The big news in fantasy football land this morning is that Falcons' QB Michael Vick has been indicted on federal charges related to dog fighting. The league is consulting with the Falcons on the situation, but isn't saying anything more than that. Vick had personally told NFL Commissioner Goodell that he wasn't involved in dog fighting.
Nobody lies to the Commissioner, Mr. Vick.
I'll avoid all the legal and personal issues and just focus on the fantasy football aspect of it: Michael Vick is the fantasy football version of that tuberculosis guy. Even if he's not suspended immediately, he may be suspended during the season. If he's not suspended during the season, he'll still have that hanging over his head as tries to focus on playing. Every pre-game conference, every post-game conference, every interview will be filled with questions about dog fighting. Opposing stadiums will be filled with fans waving dog collars and holding signs that say "WOOF!" Somebody will throw a dog chew toy at him. It will be a circus, a public-relations (and probably fantasy football) train wreck in slow-motion. Thank goodness the Falcons don't play at Cleveland this season.
Considering Vick has had problems playing smart football even when he wasn't facing a federal indictment, Vick isn't a #1 fantasy QB this season. If you can pick him up around the last third of your draft, he could be a useful #2 QB for bye week fill-ins. If you draft him though, understand that he may not play a single game and the draft pick you use for him may be a complete waste.
Since we don't know when or even if Vick will be suspended, it's hard to recommend Joey Harrington as a fantasy choice right now. Our sister Falcons blog, The Falcoholic, is even talking about the possibility the Falcons will cut Vick just to rid the franchise of the public relations stain. That seems severe to me, but you never know. If you have a deep bench or practice squad in your league and you have the space, pick up Harrington and stash him away. Harrington isn't a #1 fantasy QB even if he started from Week 1, but he could be a decent #2 fantasy QB. If Vick is gone, I like Chris Redman as a deep sleeper QB as well.
In not-entirely-unrelated news, the Dolphins finally released Daunte Culpepper when they couldn't get anybody to trade them a bag of balls for him. Conveniently, the Falcons may be looking for a new quarterback. Culpepper will end up somewhere, but his value is probably highest if he signs in Atlanta. If your league has off-season pickups, you may want to grab Culpepper right now as well. A healthy Culpepper (assuming he is healthy) plus Bobby Petrino plus a decent Falcons running game could produce some nice fantasy numbers if it all came together.