The are plenty of injuries for you to consider heading into Sunday's NFL action. Let's take at look at the ones most likely to have a fantasy impact:

RB's
Ryan Grant (hamstring) - PROBABLE - Looks like he's going to play on MNF against the Vikings, the problem is that the game is Monday night. Worth using as a RB2 here.

Jamal Lewis (hamstring) - GAME-TIME DECISION - 4:15 start is going to force owners to make a decision; you may want to look elsewhere this week if you have options.

Willis McGahee (knee) - GAME-TIME DECISION - Even if he goes (which I doubt), he's going to play second fiddle to Ray Rice and have a rookie QB going. Stay away.

WR's
Laveranues Coles (thigh) - QUESTIONABLE - Expect him to play; injury has limited his time to get in groove with his new QB Brett Favre. Risky,  a WR3 option here at best.

Joey Galloway (groin) - QUESTIONABLE - Likely to go and could be a factor against the Saints in a game I expect to be a shootout, double check on him as game nears.

Reggie Brown (hamstring) - DOUBTFUL - Stay away from him until further notice. Nagging injury and DeSean Jackson's arrival are taking their toll on Brown's fantasy value.

TE's
Antonio Gates (foot) - PROBABLE - The big guy is finally getting close to 100% and is a must-start in Week 1's match-up with the Panthers.

Todd Heap (knee) - PROBABLE - Heap is always on the injury report, but something you can always bank on is the fact TE's have good fantasy days against Cincinnati.

Ben Watson (ankle) -  DOUBTFUL - Likely will not play this week; David Thomas expected to start, but you can do better than that in your line-up

MORE INJURY UPDATES:

• Rotoworld.com
• Rototimes.com
• ESPN.com
• CBSSportsLine.com
• KFFL.com
  

The Chicago White Sox are in the dead middle of the tightest race in baseball, the AL Central. The Sox entered Saturday with 1.5 game lead over the Minnesota Twins with 22 games left to play. It's been an exciting season in the Southside, but the excitement may now turn to panic as news broke yesterday that stud outfielder and MVP-candidate Carlos Quentin may be loss for the season due to a broken wrist.

Quentin, who currently leads the AL with 36 HRs and has 100 RBI's on the season, will have surgery next week. A screw will be inserted into the wrist, and he will be re-evaluated in two-to-three-weeks.

The Chicago Sun-Times said that Quentin's season is "in jeopardy" and while the White Sox could conceivably get him back in time for the playoffs in October, his regular season -- and therefore, his Fantasy season -- is likely over. The White Sox will have options, including moving Ken Griffey Jr. from center to left field. And Nick Swisher could move back to center.

Check out the latest podcasts at GetSportsRadio.com:

PRO-FOOTBALL FACE-OFF - We look at the Bengals' dropping of their veterans and preview their match-up with the Ravens, update you on all the latest news from around the league, and make our Week 1 picks.

GAME NIGHT - Listen in to a recap of all the Friday night football action from the Greater Cincinnati high school gridiron.

WIRE TO WIRE - We breakdown the Reds as they head down the stretch, look at the exciting pennant races, and talk everything baseball.

THE FIGHT CARD - Logan and Brusier talk MMA and UFC 88 and much more.

Check out more in POD CENTRAL at GetSportsRadio.com. 

Many Reds fans have turned the page on the 2008 season and started to tenuously root for the Bengals.  Those fans are missing some interesting times in Redsland; so much so that I will need two Reds Musings this week.  So tune back in on Wednesday for Part II.  In the meantime...

THE GOOD

• With the signing of 2008 first round draft pick, Yonder Alonso, the Reds have completed one of their more successful amateur signing periods in recent memory.  The triumpherant of Alonso and the two 16-year old Latin studs, Juan Dixon and Yorman Rodriguez, give Reds fans encouragement for... 2012.  Besides those three, the Reds also stole RHP Zach Stewart in the third round of the June draft.  Stewart, a closer at Texas Tech last Spring, has dominated Class A so far.  His combined stats at Dayton and Sarasota are:  33 IP, 36 K, 14 BB, 26 HA, 0 HR, and a 1.09 E.R.A.  Another quick starter is sixth rounder, Alex Buchholz, a second baseman from Delaware.  In Rookie Ball at Billings this season, he hit .400/ .477/ .615 in 130 ABs.  This haul dwarfs the previous two years' worth of prospects that Reds' Farm Director Chris Buckley put together.
  
  
• Jay Bruce has nine errors this season so far with the Reds.  This looks poor by almost any standard, but there are some positives.  Bruce has been credited for some errors on ground balls that he bobbled that let a runner score on a single from second base.  Are these really errors?  Secondly, Bruce has been credited with a few tough errors on dropped fly balls that Ken Griffey Jr. would never have come close to.  Reds pitchers have noticed the difference between Griffey and Bruce too.  Bronson Arroyo recently remarked about how much the Reds outfield defense has improved recently.
  
  
• Another part of that improved outfield defense is LF Chris Dickerson.  Dickerson is probably hitting well above his head at .329/ .427/ 695 in 82 AB (his minor league numbers do not come close to this), but his disciplined approach at the plate, his speed, and his defense do translate into a solid fourth outfielder at the Major League level.  He is not the impact player that the Reds so desperately need, but he is a solid contributor and every good baseball team need players like him.

THE BAD

• With the Reds long out of contention, logic says that the Reds should be experimenting with what they have to prepare for next year.  They have done that somewhat by giving Ryan Hannigan and Dickerson playing time.  But why aren't they putting Edwin Encarnacion in left field and Jeff Keppinger at third base to see if that may work?  Darryl Thompson should be pitching at this level now that he is healthy again.  Drew Stubbs should be thrown into centerfield to see if he can make contact with major league pitches (playing Corey Patterson serves absolutely no purpose besides bring Dusty Baker more abuse).  Josh Roenicke should be in the Reds bullpen to see if he can replace David Weathers.  This is extended Spring Training folks- let's take advantage!
  
  
• Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated has come up a system to predict down years for young pitchers.  It is simple really.  He calls it the Year After Effect:  He finds major league pitchers 25- and- under who have pitched 30 or more innings than the previous year.  He eliminates the "artificially depressed" pitchers, such as those that had an injury and uses their college or professional high instead.  With that, he comes up with a group that he predicts will either get injured the next year or will have a big drop off the next year.  In February of 2008, he ran his numbers and came out with this group:  Ian Kennedy (NYY), Fausto Carmona (CLE), Ubaldo Jimenez (COL), Tom Gozelanny (PIT), Dustin McGowan (TOR), Chad Gaudin (OAK, now CHI), and Yovani Gallardo (MIL).  All but Jimenez have been seriously hurt at some time this season, but he was a total bomb the first half of the season.  Gaudin has not been seriously hurt, but his workload has been decreased with a switch to the bullpen at the start of the year.  It is amazing how accurate this system is at predicting upcoming struggles and injuries.  Who is a candidate for Verducci's Year After Effect in 2009?  You guessed it- Edinson Volquez.  The 25- year old pitched 144.67 innings last year and has already thrown 170 innings this year.  Other Reds pitchers:  Johnny Cueto- 161.33 in 2007 and 155 in 2008; Homer Bailey- 138.66 in 2006 and 148 in 2008.  Verducci would tell the Reds to shut down Voquez RIGHT NOW!

THE UGLY

• The White Sox are currently hitting Ken Griffey Jr. seventh and subbing in for him on defense late in the games.  He says that he is fine with all of this and loves his new team.  This reflects very poorly on Dusty Baker and further soils his reputation on dealing with and over- inflating the value of fading superstars.
  
  
• Corey Patterson rarely gets on base, but even when does, he is making even more outs on the bases.  He currently is tied for the lead in the Major Leagues in getting picked off of first base with nine.  Amazing.
  
  
• The Reds have been part of some of the best bet- the - house matchups so far this year in the Major Leagues.  The first came when Homer Bailey was struggling in late Spring.  He faced off against new Reds killer, Cole Hamels, and the Reds got pummeled.  That was possibly the lock- of- the- year in MLB.  Coming in a close second was the recent Josh Fogg start when he faced off against career Reds killer, Roy Oswalt.  The Reds had no shot that day, although Fogg did shut out the Astros for three innings before falling apart.

LATEST REDS' PODCAST:
GetSportsRadio.com - WIRE TO WIRE - Join Dan Clasgens and Greg Shoemaker as they talk Reds' baseball!