Tip Sheet

George, Bledsoe primed for bounceback seasons

With a healthy toe and some carries under his belt, Eddie George can be a top-five back again. Brian Bahr/Allsport

By Richard Harris, Special to CNNSI.com

Stock Rising

Eddie George, RB, Tennessee: George is coming off his worst season as a pro, finishing with less than 1,000 rushing yards and just five touchdowns in 2001. In his previous five seasons, he averaged 1,375 rushing yards, 289 receiving yards, and 10 TDs. No longer bothered by the toe and ankle injuries that hampered him last season, George looks to be back to his old form. In two preseason games, including Thursday night’s action against the Oakland Raiders, he has 16 carries for 76 yards and a touchdown, averaging 4.8 yards per carry. In comparison, George rushed only 11 times in the 2001 exhibition season, as he recovered from toe surgery.

Drew Bledsoe, QB, Buffalo: Drafting a quarterback who is in his first season with a new team can be risky business in fantasy football. Elvis Grbac and Trent Green were prime examples of this last season. Bledsoe, however, may be the exception. In the Bills’ preseason opener, he led the Buffalo offense on two touchdown drives in three series of action against the Cincinnati Bengals. He looked to be in midseason form, hitting 9 of 11 passes for 136 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

With a variety of talented targets, including wide receivers Eric Moulds, Peerless Price, and rookie Josh Reed, tight end Jay Riemersma, and fullback Larry Centers, it is hard to imagine Bledsoe not doing well in his first season with Buffalo. The concerns are a suspect running game and offensive line which could limit the entire offense’s productivity. Bledsoe dealt with similar issues for most of his career in New England and still managed to pass for an average of 3,823 yards and 21 TDs from 1994-2000.

Marcus Pollard, TE, Indianapolis: In fantasy drafts that have already taken place, the Colts tight end is not garnering the same type of attention as Tony Gonzalez, who remains a holdout in Kansas City, but he deserves to. In the sample drafts that I have seen, Pollard is being taken roughly 25 picks later than Gonzo.

Like Gonzalez, Pollard is a former college basketball power forward who presents frequent matchup problems. He's too big (6-3, 247 pounds) for safeties, and too fast for linebackers. He has 19 touchdowns over the past four seasons, averaging 21.8 yards per TD catch. In 2001, Pollard had the most productive season of his career, catching 47 balls for 739 yards and eight touchdowns. He says that his goals for this season are 70 catches for 900 yards and 12 touchdowns, and those numbers may be attainable. With fellow TE Ken Dilger now in Tampa Bay, his opportunities should increase, and the outside receiving threats posed by Marvin Harrison and Qadry Ismail should leave the middle of the field open for Pollard.

Randy McMichael, TE, Miami: The rookie from Georgia has yet to displace starting TE Jed Weaver, but it appears to be only a matter of time. In the Dolphins’ second preseason game Thursday night, McMichael led the team in receiving with four catches for 48 yards and scored a touchdown with a spectacular dive into the end zone.

This performance was not a big surprise to the Dolphins, who feel that they made one of the steals of the draft when they selected McMichael in the fourth round. He has been so impressive early in camp that tight ends coach Pat Jones has compared his playmaking ability to the team's top rookie in 2001, WR Chris Chambers. Looking more like a wide receiver than a tight end, the 6-3, 247-pound McMichael could catch more balls in Norv Turner’s tight end-friendly offense this season than Weaver and ex-starter Hunter Goodwin did in 2000 and 2001 (38).

Keep an eye on

Dorsey Levens, RB, Philadelphia: Levens, who was signed this offseason after Correll Buckhalter suffered an ACL injury in late April at minicamp, was impressive in his preseason debut for the Eagles, rushing for 64 yards and a touchdown against his former team, the Green Bay Packers. The performance sparked speculation that Levens could supplant starter Duce Staley at tailback. Head coach Andy Reid has said throughout camp that Staley is his No. 1 tailback, and he has not changed his stance. However, when I asked Levens about his role for the upcoming season, the veteran back was less definitive. “It is still up in the air. I don’t have a clue yet,” Levens told me on Monday. “I have no idea what my role is. I’m just out here working, and I’ll leave that up to the coaches.”

One role that may suit the 230-pound Levens is short-yardage specialist. Staley, a two-time 1,000-yard rusher, is not as big as Levens and has never rushed for more than five touchdowns in a season. One thing that Levens, who started his career as a fullback in Green Bay, won’t be doing is playing in the same backfield as Staley. When I asked Reid if Levens would see any action at fullback this season, the coach gave me an unequivocal “No.” Brian Westbrook, a third-round pick from Villanova, is still in the mix. The rookie brings an element of explosiveness to the offense, and he was able to show what he could do in the preseason opener, carrying the ball 11 times for 48 yards and picking up 15 more yards on a couple of catches.

Deion Branch, WR, New England: Branch, a second-round pick from Louisville, has been the talk of the Patriots’ camp. With Troy Brown nursing a knee injury, the rookie was rewarded with a starting assignment in the Pats’ preseason opener against the New York Giants. On the first play from scrimmage, Branch caught a 62-yard pass from Tom Brady, and finished the game with a team-leading eight catches for 129 yards.

Like Brown and fellow starter David Patten, Branch (5-9, 191) lacks ideal size, but he is arguably the fastest (4.47) and quickest of the team’s receivers. His performance against the Giants is no threat to Brown, but it could lead to less playing time for Patten, who was already being challenged by Donald Hayes, a free agent from Carolina. Hayes was brought in as a tall, physical target for Brady, and against the Giants, he showed that he can be valuable inside the red zone by making a leaping catch in the corner of the end zone.

Rod Gardner, WR, Washington: We may not know who will be playing quarterback for the Redskins, who have totaled 75 points and 798 passing yards in winning their first two exhibition games, but it is fairly safe to say that Gardner will be the team’s leading receiver. Last year as a rookie, he flashed his potential by catching six passes for 208 yards and a touchdown against the Carolina Panthers, but in the 15 other regular-season games, he caught 45 passes for just 533 yards. Gardner’s inconsistency could be partially blamed on his inexperience, but he also had to share receptions with Michael Westbrook in a struggling passing offense that finished the season ranked 30th in the NFL. With Westbrook now in Cincinnati and head coach Steve Spurrier injecting life into the Redskins’ passing attack, the 6-2, 217-pound Gardner could flourish.

Stock Falling

Terrell Davis, RB, Denver: On Wednesday, Coach Mike Shanahan called Davis’ latest setback a “day-to-day situation,” but let’s be honest, this has been a four-year situation. On Monday, an MRI on the running back's left knee revealed no structural damage, but rather an arthritic and degenerative condition, the same condition that was discovered in Davis’ right knee last summer. By definition, degenerative conditions do not get better; they get worse. Davis, who has missed 32 games over the last three seasons, has been relegated to the third-team offense, as the Broncos move forward with Olandis Gary and rookie Clinton Portis at tailback.

Terry Glenn, WR, Green Bay: Some people never learn. Glenn is being selected as high as the third-round in some fantasy drafts, despite never playing a full season in the NFL or scoring more than six touchdowns in any one year. The Packers’ starting flanker, who has been plagued by injuries and off-field problems throughout his six-year career, will miss his second preseason game this weekend due to a knee injury. Glenn likely will return to practice sometime next week, but given his track record and the fact that he is not an ideal receiver for the West Coast offense, he should not be considered until the early middle rounds of your draft.

David Terrell, WR, Chicago: Arguably the most talented wide receiver in last year’s draft, Terrell had a disappointing rookie season, catching just 34 balls for 415 yards and four scores. With Marcus Robinson still recovering from major knee surgery, Terrell had an opportunity to grab the starting spot alongside Marty Booker, but third-year pro Dez White has outplayed him at training camp. White has been so impressive that Robinson, who could play as soon as the third preseason game, is not a lock to get his starting job back.

“Dez has worked extremely hard, and I think you've seen the fruits of his labor,” quarterback Jim Miller said recently. “Hopefully, Marcus is back, but that's Dez's job. Dez has done that well. We'll see if Marcus can come back and beat him out.”

Donte’ Stallworth, WR, New Orleans: Stallworth’s chances of beginning the season as the Saints’ No. 2 receiver are fading fast. The first-round draft pick hasn't been on the practice field since pulling his right hamstring on July 31, and has already missed two preseason games. Stallworth, who reportedly has not helped himself by showing up late for some team meetings, could play next week at Cincinnati, but look for veteran Jerome Pathon to begin the season as the starter opposite Joe Horn.

Richard Harris is the Senior Writer and Managing Editor for FantasyFootballExperts.com. His weekly columns have appeared on either ESPN.com or USAToday.com over the past four years, and this season, he will be featured on CNNSI.com. FantasyFootballExperts.com offers exclusive and in-depth articles, player rankings and cheat sheets for multiple scoring systems, injury updates, weekly matchup analysis, and other essentials for a fantasy football championship