Whether it be a consistent injury, or a holdout that lasts until the final preseason game, Fantasy in Five is here to assure you about all of these concerns. In this issue, I’ll take a look at five players and give you my thoughts and opinions (if you care) if they’re worth a roster spot on your team.

1. Maurice Jones-Drew- I’m going to start off with a player that could be on his last limb. By that, I don’t mean literally, but referring to his fantasy relevance.

Jones-Drew has been one of fantasy football’s top running backs for the past few years. From the 2009-11 seasons, he’s averaged over 300 carries with around 1,400 yards and near 12 touchdowns.

But even after observing these impressive stats, I’m very concerned he’s on his way downhill. First off, he’s 27-years-old, which is old for a player regarding his position. Jones-Drew also held out from contract disputes until early September. Chris Johnson had a similar situation last year, and we don’t need to go into detail about how much of a bust he was. And with the Jaguars having a lackluster offense consisting of quarterback Blaine Gabbert and the tight end I once highly praised in Marcedes Lewis, there’s more pressure to run.

All signs say to avoid Jones-Drew at all costs. As much as I love the former UCLA Bruin, he’s set to regress drastically at any moment.

2. Peyton Manning- Now we go from someone I can’t even stand to a player who can become one of the best sleepers in fantasy football history.

Minus last season, Manning has given owners a reason to trust him. As an Indianapolis Colt, he literally dragged the franchise to two Super Bowl appearances (in one of which he captured a title), and proved to be one of the best regular season quarterbacks we’ve ever seen.

But with all of his previous success comes a future which we can’t predict. Manning’s neck took a long time to heal and regenerate, so one big hit could knock him out possibly a whole season.

I selected Manning for two of my teams, so my belief in him is pretty high. However, make sure you have a solid backup in case anything happens.

3. Adrian Peterson- This is another situation of a premier star coming back from a year-ending injury. But this isn’t just a typical hamstring strain or hyperextended shoulder. It’s an ACL tear, the most dreaded football term this past decade.

While his status for the first week of the year is uncertain, his consistency circa the tear had him at the top of every fantasy football owner’s draft kit. Peterson would get his fair share of 300 carries for 1,500 yards and 13 touchdowns. He’s put up these numbers ever since coming out of Oklahoma.

The only concern regarding Peterson is his ACL. The timetable for said injury to heal can be from as early as eight months to a whole year. We saw Wes Welker come back quicker than the average athlete, while others took more than a whole year to recover. Peterson is also the same age as Jones-Drew with similar carries, so the wear and tear could be worse.

If you do have Peterson on your team, make sure there’s a solid backup ready. I sound like a broken record after saying the exact statement regarding Manning, but it’s a fact.

4. Andre Johnson- Johnson used to be on every fantasy football team of mine, but this is the first year I’m saying no to him. He’s what I like to call a “fantasy flasher” because he shows flashes of pure dominance, but only at the most irrelevant moments (2011 NFL Playoffs ring a bell?).

Although he grinds my gears, Johnson is still one of the NFL’s top wide receivers. If healthy, the amount of damage he can cause for any opponent is pure gold. He’s beaten corners (literally) for huge gains and amazing highlights.

There is that one concern of his health that has me very cautious about him now. From his ribs to his hamstrings, Johnson has been branded very fragile by fantasy experts. Not to mention he’s 31.

Overall, Johnson shouldn’t go high in your draft, so if that’s the case, he’s worth the investment. Maybe my ignorance of taking him so high over the years has caused me to come to this conclusion. I still like him, don’t get me wrong.

5. Jason Witten- He’s lean, mean and a spleen-killing machine (sorry if it was corny). But seriously, what’s up with his health?

Minus the injury factor, Witten has been Tony Romo’s security blanket ever since the job was handed to the quarterback. He’s had three seasons where he surpassed 1,000 receiving yards, as well as not missing a game for the past seven years. Witten has been targeted a lot as well.

But a reason why I’m so iffy on him is that spleen. It’s been an issue for him this whole preseason, and Dallas is waiting on yet another CT scan to possibly clear him for their season debut. He vouches to play if cleared, but even so, this could linger his body for a good amount of time.

Witten has always been one of my favorite tight ends in the NFL with good reason. But this year, I’m going to take a step back and avoid him just once just to see where he is. Has the pounding he receives as a tight end finally caught up to him?

If you have any questions or players you want me to evaluate like I did here, ask me through email, message me on Facebook, or tweet at me via Twitter.

Well…it’s been a while. Did you miss me? It seems like I say this after every extended break that I take from writing. I assure you, it is not on purpose. I’m a busy man. What has happened since the last time I wrote a “Pardon Me” feature? Well…

1. The Kings won a championship. And Los Angeles still could have cared less.

2. The Giants won the Super Bowl. Rob Gronkowski did not seem to care.

3. Snooki had a baby. For some reason, everyone cared.

The list can go on. In short, I’m back for now. And as I begin my new duties as a featured columnist on PWMania, I will try to continue my ventures on my own website. Let’s begin.

Is it possible to bleed blue and white?

For professional baseball players in the Bronx, this sure seems possible. The New York Yankees, after having a double-digit lead in the American League East in mid-July, have suffered what could be a monumental collapse.

Could be.

There are a lot of issues in New York right now, despite the fact that the team remains in first place. Clinging to a two-game lead over Baltimore, alongside having Tampa Bay breath down its back, the squad seems lost in the infamous Yankee Stadium left field sunlight. But what are we to blame the downfall of the Yankees on?

Shall we pick the injury bug? One can certainly make the case. The Yankees have been without the ageless stud Andy Pettitte, who sported a 3.22 ERA with a fancy 1.09 WHIP prior to injuring his leg (and subsequently, setbacks in rehab). New York’s pitching was also hampered by a couple of stints on the disabled list by ace CC Sabathia alongside losing future Hall-of-Famer Mariano Rivera to a torn ACL early in the season.

Moving to the position players, remember Brett Gardner, the man who was to patrol left field and contribute a monster WAR? Or the Multi-Million Dollar Man, Alex Rodriguez?

Perhaps it is simply underproduction. With a September slump, the usual-guarantee run producer in Robinson Cano may not even reach 90 RBI’s. In fact, the team’s leader in that category, Mark Teixeira (81), is also dealing with injury and may not pass the century mark himself. Curtis Granderson’s .235 average is nothing to be proud of, and Russell Martin is…a catcher.

Regardless of what the issue is in New York, it is a growing one. And the sun that has become so famous in left field at the Ballpark in the Bronx is about to cast a dark shadow that may taint a team that had an immense amount of potential just a month and a half ago.

Do Jaguars get songs stuck in their heads?

Something I have always wondered. But that matters little, because Jacksonville is finally getting its man back in Maurice Jones-Drew. But what does this really do other than satisfy the temporary taste of fantasy football owners across the nation?

The Jaguars are a mess. Games are constantly blacked out. Their quarterback fumbled more times last year (14) than anyone else in the league. The Springfield Isotopes draw better in primetime. So why couldn’t they have appeased their disgruntled running back and traded him off or raised his salary as he held out?

Because there was no need to appease.

If there is one thing I hate more in sports than Raul Mondesi, it is a contract holdout. Unless 100 percent warranted (and as in the case of many veteran-minimum contracts, which can be), I see no point in taking a team hostage in front of the media just to upgrade a mansion. While I understand that Jones-Drew, having led the league in rushing, is a superstar, he makes good money off the bat. A $4.45 million contract (which is expiring) is nothing to wag a finger at, and it is one that he committed to while he was still one of the league’s best.

Yet look at the state of the franchise. He is all it has. For the benefit of the team that employs you and makes you the spotlight, give them a break. You will get the chance to walk eventually.

I am sure Jones-Drew, should he be ready to start by the second week, will have a great season. But should we be worried about another Chris Johnson-like performance from a disgruntled football star? Possibly.

Funk has high blood alcohol content

At least it did for former WWE Tough Enough contestant and current living, breathing, romping, stomping Funkadactyl Ariane Andrew. Andrew, known by her ring name “Cameron,” was arrested last week on charges of DUI. She refused to take a breathalyzer test, and was booked appropriately.

WWE Superstars have had run-ins with the law in the past, especially with drugs and alcohol involved. Surprisingly, these encounters have been met with few disciplinary actions, and often do not even affect the current product standing of the respective wrestler.

Then Andrew dug herself into a bigger hole. She reportedly lied about her employer, and attempted to bribe the cop with $10,000 because she believed she would get released from the company she actually worked for. After all, that whole Linda McMahon Senate campaign is only mildly important to the company’s image. Following this revelation, WWE suspended her for just over two weeks, which will effectively leave Brodus Clay with just one sidekick (though she if far more talented).

Let me be clear on this. While eye candy, Andrew has virtually been useless to the company. She was the first contestant let go on Tough Enough, by far the least gifted, and oblivious to what the product was. Perhaps she should have picked another match as her all-time favorite. Nonetheless, she is expendable, and lying about her identity essentially should not be taken easily by company officials. Unfortunate, but irresponsible.

Maybe somebody should have just called her momma.

Final thoughts

Great to be back everyone. Make sure you catch me every Tuesday over on PWMania with a weekly editorial about the state of the WWE.

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In the span of 48 hours, Denver Broncos’ quarterback Tim Tebow went from the full-time starter entering the 2012 NFL season to a potential trade target once Peyton Manning alerted the team he was going to sign with them. For a man who was part of the reason on how a team went from the bottom of the AFC West to division champions and defeating the highly touted Pittsburgh Steelers in the first-round of the 2011 NFL postseason, it was the issue of trust that might’ve led to his demise at Mile High.

While it is a sad ending to such a great story, TebowMania was one of the greatest fads to come out since FernandoMania with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Tebow wasn’t originally drafted by John Elway and John Fox, but rather by former head coach Josh McDaniels. It was a questionable pick at first, since many NFL draft insiders had Tebow going as early as the third-round because of his inability to have a fast delivery or even an accurate arm.

Once McDaniels was canned, Tebow became just another version of the ugly duckling; the one player with the ugliest style of play that nobody in the organization really fully committed to. Since we know the ending to this story, I’m not going to go in detail, but rather say Tebow came in for experimental reasons and ended his season giving the Broncos hope.

What caused Tebow to rise to popularity so quickly was because of ESPN’s First Take. On the show, talent Skip Bayless was always banking on Tebow to win. It got so atrocious that a DJ made all of his Tebow references into a song called, “All He Does is Win.” Every day Bayless was on, a Tebow topic was included, whether it involved the actual sport or comparing him to another athlete.

Tebow’s religious views got in the way as well. Once TebowMania hit its apex, his genuflect to his god by praying on one knee became mocked. It would be known as “Tebowing.” Tebowing became the newest fad. Everyone would be posting pictures of themselves genuflecting like Tebow in front of random monuments and places.

His Christian views and loyalty to his higher power was made fun of sometimes (and still is today). We have the “3:16″ theory thanks to Tebow. John 3:16 is his favorite Bible passage. Tebow used to write the passage on his eye black before every game at Florida. During the wild-card playoff game against the Steelers, Tebow threw for a career-high 316 yards, while having 31.6 yards per completion. Some of Tebow’s other stats would add up to 316 in several games. By people using this as some ridiculous conspiracy theory, many assumed his god followed him everywhere.

The first thing that popped into my head once I heard about Peyton Manning was where will Tebow be traded to. Let’s be honest; you could tell all season that Elway didn’t want to commit to Tebow. While the Broncos were winning close games that resulted from miracles like fumbles and 50+-yard field goals, he always said that he would “try” Tebow as their full-time starter next year. He had no choice to say that. If he ever came out in public and said, “I’m not going with Tebow as our starter,” the fans would turn on him and Elway would receive so much criticism that Skip Bayless would force him to go on ESPN’s First Take to have a boxing match with his Tebow bandwagon cheering him along.

Elway made a smart move to end this phenomena of Tebow by bringing in possibly the greatest quarterback to enter free agency, showing his authority in Denver while still receiving respect from the Tebow fanatics.

The team that makes the most sense for Tebow to go is Jacksonville. The Jaguars have one of the worst fan bases in the league, almost blacking out their games on national television from lack of support. They have a top ten defense statistically along with a offensive weapon in running back Maurice Jones-Drew and a tight end in Mercedes Lewis. Jacksonville also has the seventh-overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, which they might use on a receiver or offensive lineman, and are starting over with a new head coach in Mike Mularkey.

It’s a great fit because Tebow would enter a team that is rebuilding in a few aspects that needs a quarterback to build around. He might not have the most original throwing motion or style of play, but if the offensive game plan is built around his talents, we’ll have to wait and see how far it can take him.

Another reason why Jacksonville fits is because of Tebow’s alma mater in Florida. Not even the winning part of having him on your team but the amount of fans he’ll bring in from the area will help make more money to acquire more free agent talent.

One other team that has made recent headlines to acquire Tebow is the New England Patriots.I guess if you can’t beat them, join them. The Denver Broncos, led by Tebow, lost to the Patriots twice last season, including a 45-10 smothering in the second round of the NFL playoffs. McDaniels, who drafted Tebow when he was the head coach of the Broncos, is the current offensive coordinator of the team.

I can see this making sense because now the Patriots could be able to use Tebow as possibly a blocking running back or tight end; a hybrid role. The Patriots are known for having players come in and play more than one position (Troy Brown, Julian Edelman.) Of course, Tom Brady will not be dethroned unless he retires. Brady is in his mid-to-late 30′s though. With that retirement possibly on the horizon, Tebow could take over if New England really wanted him to.

One other reason why New England seems more of a clearer destination is the Jaguars recently signing quarterback Chad Henne. While the Jaguars could still trade for Tebow, it’d make little sense giving up on a quarterback like quaterback Blaine Gabbert after one rookie season with a lack of a line while having Henne for either back-up support or even to start.

It’s ironic how a young player who led his team to the playoffs be possibly dumped for an older veteran who’s coming off numerous neck surgeries. But I will digress to my article in November about Peyton Manning’s future that the NFL is a win-now business. If teams cared about the emotional state of the players, things would be a lot different. Unfortunately, Tim Tebow has become the odd man out at Mile High and could wearing a new jersey this upcoming training camp.

Dallas Clark hauled in two touchdown passes from Peyton Manning while Austin Collie and Reggie Wayne each caught one from Manning, who became the first quarterback to pass for 4,000 yards in ten seasons (to give an idea of how dominant that statistic alone is, Dan Marino is second on the list with 6 4,000-yard passing seasons).

Prior to the start of the game, there was a moment of silence to honor Chris Henry. 714 yards, 43 first downs, 10 lead changes, six punts, and two interceptions later, the Colts find themselves just two games away from perfection.

Jacksonville had a chance to win at the end of the game, but David Garrard’s pass to Mike Thomas fell into the hands of Indianapolis’ Jacob Lacey. Garrard finished the day 23-of-40 passing for 223 yards and three touchdowns: one to Maurice Jones-Drew, one to Mike Sims-Walker, and one to Mike Thomas. The Jaguars fell to 7-7 on the season.

It was Peyton Manning’s 21st career 4-TD game, which ties him with Dan Marino for second all-time in NFL history. Manning’s 4th touchdown of the game was a 65-yard bomb to Reggie Wayne that gave Indianapolis a 35-31 lead with 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have released veteran RB Fred Taylor. Taylor, who was going to make $6 Million this season, is cut shortly following the releases of teammates Jerry Porter and Drayton Florence.

Taylor was Jacksonville’s 1st round pick out of Florida University in the 1998 NFL Draft, taken ahead of players like Takeo Spikes, Alan Faneca, and Randy Moss. He has spent his entire career in Jacksonville, but will now most likely seek to join another NFL team before he retires.

Taylor followed his 2007 season in which he made the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career, running for 1202 yards and 5 TD with a mediocre season. In 2008, Taylor really took a backseat to young star Maurice Jones-Drew. Taylor ran for just 556 yards in ’08,  which not including his 2001 season where he only played 2 games, is a career-low. He also only reached the endzone once. While Jones-Drew didn’t exactly run laps around him yardage-wise, with only 824 of his own rushing yards, he did have 12 TD to Taylor’s 1.

As well as being the team’s all-time leader in rushing yards, he is also 16th on the NFL’s all-time rushing yards list, with 11,271 career yards. Perhaps once of the greatest Jaguars of all-time, it seems Taylor will finally say goodbye to Jacksonville after 11 seasons there. Taylor recently turned 33 years old heading into his 12th NFL season, and his 1st without a Jaguar uniform.

Behind seventeen unanswered points in the fourth quarter, the Indianapolis Colts secured their seventh consecutive playoff berth with a 31-24 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars, who were playing with heart in response to the return of Richard Collier, were leading 17 to 7 at the half.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who completed his first 17 passes of the game, finished the game 29-of-34 for 364 yards, throwing touchdown passes to Reggie Wayne, Dominic Rhodes, and Dallas Clark. Rhodes also ran the ball 14 times for 27 yards.

Jacksonville’s David Garrard completed 28 of 41 passes for 329 yards, throwing one pass to Jaguars wide receiver Dennis Northcutt, and another pass to Colts cornerback Keiwan Ratliff. Ratliff returned his interception 35 yards for the winning touchdown.

The Jaguars actually had a chance to win the game inside the last minute of the 4th quarter. However, with 29 seconds left in regulation, Maurice Jones-Drew sprained his knee at the Indianapolis 7-yard line after receiving a pass from Garrard. Because the Jaguars had no timeouts left, ten seconds were run off the clock, so the Jaguars had only 19 seconds left to try and score the tying touchdown. One incomplete pass and one sack later, the game was over.

Also noteworthy is Colts head coach Tony Dungy, who broke Tom Landry’s record of consecutive playoff appearances. Dungy will be making his 10th straight appearance in the postseason.