Another fantasy football post, I know I should probably knock it off, especially when I am stealing this idea from some of the guys over at Yahoo. But the page needs some new content, and lets face it, the football season is less than a week away. If I don't do this now, then when?
So, with that semi disclaimer out of the way, and me biding my time till I run out and grab some lunch this afternoon, let's get about the feature that is 10 Fantasy Players I Hate more than you.
Editors note – The rankings I am using are the average draft position over at Sportsline.com.
Clinton Portis – average draft position 23rd – This is a running back that has seen an extensive number of carries the last few years, and the second half of last year father time seemed to be rearing his ugly head. Over the last 8 games last year, Portis averaged only 3.5 yards per carry and scored only twice. Add to that Coach Jim Zorn is looking to use Ladell Betts more on third down situations, and better value can be found farther down the draft board than this.
Roy E. Williams – average draft position 43rd – I am on the outside looking in on this one, people seem to like the fact he will be the number one receiver in Dallas, as evidenced by the fact that he is getting drafted on average in the fourth round, I am just not one of them. This is a guy that couldn't get open last season when he had Terrell Owens on the other side of him and Jason Witten at tight end, I can't see how he is now magically going to start beating the double teams that #1 receivers frequently see. Not that we haven't seen Roy Williams as the primary receiver before, he was in Detroit and that worked out so well that the Lions were willing to part with him, when Calvin Johnson passed him as the Lions primamry receiver.
Brandon Marshall – average draft position 44th – Contract and behavior issues abound with this pick. Marshall wants out of Denver, so much so that he has thrown tantrums in practice. The Broncos show no sign of wanting to deal him. A marriage made in hell to be sure. Add to that fact that Kyle Orton has looked less than spectacular in the preseason, and that Denver has a few other quality wider receivers in Eddie Royal and Brandon Stokley and a pass catching tight end in Tony Scheffler and taking Marshall in the 4th round of a draft (assuming a 12 team league) is a bit of a reach.
Willie Parker – average draft position 55th – The Steelers running game was not very good last year, and Parker can lose touches on both third down (to Mewelde Moore) and in goal line situations (to Rashard Mendenhall). Add to that Parker failed to rush for 1000 yards last year, averaged under 4 yards a carry (3.8) and was even worse in the red zone by a full yard (2.8 per carry) and better value can be had elsewhere.
Santonio Holmes – average draft position 60th – This is an example of a player getting a boost from his performance in the playoffs and Super Bowl, which doesn't help you during the fantasy football season. He has yet to go over 1000 yards receiving in a season, and had just 5 touchdowns last season. This isn't a case of Holmes being a bad player, or that his numbers couldn't be better than the last couple of years, just that he is going far higher than need be. Better value at this position can be found around this point in the draft (late 5th, early 6th), like Anthony Gonzalez and Eddie Royal, who are both going about a round later in most drafts.
Braylon Edwards – average draft position 63rd – Let's see, he plays on a team that can't score on offense, plays with two very unproven commodities at quarterback (Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn) and led the league in dropped passes last year. What is it I am supposed to like about this guy anyway?
Greg Olsen – average draft position 65th – This is not a matter of me coming down on Olsen's ability, as a matter of fact with Jay Cutler as the new Bears quarterback, chances are good this will be Olsen's best year yet. This is simply a matter of tight ends with similar talent getting taken after Olsen. Draft averages have the following coming after Olsen, Chris Cooley (75th), Kellen Winslow (80th), Dustin Keller (94th), Owen Daniels (96th), John Carlson (100th), and any one of them will probably post similar numbers to the ones you will get out of Olsen this year.
Cedric Benson – average draft position 78th – A former first round pick of the Bears, it shows how poorly his career has gone when his 747 rushing yards were a career high. Tack on an underwhelming yards per carry (3.5) and the fact he scored only 2 touchdowns all of last year and while you might not find another starting running back at this position in the draft (technically Ray Rice is getting drafted later), you can certainly find better value at other positions, or running backs that have a better upside coming of their team's bench (Darren Sproles, Leon Washington, Fred Jackson, Ahmad Bradshaw).
Stephen Gostkowski – average draft position 91st – I am all for drafting a kicker on a team that scores lots of points, just nowhere near this high. At best you should probably be snagging your kicker in your league's next to last, if not, last round. There will always be plenty of options to choose from, either drafting a kicker from a high scoring team, or one that has a career of being highly accurate. The drop off on actual kicker points is usually very slim, so taking one this early is little more than a wasted draft pick.
Plaxico Burress – average draft position 145th – Gee, last I checked he was going to jail. This is the absolute epitome of a wasted picked, unless you count the catches he is going to be making in his jail cell, which do not count for fantasy purposes.
Hopefully that helps for any of you that have some last minute drafting that you needed advice on. And if you didn't, I still got a blog entry out of it.
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