pakowitz

20. I don\'t know what to tell you about Terrell Owens. I can\'t advise you to pick him in the second round, and I can\'t advise you to pass on him at all costs, and I can\'t tell you that you\'d be dumb to take, say, Chris Chambers ahead of him. I wrote a story on Owens and McNabb for Sports Illustrated\'s NFL preview issue, and my gut feeling is he\'ll stay healthy and have a productive year but not a transcendent one. The Eagles will be smart enough to get him the ball enough early in the season so he doesn\'t become a distraction, but I just wonder what happens if he goes two or three games straight in midseason without being an impact guy. Can McNabb keep him in line? The Eagles are gambling on it. Best guess for his numbers: 81 catches, 1,280 yards, 11 touchdowns. I mean, those are Peerless Price numbers. Very nice, but not Marvin Harrison ones.

21. But I can tell you one piece of advice on an Eagle wideout: Pick Freddie Mitchell. Some guys take a couple of years to find a niche. Everyone thinks of Mitchell as a bust because he\'s averaged only 23 catches a year in his first three NFL seasons, but you had to have been in Eagle camp this summer to see how much McNabb trusts him. I\'m not saying he\'s a 60-catch guy ready to bust out. I\'m saying he\'s a 48-catch, nine-touchdown guy who will benefit from the defensive pressure on Owens. Good third receiver for this game.

22. And I can tell you to avoid Eagle tight ends, among other tight end thoughts. Chad Lewis and L.J. Smith will share the wealth nearly equally. Stay away from them. My top 10 tight ends: Kellen Winslow (could catch 80), Tony Gonzales, Todd Heap ... and then you can put \'em all into a hat as far as I\'m concerned. Bubba Franks (contract year), Boo Williams (very underrated Saint who should catch 60), Randy McMichael, Alge Crumpler (will be a favorite for Vick in the West Coast), Erron Kinney, Shockey, Gates.

23. Find a way to get Lee Suggs on your team. I can\'t tell you exactly when he\'ll bust out; might be week one, might be week nine. But at some point this season Suggs will become Butch Davis\' dominant back and reel off three 100-yard games in a row.

24. Monitor his tweaked hamstring from Saturday night, but if it\'s OK, take Steve Smith ahead of all deep threats except for Randy Moss. You are now laughing at me. I can hear it coming from right inside this keyboard. Last year he averaged 12.6 yards per catch for his 88 snags, and that\'s not exactly Mossian. Or is it? Moss had a 12.7 average two years ago, and only two yards better last year. Smith is explosive, a gamer, and Jake Delhomme absolutely loves him. But I stress: If you have a few days, read the Charlotte Observer online daily in the next few days to see how much time, if any, Smith will miss. And if he does miss significant time, ignore what I\'m saying here. Can\'t have a speed guy missing time in August with a bad hammy.

25. Oh, and speaking of the Panthers, take Stephen Davis while everyone else is frothing at the mouth over the wonderbacks, and you will be very happy. Davis is such a selfless guy, helping DeShaun Foster be a better player in so many ways on and off the field. John Fox loves him. And John Fox is going to work him over this year. Now, there will be games (mostly against stout middle-of-the-line defenses) when offensive coordinator Dan Henning feeds it to Foster 12 or 14 times. But for the most part, Davis will be the same dominant, 1,300-yard guy he\'s been throughout his career -- or at least when Spurrier wasn\'t holding him down.

26. Here are the 10 others you should pick higher than they\'re rated. In order, Tatum Bell (who will eclipse Quentin Griffin in Denver, I\'m guessing by about Week 6), Charlie Garner (who is a 4.5-yard-per-carry back still able to carry 300 times if just given the chance), Ben Roethlisberger (Steelers quarterback by week six), Julius Jones (Eddie \"3.3 Per Carry\'\' George will eventually make way for Jones), Tim Rattay (a 13th-round steal), Jason Hanson (40 of his last 41 inside the 40, and he\'ll get 35 chances with the better Detroit offense), Carolina defense, Dallas defense (how can Philly be rated higher than both of those?), Eric Johnson, and, in a three-way tie for 10th, Doug Gabriel (Norv Turner loves him) and Drew Bledsoe (Sam Wyche is a good tutor, plus there\'s no relief with the J.P. Losman injury) and San Diego wideout Eric Parker, who will become a favorite of Philip Rivers.

27. I wouldn\'t pick these guys if I were you. Shockey, Shockey, Shockey (sorry, he only counts for one), Portis, Javon Walker (not Favre\'s favorite target), Byron Chamberlain (playing himself out of favor), Faulk, any Giant quarterback, any Charger receiver other than Parker, Drew Brees (unemployed man walking), Koren \"Manchild\'\' Robinson, Kansas City defense. One last word there. The Chiefs finished 32nd and 29th in the last two years in team defense, imported no new starters from last year, and ... well, you get all excited about Gunther Cunningham (I love the guy, but he doesn\'t wear shoulder pads), but only players play.

28. Pick Jerome Bettis late. He is being put out to pasture by everyone in western Pennsylvania, but all I know is he was the best back on the field, running inside and outside well, when I saw the Steelers pulverize Houston. He may only last three or four weeks, but I guarantee you he\'ll give you three 100-yard games if you just keep him on your roster.

29. If you\'re looking for a young Detroit weapon to pick, I\'d go with Roy Williams. He\'s really fast, he\'s formed a good bond early with Joey Harrington, and I think he\'ll turn out to be more durable than Charles Rogers.

30. Don\'t let this game control your life. It can. I\'ve seen sportswriters in press boxes log onto these services that constantly update your players every 90 seconds, which is an idiotic way to get your enjoyment out of football. Watch the games. Enjoy them. And know that sometimes some lucky stiff is going to blindly pick up Justin Fargas some week and he\'s going to go out and rush for 216 on Sunday. That\'s football.

I Live In Beastmode!