1st Down or 4th and Forever: Vol. 11

Alright sports fans here we are! The BEST part of the year; FOOTBALL SEASON! And with that is the ushering in of another great feature Sports Outlaw offers it’s readers, “1st Down or 4th and Forever”.

Since there are so many players to track and so little time for you to track them, we found the guy on our staff with no life at all to do all the dirty work for you. From high atop the Rocky Mountains Sports Outlaw’s Scott “The Ram” Henkel brings his biting commentary each and every week letting you know if that player in the news is a diamond in the rough or a fossilized piece of dinosaur poop.

Here’s the way it works:

A “1st Down” rating means this guy is either going nuts or showing signs of busting out of the straight jacket. Either way he’s someone you need to keep your eyes on in your fantasy football league or make a move on and start em’.


A “4th and Forever” rating means this guy was getting some love either in the pre-season or is a one week wonder and is now ready for the bench or the waiver wire OR JUST PLAIN PISSED ME OFF. I believe the chant goes a little something like this, “OOOOOVER RAAAATED!! Clap, clap, clap-clap-clap-clap!!!”



Since I missed a week with the holidays (read jail time) I’m pulling from this past week and the week before for both studs and duds.So let’s start lighting fires and breaking hearts:

1st Down


Runningbacks:


Kolby Smith: Any dude named “Kolby” should be an extra on any number of daytime soaps or on this season’s “Heroes” tragedy. Speaking of tragedy (its been WEEKS since my last solid segue) watching the Chiefs offense flop around on the field was about enough to make even the most hardened Chiefs fans put down their Clamato and Lowenbrau and pick up a tissue to cry. But what was interesting to see was how methodical Smith ran. He’s not “a one cut and to the corner” back ala Westbrook. He was given a hole to hit and he hit it as hard as he could and if he could make someone miss in the secondary, fine. North-South all the way. This might speak to more of his inexperience as…well he is the third option. But it is the kind of running style that made LJ a beast last year. Put away your pitchforks and douse the torches. I’m not comparing the two in skill, just similarity of running style. He’s one to keep an eye on this off-season and yes Chiefs fans, it’s time to start looking forward to the off-season.
Kolby Smith …..1ST DOWN!!!!


Stephen Jackson: He’s coming off some nagging injuries and lost his only competent quarterback. So his performances these past few weeks were solid. Until Bulger is completely healthy (so maybe next season) he’s going to face the same thing that Chester Taylor or Adrian Peterson 2.0 will face weekly: Stack the box and dare the qb to throw. He had a TON of pre-season hype and has flopped in comparison. But I like him to have his rebound season next year…like the Chiefs fans, sorry Rams, maybe next year. As long as they pick up some new blood at receiver they might be dangerous again. Keep your eyes on Jackson for some serious value.
Stephen Jackson …..1ST DOWN!!!!

Frank Gore: Are you kidding me? Who set the clocks back a year? Yeah, don’t I WISH I spent last year in the Rockies instead of the Pashtun Mountains. Fast forward to this past weekend and Gore’s output was insane in a game that many like yours truly thought the Niners were going to get squashed. And he had an incredible rushing and receiving game. I watched the first half and saw Gore plead with the offensive coordinator to get him involved in the passing game…and seeing as how Arnaz Battle can’t catch a cold naked on a shrimp boat I tend to agree with him. With Smith mercifully done for the year Dilfer might just be what Gore owners were hoping for in the playoff push. I’ve been down on him all year but he might be peaking at the right time to help out a struggling owner.
Frank Gore…..1ST DOWN!!!!


Wide Receivers:



Larry Fitzgerald: Freak. It’s the only adjective that fits him. And yes I know that 50 yards and a td came in a garbage Hail Mary just before halftime. But look at what Fitz is doing to defenders this year and you’ll see why this guy is about as good for weekly production as any runningback in the league. He’s had his best success with Warner under center and it should be noted if the Cards make a move this off season it could negatively affect his production. Until then or until Warner falls apart physically or emotionally Fitz in an unmatched fantasy football stud.
Larry Fitzgerald …..1ST DOWN!!!!


Marques Colston: The only thing more puzzling to me than the success of reality television is the Saints early lack of offensive firepower. Colston had all the signs of having a very good sophomore campaign and then, crickets. Well he’s making some noise now and is on pace to at least meet his rookie totals. Here we geux!
Marques Colston …..1ST DOWN!!!!


Quarterbacks:



Matt Shaub: Finding light at the end of the Texans tunnel is like finding a drug Courtney Love hasn’t done, but I’ve found two: they have themselves a quarterback and a wideout to build the rest of the offense around. When healthy and more importantly when AJ is healthy he gives them decent consistency and production. I list him here in 1ST DOWN despite his 9 picks to go with this 9 tds. He’s here because of what can come should Kubiak find himself a runningback which I fully expect him to do this off season.
Matt Shaub …..1ST DOWN!!!!


4th and Forever:

Runningbacks:



Clinton Portis:The Bucs HAMMERED the entire Skins offense and Portis was no exception. I’m not sure anyone could have withstood the beating the Bucs were ready to deliver. As a fan of defense it was pretty. If you were Garcia’s back and Portis’ pride, it was uuuuuuuuuuuuuuugly. He’s been struggling most of the season with both tds and consistent yardage. Outside of two huge games he’s been under 100 yards all season. It’s feast or famine with him. And most of the season it’s been like a vegan Thanksgiving for him.
Clinton Portis…..4TH DOWN!!!!

Julius Jones: This is an open question to all Cowboys fans: Do you honestly think Jones is the best back in the Big D? Not to name any names :cough:MIKE!!:cough: but the word during pre-season was that JJ was going to be the main guy with Marion Barber III getting 40% of the backfield touches. So far this season it’s been Barber who’s showing he belongs as the feature back for the Cowboys. Jones is getting paid too much to be a change of pace back so it would stand to reason that there’s going to be a reckoning. That town isn’t big enough for the both of them….ok enough with the lame “cowboy” jokes.
Julius Jones…..4TH DOWN!!!!


Wide Receivers:


Roy Williams: It seems like Roy is getting left behind on the Lions scoring train this season. He’s been starting every game so far this season and has had one monstrous game to go with multiple “eh” outings. This is coming from a guy who has shown his ability to just flat out dominate. Now I’m not going to claim I’ve seen every single Lions game this year and I’m looking for Lions fans to sound off below with their opinions here because I WANT to root for this guy. Help me. Help. You.
Roy Williams …..4TH DOWN!!!!

Lee Evans: This guy has got to be the most infuriating wr’s to start because you KNOW in your heart of hearts he sucks as a fantasy football starter but you have that positive feeling that this week he’ll drop 220 yards and go for 2 tds. Well, not again and not any time soon until the Bills settle on a quarterback that doesn’t have the letters LOSE in his last name.
Lee Evans …..4TH DOWN!!!!


Quarterbacks:


Eli Manning: Ow come on! You knew this was coming. I said in the beginning of the season Eli had this season to prove his doubters wrong or his head is going to be called for on a pike. The east coast media is as bad as Vlad the Impaler. Eli has troubles. Big troubles.
Eli Manning …..4TH DOWN!!!!



This Week’s Rant:


With the sad news of Sean Taylor’s death it casts a bit of a cloud on this week’s rant. It was intended to be directed towards mooks like Ricky Williams who, after taking a year and a half break from the NFL (all apologies to our Canucks up north but the CFL is not the bigs) and was loathed enough by the Dolphins coaching staff to be tossed out there against the fiercest defense in the NFL and a rookie quarterback at the helm. He was injured in the process and I don’t want to kick a guy when he’s down. So my rant was going to be pointed towards his decisions that led him to this point. Freaking dumbass.

Instead I want to remind people how precious life is regardless of celebrity. To every casualty there is a mother who spent hours in labor and years of nurturing to bring that person to adulthood. There may be a father who spends his time providing in any way he sees possible a life for his family that enables his child to prosper. Hundreds of people that person touched along his or her life even if that person isn’t a Pro-Bowl player are at a loss.

Trivializing that kind of history and love so many people devoted is an insult to the dead. Take this weeks rant as a generalization not wholly related to Taylor’s death but more inspired by it to remind everyone that when you read about someone dying early in life that there are people grieving from the loss and that truly, the world is at a loss. People are not numbers or punch lines. So please treat all deaths for what they are: tragic.

So while the facts come to light in his death and the deaths of our soldiers please remember, there’s a family associated with every statistic or every headline.

-Scott “The Ram” Henkel


Hey Freaks! I'm offering up one player of either 1st or 4th to anyone who can private message me their picks in format. So take your shot at mocking or praising your favorite player from this week's game.

If you're chosen you'll get the credit and maybe some praise.....as long as it isn't weak. Then you might very well get mocked. Either way if you've ever wanted to see your own stuff online then here is your chance. Trust me, I've got plenty of ammo to finish the season. I want to hear from you the reader! Bring it!