Braylon Gets His Wish - Headed Out of Cleveland

Former Cleveland Brown Braylon Edwards was traded on Wednesday to the New York Jets for Wideout Chansi Stuckey and Linebacker Jason Trusnik along with two draft picks in the third and fifth round. Depending on Braylon’s performance the third round pick could be bumped up to a second round pick if he has a phenomenal year and catches “X” number of balls.

The trade is great for both teams. The Jets get a legitimate young, established downfield threat and the Browns receive two prospects and draft picks to build up their team. It looks like Mangini did take some notes from Bilichick when he was in New England. Star players are just as expendable – if the compensation is right.

According to ESPN.com, the Jets are going to start Edwards on Monday Night Football this week against the Dolphins.

The Jets are looking like a playoff team right now and the addition of Edwards only makes their offense more legitimate. Their running game should open up for Thomas Jones and Dustin Keller and Jericho Cotchery should find more room to get open now that defenses have to worry about Braylon breaking off for a long touchdown reception.

Lookout Patriots – the Jets are gunning for you.

Ups and Downs - Week 4

Week 4 Ups

Brett Favre

Yeah, as you all probably know by now - I love me some Favre - almost enough to run out and buy some Wrangler jeans and a farm right now. Although after all the comments and puppy dog eyes he was making when he mentioned Favre I think John Gruden likes Favre waaay more than I do. Brett played a heck of a game against his old team and showed many of us he can still throw the rock at 40 years old. Favre's 271 yards and 3 TDs (and 0 Ints which is impressive for Brett) kept the Vikings a perfect 4-0 this season.

Rashard Mendenhall

I would just like to say I was on this guy's bandwagon at the beginning of the year and actually drafted him in a couple of fantasy leagues, so I'm not late to the party on this one. It looks like the tough love Coach Tomlin showed Mendenhall in week 3 really hit home when he ran all over the Chargers on Sunday night for 165 yards and 2 TDs. He needed to have a big game to remind the Steelers why they spent a first round pick on him two years ago. With a few more games like that - and Willie Parker not getting the tough yards and staying injured- he could find himself as the featured back in Pittsburgh.

Steve Smith

So, which Steve Smith is "the other" Steve Smith now? New York Giants' Steve Smith has been on fire so far this season which is the exact opposite of his namesake in Carolina. I figured Eli Manning would have to throw to someone, but I didn't know he would find a sole mate so early in the season. Granted some of the defenses he has torched haven't been the leagues best he should have plenty of practice catching the magic bean and scoring TDs by then. If this guy is still available in your fantasy league grab him while you can. You will thank yourself later.

Week 4 Downs

Tony Romo

Week 1 Tony Romo looked like a football god throwing all over the place against the Bucs...then reality set in and has apparently stuck for the last three weeks. Romo followed up a horrible week 2 with a mediocre week 3 and week 4 wasn't much better. With a 67.1 Qb rating, 0 TDs and 1 Int in week 4 there is much to be desired from Anthony Romo. Yeah, I'm just going to call him Anthony until he is cool enough, or makes his reads, to be Tony again. I think he misses TO more than he wants to admit.


Steven Jackson

Poor SJax. An incredible talent almost wasted on such a terrible team. It's tough enough to be a running back in the NFL and even harder when the opposing team knows you are the only legitimate offensive threat on the Rams' roster. He has been getting his carries, but not much for yards and he has 0 TDs on the season. It's not his fault he hasn't exploded yet. It's hard to break off a run with 9 guys on your back.

Roddy White

Ok, so I know he was on bye last week but I'm a little behind. Mr. White goes out last season, blows up, gets paid like the "#1" receiver he says he is in the off season, and then decides to take a vacation on the field every week. I wish that series of events summed up my last calendar year. Roddy White has 15 receptions and 119 yards and 1 TD through three games this season. By comparison, Mr. Smith mentioned above has had two games where he has more than 100 yards in a single game. It's time to find that 2008 swagger you had.

The Fifth Down

I'm back! It's been a while since I wrote last and a lot has happened. Here are a few things to get caught up on in the Fifth Down.

Richard Seymour Traded to the Raiders

The Patriots traded Richard Seymour to the Oakland Raiders for a 2011 first round draft pick last week. The trade seemed to come out of nowhere as there were no rumors in the media about such a trade. The Patriots unload another large contract and since Seymour was due to be a free agent next year they have likely made a good financial decision. Since the Raiders aren't likely to have a winning record for a while with crazy Al Davis running the show the Patriots stand to make off like bandits with a top draft pick in 2011. I hate the Patriots almost as much as I hate Ohio State but I have to give it to them on this one. Touche Belichick, Touche.

Browns Coach Mum on starter at QB

This week Browns head coach Eric Mangini said he decided on his starting QB but did not want to reveal who it was for reasons of having a competitive edge for their opener against the Vikings. Man-genius is over thinking this one by a mile. Its not like Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn are completely different types of quarterbacks. Neither is a scrambler or a run first Michael Vick kind of qb - just your average stand in the pocket and throw the ball kinds of guys. The Vikings don't really care who you have in there Mangini. They are still coming at you with everything they have regardless of who your QB is. I hope Mangini chose wisely. The Browns aren't going to be able to move the ball on the ground against one of the leagues best run defenses.

Steelers / Titans - Where's the run game Pittsburgh?

What happened to smash mouth, we're going to run the ball and there is nothing you can do about it football, Pittsburgh? The Steelers were held to only 39 yards on the ground against the Tennessee Titans this past Thursday night. Neither "Fast" Willie Parker or "Hopefully I wont get my shoulder broken again" Rashard Mendenhall were able to push the pile for any significant gains on Thursday. Coupled with the lack of a run game and Big Ben taking a lot of hits it is becoming pretty apparent that the Steelers need to spend some money on some premier offensive linemen very soon. I know they won the Super Bowl with pretty much the same personnel on the line, but Ben can't win every game by himself.

Favre signs with Vikings

Probably the biggest story while I was away was that Fave finally made the decision to join the Minnesota Vikings. Favre signed a two year deal that instantly made him the starting quarterback over Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels who were competing for the starting job themselves. While most would say this isn't "fair" Favre is a legend and is still better than those two guys at age 39. Let's hope Old Man River can do what the Vikes think he can and lead them deep into the playoffs. With Adrian Peterson carrying the rock against defenses that cant stack the box anymore I think a deep playoff run is more than likely.