We Are Fanatics readers will hear me talk about Facebook and Twitter from time to time, but rarely do I mention Myspace. Football Fanatics, and some of our “sister” sites, do have a presence on Myspace so I’d like to take a few moments just to chat about what’s going on in the Myspace world. Myspace is a great place to interact with fellow sports fans.

We currently run Myspace accounts for Football Fanatics, Surf Fanatics and Fighting Fanatics. I recently spent some time working on these three accounts. They have all been upgraded to Myspace 2.0, cleaned up and given cool new background layouts. I used to shy away from Myspace because everything was always just a big mess. That’s no longer the case. I’m keeping the account simple and I’ve synced the status updates to Twitter so there will always be a constant flow of new updates.

One of my favorite things about Myspace is the comment section. When posting wall comments, friends can add videos, pictures and text. You won’t find that on Facebook or Twitter. Also with Myspace, we can seek out potential friends that may not know about us. I’ve joined dozens of sports groups on our Football Fanatics Myspace account in search of more fanatics.

If you’re on Myspace, come by and check us out. Send a friend request and I’ll be sure to accept it. We will continue to post new promotions, featured items, unique Myspace coupon codes and seasonal sales for all our Myspace friends. Once again, you can find Myspace accounts for Football Fanatics, Surf Fanatics and Fighting Fanatics.

See ya there!

Former Florida Gator running back and now 12-year NFL veteran, Fred Taylor, is my favorite football player. In fact, I have a huge poster of him in my cubicle. I love his style of play and his attitude on the the field. As a Jaguar fan, I was devastated when they let him go in the off-season in favor of a younger Maurice Jones-Drew. But at the same time I was happy for Fred to move on in his career and pursue an opportunity to win a Super Bowl ring with the New England Patriots.

The Patriots have to be thrilled with what the 33-year-old Fred Taylor is bringing to the team. Through the first three games of the 2009 season, Fred has 38 carries for 176 yards (4.6 ypc) and two touchdowns. That’s already more touchdowns than he scored in the entire 2008 season as a Jag. In week 3 against the Atlanta Falcons, the Patriots ran Fred 21 times on their way to a 26-10 victory. It looks like Tom Brady and Randy Moss aren’t the only keys to success for the Pats.

Throughout his career Fred Taylor has never had the respect and publicity he deserved from the fans and media. The players knew what he was capable of, but because Fred suffered a few injures while he was young and ruined fantasy football teams he was labeled “Fragile Fred.” It’s great seeing him succeed now in a new system as he marches toward new rushing records and ultimately the Hall of Fame.

Taylor currently ranks 15th on the list of all-time rushing leaders. There are only two active players ahead of him. Of the 14 players ahead of Fred Taylor on the NFL all-time leading rushers list, only Jim Brown (5.2 ypc) and Barry Sanders (5.0 ypc) rank ahead of him in overall yards per carry average. During his 12-year career with the Jacksonville Jaguars and now the New England Patriots, Fred has managed to average an amazing 4.6 yards per carry average.

Last week’s game was just a glimpse of what we will see from Fred Taylor in 2009. Barring injury, he is capable of rushing for around 1,000 yards and 8-10 touchdowns in the high powered Patriots offense.

I hate to jump the gun on this, but reports are flying on Twitter right now that Chad Pennington could be done for the year. Pennington injured his right shoulder in the Dolphins game yesterday against the San Diego Chargers. Pennington has had multiple surgeries on the same shoulder in the past and some thought his career might have been over before he signed with the Dolphins.

The Miami Dolphins are currently 0-3 right now. Losing your starting quarterback is a devastating blow for most teams. Pennington doesn’t have a Brett Favre-like arm, but he’s one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the league. If reports are true, the Dolphins will also miss his veteran leadership. Pennington is getting a second opinion, but the outlook isn’t bright.

Second year player Chad Henne will start in the place of Pennington. He was drafted in the second round of the 2008 draft out of Michigan. Dolphin fans have high hopes for Henne, despite his limited NFL playing time. He’s an exact opposite of Pennington. Henne can throw the ball downfield and he loves taking chances. It’s time for the Dolphins to see what they have in him.

“Chad (Pennington) is our leader,” Camarillo said. “Any injury to him is an injury to our offense. But it’s also an opportunity for Henne to step up. We’ve got faith in his quarterbacking abilities. It’s time for him to show it off.”

A breakout player is different from a fantasy football sleeper in that “sleepers” usually refer to lower tier players that are off the radar… maybe a backup running back that will see additional carries because of an injury to the guy ahead of him (think Felix Jones or James Davis). A breakout player is someone who is a super star or top tier player but just hasn’t quite got it going yet. Maybe their offense as a whole isn’t clicking or the player went up against some tough defenses.

Here are my top 3 breakout players for this week.

Steve Slaton
As a rookie, Steve Slaton was an absolute beast in 2008. He rushed the ball for nearly 1,300 yards (4.8 ypc) and had 377 yards receiving with 10 total touchdowns. His performance through the first two weeks of the 2009 NFL season has been anything but spectacular. He has only 26 attempts for 51 yards (2.0 ypc), 3 fumbles and no touchdowns. He’s been horrible. Lucky for Slaton the Texans are hosting the Jaguars this weekend. The Jags defense is mediocre at best. Look for Slaton to explode for big gains and multiple touchdowns in front of the Battle Red Texan crowd.

Brandon Jacobs
Despite missing time over that past two years, Brandon Jacobs is coming off back-to-back 1,000 rushing yard seasons. Things have started off slow for Brandon in 2009, quite the opposite of his hot start in 2008 where he had 209 yards on 36 carries in the first two games. This year he has the same number of carries through the first two games but has only rushed for 104 yards (3.2 ypc) and zero touchdowns. The Giants travel to Tampa for a game with the Bucs this weekend. The Buccaneers have a young defense that can’t stop the run. Jacobs will have a huge day. I’m thinking 19 carries, 145 yards and two touchdowns.

Anquan Boldin
Boldin has been plagued with injury most of his career. He’s missed 8 games in the last two seasons and almost missed week 1 of 2009. Boldin has started off slow, but caught on last week late against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Through the first two games Boldin has 10 receptions for 88 yards and zero touchdowns. The 10 receptions isn’t bad, but only 88 yards is. Boldin is a strong receiver and knows how to get those yards after catch (YAC). This weekend the Cardinals host the Indianapolis Colts. Two pass happy offenses clashing in the desert. This could be a shootout. I predict Boldin gets back on track with 7 receptions, 120 yards and a touchdown.

Do you agree with my assessments? Comment below.

Last week we featured the Fantasy Football Newb, David M. Well it turns out that his team Murphy’s Law is now 2-0. In today’s video segment, Fantasy Football newbie Dave from IT covers his 2nd week and discusses plans for this week – including his match-up with his interviewer, The SuperFavres. Now both at 2-0, Dave M. and Mike M. are the only undefeated teams in the league. After this week, there will be only one.

On Sunday in Green Bay, Chad Ochocinco made true on a Twitter promise that he would do the Lambeau Leap after scoring a touchdown. Ochocinco is one of the most famous athletes on Twitter… very few have taken advantage of Twitter in the way he has. Chad has 181,000+ followers and has made nearly 8,000 tweets. He’s known for making outlandish comments and coming up with unique touchdown dances. So it was no surprise when he was able to pull off the Lambeau Leap in Week 2.

Prior to the Cincinnati vs. Green Bay game, Ochocinco hyped up the Lambeau Leap and ultimately purchased several tickets along the north end zone wall to give out to a few lucky Twitter followers. In order for his touchdown celebration to work, Chad actually had to score a touchdown in the appropriate end zone and find the Bengal fans. If he were to do a Lambeau Leap in a section of Packer fans they would probably toss him right back down.

Chad Ochocinco only scored 4 touchdowns in 2008, so finding the end zone in Green Bay wasn’t a given. He managed to connect on a 13 yard touchdown pass from Carson Palmer in the 3rd quarter. Chad looked around and soon found the fans he flew in for the game. The leap worked perfectly and now everyone in the sports world is talking about it.

What is your take on Chad Ochocinco’s Lambeau Leap? Do you think it was all in good fun, or perhaps disrespectful to the Packers?

The NFL just wrapped up week 2 of the season and all the “experts” are releasing their power rankings. Instead of going through and ranking the teams 1-32, I thought it would be more fun to rank the current 0-2 teams. There are a few surprise teams that are struggling early and there are of course a few that we knew would be there. Let’s take a look, shall we?

The following teams all have 0-2 records. I have ranked them in order of the best 0-2 team all the way to the worst 0-2 team.

1. Miami Dolphins – The Dolphins were a minute away from a victory against the Colts last night on MNF. The Dolphins play that funky Wildcat type offense, but they seem to be able to control the ball and rush extremely well.
2. Carolina Panthers – The Panthers have the best rush offense in the NFL. Their first two games were against tough NFC opponents, the Eagles and the Falcons. If Delhomme could protect the ball they might be 2-0.
3. Tennessee Titans - The Titans lost to Pittsburgh in overtime on opening day, then lost in week 2 against the Houston Texans. The Titans should have beat Houston but I’m not sold on their offense and Haynesworth-less defense.
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Tampa keeps playing in high scoring games, but they aren’t coming out on top. They’ve proven they can put points on the board, they just can’t seal the deal. The young defense will improve as the season moves on.
5. Jacksonville Jaguars – The Jaguars have serious offensive struggles, but that’s expected when you start two rookie tackles. David Garrard needs to play better or they’ll be at the bottom of the Power Rankings all year.
6. Cleveland Browns – The Browns have lost to Minnesota and Denver, both 2-0 teams. Cleveland has to be patient with Brady Quinn and they need to get the ground game moving if they want to have a successful season.
7. Kansas City Chiefs – Having Matt Cassel back in the starting lineup is a good sign for the Chiefs, but they still weren’t able to beat the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.
8. St. Louis Rams – The Rams are just horrible on offense and defense. There’s not much hope for them.
9. Detroit Lions – The Detroit Lions are at the bottom of the list for a reason. They haven’t won a game since 2007.

How do your 0-2 Power Rankings look? Post a comment to share.