With only one game tonight there is only one ball to give away, and that goes to Plaxico Burress. The Giants WR set a career high with 10 receptions and he finished with 133 yards. His performance helped his QB, Eli Manning, put together a solid performance. The Superbowl MVP finished with 216 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. But a rare rushing touchdown (by any Manning) helped out those owners that started him against Washington.

While any number of Redskins could walk away with the Game Used Sock Award, it too is going to a member of the Giants - Ahmad Bradshaw. After an excellent performance in the post-season Bradshaw became a very trendy pick in the last few weeks. However, he did not even get into the game against the Redskins. To make things worse, Brandon Jacobs showed no signs of slowing down by carrying the ball 21 times for 116 yards. What's even worse than that is that when Jacobs rested it was Derrick Ward who spelled him. Maybe it isn't fair to give a dirty sock to a guy that didn't get into the game. Maybe the dirty sock should go to those that took him too high or paid too much for him in their fantasy leagues.

Watching this Giants/Redskins game, I can't help but wonder what would've been if Mike Brown had chosen Tom Coughlin as the Bengals head coach instead of Marvin Lewis. At the time, Lewis and Coughlin were the two finalists for the vacated job.

Now, let me state that I was a huge fan of the Marvin hiring when it happened and was only lukewarm to the idea of Coughlin. But what this current Bengals team lacks is discipline. Look at all the arrests. Look at the antics of Chad Johnson. The players don't fear or respect Lewis. Maybe they did initially, but not now, for sure. The book on Tom Coughlin is that he's tough. He doesn't take any antics or garbage and demands discipline. I'd say he knows what he's doing as he has a proven track record, oh and a Super Bowl ring now too. Marvin has underwhelmed us all here in Cincinnati, and of late, his act has worn thinner on me than that of Ocho Cinco. At this point, I can't really see what Marvin brings to the table. And someone like Tom Coughlin is exactly what this team needs. Discipline, integrity, work ethic and high expectations. Something I thought Marvin had, but can't seem to find any more. Perhaps he's been "Bengalized" himself.

Either way, I'd like grab Marty McFly and jump into Doc Brown's time machine and go "Back to the Future" and bribe Mike Brown with a Frisch's hot fudge cake to hire Coughlin over this upstart defensive coordinator. 

Did you miss this week's Fantasy Playbook as I go on with Lance McAlister on 1530 Homer the Sports Animal? Either way here's my notes from the show...

KEEP YOUR EYES ON
--QB Tavaris Jackson – Finished ’07 strong and has too much talent around him not to have upside.

--RB Steve Slaton – With Chris Brown already on IR and Ahman Green always hurt, he will get his chance to shine.

--WR Jerry Porter – He was a top 40 wideout in Oakland. Now he’s in Jacksonville. That can only help his value.

--TE Greg Olsen – I hyped him as a rookie and I think he only gets better in his sophomore campaign, even with Kyle Orton throwing him the ball.


INJURY REPORT
--Jamal Lewis – Hamstring injury has limited for two past two weeks, but he is making progress. Listed as questionable this week. I expect him to play and be worth using a RB2 in deeper leagues.

--Chad Ocho Cinqo – Despite his value plummeting in drafts, he’s going to play through a torn labrum. He’s a must play this week and every week, at least until he gets one good hit to the shoulder.

--Willis McGahee – He’s struggling to return from off-season knee surgery and is questionable for his Week 1 tilt vs. the Bengals. He’s an extremely risky play even if he does go, but the match-up vs. the Bengals may be too hard to resist.

--Eagle Wideouts – Already playing without Kevin Curtis, who’s out for the first month of the season with a sports hernia, the Eagles may have to play on Sunday without Reggie Brown. He’s questionable with a hamstring injury. Owners need to pay attention as this could also affect the fantasy outlook of both Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook.

--On top of injuries there are suspensions to be aware of: Steve Smith, Brandon Marshall, Kevin Faulk, and Chris Henry are all amongst players who will be inactive in Week 1.


VALUE PACK (Line-Up Advice – Guys that deserve a look)
--QB – Kurt Warner (@SF) – He threw for 484 yards and two TDs with two picks last year vs. SF. Don’t expect those numbers, but he should prove to be a solid option here.

--RB – Ricky Williams (vs. NYJ) – In 2006 Ronnie Brown had two 100-yard games and a pair of TD’s against the Jets. Last year in one game he put up 211 with two scores. Williams is starting over Brown here and should approach 100 yards and score.

--WR – Patrick Crayton – The Browns’ secondary is still below par and with the team focusing on Terrell Owens and Jason Witten, look for Crayton to get enough looks to make him solid FLEX option in this match-up.

--TE – Jeremy Shockey – After missing most of the preseason recovering from a broken leg, Shockey was not even on this week’s injury report. A stellar Saints’ debut is in the making.

--DEF – Seahawks – Not considered an elite fantasy defense by any measure, Seattle could have an elite effort this weekend against a young and unproven Bills’ offense.

**CATCH THE SHOW ON 1530HOMER.COM - Click on Thursday's 4:00 hour (4:30 weekly)

COMPLETE RANKINGS

Most people have probably drafted now, but I wanted to share the experience anyway. Last night, I had two fantasy drafts, in fact, one of them spilled over into the other one (one I did on a conference call and one I did online). The online one was our GSI House League. It's a fairly standard league, except there are no idiots, no cupcakes in the league, so you can expect solid picking. And that's what I got.

I had the #5 pick in the 12-team league. A great place to draft from, and usually one of my favorite spots. However, as I started off with my strategy and stuck to it (I was going two RBs and two WRs in my first four picks in no particular order) something awful occurred to me.

In Round 3 I selected Steve Smith. Not too shabby. He's due for a breakout. I can deal with his suspension.

In Round 4, I got Brandon Marshall. I like this pick a lot. His suspension was reduced to 1 game. However, I'm now without a WR for week 1 at this point, which then threw me off my game. I should've just dealt with having a bad first week (but I hate starting off 0-1) and stuck to my draft strategy. But instead, I panicked like a QB under pressure and I looked downfield and threw the pass that I shouldn't have. I began taking more WRs than I wanted to.

In Round 6, I took Lee Evans. Too early for such an inconsistent player on a bad team. Then I took Reggie Brown (questionable for Week 1). Yikes, it's getting worse. Long story short, don't ever let injuries or suspensions or even bye weeks make you change up your draft strategy.

In this same league last year, Jeremy Fischer had 4 or 5 of his top guys on the same bye. He was ridiculed. But he took them because they were the best available and he just dealt with that one week. J-Fish won the league. Maybe my team will be better than I think, but right now, I am dissatisfied with them and I have only myself to blame.