Cincinnati dealt a huge blow to their running back depth

The Miami Herald is reporting (via the Sports Network) that the injury Kenny Irons endured during last night’s preseason game is a left knee ACL tear after all.

For Irons, an ‘07 second round pick out of Auburn, this quickly shuts the door on his assumed backup position behind Rudi Johnson.  How he returns from the injury remains to be seen.

The Bengals, however, now have a bigger problem.  Besides Rudi, their healthy backs do not instill any confidence: Kenny Watson, Quincy Wilson, and Curtis Brown.  Fourth year first-rounder turned bust Chris Perry, as a reminder, is out on the PUP list and the team expects him to miss at least six games.

Part two of the series I accidentally forgot about

Yeah, oops. Don’t cry though, because now that I’ve remembered, I’m going to finish what I started.

Last time, as a reminder, we revealed our picks ranked between ten and six.

10. Vince Young
9. Donovan McNabb
8. Steven Jackson
7. Matt Hasselbeck
6. Frank Gore

The final five candidates have been consistent performers in the NFL, and will continue to be so until they hang up their cleats. These are the stars of this era, but folks like Gore, Jackson and Young could soon push for their own spots among the league’s best of the best.

Cornerbacks? Who needs ‘em?

For the second time in two weeks, the Chicago Bears have traded away a reserve defensive back. Cornerback Dante Wesley, who had been the teams’ projected dime back, has been moved to the New England Patriots. For the Pats, it’s a clear sign that they’re bracing for the Asante Samuel holdout to last well into the season.  For the Bears, who knows what the hell they are doing.

Hide your left tackles!

The sweltering August heat isn’t being especially kind to NFL players today. A couple of high profile injuries occurred this morning, and while it’ll take all day and possibly tomorrow to find out the severity, lets get you caught up on what info is available today.

Knee Twisting

The Kansas City Chiefs had their prized free agent acquisition, Damion McIntosh, go down in the summer heat with what looks to be a serious injury to his right knee. The left tackle was brought over from Miami (mmm, Dolphin o-line table scraps) in hopes of securing the left side. Kyle Turley was a disaster last year at LT, and despite being brought back, KC would probably rather prefer not to go through that same scenario again.

All the major AFC news of the day.  Yes, all of it.  Don’t argue with me.

Can I make a suggestion?  Click the links.  They take you to the story we are referring to.  You will learn things.

– The biggest news of the day would have to be Denver Broncos’ linebacker Warrick Holdman going down with what NFL Live reported as a spinal cord concussion. The injury shook the teams and fans, which eventually led to Mike Shanahan cutting the day short.

– Much maligned second round pick Alan Branch has signed, leaving the Arizona Cardinals with just one draft choice left unsigned (first-rounder Levi Brown).

– Unsurprisingly, Michael Vick’s welcome seems to be worn out in the ATL.

– In other Vick news, the court house he attended today turned into a full blown nightmare. Good thing Vick has the support of three morons from Boston.

– Jonathan Ogden is being placed on the PUP list due to a lingering toe injury, meaning he probably won’t be seeing much action until week one of the regular season.  He will then play all 16 games.  Duh.

– Dolphins’ wideout Chris Chambers was pulled over for speeding, reckless driving, and, oh, a DUI early Saturday morning. It caught us off guard. We had no idea that guy even drank.

– The Dallas Morning News poses ten questions about the prospects of the Cowboys returning to the playoffs and winning.

– David Pollack won’t be playing football this year and will attempt a comeback in 2008 with the Bengals

– The Star-Telegram points out that there’s no need for a Larry Johnson trade involving the Cowboys: Arkansas super-back Darren McFadden is right around the corner.

– Marc Bulger is prepared to hold out if the Saint Louis Rams do not work on signing him to a new extension before training camp.  Putting that into perspective, camp is only a couple weeks away, and they don’t seem to be going anywhere in negotiations. Were I a Rams fan, though, I wouldn’t panic just yet that they won’t get it done.  Says Bulger in regards to the possibility: “I don’t think it’s going to happen, but you never know. I don’t want to rule anything out,” he said. “The Rams have been good to me. I’ve been there my whole career, and I think everything’s going to get worked out.

Cap’n Cop-Biting Urinator Now Jobless, Soon To Be Homeless

Fred Evans was released by the Miami Dolphins today, and because of his unfortunate run-in with the law, and subsequent troubles that came to light a couple of days afterward, he’ll surely be looking at a suspension from iron-fisted Commissioner Roger Goodell. 

Evans surely would have been part of the Dolphins defensive line rotation this year, and as noted on this website, he wasn’t going to be released because of one transgression.  It was in the next couple of days that produced new-to-everyone-except-Fred information that this was not Evans’ first run-in with the law. 

I know we’ll be covering this story in more detail later, but I found it particularly interesting that CNNSI.com, the same folks that boldly predicted the Miami Dolphins to be the 2006 Super Bowl winner, advises that you draft Willie Parker, Rudi Johnson, and Brian Westbrook before Peyton Manning: