Third Year Wide Receivers

Every year there are WR’s that seem to come out of no where to shock, surprise and propel a fantasy team to victory week after week. There are statistics to prove out that WR’s in their 3rd year seem to breakout. Some have done articles on the topic and based upon their statistics it seems like a reasonable reach to go after a quality WR in their 3rd to 5th year and hope to catch a rising star. At this point, since the data has been generally accepted for many years it is just a matter of knowing who is in their third year and what their situation is. Then based on that the predictions on who will be the next breakout WR(s) can be made. We have looked at all of the 3rd year WR’s for 2006 and some are easily dismissed, others have already arrived and then we have some that appear to be on the cusp of having a breakout season in 2006. Below we will go through the list in team order:

Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals: He is now entering his 3rd year, but has been exceptional in each of his years since becoming a pro. He would fall into the already there group of WR’s. It is actually scary to think that he can still get better. Some of his numbers from 2005 were due to the team consistantly playing catch up. For 2006, the Cardinals revamped the OL and brought in James to get a running game going. This won’t turn Fitzgerald into a has been, but we would find it difficult for his numbers to get better based upon the situation. His TD’s could improve, but the yardage may not. He is not a surprise on any one’s draft board and will be gone quite early.

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News You Can Use

McNair Arbitration Hearing

The Titans and Steve McNair played "I said, They Said" on Tuesday. McNair is looking for a release but the Titans say they did not breach his contract by not letting him work out in their facility. The ruling in this case is expected on June 1st.

Bottom Line: It is unlikely that McNair will play for the Titans this season. His cap number is way too high and with the bad blood that this hearing is causing it seems more and more likely that he will win the case or be released. The Titans may be wise to make a trade for something with the Baltimore Ravens for McNair lest they get nothing for his departure. If McNair goes to Baltimore he will be reunited with his favorite target in Derrick Mason. The Ravens will most likely have to sign a free agent QB before camp if they don't get McNair and that candidate could be Kerry Collins due to his relationship with Jim Fassel.

Shopping of Ashley Lelie

Now that the Broncos have Javon Walker they are trying to find a way to move Ashley Lelie. Teams rumored to be interested are...

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I Shall Call It Mini-Camp

Mini-camps are opportunities for the NFL teams to get together and start to gel. These are short camps over a time frame less than a week. Most teams have gone through the rookie mini-camp to get the rookies on the practice field and start getting them acclimated to the playbook. It is important to monitor these camps just to get a sniff about injuries, potential hold outs, free agent indoctrinations or upcoming traing camp battles for position.

From the latest round of mini-camps we saw Joey Harrington get traded, Reggie Bush have a hamstring issue that is going to the MRI phase now, Ashlie Lelie lay the groundwork for a holdout, and Donovan McNabb trying to make a statement about T.O. without saying T.O. Speaking of which, it was also the first opportunity to have Bill Parcells lay the groundwork for T.O. telling him what to expect. We also saw the NFL change it's policy on the positional numbering system, but who really knows what that means?

All in all these camps provide the insiders a little bit of additional information and some of it can be used by fantasy players to begin to create the 2006 player projections. For most of us now it is the slow march to June and then the wait until training camps open in July, but it is right around the corner, until then mini-camp is what we have.

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Last Chance for Super Bowl Lottery for This Year

Your last chance to get into the lottery to get Superbowl tickets at face value for this year is about to expire.

Want to win the right to buy Superbowl Tickets at face value? There is a way. It is the annual lottery that the NFL runs - it is very simple to enter. This may be the only affordable way to get to the game if your team makes it. If not then I am sure you would have no trouble selling them.

From the NFL:

Tickets

Tickets for the general public to Super Bowl XL are NO longer available. The only method the NFL has to distribute tickets to the public is through a random drawing. The primary means of distribution is through each NFL team. There is no other means for the general public to purchase tickets. The NFL does not sell tickets to travel or ticket agents. Entries for the random drawing are accepted between Feb. 1 and June 1 of the year preceding the game in question. All entries must include name, address, phone number and email address. You will be notified by mail if you are eligible to purchase Super Bowl tickets in October or November.

Here is what you need to do:

All ticket requests must be sent via certified or registered mail. Requests for tickets to Super Bowl XLI, to be played Feb. 4, 2007 in Miami, Fla., will be accepted beginning Feb. 1, 2006. Requests should be sent to:

Super Bowl Random Drawing
P.O. Box 49140
Strongsville, OH 44149-0140

Please note that only one request per address is accepted. All duplicate requests will be disregarded.

Good Luck!

Jimmy Smith to Retire

Jacksonvile Jaguars dependable wide receiver Jimmy Smith is retiring. Byron Leftwitch will have to get used to not having number 82 on the field. He talked about retiring at the end of last season, but Coach Del Rio asked him to take some time to be sure this was the right thing. After thinking about all off-season Smith has decided to hang up the spikes.

Bottom line: Fantasy owners used to get good production from Smith from lower draft positions. Time to look in a new direction for WR production in Jacksonville.