Welcome
The WESTern Perspective (Draft Special Part 1)
May 25, 2008
Version 2.1
Ladies and gentlemen, with football season fast approaching and the forums filling up with new members it is time for the reemergence of The WESTern Perspective.
For those of you who didn’t catch any of my articles last season (feel free to search the archives for them) The WESTern Perspective is not your ordinary run of the mill fantasy article, in fact, what I bring you here no one else is attempting to do. I do not list a large group of QB’s, RB’s, WR’s, and TE’s that demand a starting spot on your roster; I do not analyze players that everyone else is analyzing; and guys like Brady and LT are a taboo topic for me (let’s face it, there are certain players that should never be benched, we all know who they are thus in no way is it helpful to anyone to talk about these guys). What I do, however, is answer the questions that you need answered. You come to fantasy football sites because you’re stuck, you have a couple of options that you could go with, a couple question marks, and, really, you don’t know what to do. That’s, hopefully, where I’ll come in.
Every week I will spotlight one struggling player, breakdown what difficulties he has had, review his upcoming matchups, and then determine if he should play or ride the pine.
This is all well and good, however, it’s late May and there are no players for me to analyze at the moment, so you may be asking just what am I doing here?
Before you can determine what players to sit and start, you first must have players to sit and start. Thus, I am bringing you The WESTern Perspective Draft Special, a four part blog in which we will look at the players from each position to build you the best team possible. So without further ado…
The Quarterbacks
Perhaps the most important position in football is that of the QB, however, in fantasy football the QB position is an after thought, something to be grabbed after your standard two runningbacks and wideout. But times are changing my friends, and instead of drafting for a certain position I want to draft the best player on the board, regardless of where they play on the football field, and I genuinely believe that that is going to get you your best team.
It’s no secret, Brady and Manning are going first. Palmer and Brees will probably go next. But then what do you do? Big Ben, Romo, Hasselbeck?
How about Derek Anderson? Last season this guy threw for 29 TD’s and 3787 yards. He has weapons with names like Edwards, Winslow and Stallworth. And let’s face it, Cleveland’s line is damned good. Last year was the preview, the fact is that this kid is the real deal and he is a guy that I want on my roster. The 3rd QB off the board should be Derek Anderson, no question. Do not hesitate to make that call, you can thank me for it later.
Another guy who seems to slip the minds of fantasy owners is Jay Cutler. Cutler’s young, sure, and he makes the mistakes that you would expect from a young guy. However, he’s coming off of a 20 TD year into his third season with one spectacular receiver running routes for him. Cutler will have an impressive year in 2008, and the team that has the insight to draft him will be looking good.
Jason Campbell is another guy who really impresses me. The biggest thing going for Campbell in 2008 is head coach Jim Zorn. Zorn has spent the past seven years as the Seahawks’ quarterback coach, literally shaping the career of Matt Hasselbeck and playing an instrumental part in Seattle’s past five playoff appearances and a Superbowl. Zorn is a guy who can bring out the absolute best in any quarterback, with success shown in Seneca Wallace and Charlie Batch also. With Zorn’s assistance, Campbell will easily emerge as one of the most consistent QB’s in the league and finally start living up to all that Doug Williams comparison.
Eli Manning proved towards the end of last season that he is a legitimate threat under center and well worthy of a spot on most any fantasy roster. The debate continues as to what was holding him back, Tiki Barber, Jeremy Shockey? But the fact is that Eli took over the Giants and his game alike and I would expect to see no less from him during the 2008 campaign.
David Garrard and Jon Kitna are both semisleeper picks who always have a lot of promise and decent performances. While these guys may not be high on your draft board, they definitely should not be overlooked.
Likewise, there are several guys who I think we as fantasy owners should be weary of this year. Jeff Garcia, Vince Young, Matt Schuab, and Damon Huard all had some promising performances in the 2007 season yet I feel that none of these guys are worth the risk.
With so much forgotten talent at the QB position, it is difficult to go wrong here. Keep an eye on the aforementioned players and when it comes time in your draft to select a quarterback, pull the trigger on any of these athletes, you will not regret it.
In the following weeks, The WESTern Perspective’s Draft Special will continue with select RB’s, WR’s and TE’s. Stay tuned.
And as always, feedback (both positive and negative) is always welcome, along with any other comments that you may have.
-Danny West
Version 2.1
Ladies and gentlemen, with football season fast approaching and the forums filling up with new members it is time for the reemergence of The WESTern Perspective.
For those of you who didn’t catch any of my articles last season (feel free to search the archives for them) The WESTern Perspective is not your ordinary run of the mill fantasy article, in fact, what I bring you here no one else is attempting to do. I do not list a large group of QB’s, RB’s, WR’s, and TE’s that demand a starting spot on your roster; I do not analyze players that everyone else is analyzing; and guys like Brady and LT are a taboo topic for me (let’s face it, there are certain players that should never be benched, we all know who they are thus in no way is it helpful to anyone to talk about these guys). What I do, however, is answer the questions that you need answered. You come to fantasy football sites because you’re stuck, you have a couple of options that you could go with, a couple question marks, and, really, you don’t know what to do. That’s, hopefully, where I’ll come in.
Every week I will spotlight one struggling player, breakdown what difficulties he has had, review his upcoming matchups, and then determine if he should play or ride the pine.
This is all well and good, however, it’s late May and there are no players for me to analyze at the moment, so you may be asking just what am I doing here?
Before you can determine what players to sit and start, you first must have players to sit and start. Thus, I am bringing you The WESTern Perspective Draft Special, a four part blog in which we will look at the players from each position to build you the best team possible. So without further ado…
The Quarterbacks
Perhaps the most important position in football is that of the QB, however, in fantasy football the QB position is an after thought, something to be grabbed after your standard two runningbacks and wideout. But times are changing my friends, and instead of drafting for a certain position I want to draft the best player on the board, regardless of where they play on the football field, and I genuinely believe that that is going to get you your best team.
It’s no secret, Brady and Manning are going first. Palmer and Brees will probably go next. But then what do you do? Big Ben, Romo, Hasselbeck?
How about Derek Anderson? Last season this guy threw for 29 TD’s and 3787 yards. He has weapons with names like Edwards, Winslow and Stallworth. And let’s face it, Cleveland’s line is damned good. Last year was the preview, the fact is that this kid is the real deal and he is a guy that I want on my roster. The 3rd QB off the board should be Derek Anderson, no question. Do not hesitate to make that call, you can thank me for it later.
Another guy who seems to slip the minds of fantasy owners is Jay Cutler. Cutler’s young, sure, and he makes the mistakes that you would expect from a young guy. However, he’s coming off of a 20 TD year into his third season with one spectacular receiver running routes for him. Cutler will have an impressive year in 2008, and the team that has the insight to draft him will be looking good.
Jason Campbell is another guy who really impresses me. The biggest thing going for Campbell in 2008 is head coach Jim Zorn. Zorn has spent the past seven years as the Seahawks’ quarterback coach, literally shaping the career of Matt Hasselbeck and playing an instrumental part in Seattle’s past five playoff appearances and a Superbowl. Zorn is a guy who can bring out the absolute best in any quarterback, with success shown in Seneca Wallace and Charlie Batch also. With Zorn’s assistance, Campbell will easily emerge as one of the most consistent QB’s in the league and finally start living up to all that Doug Williams comparison.
Eli Manning proved towards the end of last season that he is a legitimate threat under center and well worthy of a spot on most any fantasy roster. The debate continues as to what was holding him back, Tiki Barber, Jeremy Shockey? But the fact is that Eli took over the Giants and his game alike and I would expect to see no less from him during the 2008 campaign.
David Garrard and Jon Kitna are both semisleeper picks who always have a lot of promise and decent performances. While these guys may not be high on your draft board, they definitely should not be overlooked.
Likewise, there are several guys who I think we as fantasy owners should be weary of this year. Jeff Garcia, Vince Young, Matt Schuab, and Damon Huard all had some promising performances in the 2007 season yet I feel that none of these guys are worth the risk.
With so much forgotten talent at the QB position, it is difficult to go wrong here. Keep an eye on the aforementioned players and when it comes time in your draft to select a quarterback, pull the trigger on any of these athletes, you will not regret it.
In the following weeks, The WESTern Perspective’s Draft Special will continue with select RB’s, WR’s and TE’s. Stay tuned.
And as always, feedback (both positive and negative) is always welcome, along with any other comments that you may have.
-Danny West
Total Comments 3
Comments
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Hi Danny,
Nice blog! I like your idea.
I do think you're underestimating Romo. He'll probably be the 3rd QB off the boards and deservedly so.
I agree that Anderson will be good, but I would still take Brees ahead of him too.
Palmer... not so sure.
Roethlisburger is poised to have a big year too, I believe.
And, although I like him as a person and cheered for him in the superbowl, I'm not quite ready to drink the Eli Manning kool-aide. Call me a cynic
Good stuff, though. I'm looking forward to the coming installments
Posted 05-25-2008 at 09:32 AM by eaglechick
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great read danny. heres the thing. im guessing that only 1 of those 6 that you mentioned finishes in the top 7 or so QBs and gives you any real advantage over the competiton. in which case its a moot point cuz theyre all pretty well grouped together after that anyhow, as long as youre not getting stuck with tarvaris jackson or trent edwards or someone.Posted 05-25-2008 at 09:38 AM by Da Bomb -
That is a great post. I do beleive that Derek Anderson could do vey well. However, usually after signing the big contract, players don't do quite as well (Shawn Alexander and Daunte Culpepper). I truly hope that they do well. In my league they would be an asset.Posted 05-25-2008 at 09:14 PM by Hammered 
