Making sense of the NFL preseason

You can get useful information on preseason stats if you know how to look at it. Just looking at the numbers is generally a waste of time. What stood out to me this week:

The 49ers had 47 rushing attempts against the Raiders last week. They averaged 5.9 yards an attempt. Three backs had at least ten attempts. While Glen Coffee has been the bell cow, I think this means good things for Frank Gore. This also means that if Gore goes down, Coffee will be a popular waiver wire pick.

6th round pick James Davis of the Browns had an 81-yard touchdown run. If you're a sixth round pick who's going to make an NFL team, you should be the best player on the field in the third quarter of a preseason game. I'd still pay attention to him in dynasty leagues.

I just saw his TD run. It was a draw play on 3rd and 12. Davis made one good cut and was gone. He's definitely talented.

I just don't trust the late-round rookie running backs. It's being in the Zealots league that does it for me. When you draft fifth-round players in the second round of your rookie draft (like I did with Ryan Torain last year), your chances of success are very low. Since running backs dropped in the draft, sixth and seventh round guys were going earlier than usual. I didn't see the value. Wait a sec, was that me who drafted Cedric Peerman (sixth rounder) in the third round of a rookie draft, considering it a steal? OK, so I fall for the hype as well as the next guy.

My fantasy baseball team's making a miraculous comeback. Does it mean as much since half of my league seems to have given up? I don't think so. Three straight big wins moved me from 10th to 5th place. I do not expect to have a long playoff stay.

I think it would be fun to see celebration reaction shots from every stadium in the NFL. When you see fans wearing player jerseys, are they current players? I watched Lex Hilliard's touchdown run and I could only see a guy wearing a Marino jersey. I also saw a Fielder jersey and only one Pennington jersey. This team needs new heroes. If you look at a Titans reaction shot you'd see a lot of Vince Young, and maybe some Air McNairs this year.