The Seattle Seahawks needed a quarterback of the future, and it looks highly unlikely that Jimmy Clausen or Sam Bradford will fall to them at the draft. Because of this Coach Pete Carroll made a trade for one of the more interesting young backup quarterbacks in the NFL.

That quarterback is none other than now former Charger Charlie Whitehurst as he is a Seahawk for at least the next two seasons. This move will be an interesting one to look back on as the 27 year old Whitehurst couldn’t even beat out veteran Billy Volek for the No.2 position last year.

Not only that but the Seahawks gave up a second round pick in this years’ draft (got a third rounder back for 2011 draft) to get Whitehurst and are paying him over 10 million dollars for the next two years. Since we are in an uncapped time and the Seahawks owner is one of the wealthier  owners in football its not like they are hurting for money to pay him.

Still that is a good chunk of money for any team to get a quarterback that you’re not sure if he can get it done on the field.

Moving Forward Into 2010

With all that said above, the Seahawks desperately needed a quarterback that has ability to not only back up aging veteran Matt Hasselbeck but start right now. The Seahawks don’t have a good offensive line, and it is very likely that Hasselbeck won’t hold up for an entire season, for the third year in a row.

Since the team traded away Seneca Wallace to the Browns, they needed a quarterback that could come in and move this team down the field. Whitehurst should be able to do that, and he is young, so he should be more durable than Hasselbeck.

Fantasy Notes

If Whitehurst does get a chance to play this year and gets hot he would make for a good waiver wire pickup during the fantasy season. Beyond that he’s only worth a cheep pick up this summer in dynasty leagues to see what he can do in the regular season.

NFL fantasy football player rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

The Arizona Cardinals wanted to bring in some type of competition at quarterback to make Matt Leinart earn the job this offseason. Now, we have an answer to the player that will challenge the former USC Hiesman Trophy Winner and first round pick.

That player is none other than former Browns’ quarterback Derek Anderson as the team signed him via free agency. While one would figure Leinart should be able to beat out Anderson for the job, at least the Cardinals now have a half way respectable fellow quarterback on the team.

If Leinart should fail in his efforts to be the teams starting quarterback it would not only be shocking but probably the end of his career in Arizona. I don’t expect this competition to be close as Leinart made good strides last offseason and got some playing time in last year when Kurt Warner was hurt.

Look for Leinart to lead the Cardinals to another run at the NFC Western Division Title in 2010.

NFL fantasy football player rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

Last year running back Mike Bell did a good job of hurting Pierre Thomas’s fantasy value thought the season. Now, Bell is gone from New Orleans and looks to take valuable touches away from second year runner LeSean McCoy.

The Eagles signed Bell to a one year contract for 1.7 million dollars, and I would suspect he will play along side McCoy for that kind of money. Not only does McCoy have to deal with Bell but full back Leonard Weaver is a good bet for touches and especially inside the red zone.

While McCoy is clearly the most valuable fantasy option of the three I can’t recommend him as a starter from day one on your team. We need to see that the Eagles are committed to giving McCoy at least 18 touches a game, and hopefully he can win out over Weaver for short yardage duties.

Even if McCoy has a strong preseason he could stumble in production at any point, and the team would then turn to Bell and Weaver, thus hurting his fantasy value.

In short, look for McCoy as nice depth for your fantasy roster but don’t expect huge numbers from him in his second year as a pro.

NFL fantasy football player rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

The Seahawks and Eagles partook in a trade as they both swapped defensive lineman. The Eagles gave away defensive end Chris Clemons for Seattle’s Darryl Tapp. Both players have had their share of success in the NFL and the Eagles are hoping Tapp will fit into their defensive system better than Clemons.

Used as a rotational pass rusher, the Eagles are hopefully they can get the 25 year old Tapp back to perform the way he did in 2007 when he totaled 49 tackles and seven sacks.

The Eagles also had to part ways with a fourth round pick to get Tapp, but if he works out, he should be worth it for the extra disruption he brings to opponents’ offenses.

As for the Seahawks they get a lineman in Clemons that can also play some linebacker as well. Tapp had struggled for the past few seasons.

In the end, this move will probably benefit the Eagles the most as they have been running their defensive scheme for many years, and they know what types of players fit well in it. Not only that but as Tapp has struggled for the past two seasons he’s been on a very bad defensive unit.

Now, he will be back on a rock solid defense that should only get better with linebacker Stewart Bradley returning from his acl injury last summer.

NFL fantasy football player rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

Just yesterday I wrote a piece about Bruce Gradkowski and JaMarcus Russell. Since Russell hadn’t reported to the Raiders voluntary workout and Gradkowski had signed a new contract, I was ready to stick a fork in Russell’s career.

Now, news today is out that Russell only missed the start of voluntary offseason workouts because of personal reasons, and he is supposed to be in very good shape.

It’s going to take a lot more than losing a few pounds to win back Raiders’ fans after the past few years. Let alone gain any trust from those of use in fantasy football land. Still, this was the news I was hoping to hear about Russell at this point in the offseason.

Russell needed to drop a good amount of weight and come into camp early to show his teammates and upper management that he is a new man.

At least if he is in much better shape we can say he’s been making a sound effort this offseason. Now we need to find out if he can beat our Gradkowski for the starting job and play well.

Odds are he won’t but at least this is a good start in the right direction.

NFL fantasy football player rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

The Cincinnati Bengals are looking for a tight end at this years’ draft that has a strong ability to block and stretch the field in the passing game. Many teams in the NFL are looking for a tight end that can do just that but the problem is most tight ends have trouble doing both.

Jermaine Gresham, Aaron Hernandez, Dorin Dickerson and Dennis Pitta are all good in the passing game but have question marks when it comes to blocking.

One tight end that could fill the Bengals need is Rob Gronkowski. The former Arizona tight end has the ability to be a reliable receiver yet at the same time has the size to do a decent job blocking.

While Gronkowski isn’t projected to be one of the top tight ends taken this year because of back problems (had surgery) that plagued him for part of his college career. If Gronkowski has a strong pro day on March 27th it would go a long way towards helping his stock in this years’ draft.

It is possible that Gronkowski could move up and be one of the first three tight ends taken this year if a certain team (Bengals) felt good about his health.

Look for all the tight ends listed above to be potential fantasy starting tight ends over the next few years as they have the ability to help your team. Hernandez and Pitta are the two tight ends, I like the most for fantasy but Dickerson is a very interesting dark horse as well.

NFL fantasy football player rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

Bruce Gradkowski’s chances of being the Oakland Raiders starting quarterback looked good heading into this offseason. However, for Gradkowski to win the job, he would first need to sign a new deal and JaMarcus Russell would have to stay rutted in his old ways.

Today we got a big message for both players as Gradkowski signed a 1.76 million dollar, one year contract with the Raiders and showed up to the first day of the teams voluntary offseason conditioning program.

On the other hand, Russell was a no show on the first day of the conditioning program, and it looks like the man isn’t serious about turning his career around. If he was, you would have to believe he would at least be at the conditioning program (not that he needs, I, the man is in tip top shape) to at least show good faith to the team.

Time To Cut And Run?

Before I rip Russsell, let me say that I have been a supporter of Russell for awhile and have hoped that he would turn the corner in his career.

Now that  is out of the way, Russell disappoints me most by not showing up to this program because of everything that is on the line in his career and for the team. The Raiders aren’t that far away from being a very competitive team if they just had a decent quarterback.

While Russell is a bust, Gradkowski could be the quarterback this team needs to start winning more football games. I love his ability to create something out of nothing.

At this time, it looks like Gradkowski is ready to take over as Oakland’s starting quarterback and Russell isn’t even going to put up a fight.

NFL fantasy football player rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

USC tailback Joe McKnight had his ups and downs in 2009, but he should be a serviceable running back in the NFL. McKnight is projected to be a mid round pick at this years’ draft and will be a backup running back on the team he ends up on.

Teams like the San Francisco 49ers will probably be interested in McKnight for his abilities in the kick and punt return game. The 49ers had a horrible time finding a player that could provide an impact for them and McKnight would provide an instant upgrade.

Special teams should be where McKnight helps his NFL team the most in 2010 as he’s probably not going to be used as more than a third down back for his rookie year.

That said, you never know when a youngster could receive an opportunity to shine because of injury to a starting tailback. If McKnight does receive an opportunity he has the skills in the running game and the passing game to make some noise for your fantasy team.

NFL fantasy football player rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

After a great junior season with the Fresno Bulldogs, running back Ryan Mathews decided to head into the NFL draft. No one can deny that Mathews can be a feature back at the pro level with his 276 rushing attempts for 1,808 yards and 19 touchdowns in his final year.

Now, there are rumors that Mathews could go in front of Clemson star talent C.J. Spiller if the two are available at pick twenty when the Texans draft. The Texans already have a slash runner in Steve Slaton, but they need a true power back to start on the team.

Mathews, Jonathan Dwyer and Toby Gerhart would be the ideal runners for the Texans and other teams like the Seahawks and possibly the Browns.

While Dwyer and Gerhart are talented runners, both aren’t projected to be taken in the first round. Mathews seems like a surprise pick at twenty but inside sources with the Texans believe he would fit their zone blocking scheme perfectly.

If Mathews does end up with a team like the Texans or Seahawks he would be the favorite to start week one of the 2010 season. This would give him instant fantasy value, and he would be selected at every draft this summer.

NFL fantasy football player rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

Every year various players come into the NFL draft and suffer in their draft status because of a poor showing at the combine. That said, bad combine results don’t mean a player isn’t talented, and terrific combine results don’t guarantee an athlete will have success come game time.

Georgia Tech running back Jonathan Dwyer ran a 4.73 in the 40 yard dash and was tagged with some the smaller hands at the combine. With a slow 40 time, NFL teams will grade him as a running back that doesn’t have the ability to break away for touchdowns in the open field.

His small hands will make teams concerned that he might be a liability for fumbling the football. Neither of these issues should keep Dwyer out of the second round of the draft, but it may very well kick him out of the first round.

While Dwyer may not have all the attributes that make a players’ stock rise for the NFL draft, he is a pure running back in size and skill. At 5/11 and 235 pounds, Dwyer is a perfect fit to be a teams starting tailback and handle the rock twenty times a game.

Not only that but Dwyer also has good moves in the open field and that helps make up for his lack of pure speed that may knock him on draft day.

Dwyer may not be a first round pick this year, but if he gets a chance to start in his rookie year he will be a very nice fantasy back to have on your team.

NFL fantasy football player rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com