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This year, the NFL draft moves to prime time with the first round being televised on ESPN on Thursday night, April 22. The second and third round will be televised Friday night (April 23) and the remaining rounds will be broadcast Saturday (April 24). With the big event nearly a month away, it¹s time to resurrect the Fantasy Forum and take a peak at what has transpired so far in the offseason. We¹ll start out with the biggest offseason move so far, the announced retirement of Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner. Warner¹s decision not to return greatly impacts the other skill players in the Cardinals¹ offense. The value of wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald takes a big hit as do the value of running backs Tim Hightower and Chris ŒBeanie¹ Wells. Right not it appears as if Matt Leinart is the scheduled starter at QB for Arizona. The Cardinals signed Derek Anderson as a free agent this week and he also may have a shot at the starting job. Unless Leinart begins to live up to the potential he showed when he was drafted in the first round, or Anderson can play the way he did three years ago with the Browns, Arizona¹s skill players may not be worth that much. Anquan Boldin, another top-tier receiver with the Cardinals the last few years, would have also been affected by Warner¹s retirement, but he has been traded to Baltimore. Boldin will be catching passes from Joe Flacco instead of Leinart or Anderson and, while Flacco is far from the gunslinger Warner was, Flacco is still improving and should keep Boldin a viable fantasy starter. The other key move involves Vikings¹ back-up running back Chester Taylor who signed as a free agent with Chicago. Taylor could beat out Matt Forte for the starting job, which would greatly enhance his value, but it¹s more likely the Bears will go to a running-back-by-committee attack that won¹t help anybody¹s value. Kansas City has signed veteran running back Thomas Jones as a free agent from the Jets and that could negatively impact up-and-comer Jamaal Charles. Charles is still likely to get the bulk of the work for the Chiefs but Jones could steal some goal-line carries. Most of the other offseason moves thus far should have little fantasy impact. Cleveland traded quarterback Brady Quinn to the Broncos and he figures to battle Kyle Orton for the starting job. The Washington Redskins have signed over-the-hill running back Larry Johnson; the Cincinnati Bengals have signed inconsistent wide receiver Antonio Bryant; the Cleveland Browns have signed aging quarterback Jake Delhomme after he was released by Carolina; and LaDainian Tomlinson is now the new third-down/back-up running back to Shonn Greene with the New York Jets. The draft, of course, will significantly affect many of these situations and others, as well. The Forum will keep you updated intermittently throughout the spring and summer. Jim Rueda is the Free Press sports editor. To contact him, call 344-6381 or e-mail him at jrueda@mankatofreepress.com
