Kevin Williams has reportedly been suspended for two games for violation of the league's drug policy – The "Williams Wall" comprised by Williams and former Viking Pat Williams (also suspended) was already reduced to a door, or gate, or some other large obstruction that is not quite as wide or as intimidating as a wall. Without Pat the defense that was once one of the league's best against the rush stood to suffer at least some when opposing offenses pounded the ground game—after all, Minnesota was 9th against the run last year with the 38-year-old still in the lineup. And now they will be without both of the mammoth Williams' for the first two weeks of the year. The major benefactors are Ryan Mathews and Mike Tolbert in Week 1 and LeGarrette Blount in Week 2. Both Chargers backs should be started in all leagues next week and Blount may lead all running backs when Tampa visits the Vikes the following week.

Golden Tate flashed his playmaking skills in the preseason's final game – Tate is a long ways away from fantasy relevance, particularly with Sidney Rice, Mike Williams and Zach Miller slated to be the Seahawks' top targets. But at least he finally showed off the skillset that made him a second-round pick in 2010 and college football's 2009 Biletnikoff winner. If Tate does end up being utilized in Seattle the way offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell used Percy Harvin in Minnesota he could develop into a quality fantasy performer. Then again, the even bigger "if" is whether anyone on the roster will be able to accurately throw him a football.

Alex Smith was officially named the starting quarterback for San Francisco – The "quarterback competition" during 49ers camp may just have been designed to try and spark Smith, as it would have been a pretty major shock for San Fran to re-sign him and then bench him in favor of Colin Kaepernick, a promising young athlete, but by no means a kid who can run an NFL offense just yet. Now it's just up to Smith to hold on to his job, as Kaepernick is by many accounts a very fast learner. Given that Smith looked terrible in much of the preseason and that Kaepernick is a far superior athlete, Smith needs to show improvement and help the team win ball games if he doesn't want to be replaced before the year is out.

Kendall Hunter appears to be in the lead to back up Frank Gore – Hunter, who led the league in preseason rushing yards with 231 over four games, has apparently impressed coach Jim Harbaugh enough to be discussed as the No. 2 behind Gore. While this doesn't come as a major surprise, it is an important distinction considering last year's No. 2, Anthony Dixon, has also played well in the preseason and is a much bigger, more powerful runner than Hunter. The bottom line though is that Hunter is a considerably more dynamic, explosive back than Dixon and he has separated himself in the eyes of his coach enough to earn the role as primary backup. This means that at some point, when Gore misses a game (or two or three), that Hunter will be a highly useful commodity.

Chris Ivory (foot) will miss at least the first six weeks of the season on the PUP list – This does boost the value a bit for Mark Ingram and Pierre Thomas, as Ivory could have figured into the rotation and now there may be less carries to be shared. I say "may be" because Ivory might be replaced with Joique Bell, who has more upside than Ivory and could be a tremendous sleeper if anything were to happen to either Ingram or Thomas.

Jets' third-string quarterback Greg McElroy had surgery on his dislocated thumb – It's good news to hear that yesterday's report that part of McElroy's dislocated thumb had "broken off" was not entirely accurate, as that may have put an early end to this cerebral signal caller's career. As it stands the Jets' seventh-round pick may land on IR, but no decision has been made as of yet. New York may have to add a third quarterback though with him out, especially considering second-stringer Mark Brunell is ancient and beginning to collect both dust and nagging injuries.

Lance Briggs has requested that Chicago trade him – Briggs and the Bears have had their contract disputes before, and it's no secret that he has wanted out of Chicago as a result. It's hard to imagine that anything is new with this situation, as Briggs even stated he would give 100|PERCENT| as long as he is a Bear. And seeing as how important he is to the Bears' defense, and the precedent it would set, it would be a shock if Chicago gave in to such a demand.