RSS
The impotent first tier quarterback
The quarterback is the face of football teams on all levels. While consensus suggests that most gridiron success comes from within the trenches , the quarterback engineers the scoring. Thus, he always gets the adoration or the blame, the big contract, the glamour, the media attention, and sometimes even Jessica Simpson. . You just have to observe Brett Favre’s ugly divorce from the Packers to get all of that. But, in Fantasy Football, is the stud QB always that adorable?
My current league has been in operation since 1999, the year QB Peyton Manning really burst on to the scene. He was selected #1 in our 2000 Draft. He has been selected in the first round, usually early, every year since.. Manning holds NFL records for consecutive years with over 4,000 yards passing, as well as most career total seasons with 4,000 plus yards passing. Only once has he missed a Pro Bowl selection since his 1998 rookie year. That was in 2001. He has been an absolute and durable FFB machine!
But, guess what? Not ONCE has Peyton Manning ever even made our playoff finals in nine years! Is drafting Peyton just a silly curse? I don’t think so.
A stud QB looks shiny on your opening day roster, but that gloss can wear off amazingly fast. In 2007, Tom Brady carried his proud owner on his back, putting up obscene FFB numbers, taking no prisoners all year long. You could pencil Brady in for 40 plus fantasy points, easy. Brady always answered the bell, even when that owner’s other players got nicked up. Nobody could beat him.
But, a wintry December Nor’easter rendered Brady impotent in our playoff semi-finals. Mother Nature demoted him to frigid human status, much to my benefit. That same winter storm wrapped a white out blanket all over Randy Moss and Wesley Welker, taking down another playoff favorite.
The combination of lesser QB’s David Garrard and Kurt Warner carried me to victory, in sunny places like Florida and Arizona. Neither of them were even drafted. Neither was on my roster before week 11. Amazingly, David Garrard also made our 2006 finals, finally being beaten out by that perennial FFB stud, QB Jeff Garcia. Fifty percent of our league winners have won with QB’s that were never even drafted.
This is the case more often that not. Over the years, the best QB’s in the NFL, names like McNabb, Manning, Palmer, Brees, Romo….the next one of those names who sniff our trophy, will be the first. You can’t make this stuff up!
Injuries, wintry late season games, bad match-ups, solid defenses, etc., have thwarted most first tier QB’s in the playoffs. That really is a remarkable trend! Even one that 2007 All-Fantasy-World QB Tom Brady couldn’t buck. Nobody will EVER put up better numbers.
So, if you fret, sweat, and panic for a first tier QB after your first round pick…relax, grab a beverage of your choice, chuckle with the only friend at your draft, your sports psychologist. It’s really not that urgent! Look for another RB or WR.. You’ll be glad you did.
It feels all warm and fuzzy to stroll out of you draft with a STUD QB on your roster. But, time- tested, real- time FFB reality ? Your 2008 league CHAMP just might steal it all with an undrafted signal-caller, or an opening day benchwarmer just needing some future love.
Did any expert , any clairvoyant, anywhere, foresee Eli Manning as the 2008 Super Bowl MVP? Case closed….
My current league has been in operation since 1999, the year QB Peyton Manning really burst on to the scene. He was selected #1 in our 2000 Draft. He has been selected in the first round, usually early, every year since.. Manning holds NFL records for consecutive years with over 4,000 yards passing, as well as most career total seasons with 4,000 plus yards passing. Only once has he missed a Pro Bowl selection since his 1998 rookie year. That was in 2001. He has been an absolute and durable FFB machine!
But, guess what? Not ONCE has Peyton Manning ever even made our playoff finals in nine years! Is drafting Peyton just a silly curse? I don’t think so.
A stud QB looks shiny on your opening day roster, but that gloss can wear off amazingly fast. In 2007, Tom Brady carried his proud owner on his back, putting up obscene FFB numbers, taking no prisoners all year long. You could pencil Brady in for 40 plus fantasy points, easy. Brady always answered the bell, even when that owner’s other players got nicked up. Nobody could beat him.
But, a wintry December Nor’easter rendered Brady impotent in our playoff semi-finals. Mother Nature demoted him to frigid human status, much to my benefit. That same winter storm wrapped a white out blanket all over Randy Moss and Wesley Welker, taking down another playoff favorite.
The combination of lesser QB’s David Garrard and Kurt Warner carried me to victory, in sunny places like Florida and Arizona. Neither of them were even drafted. Neither was on my roster before week 11. Amazingly, David Garrard also made our 2006 finals, finally being beaten out by that perennial FFB stud, QB Jeff Garcia. Fifty percent of our league winners have won with QB’s that were never even drafted.
This is the case more often that not. Over the years, the best QB’s in the NFL, names like McNabb, Manning, Palmer, Brees, Romo….the next one of those names who sniff our trophy, will be the first. You can’t make this stuff up!
Injuries, wintry late season games, bad match-ups, solid defenses, etc., have thwarted most first tier QB’s in the playoffs. That really is a remarkable trend! Even one that 2007 All-Fantasy-World QB Tom Brady couldn’t buck. Nobody will EVER put up better numbers.
So, if you fret, sweat, and panic for a first tier QB after your first round pick…relax, grab a beverage of your choice, chuckle with the only friend at your draft, your sports psychologist. It’s really not that urgent! Look for another RB or WR.. You’ll be glad you did.
It feels all warm and fuzzy to stroll out of you draft with a STUD QB on your roster. But, time- tested, real- time FFB reality ? Your 2008 league CHAMP just might steal it all with an undrafted signal-caller, or an opening day benchwarmer just needing some future love.
Did any expert , any clairvoyant, anywhere, foresee Eli Manning as the 2008 Super Bowl MVP? Case closed….
posted by Times Herald at
7:37 AM
2 Comments:
Fabio, I can't believe your a fantasy football blogger...loved the pic in your profile. Anywho, you make great sense about Manning. What has he done in FFB. Absolutely nothing. However, he is the number three athlete in my home country of Kahzakstahn. Right behind famous soccer player Jimonshonski Johnsevevichski, famous horse nex next town over Bu Bu Bbulshetvicknevitiski, a gelding. Manning posesses many weapons though that are capable of taking you deep into the playoffs, like Harrison, Wayne, Clark, and Addai...all of whom should be number one options on their teams this year.
Brady though absolutley makes me sick, as does America's favorite cheater, I mean coach Bellicheat. Didn't he co-write the Patriot Act, which allows the government to infringe on your civil liberites in the name of terrorism, or learning somebody's system. Anyway Wild...welcome to blog central. May the blog be with you.
Cesear, I thank you for your two cents. I almost traveled To Kahzakstahn once. I hesitated due to the fanatical anti-New England Patriot sentiment in that part of the world. They love honest American Football there, but their disdain for American cheating is real and it is spectacular. The government completely banned Tour De France coverage in their country, for all eternity.
I had a Manning and Reggie Wayne hook-up 3 years ago, in my league. I missed the playoffs. Cesear, thanks for your insight...You sound credible. But good options Wayne, Clark, Addai, or Harrison have never won in my league. For the record,though, they have taken many owners deep into the season. The last Colt I won with was Barbaro in the Kentucky Derby, and that ended badly.
Cesear, tell all your friends in Kahzakstahn about this blog...I know they play FFB there. I think some of them even try to get away with FTDF (Fantasy Tour De France). Johnsevevichski can do things with a soccer ball that totally defy physics, or even Pele...You should really be proud.
Post a Comment
<< Home