Kurt Warner Fantasy Stock Rising

by Alex V

Cardinals QB Kurt Warner

Fantasy Sports aren’t always about getting the big name, or a name that at least was at one point big… like Kurt Warner. Just because the guy is 37 years old should not be the final factor on whether or not you should pick him up. One should always think “production” when making a decision on who to add to their Fantasy team. At this point in the season, Kurt Warner has been a stud, and would be a great pick up for those of you who are suffering from any of the following Fantasy Football diseases; “Brady’s Gone Syndrome,” “Carson Palmer’s Letting Me Down,” and “Jamarcus Russell is Making Me Look Stupid.” In fact, with the numbers he has put up so far, he has shown to be as good, if not better, stats wise that is, than some of the marquee quarterbacks in the game.

So far this season Kurt Warner has amassed 558 passing yards (279 per game), a 70.4 percent completion percentage, when most good QBs are lingering around the lower to mid 60’s, and he has four touchdown passes accumulating to two per game (all it takes is 1.875 TDs per game for a player to reach 30 in a regular season) for an amazing 128.5 QB rating. If Warner can keep this up, he will project to finish with 4,464 passing yards with 32 touchdown passes. Last year, only four quarterbacks reached the 30+ TD pass mark; Tom Brady (50), Tony Romo (36), Ben Roethlisberger (32), and Peyton Manning (31). Now, taking in account that perhaps the projections will skew a bit, he still looks to be anywhere between 3,600 and the projected 4,464 passing yards, and at least a mid-20 mark in the touchdown pass category, and he still hasn’t thrown a pick yet.

Warner's fantasy stock is on the rise for 2008

When you take into account all of these factors and the way Warner performed last season, the upside should be easy to see. Last year he started in eleven games and played in three more. In those games Warner passed for 27 TDs while totaling 3,417 passing yards and managing a 62.3 completion percentage, against a not-so-great 17 total interceptions. But already for a quarterback at his age, who was also playing with an injured shoulder, those are remarkable numbers!. And only one year later, you too can own Kurt Warner as a full-time starter and a healthy one at that!

That is what you should be thinking about if your mind is fettering on whether or not to drop a buck on Warner. I have a strong feeling out there that some Fantasy players go on whether or not a player has a high level of prestige and if the analysts project a player’s team to be successful and make the playoffs and or Super Bowl. Well guess what? Prestige doesn’t get you big stats all of the time, and neither does an electrifying player like those of you that have thrown a season down the drain as soon as you drafted Michael Vick (when he was actually playing). I bet some people are saying “Well Kurt Warner is obviously going to do something when he has Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald.” Well no shit! Another GREAT reason to pick him up! So remember folks. If you desperately need a quarterback at this point in the season, go ahead and overlook the Cardinals chances for success this season, but don’t overlook Kurt Warner’s chances to win you some games.

Warner’s remaining opponents and where they ranked last season in passing defense:

Week 3 @ Washington

Week 4 @ New York Jets

Week 5 vs Buffalo

Week 6 vs Dallas

Week 7 – Bye

Week 8 @ Carolina

Week 9 @ St. Louis

Week 10 vs. San Francisco

Note: YPG have been rounded to the nearest tenth.