With the draft still more than a month away and the biggest names in free agency finding homes, we are in a little bit of a lull when it comes to news. However, John Hansen attended the combine and Adam Caplan spent time at the owners’ meetings looking to pick up any information from coaches, executives, and other team officials. What we have here are some of the nuggets from the coaches that spoke last week in Arizona.

Bruce Arians, Cardinals

-Believes addition of Rashard Mendenhall helps because of their history. Mendenhall doesn’t need to come out of the game.

-Prefers to use one RB instead of committee

-Wants to name starting QB ASAP, possibly by end of spring. Comfortable with Drew Stanton because he knows the system already and has some athleticism.

-Outside of Levi Brown at LT, there will be competition on the OL.

-Wants flexibility at TE because he doesn’t like to use a FB. Rob Housler praised for being an excellent receiver, just scratching the surface.

Tom Coughlin, Giants

-Excited about Brandon Myers’ catch total from 2012. Believe he’s well rounded and can help with ground game.

Jason Garrett, Cowboys

-Need more than one RB. Need to run it better. Need to balance offense and healthy [...]

Each year, we publish an article about Overvalues & Players to Avoid, but make a point to say that at the right value, anyone is worth drafting. While I agree with that philosophy for the most part, there is always a group of players I want nothing to do with due to injury history, continuing off-the-field issues, too much competition at the position, or a coach who doesn’t care about your fantasy team (looking at you, Mike Shanahan). With training camp underway and mock drafts happening much more often, I figured I’d share my 2012 list with you. You’ll probably have some disagreements, which is understandable since some of these are based on gut feeling. I asked some of you on Twitter about players on your list and will include them below.

There's too much going against Ahmad Bradshaw to draft him with confidence this year.

Ahmad Bradshaw – Bradshaw has been one of my favorite players to watch since making a name for himself as part of the Earth, Wind, and Fire backfield for the 2007 Giants. After Derrick Ward departed, Bradshaw got a much-deserved increased role in the offense. I’ve given him plenty of credit for being a [...]

This off-season, we spent some time watching each and every NFL team again, trying to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses with players we might have missed in the rush of the regular season. The intention was to feel more confident in our analysis for what turned out to be our biggest player profiles ever.We spent more time on some teams than on others, and even the teams we spent the most time on we were only able to watch a handful of games. But we thought it might be cool to publish a series of blogs detailing what we saw from the teams we watched with our raw notes.

These notes were never intended for publication, so forgive grammatical errors or the occasional poor language. Nor were they intended to be comprehensive, or definitive takes on fringe players (especially WRs, who are difficult to watch on TV angles). We simply thought it’d be a neat way to show a little extra insight into some of the players that we might not have felt like we had a great grip on this season. Each of the games that follows in this article is from Week Two.

New York Giants

Week 2 – Stl

Eli Manning
- 1st-quarter [...]

This off-season, we spent some time watching each and every NFL team again, trying to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses with players we might have missed in the rush of the regular season. The intention was to feel more confident in our analysis for what turned out to be our biggest player profiles ever.We spent more time on some teams than on others, and even the teams we spent the most time on we were only able to watch a handful of games. But we thought it might be cool to publish a series of blogs detailing what we saw from the teams we watched with our raw notes.

These notes were never intended for publication, so forgive grammatical errors or the occasional poor language. Nor were they intended to be comprehensive, or definitive takes on fringe players (especially WRs, who are difficult to watch on TV angles). We simply thought it’d be a neat way to show a little extra insight into some of the players that we might not have felt like we had a great grip on this season.

Miami Dolphins

Week 2 – Hou

Chad Henne
- Sack on first series no receivers open… Henne had no chance.
- Henne stood in there [...]

This off-season, we spent some time watching each and every NFL team again, trying to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses with players we might have missed in the rush of the regular season. The intention was to feel more confident in our analysis for what turned out to be our biggest player profiles ever.We spent more time on some teams than on others, and even the teams we spent the most time on we were only able to watch a handful of games. But we thought it might be cool to publish a series of blogs detailing what we saw from the teams we watched with our raw notes.

These notes were never intended for publication, so forgive grammatical errors or the occasional poor language. Nor were they intended to be comprehensive, or definitive takes on fringe players (especially WRs, who are difficult to watch on TV angles). We simply thought it’d be a neat way to show a little extra insight into some of the players that we might not have felt like we had a great grip on this season.

Houston Texans

Week 2 – @Mia

Matt Schaub
- Texans came out throwing.
- First drive stalled inside the 5 when Dolphins got pressure on [...]

This off-season, we spent some time watching each and every NFL team again, trying to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses with players we might have missed in the rush of the regular season. The intention was to feel more confident in our analysis for what turned out to be our biggest player profiles ever.We spent more time on some teams than on others, and even the teams we spent the most time on we were only able to watch a handful of games. But we thought it might be cool to publish a series of blogs detailing what we saw from the teams we watched with our raw notes.

These notes were never intended for publication, so forgive grammatical errors or the occasional poor language. Nor were they intended to be comprehensive, or definitive takes on fringe players (especially WRs, who are difficult to watch on TV angles). We simply thought it’d be a neat way to show a little extra insight into some of the players that we might not have felt like we had a great grip on this season.

Dallas Cowboys

Week 2 – @SF

Tony Romo
- First play, slightly overthrew Austin on potential big play, but Austin slowed down and probably [...]

This off-season, we spent some time watching each and every NFL team again, trying to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses with players we might have missed in the rush of the regular season. The intention was to feel more confident in our analysis for what turned out to be our biggest player profiles ever.We spent more time on some teams than on others, and even the teams we spent the most time on we were only able to watch a handful of games. But we thought it might be cool to publish a series of blogs detailing what we saw from the teams we watched with our raw notes.

These notes were never intended for publication, so forgive grammatical errors or the occasional poor language. Nor were they intended to be comprehensive, or definitive takes on fringe players (especially WRs, who are difficult to watch on TV angles). We simply thought it’d be a neat way to show a little extra insight into some of the players that we might not have felt like we had a great grip on this season.

Carolina Panthers

Week 2 – GB

Cam Newton
- Panthers came out chucking the ball. Deep shots to Jeremy Shockey first two plays. They [...]

This off-season, we spent some time watching each and every NFL team again, trying to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses with players we might have missed in the rush of the regular season. The intention was to feel more confident in our analysis for what turned out to be our biggest player profiles ever.We spent more time on some teams than on others, and even the teams we spent the most time on we were only able to watch a handful of games. But we thought it might be cool to publish a series of blogs detailing what we saw from the teams we watched with our raw notes.

These notes were never intended for publication, so forgive grammatical errors or the occasional poor language. Nor were they intended to be comprehensive, or definitive takes on fringe players (especially WRs, who are difficult to watch on TV angles). We simply thought it’d be a neat way to show a little extra insight into some of the players that we might not have felt like we had a great grip on this season.

Arizona Cardinals

Week 2 – @Was

Kevin Kolb
- Really tough to watch in this game…didn’t see him set his feet and deliver a [...]

It is getting to be the time of year when I am not only building my general draft strategy, but I am also starting to break down what I plan to do into specifics. I have my studs, sleepers, targets, and values highlighted. I have my duds and overvalues blacklisted. But most notably, and perhaps obviously, my analysis of these specifics starts with a single question:

“If I have the #1 pick in fantasy football this season, what am I going to do with it?”

Here’s the easy answer: I’m going to draft Arian Foster. I will take Foster and his 23.3 FPG in a PPR (1st among RBs), plus his 1841 yards from scrimmage and 12 TDs in 13 games. I will beam when he sucks up touch after touch down the stretch of a close game when both the Texans and my fantasy team need those yards and points.

But is the answer really that simple? Unfortunately, it’s not. It’s a discussion I started on my Twitter account (@FG_Dolan) about a week ago, and my interest in the topic was rekindled on our subscriber message boards this morning.

To put it frankly, it’s wise to be a little bit concerned about Foster’s [...]

The 2012 NFL Draft is a week away, and this edition is much clearer than last year, at least in terms of team needs, because free agency has already taken place. Here on the staff blog, I’m breaking down each team’s top needs and fantasy outlook for the draft, going division by division. In the final post, we head to the NFC West, and, if you missed them, check out the AFC East, AFC North, AFC South, AFC West, NFC East, NFC North, and NFC South. Got a player you want your team to target? Let me know in the comments.

Also, be sure to take a look at our massive 2012 Pre-Draft Rookie Report, which takes an in-depth look at all the top fantasy prospects. And, as an early reminder, Joe Dolan and I will be conducting a live chat for commentary/questions during the 1st round of the draft next Thursday.

Arizona Cardinals

Picks: 13, 80, 112, 151, 177, 185, 221

Top Needs:

1. Offensive Tackle – The Cardinal offensive line has been lousy in pass protection, and that’s a big problem with Kevin Kolb at QB, because he really struggles dealing with pressure. Levi Brown has struggled, but the team re-signed him, so [...]