Newsmakers: Hardesty, Bush, Roethlisberger, Foster, Housh, Ward

Montario Hardesty and Jerome Harrison
Hardesty tore his ACL and is out for the year. Jerome Harrison's value just shot up. Cleveland has not looked great in preseason action, but don't forget that Cleveland was a top ten rushing team last year. I would take Harrison in the 5th round, just before the Giants and Cowboys halfbacks.

In Tuesday's AFC RB Situations article, we predicted "One back will actually emerge out of this duo." But I didn't know it would happen so soon! Because of all the injuries and RB Situation updates, we're going to make "RB Situations" a permanent Tab on the top. You can check it at any time for updates with the NYG, TB, HOU, and CLE situations. 

In one league, I drafted Harrison and am on cloud nine. In another league, I drafted Hardesty and am reeling. And in 2 leagues, I've drafted both Hardesty and Harrison, which works out quite well - I get a 5th round talent for the price of my 8th and 9th picks. The situation reminds me of a post from a few weeks ago about playing conservatively and protecting your lead by avoiding risk:

"It's possible that the [Cleveland and Buffalo] tandems split 50-50 and they're all equally valuable. But more likely (and for the sake of this argument), let's assume that one RB on each team will emerge and become much more valuable than the other. In a draft last night, I had the swing pick so I could take two of these four RBs. I felt really good about my team at that point and noticed my frustrated competitors, so I played conservatively and took Harrison and Hardesty. I know that they cannot both be studs, but one of them likely will be a good start. IF I didn't like my team, I may have swung for the fences and taken Hardesty and Spiller and hoped that I chose the two starting RBs on those teams. Of course, I would risk drafting two backups, but there's an equal chance that I drafted two starters."

The even better examples are Cleveland and Houston. If you played conservatively and got both backs on the same team, then you could free up a roster spot by dropping Ben Tate or Hardesty, and you have a solid RB2 in Arian Foster or Harrison. If you played risky, maybe you got lucky and grabbed Foster and Harrison. Or maybe you got screwed and drafted Tate and Hardesty. Keep this strategy in mind when you get to the pairs of backs in NYG, DAL, BUF, OAK, MIA, and CAR.

Michael Bush
Now, I'm not a doctor, but I understand functional thumbs are important for carrying the football. It's a tough blow for Bush who was gaining momentum, but he will be out for a couple weeks (maybe even up to half the season) with the thumb injury. Not to continue tooting my own horn (and let's be honest, which guy hasn't tried to toot his own horn at some point?), but I picked Darren McFadden over Bush in Tuesday's article. I couldn't have predicted the injury, but I'm alone on an island in saying that McFadden actually has talent. I guess I'm not alone - Darren, his mom, and Al Davis are with me. Bush will likely come back and take away carries, but I'll move McFadden from the 9th round to the 7th round on my draftboards.

Ben Roethlisberger
Big Ben's suspension was officially reduced from 6 to 4 weeks. Ben's value goes up a tiny bit, because this suspension was expected. Byron Leftwich is out 2-4 weeks, and I think Dennis Dixon should get the nod over Charlie Batch. Dixon will get a mixed bag of matchups in his 4 starts against ATL, TEN, TB, and BAL. 


Arian Foster
A month ago, this was a crowded and confusing backfield. Then Ben Tate was placed on Injured Reserve. Then Steve Slaton got turf toe and will likely miss week 1. Finally last night, one of my sleepers Jeremiah Johnson dislocated his toe. Foster will start the season with zero competition for carries. He's in an ideal situation to be an RB2 with RB1 upside potential. 


T.J. Houshmandzadeh
Housh is not happy in Seattle. The team is trying to trade him away. Reports out of Seattle say Housh is unlikely to play for the Seahawks at all this season. Either way, with Matt Hasselbeck's injuries, I don't like Housh much this season and have him ranked 10 spots later than his ADP.


Derrick Ward
The Bucs cut Ward and cited "lack of talent" as the reason. I've been touting Kareem Huggins for a while now, and now he's the clear #2 behind Cadillac Williams and may even push for significant playing time by week 1.