Phreaks Deal Again

Evidently not content to sit still and wait for the start of the 2002 season, GM Ping Shen of the Philadelphia Phreaks has followed up his draft day blockbuster (Stephen Davis and Isaac Bruce) with a smaller deal, sending keeper WR Plaxico Burress and the newly acquired Emmitt Smith to the DirtyBirdeez in exchange for highly-touted rookie RB Clinton Portis and the stable yet unspectacular James Thrash.

With Portis in the Phreak stable, Philly now has, arguably, the two most coveted rookie runners in football--DeShaun Foster and the aforementioned Portis. According to NFL Insider Peter King, there were numerous GMs throughout the league who were interested in Foster and Portis both on draft day and in the weeks that followed. Will Foster and Portis turn into this year's version of LaDanian Tomlinson and Shaun Alexander? Or will they be carbon copies of last year's Michael Bennett? Only time will tell, but for now, both rookies are spending time on the Phreaks bench--foster with a knee injury (he is a Phreak, after all), and Portis biding his time until the veterans before him give way to the talented young runner.

With the departure of Plaxico and Emmitt, the Phreaks' starting lineup picture becomes clearer, with Bruce, Keyshawn Johnson, and Chris Chambers locks to start at WR, and Michael Pittman and Jamal Lewis virtual certainties to start at RB--at least for the time being. The general consensus around the league is that Pittman and Lewis must play well in order to keep their jobs, because by the end of September they will have two very talented and very hungry rookies breathing down their necks.

With a budding superstar in Donovan McNabb at QB, a receiving core that, four-deep, is arguably one of the best in the league, it is clear that the Phreaks' season will hinge upon the play of their running backs--should Pittman and Lewis start the season slowly, it could be yet another tough first half of the season for the Philly Phreaks and GM Shen. The bet here is that Pittman and Lewis will at least be serviceable and keep the Phreaks close in enough games to give Donovan and his receivers a chance to win each week--until late September when Foster and Portis should be ready to roll.