FANTASY FOOTBALL TEAM CANCERS

Fantasy Football Team Cancers

By Mark M

I am writing this post just to make fun of all the people who drafted Marques Colston in the 1st or the 2nd round in their respective Fantasy drafts. I never understood the high Marques Colston pick ever, I know he is tall, strong and talented but has he ever really been a consistent #1 WR for anyone?

I swear he can have 200 yard games, but sometimes he just doesn’t even show up. Let me give you the examples to prove my point. Over Colston’s career he has never beaten a team with an above average secondary. Just for example whenever he has played the eagles, he has done nothing special. In 2007, he only had 3 catches for 16 yards with his long being a 11 yard run. Ok, still not satisfied? In 2006, he had 4 catches for 40 yards with a TD, not a bad day but certainly not what you expecting from your  top Fantasy draft pick WR. So the eagles may be his kryptonite right? Nope, I would say his big weakness is playing against any team in the NFC east. Colston’s best performance was the one that I just stated (40 yards and 1 TD) against any NFC East team. You can’t be a top flight receiver if an entire Division of the NFL has your number in my book.

Another statistic, which proves he is not consistent game to game, is that in 2007 he had 6 games with less than 50 yards. Ok, I fully admit that doesn’t sound that bad, but it does when you realize the man was 8th in the league in reception yards. He had over 4 games with 100+ yards. Fantasy wise, in most leagues weekly wins and losses are all that matter. Yes, Colson is a lock in Fantasy leagues, if they don’t have a playoff system, or if the winner is determined by tallying up overall points. Most leagues just are not like that, and for that reason Colston is bad a start due to his unreliable Stats. You don’t know when he is going to go off, and more times than not he will play sub par compared to the number of 100+ days superb starts he produces. He has this pattern with his TDs as well. Colston, Fantasywise, really statistically follows the motto, “Go big or go home”, which is idea your #1 can’t have over the course of a full season if your to do well in your Fantasy league. Roddy white another receiver who has very similar stats compared to Colston. Roddy White also has the same consistency problems as Colston but Roddy is always a much later pick, WHY IS THAT? Is it because Colston has big highlights of his catches on SportCenter? I just don’t get it.

But either way, how I feel does not matter because he is hurt. So regardless of your concept of his past production, if you picked Colston this year you got screwed. He is out for a minimum of six weeks, so go get Eddie Royal or Desean Jackson, cause you need somebody. Those are the two best free agents for week two that are out there in most Leagues. In the draft you might have had a shot at Andre Johnson, Plaxico Burress, Chad Johnson and all the other players whom I suspect might have been wrongly picked after Colston but now your stuck with some free agent rookie, and I have no pity for you. You are almost as bad as the idiot, who took a chance on a Broncos RB in the 2nd round, a few years ago in one of my leagues. You know who the RB was, right?

Matt Cassel Fantasy Stock Rising

By Alex V

If you’re looking for an insurance policy for your fantasy team at the quarterback position, look none further than Matt Cassel. The obvious reasons why Cassel could turn out to be a good pickup may be Randy Moss and Wes Welker, and even dump-off pass catching play makers like Kevin Faulk and perhaps even Ben Watson.However, there are three other reasons why I’ll say that Matt Cassel is a good guy to spend a buck on right now.

Number one would be if you’ve drafted one of the more injury-prone quarter backs, like Donovan McNabb, Ben Roethlisberger, or even Jake Delhomme. If you have one of these guys on your team or another like them, Matt Cassel could wind up saving your season.

If you need a little belief, look none further than reason number two! Laurence Maroney, up until the Patriots game against the Chiefs this weekend, has averaged just 13.3 carries per game, and that includes last year when he was the feature back. His numbers are likely to go up with Tom Brady being gone, but he’s more of a scatty flashback type than a work horse so perhaps 16-17 total is most likely. Ergo, Matt Cassel should still average anywhere from 175-225 passing yards per game, and if Maroney can’t punch it in the red zone, then Cassel could get the call, so he could be a great pick up.

The final key reason for joining in the “Cassel Run” is the aging defense of the Patriots. New England’s defensive unit may be slowing down as the season moves along with veterans starters at the linebacker position; Teddy Bruschi, 35, Mike Vrabel, 34, and Adalius Thomas, 31. Even in the secondary where strong safety Rodney Harrison sits at age 35, the burden may be on the defensive line in a 3-4 scheme to create pressure for the majority of the Patriots’ games this season. This should create more situations where the Patriots will be forced to pass, rather than to prefer to pass like last year when going to Tom Brady was the ideal option.

My suggestion… at least don’t sleep on the potential of Matt Cassel. What he lacks in game experience, he could wind up making up for in the privilege of having gotten to watch and learn from one of the greats, in Tom Brady.