Daily Fantasy Report 21: Week 5 Pick Ups

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NFL Power Rankings: 2008 Week 5 edition

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Daily Fantasy Report 18: Westbrook Injury and a Free Agent Steal

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EAGLES @ BEARS WEEK 4

NFL Power Rankings: 2008 Week 4 edition

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Fantasy Report 15: Three wide receivers to start in week 4

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Daily Fantasy Report 13: Difficult decisions in Minnesota

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Carolina @ Minnesota NFL Week 3

Fitzy Fantalyst Picks

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Pete's Blog: Most Surprising things in the NFL

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Here are some things I found interesting, just a little preview of what I'm working on.

NFL Power Rankings: 2008 Week 3

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NFL Power Rankings: 2008 Week 2

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NFL most impressive team

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Titans, Ravens, Bills, Falcons, Eagles, Steelers

Week 2 predictions

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Just a few educated guesses comment and tell me whats right and wrong.

Daily Fantasy Report 5: Rookie starters in Week 1

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DET @ ATL (1:00 PM EST) FOX - CHI @ IND (8 PM EST) NBC

Which team will be the shocker of this season?

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I just wanna know what team everyone thinks will be the shocker this season? 49ers? Vikings? Lions? Rams? Falcons? Raiders? Or who else??

O'Sullivan to start for 49ers in season opener.

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The 49ers have named J.T. O'Sullivan as their starting quarterback for the regular-season opener, coach Mike Nolan told reporters Friday. The long-anticipated announcement comes as no surprise after O'Sullivan's impressive performance Thursday night against the Chicago Bears in the 49ers' third exhibition game. O'Sullivan had been working with the first-team offense since Aug. 6, moving past former starter and 2005 No. 1 overall draft choice Alex Smith on the depth chart. "J.T. O'Sullivan will be our starting quarterback going into the season and I'm expecting him to succeed," Nolan said Friday. "I'm very confident J.T. is at the point where he's our best man for the job right now." O'Sullivan, 29, has never started a regular-season NFL game. Smith, 24, was the starter until a shoulder injury limited him to seven games in 2007. O'Sullivan Still Prospecting 49ers QB J.T. O'Sullivan becomes one of the lowest-paid starting quarterbacks in the league now that Mike Nolan has officially named him the 49ers' starter. Mike Sando The 49ers signed O'Sullivan in March after naming Mike Martz as their offensive coordinator. Martz and O'Sullivan were together with the Detroit Lions last season. O'Sullivan's familiarity with Martz's offense gave him an edge in a competition that began with Smith and veteran Shaun Hill as the primary competitors. "This hasn't been a case of Alex and Shaun not performing well," Nolan said. "This has been a case of J.T. performing very well. That's why we are where we are. J.T. has very good command of the offense, he's played well in all three preseason games, and now it's time for us to get ready for the regular season." O'Sullivan has completed 60.6 percent of his passes for 351 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in three exhibition starts this summer. His passer rating is 91.8. Smith, working mostly with the second-team offense, has completed 42.1 percent of his passes with one touchdown, no interceptions and a 67.4 rating. "We want to play our best players that give us the best chance to win," Nolan said. "For our football team's sake, it's time to get ready for our opening game. This [decision] puts more focus on where it should be now." Smith enters the season as the No. 2 quarterback, with Hill in the No. 3 role. San Francisco opens the regular season Sept. 7 versus the Arizona Cardinals.

Orton named Bears' starting quarterback.

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Who is the right fit?

How effective will Brett Farve be with the Jets?

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Richt draws on experience to prepare Bulldogs

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ATHENS, Ga. -- Georgia heard the expectations on the field at the Louisiana Superdome in the moments after its 41-10 rout of Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl. The Bulldogs have lived with them ever since, every single day. Coach Mark Richt has listened to them at summer meetings of Bulldog Clubs across the state. The players have heard them on campus all spring and summer. When you're 20 years old and everyone within a 60-mile radius of Sanford Stadium is telling you how great you're going to be, it would be tempting to assume that the actual playing of the games is a formality. It would be tempting to believe your coronation awaits. [+] EnlargeLynn Bass/Icon SMI Mark Richt's experience with expectations could pay dividends to Matt Stafford and the Bulldogs. Richt has not had to deal with these expectations in his previous seven seasons at Georgia. In fact, the Bulldogs have not been ranked No. 1 in any Associated Press poll since 1982. But Richt spent his formative years as a coach at Florida State. He worked for Bobby Bowden for 13 of the 14 consecutive seasons (1987 to 2000) in which the Seminoles finished in the top five. Richt grew up in coaching dealing with these expectations. That's how he came to tell his Bulldogs a story about the 1988 Florida State Seminoles. The previous season, Florida State had finished second in the nation to Miami, which had beaten the Seminoles 26-25. Florida State had nearly its entire team return for the 1988 season. The Seminoles spent eight months as the consensus No. 1. The players ate it up. They decided to create a dance video, which would save their greatness for posterity. The Chicago Bears had done just such a thing during the 1985 regular season en route to the Super Bowl. It didn't dawn on the Seminoles that the Bears had danced after their 12-1 start. Florida State hadn't played a game yet. 2008 SEC Preview The SEC has delivered the last two national champions. The reigning Heisman winner is from SEC country. What will the conference provide in 2008? • Low: Uncertain QB landscape • Low: Tebow still learning • Maisel: UGA's great expectations • Opportunity for South Carolina • Skill threat: UT's Eric Berry • Forde: Five SEC predictions • SportsNation: Vote on SEC Richt, sitting in his office the other day, relished the story the same way he did when he told it to his Georgia team this past spring. "Florida State studied the Chicago Bears' rap, 'The Super Bowl Shuffle,'" Richt said. "While we were doing that, Miami was studying the 46 defense, Buddy Ryan's scheme that helped them win the Super Bowl. They had never run it before. They sprang it on us. We had no answer. We had very few answers." The Seminoles played their archrival Hurricanes in the season opener as if they didn't know even the questions. Miami won 31-0. Richt called it "the hardest lesson that Florida State ever learned." After Richt told the Bulldogs the story, he showed them "The Seminole Rap." "I was just trying to send the message that if you get too full of yourself, it could come tumbling down in a hurry," Richt said. "… I just told them that the preseason blessing could be a blessing or a curse. It will be a curse if you choose to use it as a sense of entitlement, like, 'I don't have to work anymore.' It will be a blessing if it excites you to begin to work like you never worked." As the leaders of the team prepared for August practice, they said all the right things. They understand the lesson of "The Seminole Rap." They understand the 2007 season is the past tense. They know this is a different team. "I'm going on my fourth season here," defensive tackle Jeff Owens said. "I have seen the ups and downs. I have experience at both winning and losing." [+] EnlargeJason Parkhurst/US Presswire After throwing for 4,272 yards through two seasons, Matt Stafford is facing even higher expectations in 2008. In 2006, the Bulldogs lost four of five games, then rallied to win their last three and finish 9-4. In 2007, after being routed at Tennessee 35-14, Georgia stood at only 2-2 in the SEC East. The Dawgs then won their final seven games, tied for the division championship and finished second in the AP rankings. Imaginations, at least those outside the locker room, took off from there. "I'm just ready for it to get here," quarterback Matthew Stafford said, "so people will have something to talk about other than, 'What if?' When I go to campus, it's, 'Are y'all going to do it?'" Stafford does sardonic well. "They realize it's set in stone," he said. "Fans think, 'You're preseason No. 1, so you should win it.'" Stafford begins his junior year with outsized expectations on himself in addition to the expectations on his team. NFL scouts go all dreamy when they talk about him. He is 20 years old and maturing before our eyes, as his numbers indicate: two seasons

FAVRE-AROCIOUS

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BRETT FAVRE WILL NOT START FOR THE PACKERS AND HE PROBABLY WONT PLAY FOR THEM EITHER. IF AND WHEN HE GETS TRADED, WHERE WILL HE GO.

Packers offer Brett Favre 20 Million to stay retired.

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The Green Bay Packers, unable so far to trade Brett Favre and facing his arrival at training camp, are reportedly considering taking a step they desperately wanted to avoid: dealing him to a division rival. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, citing a source close to the situation, on Wednesday reported the Packers were considering seeking a deal with one of their rivals, most likely the Minnesota Vikings or Chicago Bears, if all else fails. That follows reports that the Packers on Wednesday offered Favre a substantial sum of money -- as much as $20 million over several years -- to stay retired. On Monday, Packers general manager Ted Thompson said the Packers would not trade Favre within the NFC North. Favre, who has asked the NFL to be reinstated, is reportedly interested in playing for the Vikings, who play the Packers to open their season on "Monday Night Football" on Sept. 8. The Packers are committed to Aaron Rodgers as their quarterback of the future and are not considering Favre, who tearfully retired March 6, returning to Green Bay as the starter An NFL source said he understood from the Packers that trading within the NFC North would be a last resort, according to the report. And the Packers are still trying to convince Favre to consider trade possibilities with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets. But while the Packers continue to try to buy themselves more time to deal, Favre has yet to talk to either team.Team president Mark Murphy traveled to Hattiesburg, Miss., to meet with Favre and his agent James "Bus" Cook on Wednesday, and multiple media outlets later reported that the team offered the quarterback substantial money to stay retired. WTMJ television in Milwaukee reported that the team offered Favre in the neighborhood of $20 million over several years to stay retired. The Green Bay Press-Gazette reported on its Web site that the team offered Favre "a substantial salary" to stay away. Both reports cited sources close to Favre. But signs still point to the quarterback reporting to Packers camp. According to a source close to Favre, the Packers have told him they might limit him to individual drills if he shows up at training camp, the Press-Gazette reported. Murphy left the meeting in the early evening and had no comment for reporters but issued a statement Wednesday night. "I was in Hattiesburg today and had a nice visit with Brett Favre," the statement read. "We discussed a number of topics not related to football, including Brett's long-term relationship with the Packers. I consider our conversation to be confidential and am going to be respectful of Brett and his family and keep the details private. "[General manager] Ted [Thompson] and [coach] Mike [McCarthy] are going to continue to work on the football side of this issue. They have my full support."After the meeting, Cook was asked by the media if Favre could be back in Green Bay by Friday and he said that was a good possibility. "He would love to go back in Green Bay," Cook said, in comments broadcast by ESPNEWS. "I mean, that's why he started working out. But right now, it looks like he'll be the quarterback at Oak Grove High School." Favre worked out with the school's football team on Wednesday before the meeting. A league source told ESPN's Chris Mortensen on Wednesday night that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell hopes to speak with Favre on Thursday before he decides to reinstate him. Mortensen reported earlier Wednesday that Goodell was unlikely to rule on Favre's request for reinstatement Wednesday in order to give the sides more time to work out an agreement on the quarterback's future. "The commissioner is taking no action today," the NFL said in a statement Wednesday. "He wants to give both the Packers and Brett an appropriate amount of time to make decisions, including decisions impacting the team's roster and salary cap. When Brett is reinstated by the commissioner, we will announce it."