The Weekly Pepper Doubleheader: Week One Fantasy Pickups

Welcome to part two of my fantasy doubleheader.

Yesterday, we discussed the untradeable players of the 2009 fantasy season.

Today, I’ll kick some knowledge on the Week One pickups that could change your team.

 

1. Louis Murphy

 

Oh yes, I’m advising a Raider. The forgotten receiver from the Florida Gators’ powerhouse. If not for what could only described as a deplorable referee decision, Louis Murphy would have finished the Monday Night game with two touchdowns and nearly 100 yards. He was targeted all game and even made plays against the incredible Cromartie.

With Chaz Schilens out with an injury for up to two more weeks, with Javon Walker still out, and with Heyward-Bey being, well, Heyward-Bey, Louis Murphy will be getting quite a few looks.

Add in the fact that he plays the Chiefs/Broncos/Chargers a combined five more times this year and you have a fantasy sleeper in the wings.

 

2. Michael Bush

The Chargers have a top run defense and the Raiders pounded them for 105 yards in a half.

The Raiders can run the ball, and the Raiders will run the ball. Michael Bush will be getting the goal line carries.

Oh by the way, they play the Chiefs this weekend. The same Chiefs who gave the inept Ravens’ offense 500+ yards.

Start all Raiders. All of them. ALL OF THEM.

 

3. Oakland Defense

They held the Chargers to 77 yards rushing, and other than two great fourth quarter drives, they held the masterful Chargers’ offense to a minimum.

They play the Chiefs and Broncos four more times. Great spot defense if your defense is playing the Saints.

 

4.Hank Baskett

With Anthony Gonzalez going out for eight weeks with an ACL injury, Hank Baskett was recently picked up by the Colts.

Reggie Wayne will be getting all the looks, but Baskett could be a fantastic flex option for 12 team leagues.

 

5.Trent Edwards

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The Weekly Pepper Doubleheader: The Fantasy Untradeables

I’ll be conducting a fantasy doubleheader this week due to the importance of Week One.

You ever have a group of friends, perhaps seven or eight guys? This is your crew. You guys do everything together: Football games, trips to Vegas, drinking nights, etc.

You consider them all really solid friends but there’s a special two or three guys who you are exceptionally tight with.

If there was a best friend draft, these guys would be your running backs. They’re dependable, consistent, rarely get sick on big drinking nights, and are just overall the best things to happen to you.

That is what my untradeables list is.

If you were forced to only keep one player and start all over again, and one of these guys isn’t on your team, I would advise you to throw your whole team in and start over.

As someone who believes that nearly everyone is tradeable, the exclusions from this list might come off as striking to a few of you.

For instance: Michael Turner is completely tradeable. You hoard him until he has one big week and then you pitch him for two players who’s numbers will supercede his own.

My untradeable list consists of guys whose points are irreplaceable or who have the potential to single-handedly win you a fantasy game. With no further ado, I present the untradeables.

 

1. Drew Brees

Could there have been a more obvious opening pick. No quaterback this year will put up these kind of yards and touchdowns. I usually advise trading QBs after one big week due to the amount of QBs with decent numbers available.

No one is coming close to Brees this year. Their defense is so bad that there will be no running the clock out fourth quarters. Brees can and will be throwing it 40+ times a game and will go for the end zone more times than not.

If you trade Drew Brees you have to know that you’ve lost, no matter who you get, beause he’s the significant No. 1 in his field.

 

2. Wes Welker/Randy Moss in a PPR league

100 yards and 10 catches. This is what you can expect from both of these men every game. That’s 20 points a game not counting touchdowns, and trust me when I say those will be coming as well.

With the youth of the defense, the Patriots will be in the game throughout and will not stop throwing. While the Saints throw it more, they share the wealth with too many players for any of them to be untradeable outside of Brees.

 

3.Adrian Peterson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrhBXbVmrWc

 

There’s all the reason you need.

4.Reggie Wayne

I will be writing an article dedicated solely on his fantasy potential tomorrow so I can’t give away too much here.

Let me just say that you should do everything in your power to get Reggie Wayne. 15 TDs looks very accomplishable this year.

 

5.Calvin Johnson

Have you ever dated a girl you hated, but she was so good in bed that you just couldn’t break up with her? You guys fought and fought and fought but that only led to more sex and more reasons to stay with her.

That’s Calvin Johnson and Matt Stafford. Matt can’t do anything correct right now except throw the deep ball. It just so happens that he has the greatest deep ball WR we have ever seen.

The Lions will be losing. The Lions will be throwing. Matt Stafford will be throwing deep. Calvin Johnson will be getting 100 yards and a TD often.

And there you have it. Five guys, no more, no less. With the right package, you can swivel Michael Turner from me in a heartbeat. Tom Brady is tossable if I have a solid backup. Maurice Jones Drew and Matt Forte can take a hike with the right deal.

But if you have one of these five (technically six for Welker/Moss combo) do not release them for any reason what so ever.

Not even if you’re in a fantasy league with Kanye West and he’s telling you he’s sorry but he’s got the best player of all time.

 

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Bleacher Report Debate: Brady Quinn vs. Derek Anderson

This debate between myself and The Long Island Sound will be featured on InsidetheGridiron.com. A football website brought to you by Bleacher Report’s own “The Rant.”

With the Browns seemingly in rebuilding mode, what makes Derek Anderson the right QB for the job?

8:42pm Kevin

Some may argue that they are in the rebuilding mode, but this is the same team minus the good driver, Dante Stallworth, and the Kellen “I’m a Soldier” Winslow. Also, this is the same team that Derek Anderson propelled with his Pro Bowl year throwing 29 touchdowns. Last year the Browns were plagued with offensive line injuries, and the line has been enhanced with the addition of center Alex Mack. With number wide receiver Braylon Edwards, who forgot to tak his 5 Hr. Energy last season, who thrives on the deep ball is best suited for the team to maximize the offense. This is not a rebuilding team, but a team that can regain it’s 2007 form, which Derek Anderson excelled to the playoffs.

8:43pm Kevin

With the Browns seemingly in rebuilding mode, what makes Brady Quinn the right QB for the job?

8:50pm Brandon

What makes Brady Quinn the right man for the job is a tale of two stories. On one hand, potential leads the way for a team rebuilding. As we’ve seen this pre-season, not only has Quinn put up better numbers, but the team rallies around him more potently. He’s someone the team can grow with. We haven’t seen his max potential while we’ve seen the limit of Derek Anderson’s ability. If you’re going to keep both QBs, the Browns fans and organization need to see what he can do.

Secondly, without Dante Stallowrth, this is no longer a deep ball team. Braylon Edwards has deep ball capability but this offense is based off the run and playaction pass. With the addition of possession WRs such as Mossaquai and Robiskie, this team is not looking to score quickly, but instead, they plan on driving down the field and wearing down on defenses. The routes for this type of offense require quick passes and mid range accuracy off of playaction. Both of these throws favor the talents Brady Quinn showed off with his time at Notre Dame.

8:52pmBrandon

With Browns fans clamoring for hometown hero Quinn to win the job, and with ticket sales down across the country, what benefits does Derek Anderson bring to a team that has seemingly no shot at playoff contention this year?

9:02pm Kevin

True, fans do want to give the first round selection, Brady Quinn, a full shot and the fans do still have the bitter taste of what Derek Anderson left them with in 2008. How do you boost ticket sales and regain the fans faith? Winning. What quarterback gives them the best chance to win, Derek Anderson. Mangini will look to utilize the same style of play as he did in New York: grind the defense down and hit them hard with playaction, which Derek Anderson can maximize with his arm. How many Pro Bowls has Brady Quinn gone to? How many 200 plus yard games has he thrown against teams not named the Broncos? This team can battle for the wild card as long as the offensive line stays healthy and the defense anchored by Shaun Rogers and Eric Wright in the secondary remains consistent.

9:03pm Kevin

With Derek Anderson’s draft stock only plummeting, why should he not start to potentially raise his value and give the Browns draft options and open up their team to the “future” in Quinn?

9:05pm Brandon

Well this is a major problem for the Browns organization. In 2007, after Derek Anderson’s stellar breakout season, the Browns had offers for both Quinn and Anderson and could have packaged either one for draft picks to further build their fledgling team. Alas, they royally screwed it up by keeping both. But now is not the time to try and remedy such a malady.

9:08pm Brandon

As we discussed earlier, they are in a rebuilding mindset. Rebuilding teams rarely make it into the playoffs without serious help as we saw with the Falcons and the Dolphins last year. The Browns have neither a powerful running back, a dominating offense line, a swarming defense, nor the requisite coaching staff required for such a turn around. Derek Anderson’s abilities were favorable for the previous offense. But as we’ve seen with the rest of the Belichick offspring, they do not follow his coaching tendencies nor do they possess his coaching prowess.

9:10pm Brandon

Last Question

9:11pm Brandon

With Brady Quinn’s superior preseason and an Ohio fanbase larger than former mentor Charlies Weis’ ever-growing gullet, what has Derek Anderson done to prove to new head coach Eric Mangini that he deserves the spot?

9:18pm Kevin

Outside of Mangini witnessing Anderson raise his team to a win over his Jets in 2007, which happened to be his Pro Bowl year, he has not done much to separate himself from Mr. EAS Myoplex this preseason. As you previously alluded to about the Belichick tree, Weis finely tuned Quinn to every pass under 2.5 yeards from bubble screens to slip screens. Mangini has never trusted proven Quarterbacks as he did not with Chad Pennington, and she should learn from his previous mistake and take the proven Pro Bowler over the limited Quinn.

9:21pm Kevin

last question

9:22pm Kevin

6. The Browns granted Derek Anderson a substantial contract, so why should he not be allowed to maximize the Pro Bowl abilities he has previously shown?

9:23pmBrandon

Ah, you once again show your lack of knowledge towards God’s team. You don’t break every Notre Dame record with only screens. You also seem to forget that screens involve speedy WR who can turn the short pass into long gains. Jeff Samardzija is a pitcher. Those guys are like the anti-Usain Bolt

But moving on…

9:27pm Brandon

The Browns have buried themselves. Deeply. Not giving Quinn a time to shine now would simply dig their hole deep enough to fit Charlies Weis into it. You can’t let potential go without letting it spread it’s wings. We’ve seen Derek Anderson’s best. It wasn’t enough. Derek Anderson is the once hot girlfriend who’s given up wearing makeup and lost most of her luster. Brady Quinn is the artsy chick with paint stains and fantastic features. You don’t lead the pretty girl on and then punch the pretty girl in the face…unless you’re Shawne Merriman that is…or Chris Brown.

I could do this all day but alas we must keep this brief.

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The Weekly Pepper: How to Manage the Early Weeks of the Fantasy Season

It’s been nearly seven months since the end of the Super Bowl and an even longer wait since the more important championship game.

Your fantasy league’s.

If you were the fortunate victor of your league, you have spent the past seven months ridiculing your league mercilessly about just how useless and impotent they are.

If you were the unfortunate loser, you have spent the same seven months planning a plot of vengeance so menacing that Indigo Montaya felt you took it to far.

Winner or loser, you have spent the past seven months reading every single fantasy article you could get your hands on.

You bought magazines.

You checked out all your sleeper websites.

You mock drafted until your eyeballs looked like Anton Chigur at the end of No Country for Old Men.

Then…well…there was still three months until the season starts.

 

Every day you would come to Bleacher Report and see a veretable crop of articles ranking everything from wide receivers to assistants to the assistant trainer’s assistant. You heard people say Adrian Peterson was over-rated only to turn around and find out he was going to run for 8,000 yards and 143 touchdowns.

You watched as Maurice Jones-Drew was the sleeper of the draft and then were told how over-rated he was.

Running backs were down and receivers were up.

And now, with the season starting next Sunday, you realize you know less about your team than Al Davis does about drafting in the 1st round.

Don’t worry, you’re in the same boat as millions.

But there are four simple techniques you can follow to keep your season afloat no matter what your early turnout may be.

 

1. Do not, I repeat, do NOT sell away your team.

There are two reasons for this:

A. Your league will despise you for stacking up a superior team. This will hurt the league as everyone will be in a rush to play catch up. Sorta like the 2009-2010 NBA season.

B. This is the NFL you are playing with. Anything can happen. People get hurt and backups become heroes. Some unknown free agent can become a superstar. And you know what? Those backups and free agents are lying on the waiver wire waiting for you. Steve Slaton, Ryan Grant, Maurice Jones Drew, the list goes on and on. If your team is near the bottom you will be high on the waiver wire, allowing you first choice at premium free agents.

Which leads to number two.

 

2.Do not, I repeat, do NOT waste your waiver wire slot.

Sure, your 4th wide receiver just went down and someone dropped Deion Branch and this might be the week he remembers he was once a Super Bowl MVP.

Or he might just remember that he’s third string and getting older by the minute.

If you are high on the waiver wire (numbers one or two) save it for that breakout player who can turn around your season. If you’re low on the wire just save it for when everyone panics and starts talking themselves into newly signed T.J Duckett. Eventually, and trust me on this, your #11 slot will turn into a #1.

 

3.The Jennifer Aniston Rule

You are 4-0 and winning games by 40-50 points average. You wisely chose Steve Slaton early and traded up to grab Pierre Thomas before he was stolen. You drafted one of the big four wide receivers and took Tony Romo while everyone shied away from him.

What to do now?

Steal, plunder, and pillage every team panicking at 0-4 or 1-3. Send them bloated trades with promise. Offer them your potential for their certainties.

“Darren McFadden and Bernard Berrian for Maurice Jones-Drew. Hell yeah that’s a good trade, man. McFadden blew up big (against the Chiefs but you needn’t mention that) and Bernard Berrian is a deep ball machine with Favre (against the Lions). Maurice Jones-Drew has been average lately (against the Titans) and now you’re adding to your team.”

These conversations MUST happen. Send out terrible trades to the entire league. Remember the most important rule of fantasy football: E.L.L.S-Every Loss Lowers Standards.

Basically, an 0-4 record will have the bottom team more desperate than Jennifer Aniston edging in on a Midlife Crisis.

Which leads into the final rule of early season management.

 

4.Never Be Satisfied

Back to the team that’s 4-0.

You are destroying your opponents with ravenous fury.

You are the envy of the league and your league smack talk improves with each win.

People are sending you trades but you find yourself content with your undefeated team.

WRONG.

This is how you lose fantasy titles.

Never be satisfied. If you’re 4-0, think of ways to make it to 5-0. Go back and see HOW you won. Did your opponent have a bad week? Did your running backs have easy matchups? Have you been playing the dregs of the league?

Find holes in your team and fill them. If you have the 3rd best TE try and get the 1st. If you have a running back on your bench who is putting up big points but can’t get into your lineup due to you having Adrian Peterson and Thomas Jones, trade someone.

Points on the bench are pointless ones.

All of these rules are simple enough that you would assume them to be well known. Yet every year, in every draft, there’s that guy who goes 0-4 and sends Andre Johnson to the league’s top team for a poo poo platter.

Your goal is to be the guy getting Andre Johnson.

Best of luck to you fantasy studs and tune in for my next installment:

The Lost Art of the Fantasy Football Midrange Jumper

 

This and all subsequent articles will be located on BleacherReport’s own TheRant’s website InsideTheGridiron.com.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

The Future of An Ideal World: 2009 NFL Quarterback Battles

Sitting in front of you are two girls.

One was salacious and good-looking. She might have been beautiful once, but age and gravity have come into play and she is showing signs of wear and tear.

Your friends think she’s hot, so she’s forever date-able, but you could never see yourself marrying her.

The other girl had astounding features: pale blue eyes, bordering on grey, flowing strands of blonde hair, highlighted in all the right spots, long, toned legs leading to a perfect bottom…only problem is she’s wearing overalls with paint on them.

Rough around the edges would leave hyperbole chuckling at understatement, yet, there’s just something special about this one. With a change of style and a little bit of time, this one could be the keeper. 

For the San Francisco 49ers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Cleveland Browns this is the situation they are looking at.

Each team has a quarterback in place; Shaun Hill for the 49ers, Byron Leftiwch for the Bucs, and Derek Anderson for the Browns. Each of these quarterbacks is tested on the NFL battlegrounds, and each one has shown the ability to manage games for wins.

What they haven’t shown is the ability to win in the playoffs; Ravens rookie QB Joe Flacco has twice as many playoff wins in one year than all three of these QBs combined.

While these three quarterbacks might have been beautiful once, in their current states, they’re simply future ex-girlfriends.

Standing behind these three dilapidated beauties are the paint-stained runners-up, brimming with promise.

Brady Quinn, Josh Freeman, and Alex Smith are all former first-round draft picks loaded with talent. Statuesque as they may be, they are still a few shadows short of a perfect silhouette.

Brady Quinn has upper-body strength rivaling some linebackers, but his touch and ability to read NFL defenses is still lacking.

At 6’5″, 250-pounds, Josh Freeman is built like a larger Peyton Manning with a cannon arm to boot. But his accuracy in the intermediate range that wide receivers frequent so often is severely lacking.

Last and quite possibly least is one Alex Smith. Entering his fifth year in the league after being drafted first overall, Alex Smith has shown little to no signs of improvement. To his defense, non-existent wide receivers, constant coaching changes, and an unstable offense haven’t really given him much to work with.

Going with the wily veterans would most likely, if we head back to that ideal world, lead to more wins, and in the NFL winning is all that matters, right?

The answer is yes, but it’s not as black and white as the answer may seem.

Winning right now leads the way to losing in the future and vice versa; losing now could lead to winning in the future, you know, in that ideal world we’re living in.

So, which is the right path to choose?

It is these questions that keep NFL General Managers up at night.The right choice could lead to a serious extension and pay raise. The wrong one could have you working as a broadcaster for NFL Sundays on Fox.

In the case of these three teams, you need to look at both their present and their future.

The Browns are stuck in a division behind the Ravens and the Steelers; a.k.a. the 2008 AFC Championship game. Their second to last ranked offense lost its number two receiver Dante Stallworth to the stiff right hand of Roger Goodell. Their 26th ranked swiss cheese defense didn’t find any filling for any of its numerous holes.

In other words, Browns fans can expect the same results as last year.The 2007 season showed Derek Anderson’s peak. Browns fans are still waiting to see Quinn for an entire season. In situations such as these, with no bright future in sight, why not try and create one?

The Buccaneers are trapped in one of the NFL’s toughest divisions: the NFC South. The Falcons were the league’s biggest surprise last year and only improved this offseason with the addition of All-World Tony Gonzalez. The Panthers were one of the league’s top running teams, with the Saints being the league’s best passing offense.

With a complete rehaul of the entire team, from coaching staff to veteran greats like Derrick Brooks, the Buccaneers are clearly in their rebuilding phase after winning a Super Bowl in 2003. Why not let the team build around Josh Freeman?

The 49ers have the best situation of the entire three. They aren’t stuck in a great division. For them it is the exact opposite; they are pitted in one of the NFL’s worst, where an 8-8 record nearly won the division.

If they can finally sign star wideout Michael Crabtree, they could have a potent offense featuring Frank Gore, Isaac Bruce, Josh Morgan, Michael Crabtree, and Vernon Davis.

Their head coach Mike Singeltary is a hard-nosed former player who is bringing his ideals to the often soft 49ers.

Their sole problem is mediocre quarterback play. Their future was banked on first overall pick Alex Smith, and so far he hasn’t panned out. They say when you draft a QB early in the first-round and he doesn’t work out, it sets your team back nearly five years.

Well, welcome to year five Alex Smith.

This is Alex Smith’s last chance to earn the monster contract he received in 2005. For the 49ers they either start Alex Smith or admit he was a bust and draft a quarterback in 2010.

Each of these teams have tough decisions to make this year and depending on their choices, some players and management could be finding new places of work this offseason.

For each team, a chance at turning life around is possible with their young quarterbacks of the future.

In an ideal world, that is.

For these three teams, it’s a shame this is the NFL instead.

 

 

Savior: The Minnesota Vikings and Brett Favre Saga’s Happy Ending

 

sav⋅ior (n.)—1. A person who saves, rescues or delivers.

The word savior has become common hyperbole in sports circles, right up there with war metaphors and pop culture references.

Anytime one man improves a team, we grant him the title of a savior and heap praise upon him like a Meryl Streep movie at the Academy Awards.

Matt Ryan was not a savior.  The Atlanta Falcons reconstructed the entire coaching staff and management, signed a great running back, upgraded the offensive line, and Matt Ryan being a great quarterback became icing on the red and black cake.

Ghandi was a savior.

Heracles was a savior.

The guy who simultaneously convinces Al Davis and David Sterling to retire is a savior.

Brett Favre is not a savior, and that is why Vikings fans should be thankful we have him on our roster.

If your team requires a savior, then you are most likely not ready for the Super Bowl.  This is not the case for the Vikings.

Being an idealist is not favorable for Vikings fans in 2009-2010.  This isn’t the Brett Favre of lore.  This isn’t the old gunslinger whose great plays made up for his bonehead mistakes.

What Favre is is a quarterback who knows how to win games and can do something  Vikings quarterbacks post-Culpepper couldn’t do: throw the ball 15 yards down the field accurately.

When you look at the building blocks for a great team you will continuously come across the same three key factors:

1. Can they run the ball?  Check.  Adrian Peterson is arguably the league’s best running back and the Vikings proudly march out one of the league’s top offensive lines.

2. Can they stop the run?  The best run defense five years running says yes.

3. Can they convert third downs into first downs?  Only when Purple Jesus feels like breaking four tackles and juking another 11.

What the Vikings have been missing since the emergence of Adrian Peterson is a quarterback who can convert first downs when the opposing team stacks the line on 3rd down.

Brett Favre is not a savior, but if we look at the definition of a savior—to save, to deliver, to rescue—Brett Favre certainly has the qualities.

The Vikings’ two biggest weaknesses last year were put on full display in a playoff game against the Eagles: slow linebackers and a zone blitz.  The Vikings’ QBs just couldn’t beat a zone blitz and the Eagles used it like they patented it.

While Brett Favre can’t bring down speedy running backs, he can beat a zone blitz with relative ease.

He can rescue the purple and gold “damsel in distress” from her tragic flaw.

The Vikings have the team capable of making it deep into the playoffs.  They want a championship game of some sort and everyone knows it.  They have the team to make the pizza, but haven’t had the man to deliver it.

Until now.

The final quality of a savior is found in its name, to save something.  As stated earlier, the Vikings don’t need saving.  Throughout this entire saga, only one fatal truth held true.  Only one facet seemed so sweet that it slowly became saccharine.  The Vikings are not a franchise known for Super Bowls and so you slowly realize that winning it all would only save one thing…

and that’s Brett Favre.

Weekly Pepper: Steve Slaton Is 2009’s Fantasy Steal

Welcome to the Weekly Pepper: A weekly, sometimes daily breakdown of the coming year in fantasy football.

In today’s edition, I will be documenting the biggest steal of this year’s fantasy football season.

 

192/203/190/175/173.

These are the fantasy numbers of Chris Johnson, Maurice Jones-Drew, Brandon Jacobs, Steven Jackson, and Frank Gore: five running backs ranked ahead of Steve Slaton in 2009 who scored less than his amazing 210 point rookie campaign.

Chris Johnson has a well known handcuff named LenDale White. The only thing LenDale wolfs down quicker than the spaghetti at the $2.99 buffet is touchdowns near the goal line.

Maurice Jones-Drew supporters are suffering from the optimist’s paradigm without looking at the actualities. It’s quite similar to those who play blackjack and don’t assume the dealer’s card you can’t see isn’t a 10. These guys lose a lot.

We all know his upside but for once let’s take a look at the downside:

1. Maurice Jones-Drew was a change of pace back. Defenses prepare for the starter not his backup. Now teams are coming into the game preparing for Jones-Drew.

2. He no longer gets extended breathers. He will be the man all game.

3. He will most likely stop returning kicks. No team wants to risk their starting running back getting injured on a kickoff.

Add in the fact that Slaton averaged nearly five yards a carry to Maurice Jones-Drew’s four yards per carry and things start to seem a bit off.

Steven Jackson and Frank Gore were both outscored nearly 50 points by Steve Slaton. When you compare their meager offenses to Slaton’s explosive juggernaut, things don’t seem like they will change. 

So why are all these running backs ranked so much higher than Slaton? Why is Steve Slaton routinely going in the middle second round? Why can’t anybody seem to realize he was the best rookie running back of 2008?

The answer isn’t important.

What is important is the result of people’s mistake: Steve Slaton is a bigger steal in this year’s draft than he was in the last.

Last year, only the most die-hard of Texans fans or ingenious of fantasy drafters found Slaton in the draft. He was most often grabbed in the waiver wire by the last place team; making him less a steal and more a payment for destitution.

Steve Slaton will essentially grant you the most valuable of all picks, one in the top three, with an average draft position of 16th.

For those that believe my theory is audacious, which all in all it might be, since fantasy is all one big guessing game, let me direct you to this quaint, yet precise list:

1. Steve Slaton’s toughest matchups come from Jacksonville and the Titans. Jacksonville saw Slaton average over 120 total yards and a TD against their vaunted defense last year. The Titans saw Slaton average over a 100 yards rushing per game against their stifling run defense.

2. Slaton didn’t get starting running back carries until the second half of the season. The last seven game saw averages of 120+ yards a game on 20+ carries.

3. Steve Slaton has no handcuff. The reason I drafted Slaton last year in every single draft was for this same reason. Competing with Chris Brown and Ahman Green for a starting spot is like competing with Ms. South Carolina in geography exam.

4. The Texans offense might be the league’s most explosive and Slaton won’t get any worse in his second year.

I’m not one for statistic projections, but I can say with full confidence that barring injury, Steve Slaton will finish as one of fantasy football’s top three running backs.

The Weekly Pepper: Larry Fitzgerald is 2009’s Biggest Fantasy Bust

Welcome to the Weekly Pepper: A daily breakdown of the coming year in fantasy football.

In today’s edition, I will be documenting the biggest bust of this year’s fantasy football season.

 

When fantasy pundits speak of “busts,” they mean a player who will be drafted in the prominent position of a fantasy prince and finish the season in the position of a pauper compared to others drafted as high.

Finding these busts is nearly as important as finding the steals of the draft—steals get the nod because a great steal can make up for a bad bust.

When I originally thought of writing this piece, my top three busts looked as such:

1. Ronnie Brown

2. D’Angelo Williams

3. Wes Welker

Then mock drafts started and one trend stood out from the rest of them: Larry Fitzgerald is going in the top seven of nearly 78 percent of fantasy drafts.

This set my fantasy bust radar to red alert. Thoughts began popping in my head.

Things like, “When has a receiver ever posted back-to-back 200-point seasons? When has a wide receiver ever finished No. 1 back-to-back? When did the best wide receiver score more points than the top quarterback?”

Then I realized Larry Fitzgerald has become the equivalent of fantasy football’s LeBron James.

We now expect far too much from him.

No one is mentioning the loss of Arizona’s only running back who knew how to pass block.

No one is mentioning the loss of one of the NFL’s best offensive coordinators.

No one is mentioning that Kurt Warner playing all 16 games was quite the rarity.

No one is mentioning his seven games against the league’s worst pass defenses of 2008 or his increasingly difficult schedule this year.

Most importantly, no one is mentioning that to make his (secretly creeping to seventh) Average Draft Position worth it he will have to put up numbers only Randy Moss’ record breaking season scored.

When discussing this subject with fellow BleacherReport writers, Long Island Sound and The Rant, the reasons for his positions were the following:

1. The lack of top-tier wide receivers.

2. The inconsistency with the top tier running backs.

3. The abundance of quarterbacks.

While all of these are true it is important to remember that not only is wide receiver the most wildly inconsistent position but it is much safer to gamble on a top running back than a top wide receiver.

Will Fitzgerald finish in the top seven for wide receivers in the year 2009? Most likely, yes.

Will a wide receiver ever be worth a top seven pick in a fantasy draft? Most likely, no.

 

The Weekly Pepper: Larry Fitzgerald is 2009’s Biggest Fantasy Bust

Welcome to the Weekly Pepper: A daily breakdown of the coming year in fantasy football.

In today’s edition, I will be documenting the biggest bust of this year’s fantasy football season.

 

When fantasy pundits speak of “busts,” they mean a player who will be drafted in the prominent position of a fantasy prince and finish the season in the position of a pauper compared to others drafted as high.

Finding these busts is nearly as important as finding the steals of the draft—steals get the nod because a great steal can make up for a bad bust.

When I originally thought of writing this piece, my top three busts looked as such:

1. Ronnie Brown

2. D’Angelo Williams

3. Wes Welker

Then mock drafts started and one trend stood out from the rest of them: Larry Fitzgerald is going in the top seven of nearly 78 percent of fantasy drafts.

This set my fantasy bust radar to red alert. Thoughts began popping in my head.

Things like, “When has a receiver ever posted back-to-back 200-point seasons? When has a wide receiver ever finished No. 1 back-to-back? When did the best wide receiver score more points than the top quarterback?”

Then I realized Larry Fitzgerald has become the equivalent of fantasy football’s LeBron James.

We now expect far too much from him.

No one is mentioning the loss of Arizona’s only running back who knew how to pass block.

No one is mentioning the loss of one of the NFL’s best offensive coordinators.

No one is mentioning that Kurt Warner playing all 16 games was quite the rarity.

No one is mentioning his seven games against the league’s worst pass defenses of 2008 or his increasingly difficult schedule this year.

Most importantly, no one is mentioning that to make his (secretly creeping to seventh) Average Draft Position worth it he will have to put up numbers only Randy Moss’ record breaking season scored.

When discussing this subject with fellow BleacherReport writers, Long Island Sound and The Rant, the reasons for his positions were the following:

1. The lack of top-tier wide receivers.

2. The inconsistency with the top tier running backs.

3. The abundance of quarterbacks.

While all of these are true it is important to remember that not only is wide receiver the most wildly inconsistent position but it is much safer to gamble on a top running back than a top wide receiver.

Will Fitzgerald finish in the top seven for wide receivers in the year 2009? Most likely, yes.

Will a wide receiver ever be worth a top seven pick in a fantasy draft? Most likely, no.

 

Favre Says No, But If Vick Says Yes:The Greatest Madden Team Ever

Like it or not, this is the summer of Michael Vick.

If you are a member of P.E.T.A, then you will be spending the upcoming football season petitioning and protesting outside of an NFL stadium—better pray he doesn’t go to Buffalo fellas.

If you are a fan of an NFL team with a weak quarterback or Wildcat offense potential, then prepare for the media storm coming your way.

No matter who you are you need to know one thing:

Michael Vick will play football in the NFL this year.The NFL just works that way.

But since I’m sure everyone has already had ESPN jam this story down his or her throat more frequently than an organic object in a Jenna Jameson flick, I’ll discuss the more important aspect of the upcoming football season:

Madden 2010 comes out on Aug. 15.

Oh, and there is a possibility that Michael Vick and Adrian Peterson could play on the same Madden team now that Brett Favre declined the offer.

I’ll let that sink in for a second…

Good?

For the inexperienced Madden player, I shall take a break from the confines of this literary wunderkind, this existentialist mind-blower, and delve into hardcore video game knowledge.

Michael Vick is the greatest Madden character ever. He’s faster then most defensive players. He can break tackles from the only players faster than him, which are cornerbacks. He isn’t accurate, but it doesn’t really matter. Someone will always be wide open—this is Madden after all. All he needed was a “burner” or speed receiver, and someone tall he could throw to over the middle.

Minnesota has Berrian to fit the speed role, and Sidney Rice can be that leaping, taller guy.

His only true downfall comes from the ability to “hot route” the QB contain, which means placing a defensive player in to contain after the defensive play is selected and forcing Vick to throw against a defense with 7-8 defenders dropped back.

The weakness in such a defensive strategy comes from having to spread your defensive line outward to make it work. This would leave huge running lanes, only, the Falcons never had anyone capable of making people pay.

Enter Purple Jesus.

Adrian Peterson has secretly become the best Madden running back ever. He’s faster than anybody, stronger than anybody, and can run your defensive linemen over like Pete Rose in the All-Star game.

Dropping 7-8 guys against Adrian Peterson is video game suicide.

This combo would force opposing teams into terrible situations on every down.

If you stack the line, audible into a roll-out.

If they spread the line out, call the draw.

The possibilities are endless.

Is Vick going to be a great quarterback this year or ever?

Most likely, no.

But when has real life ever affected how Madden works. In Madden, the Raiders are really good. In Madden, L.T never gets injured in important playoff games. In Madden, “Mrs. Chicken of the Sea” never derails my quarterback’s season. There are no mentally infantile girlfriends, no Cheddar Bob moments, and most importantly…

There are no dogs.

So please Minnesota, placate me and all the Madden fans around the globe with the single greatest Madden team that we don’t have to cheat the computer to create.

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