For the rest of the preseason, we will be posting and review the results of our polls a couple of times each week. Today we look at our most recent poll, which looks at four possible players, who could are #2 fantasy RB candidates. Here are the results of that poll:

After what has been a strong training camp for him and impressive performance on national television last weekend, I can’t say I’m surprised to see Cowboy RB Felix Jones lead the way. While he’s been somewhat of a disappointed over the first three years of his career, there’s no doubt Jones has a lot of talent, as well as the size and physicality to be a lead back. Even though he does have the ability to take it to the house, it seems like some have been blinded by that idea and don’t think Jones can be much more than that or are disappointed when he doesn’t routinely bust off big runs. What doesn’t get discussed about enough is Jones’ role in the screen game, which is where he really excels as one of the best backs in the league when it comes to those situations. With none of the [...]

I will be honest: the lockout jaded me. I was never particularly concerned about losing the 2011 season, or even a few games, but I did not go actively searching for mock drafts to whet my appetite for fantasy. What was the point? Everything would change anyway. Instead, I focused my attention on everything that’s gone up on this site over the last few weeks, namely the player profiles, and several things that have yet to come.

But – and I knew this would happen – draft season has descended upon us quickly. I like to draft as late as possible every year, but I’m sure I’ll be doing at least one draft within the next week. We don’t even have time to digest free agency before we have to assign values to the players that moved on. Hell, soon after I started throwing this post together, the Lions signed Jerome Harrison and Mike Bell to replace the injured Mikel Leshoure. No sooner did we bump up Jahvid Best’s value than we had to speculate on what the arrival of Harrison, in particular, means.

Of course, the mid rounds always have uncertainty. Even in a normal, non-lockout year, we’re either going to [...]

We survived the 2011 NFL lockout.

After more than four months of daily updates on the labor problem in the NFL, we are finally finished. This is the last lockout-related post here in the Guru Daily, and we couldn’t be happier. No more worrying. No more stakeouts for Albert Breer. No more labor talk for 10 years. Just football.

We're happy too, Jerry.

But now that the lockout is over, it’s time to get down to business. The next few weeks are going to be some of the most hectic we’ve ever seen, as free agency has been delayed several months and will now take place in a short span lasting only a few days. Just a few days ago, everyone was worrying about how the players would respond to the owners’ celebratory press conference. Now, training camp opens tomorrow. Things change quickly, and we’ll continue working hard to make sure we have everything covered. For now, let’s take a quick look at the calendar:

Tuesday, 10 a.m.: Sign rookies and UDFAs; trades can begin to be made; Free agent negotiations can begin with no signing
Wednesday: Training camp [...]

Not only is today a great day for America, but the entire football world. What began when the owners opted out of the last CBA back in 2008 ends today when the lockout is lifted thanks to the owners and players agreeing to a new CBA. You make take this moment to high five the nearest person.

What a beautiful image

Players, owners agree to new CBA … pending an approval by the players vote on Monday, although that is considered a formality at this point. The players will participate in a conference call scheduled for 11am ET and the vote is expected to take place when the executive committee is in place. What happens after that has been widely contested. Some, including Jay Glazer, report that facilities can open as early as Tuesday, with trades and draft pick signings occurring as early on Tuesday, and unrestricted free agency beginning Friday at 6pm ET. However, others, most notably Adam Schefter, report that teams can begin talking to free agents and talking trades Monday afternoon with signings beginning Tuesday at noon ET. However, new contracts wouldn’t take effect until August 2 and trades wouldn’t be official until Saturday. Teams would report on [...]

If you were lucky enough to avoid what happened in the labor fiasco on Thursday, congratulations. Yesterday was essentially a microcosm of the hideous standoff that has plagued us, and all NFL fans, since March. But when the dust settles from it, are we actually closer than ever before to labor peace? Will the locked doors of the NFL finally open this weekend? It is possible.

Owners send ratified proposal to players, but… At about 7 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, the whooping and hollering could be heard from a meeting room in the Westin Atlanta. The NFL owners had passed a new CBA, 31-0 (with Al Davis abstaining, of course), paving the way for the four-month-old lockout to end. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell held a press conference celebrating the new “agreement,” and all of us on the periphery were left to believe the NFL players’ approval to be a fait accompli. The lockout was over! Only one problem: the players insist there was no agreement, and were taken by surprise by the fact that they were expected to vote on a proposal they hadn’t seen. And an 8 p.m. conference call with NFLPA director DeMaurice Smith and the 32 NFL [...]

We are in the home stretch in labor negotiations, but of course, this will not be a simple process. The owners are meeting in Atlanta Thursday, and hopefully, the 2011 NFL lockout is in its final moments despite any last-minute issues.

Labor meetings bring confusion … In a perfect world, we’d have a new CBA by the end of today and everyone would be happy. The players would have all voted “yes” yesterday in Washington, and the owners would all vote “yes” in Atlanta today. But if we’ve learned anything over the last four months of lockout living, it’s that nothing is ever easy when it comes to labor disputes. The players’ meetings in Washington were filled with confusion yesterday, delivering us conflicting reports and uncertainty as to how things would play out. Still, the owners expect to vote today, and we should have a settlement and new CBA in the near future. Let’s try to recap what is happening through the words of those covering the situation (keep in mind that the situation is developing by the minute):

Mark Maske of the Washington Post reports that players representatives gave conditional approval Wednesday to finish a settlement pending the resolution of a [...]

While the focus this week has been all about a possible end to the labor madness, the bigger story, at least when it comes to fantasy football, centers around the availability of one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game…

Looks like Colt fans will be seeing a lot of Curtis Painter in the preseason. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Peyton won’t be ready for the start of camp … as he continues to recover from May neck surgery. The Colts are scheduled to open training camp on July 31, but it’s unknown when Manning will be able to participate, which puts a huge cloud of doubt over his status for the season, especially as a top fantasy QB. Manning had surgery on his neck back in March 2010, which didn’t cause him to miss any time, but the problems kept coming back during the season due to a calcium buildup. He attempted to avoid surgery by looking into other options after the Super Bowl, but this discomfort lingered and doctors insisted surgery was the only way to go. When the surgery was initially reported, Colt owner Jim Irsay didn’t seem alarmed, noting that the recovery was expected to be six to [...]

Is today going to be the last day we have a Fantasy Guru Daily without a labor deal imminent or an agreement in principle reached? We sure hope so. As the players and owners come down the home stretch in labor talks, we are preparing for the free-agency period, which could start as soon as Monday. What does this all mean?

CBA talks take another big step… Nearly nine hours of meeting on Monday brought the NFL and the decertified NFLPA even closer to a settlement in the Brady v. NFL case when NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith followed through on a promise to get increased benefits for retired players. While Smith is still looking for $320 million in lost benefits because of the uncapped 2010 NFL season, he did manage to lock up nearly $1 billion in improvements to the benefits program over the course of the next CBA, which is expected to last up to 10 years. The hope is that every big issue will be resolved by Wednesday morning, so the NFLPA can vote on approving a settlement via email or conference call with the 32 NFL team representatives, a vote that will likely also include the decision to [...]

Could this be the final week of labor talks? Things are looking good, and with free agency possibly just days away, the Monday edition of the Guru Daily features plenty of actual football talk… and some other stuff thanks to a Bengal RB.

Benson arrested … Free agent RB Cedric Benson was arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge and released from jail Sunday in Austin, Texas. Full details, from the Cincinnati Enquirer:

According to an arrest affidavit, the former roommate was standing at a street corner in downtown Austin talking on his cell phone around 4:45 a.m. Sunday morning when a “hostile and aggressive” Benson approached him and said they had to talk about their problems.

The two began talking about their living arrangements when “all of a sudden he was struck on his face with a closed fist thrown by Benson,” according to the affidavit. Benson then struck him several more times, it said, resulting in injuries to the left side of the victim’s face.

It’s the second arrest of a Bengal player in the last week, as troubled CB Pacman Jones was arrested after an incident at a club. It’s also Benson’s second problem in the last two years in Austin [...]

Breakthrough. That is the word seemingly every reporter used to describe the labor negotiations on Thursday. For the first time since the lockout began, there seems to be a unanimous feeling of positivity, which has led many to speculate that a deal could come at any time now. Will that day be today?

Sorry Cam, but you won't be getting Sam Bradford money.

Thursday’s labor negotiations yield much progress … thanks to a breakthrough made on the rookie wage scale. After making little headway on the issue last week, the owners and players reportedly both made concessions to come to an agreement, which was considered a major, if not the biggest hurdle to get over in the talks. With that situation settled, the salary cap number appears to be set at about $123 million for 2011. With momentum rolling right along, it looks like a deal could be close to happening, although some potential tricky issues remain. The August 7th Hall of Fame Game between the Rams and Bears is still on track to be played, but the new CBA will need to be approved by the players and owners before training camps can begin. The hope is that a deal [...]