft will occur. There is a league fee of $40 with payout going to division winners and the the top two teams in the playoffs.

If you wish to join the league please leave a comment below or contact myself or Dan via email.

Last year at this time Steelers' running back Willie Parker was one of the most coveted players at his position in fantasy footaball. He was coming off a 2006 season in which he amassed 1712 total yards and 16 TD's. However, much has changed since then.

Parker was frustrating in 2007. He was leading the league in yards when he went down to a knee injury in Week 16, but he only scored two touchdowns. New Steelers' head coach Mike Timlin opened up Pittsburgh's passing attack and Parker became an afterthought at the goalline as Najeh Davenport (now departed) often came in to relieve him as Pittsburgh approached the end zone.

The Steelers, not happy with their backfield options, spent the first round pick in April's draft on Rashard Mendenhall and signed free agent Mewelde Moore. Mendenhall is a strong runner and will be force running between the tackles. Moore is a versatitle player and immediately becomes Pittsburgh's best receiving option out of the backfield. Both players figured to be involved in the team's gameplan on a weekly basis.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin outlined Mendenhall's role as a "supplemental runner."

"The growth of his role will be determined on his ability to execute from an assignment standpoint, how he deals with being a professional athlete," the coach told the Pittsburgh-Tribune as camp opened last week.

As an advanced pass-blocker and good receiver, Mendenhall shouldn't have an issue with missing assignments. Mendenhall could be used similarly to Maurice Jones-Drew in Jacksonville, as a short-yardage back with a prominent role in the passing game.

Coming off major off-season surgery is concern as is the recent workload. Back-to-back seasons with more than 320 carries appears to have taken its toll on Parker and his small frame.

He still has a chance to proudce for owners in 2008, but based off his peformance the last two years Parker will likely be overpaid for in your draft this year. You saw it happen in the GSI Mock Draft last month when Ian Preuth tabbed him the 12th overall pick. I say he is a RB3 at best and while he sees a spike in yardage leagues. He is currently ranked  29th on our GSI Cheat Sheet. 

Did you miss our RB Breakdown on GetSportsRadio.com? Check it out below:
Fantasy Playbook - RB Breakdown - join myself and Larry Schmitt as we preview fantasy wideouts. 

It's hard to believe that it was just about 10 days ago that Milwaukee Brewers had won their seventh straight game, forcing a deadlock with the Chicago Cubs atop the N.L. Central.  Oh how things have changed for the Brew Crew. The Brewers have dropped seven of nine. They got swept by the Cubs in a four-game showdown last week, and saw their lead for the wild card reduced to a half-game over idle St. Louis with their latest loss on Monday night.

The frustration reached its boiling point as Milwaukee opened up their series with Reds at Great American Ballpark. With the Brewers en route to a 6-3 loss, starting pitcher Manny Parra and first baseman Prince Fielder engaged in a dispute in the visiting dugout during the top of the seventh inning that resulted in Fielder physically attacking Parra. The irate Fielder had to be pulled off the stunned pitcher by several teammates and wrestled to the floor. The whole thing was caught on camera and has already been played 462 times this morning on SportsCenter.

It was Aug. 2 of last season when manager Ned Yost became involved in a dugout dispute with catcher Johnny Estrada and infielder Tony Graffanino, neither of whom is with the team this year. Yost at the time downplayed the incident and said it was nobody’s business, a refrain he repeated this time around.

“It’s not a big deal,” Yost told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “For eight months a year, we’re a family. At times things happen, flare up, but it’s between the family. It’s in the family. 

Yost can write it off all that he wants, but as his team is fighting each other and losing their poise once again this August, the Cubs are getting seperation and gearing up for a second straight division title.  The Brewers laid it on the line when they rented C.C. Sabathia and have some of the best young talent in baseball, but if they don't get to the post-season in '08, Yost might be finding a new job.