You Don't Have to be a Star, Baby, to be in my Show Sep 8, 2009 | More

You don't have to be a star, baby, to be in my show or on my team.  Now that your drafts are over you need to take a look at the free agents available and move quickly or risk missing out on the last piece of your championship team.

I've done all the heavy lifting for you and below is a list of quarterbacks and running backs that will make a difference in your season.

QUARTERBACKS

Matt Leinart, ARI

Here's the bottom line, Kurt Warner has never played 16 games in back to back seasons.  He played in all 16 games last season and he's still not 100% from hip surgery earlier this year.  The Cardinals play SF, Detroit and St. Louis in weeks 14-16.  Stash him on your bench and your friends will marvel at your foresight when Warner's season ends sometime between weeks 7 and 9 when the Cardinals play the Giants, Panthers and Bears, respectively. 

Tavaris Jackson, MIN

Brett Favre will not play 16 games this season!  Sage Rosenfels threw six touchdowns and 10 interceptions in six games last season for a Houston team with much better weapons in the passing game than the Vikings.  Jackson played well down the stretch for the Vikings last season and will wind up starting and leading the Vikings into the playoffs.  

Rex Grossman, HOU

Hopefully no one in your league noticed Rex's 9-of-16 for 197 yards and two TD effort against the Bucs last Friday.  Texans' coach Gary Kubiak has yet to name a backup to Matt Schaub, probably because Rex has a one-year deal for $620,000 and Dan Orlovsky has a 3-year, $9.15 million deal, including a $2.4 million signing bonus, that was signed in March.  Even if Orlovsky gets the call, it won't be long before Grossman takes over. 

RUNNING BACKS

James Davis, CLE

There were rumors of Jamal Lewis possible getting cut.  Why didn't he?  Because, the always inept Browns franchise paid Lewis a $3.5M roster bonus in March.  Davis has been a force in the preseason averaging 7.8 yards on 24 carries.  Browns coach Eric Mangini loves to run and Davis will get his carries.

Mike Bell, NO

If Pierre Thomas was 100% healthy, Bell would not be on this list.  But, Thomas' MCL sprain has him looking like he's going to miss the Saints season opener against the Lions.  Drew Brees has called Bell the MVP of Saints training camp.  Bell has averaged 7.7 yards on 15 carries in the preseason, but will definitely be the Saints main cog in the running game should Thomas' injury linger.

It's also possible, that even after Thomas returns to good health Bell could take over Deuce McAllister's old role.  Stay tuned.

Glen Coffee, SF

Coffee will not get much of a workload as long as Frank Gore is healthy.  But, with the 49ers planning on focusing on the run, I wouldn't be surprised to see Gore breakdown at some point this season.  And when he does, Coffee, who leads the NFL in preseason rushing with 249 yards, has shown that he's more than capable of carrying the load.

Mike Goodson, CAR

Jonathan Stewart hasn't practiced since August 11th.  Yet, he plans on being ready for the season opener.  We'll see how that goes.

In the meantime, Goodson has been very impressive this preseason averaging 4.9 yards on 40 carries.  Stewart had 177 carries last season and I expect Goodson to get those carries for as long as Stewart is out.  Grab Goodson now and avoid the stampede to the waiver wire when it's finally revealed that Stewart isn't really close to being ready to play.  Or, when he suffers his next injury. 

Any questions or comments should be sent to thecornerofknowlede@yahoo.com.