With the first week of fantasy football in the rear view mirror, a lot of fantasy owners are looking at their roster and wondering what the hell they were thinking about on draft night. The questions I have been getting are FILLED with desperation and despair. Come on guys...you have to keep the faith for more than one week! Let’s try and make some people feel better this week about their rosters and upcoming decisions.
Fantasy Mailbag Q&A: The “Don’t Panic” Edition
Q: I drafted Donovan McNabb, Kurt Warner, and Luke McCown to be my quarterback battery. Uhhhh...What do I do now? - Adam
A: Adam, first let’s talk roster management. Luke McCown is probably not worth holding onto right now. Donovan has busted ribs and Warner looks like he is 79 years old all of a sudden. My initial thought here is if you can afford to waste a roster spot with McCown, you might as well switch him out for Matt Leinart. That way you can at least be assured of a starter in an offense that likes to throw to good receivers. The Eagles’ QB situation just got extremely crowded with the signing of Jeff Garcia. I don’t think Andy Reid has any intention of going a long stretch of games with either Kevin Kolb or Michael Vick as the primary signal-caller. Kolb has never really shown he can be that guy, and Reid probably wouldn’t put Vick into that kind of fire just yet. That leaves Jeff Garcia as the guy that Reid would trust his championship-caliber offense with if McNabb all of a sudden had a hard time staying in the lineup. If you can only start one QB, I would keep D-Mac, Warner and Leinart as your three, but if you can roll with two passers in your fantasy league, you might consider this 4-pack of quarterbacks: Donovan McNabb, Kurt Warner, Matt Leinart, Jeff Garcia. Gives you the likely starter in two pretty potent offenses which--in theory--would be a solid foundation for your lineup on any given week.
Q: Don’t ask me how this happened, but I have THREE tight ends on my roster and they are all decent: Owen Daniels, Kellen Winslow, and Todd Heap. Who should I start this weekend and what is the secret to trading tight ends? - Rug
A: I thought I had a random nickname in ‘Sugar’, but ‘Rug’ even made me kind of raise an eyebrow. Rug, I applaud your commitment to the “best player on the board” draft strategy, but I strongly urge you to never, EVER prepare your own draft board again. Seriously, 3 tight ends? Unless you can start 20 guys or more, I have a hard time believing that there is ever a justification for this many tight ends. That said, all of your tight ends are decent players. The trouble with trading tight ends is that most fantasy leagues are only 12-14 teams, meaning that everyone gets a shot at a starting tight end in the NFL. If you are committed to trading these guys--and you SHOULD be--you have to package them with another position player to sweeten a deal. The other option is to try and offer a couple of these guys up for players who are not playing much (or at least not starting) right now but could materialize by season’s end. Glen Coffee, Donald Brown, James Davis, Jamaal Charles are all guys I would maybe target. You are better served having a few running backs on your roster like these than the extra tight ends. If your tight end gets injured, the waiver wire will have an option for you. These running backs won’t be on the waiver wire as the season progresses (they are almost definitely not on the waiver wire now.) As for who you should start this week, I am tempted to take Owen Daniels at Tennessee. He is probably the best of the three guys you have period, but last week Heath Miller had some luck finding the ball against that Titans defense.
Q: I can start two defenses this week and I have the Packers, Jets, and Redskins on the roster. Which two would you go with this week? - KJ
A: That is a wealth of quality defenses my friend. Going into the season, I had the Packers’ defense as the one to target. In an auction league where defenses like the Steelers, Giants and Eagles all went for $12-$13, I got the Packers for $3. I assume many others enjoyed similar bargains. The Redskins draw the Rams and the Packers draw the Bengals this Sunday, while the Jets get their first big test against the Patriots. Even though the Jets probably had the best day last week of these three, I find it hard to turn down the favorable matchups the Redskins and Packers have. Both teams are at home, and both teams should make short work of the opposing offenses this week.
Q: I drafted Brett Favre this year but mostly because he kind of fell to me. I am not sold on his ability to make it through this season or to even put up consistently strong numbers. What is your advice on how to deal with him? Should I trade him or ride him until the tires fall off? - Kevin
A: Hmmmmmm...I am a huge Favre fan. Always have been. The first time I ever won serious money in fantasy football (with 3 zero’s on the end of the total amount), it was thanks to Brett. This season we find ourselves somewhat clueless with regard to what he is capable of in terms of fantasy production. I don’t think he will have a lot of 100-yard days like the opener in Cleveland, but I do think they are going to put him on the proverbial ‘pitch-count’. Maybe I am overly optimistic here, but I think as he gets more comfortable with his receivers, his average yards per completion will begin to rise. Defenses will start to key in on Adrian Peterson too, giving him some pretty tempting passing options. I think 250 yards per game is not out of the question, with the occasional 300 yard performance sprinkled in here and there. Against Detroit this week, he should be able to equal his fantasy totals from last week in the first half alone.
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