Fantasy Football

Eagles linebacker Shawn Barber wishes he had Donovan McNabb on his team. It's the middle of the preseason, and Barber already has his sights set on the draft. "My first pick - Reggie Bush!" he hollers. "Reggie Bush! Awww, man, you've got to be kidding me!" one of Barber's friends yells. "I wasn't kidding when I won it last year," Barber says, silencing everyone in the room by reminding them of last year's trophy winner. It is noon on a Saturday, and the beers are cold and the smack talk between Barber and his fantasy-football friends is colder.

Does a two-week slump signal a trend? After journeyman-like performances from several top-rated fantasy players early in the season, fantasy owners might be pondering unthinkable questions, such as, 'Is it time to trade Chiefs running back Larry Johnson?' Johnson, Steven Jackson of the Rams and LaDainian Tomlinson of the Chargers have performed far below their top-five fantasy draft value. Including 49ers running back Frank Gore, four of the five rushing leaders from the 2006 season are still in the NFL, but none has rung the bell on a 100-yard rushing game this season.

Bears: Love seeing Julius Peppers in a Bears uniform almost as much as Johnny Knox returning kicks. Play in a tough division, so beware if your scoring system penalizes for points against. Colts: Safety Bob Sanders is back and a defense that had just 26 takeaways last year will be better because of it. Eagles: Too many question marks and an unproven secondary make the Birds a fantasy risk. Exchanging DeSean Jackson for Chad Hall as the punt returner doesn't help, either. Jets: As long as Darrelle Revis signs sometime before the Sept.

What comes after 2,000? Chris Johnson last year became the sixth player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. Here's a look at how the previous five fared the next season. Eric Dickerson: 2,105 in 1984, his 2nd season. Next season: age 25, 14 games 292 carries, 1234 yards, 20 receptions, 126 yards, 12 touchdowns Jamal Lewis: 2,066 in 2003, his 3rd season. Next season: age 25, 12 games, 235 carries, 1006 yards, 10 receptions, 116 yards, 7 touchdowns Barry Sanders: 2,053 in 1997, his 9th season> Next season: age 30, 16 games, 343 carries, 1491 yards, 37 receptions, 289 yards, 4 touchdowns Terrell Davis: 2,008 in 1998, his 4th season.

Wondering whether or not to start Matt Forte and Calvin Johnson, or to bench Blaine Gabbert and Devin Aromashodu? The network bozos specialize in that kind of advice. If you're looking for help with your real starting-lineup conundrums, read on. Here are my picks to roll, and get rolled, in Week 5 of the 2011 season.   Watch 'em roll Josh Freeman, QB, Buccaneers at 49ers. Freeman has been a big disappointment this season, underscored by his dismal touchdown-to-interception ratio.

Asante Samuel was back in Philadelphia Friday, helping fix up a home for a single mother just a few minutes from Lincoln Financial Field. The most pressing question for football fans is whether Samuel will be spending much more time in Philadelphia or if he will take his game elsewhere. Asked if he wants to be back as an Eagle, Samuel said simply, "Of course. " But he didn't elaborate. "I just take it day-to-day, see what the future holds," Samuel said. But he said he had received no clear indication from the team what its plans are for him next year.

Inquirer columnist Ladd Biro last week became the first person ever to earn a second fantasy football writer of the year award. Biro, who also won the award last year, was presented with this year's award at the Fantasy Sports Writers Association winter conference in Las Vegas. Biro, who pens a nationally syndicated fantasy football column, also took home the award for best humor article.  

Hindsight may be 20/20. But hindsight armed with statistics is just brutal. What seems so obvious now - of course Victor Cruz was poised for a breakout year; didn't you see him tear it up in the preseason? - wasn't quite so crystal clear to most of us just five short months ago. It's all part of our elusive quest for the perfect draft, the Holy Grail of fantasy football. One of these days, I'm going to achieve it. Probably right after I cure cancer, win the lottery, and get stalked by Mila Kunis.

If you're reading this, I'm guessing you are either (a) making plans for your postseason march, (b) wondering where everything went wrong in a season once so full of promise, or (c) an Indianapolis Colts player who has decided to look into a potentially more rewarding career as a fantasy football enthusiast. First off, welcome to the column, Delone. Second, if it's any consolation to the disillusioned set, I started a lineup this weekend that featured Matt Forte, Michael Turner, DeAngelo Williams, Nate Washington, Brandon Lloyd and Jason Witten in a must-win game, and not one of them delivered double-digit production.

Andy Reid's spirited defense of DeSean Jackson on Friday makes a lot more sense when you realize it wasn't really a defense of the childish wide receiver at all. It was really Reid's defending Reid against the growing perception that he has lost control of his football team. In the span of four days, the Eagles lost two ugly games amid some strange sideline goings-on. During Sunday's beat down by the Patriots, two assistant coaches embarrassed themselves, their boss, and their players by getting into a spat.

BACK IN August, Sixers center Spencer Hawes tweeted about why NBA commissioner David Stern was still collecting his reported $23 million annual salary while the players were being asked to take a pay cut. Within days, reports surfaced that Stern would withhold his salary during the labor situation. So, it was no surprise that Hawes decided to jump in on the NBA's ill-fated Twitterview with Stern and deputy comissioner Adam Silver on Sunday night. The idea was for the NBA to be able to answer questions from fans, reporters and even a few players.

FIVE YEARS AGO, after his Arizona Cardinals managed to blow a 20-point halftime lead to the vaunted Chicago Bears, a ticked-off Dennis Green uttered those seven famous words that would not save his job, but would eventually give him his own beer commercial. "They are who we thought they were," he said. Nine games into their oh-so-disappointing season, no one seems to have the foggiest clue who the Eagles are right now, which is a big part of the reason they are 3-6 and on the verge of flat-lining.

Ever since I mastered the art of flicking a paper football across a table until it dangled off the edge, then drilling it through a two-fingered goalpost, I've loved fantasy football. Of course, we young lads didn't call it fantasy back in the day, but I'm sure the grade-school time-killer has its place in the evolution of the game. My love of all things fantasy is being tested this year, though. Mostly by Philip Rivers, whom I drafted as a "can't miss" anchor of two teams, but has played more like a "miss-take" waiting to happen.

THE BIG EAST held a regularly scheduled meeting yesterday at an airport hotel. Commissioner John Marinatto, as expected, said the conference is ready to hand out membership invitations. While he wouldn't get specific, sources have said the plan is to bring in Southern Methodist, Houston and Central Florida for all sports, and Boise State, Air Force and Navy for football only. Marinatto sounded confident he'll receive the answers he wants, although some have speculated some or all of those football-only candidates aren't necessarily locks.

'I HOPE YOU ALL had the Philadelphia Eagles as your fantasy team," Asante Samuel said. On this attention-grabbing night, let us begin there. We all know what the Eagles were in the first six games of the season: inconsistent, sloppy with the football, terrible tackling, schematically challenged, unable to live up to the hype. We all know the result of their early failures: personnel being shuffled on defense, the coach's tenure being questioned, fans hanging signs outside of the practice facility, players rallying against the criticism, Samuel criticizing the people playing fantasy football in the front office.