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Drafting Your Fantasy Team? Be Afraid ... Be Very Afraid

Posted Aug 30, 2008 10:00AM By Matt Snyder (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Fantasy Football, NFL Injury Report

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I already covered the guys who you should not even worry about ... but now, for the sake of reciprocity, we have to check out the guys that we should fear.

The top item would have been a tough choice, had I decided it had to be an individual player. Once I realized it had to just be a team, though, it became much more clear.

The Cincinnati Bengals
I once ranked them quite high in my team power rankings. I have loved a relatively early Carson Palmer pick, and drooled over Rudi Johnson. That's all firmly in the rear-view now, however. Could a team possibly have more things change in one freaking month?

Now you've got Chad Johnson with a torn labrum -- and more concerned with his name change than injury -- Chris Henry back yet suspended for four games, Rudi no longer with the team, and Palmer's head spinning. He has to be wondering what the hell is going on, and what he personally did to deserve this.


As I said above, Ocho Cinco is hurt. At receiver, you need to be able to extend your arms, which is damn near impossible with a torn labrum ... not to mention the opposing defenses will know about the injury and take any shots they can to tweak it enough for his removal from the game.

Chris Henry is a DUI and suspension waiting to happen. Plain and simple. If you think I should be less blunt, maybe he should stop smoking them first.

I've spoken before about the principle of gaining maximum profit for a draft slot in fantasy, and I really believe in it. What I'm saying here is that if you are scared of risk -- and I know you're out there -- you don't wanna buy into the Bengals offense. All the above question marks make the Palmer and TJ Houshmandzadeh picks tenuous as well ... because all the attention will be on TJ, and Palmer could lose all his weapons.

The Houston Texans' running back situation
Again, if you head into a fantasy draft looking to avoid all question marks and take no risks whatsoever, you need not examine a Houston running back. I love Steve Slaton as a late-round sleeper like my colleague, but there's a lot of risk involved in anyone here. Ahman Green can't stay healthy. He won't. Even if you read reports that he feels 100 percent and he's ready to take on the role of their top back, don't buy it. He's never going to have an injury-free season the rest of his career.

Chris Brown sucks. I can't put it any simpler for you. He may even get cut in favor of a group of guys that include a man who can't walk to his local tavern without yanking a hammy, a rookie, Hootie (oh, wait ... it's Darius Walker) and Chris Taylor, a dude that fought for carries at my alma mater (IU's football program isn't exactly storied, you know). So yeah, drafting Brown is a wasted pick.

I still think Slaton is the best bet here, but there are plenty of reasons to disagree. It's just a mess overall.

I hate to belabor the point, but I'm not saying I wouldn't draft these guys -- I like gambling -- I'm just saying if you are scared of risk, you should avoid. On the other hand, there is absolutely no risk in taking your league to fleaflicker, where there are plenty of spots still available ... since, you know, unlimited quantities can't run out.

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Two individuals that will not be fine ...

Kevin Curtis
Sports hernia. Ouch. He's looking at no less than eight weeks, and probably more. I'm no injury expert, but we can use some common sense to examine the situation. He's a receiver in a physical game. You can feel your stomach when you sprint, when you extend your arms in the air, and when you get hit hard.

I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say that his season is in jeopardy. Get on that DeSean Jackson train. We heart DeSean here at Fantasy FanHouse.

Tarvaris Jackson
If you hate taking chances, you likely wouldn't be picking good ol' Tarvaris anyway. With the news of one of his best offensive linemen being suspended, his value takes a big-time hit. Avoid in all formats to start the season.

... and one that won't be fine, but will still be drafted quite highly: Brian Westbrook

I'm whispering right now. Remember how Westbrook used to never be able to stay healthy? Well, the Eagles count on him for an awful lot of their offense. It wouldn't surprise me one bit to see him get knocked out for a four-to-six game chunk this year again.

In fact, I'm making the bold prediction that it will happen, so I'll pass.

I recommend you do the same on all of the above if taking risks scares you.

Tags: ahman+green, AhmanGreen, carson+palmer, CarsonPalmer, chad+johnson, ChadJohnson, chris+brown, chris+henry, chris+perry, ChrisBrown, ChrisHenry, ChrisPerry, kenny+watson, KennyWatson, kevin+curtis, KevinCurtis, rudi+johnson, RudiJohnson, tarvaris+jackson, TarvarisJackson, tj+houshmandzadeh, TjHoushmandzadeh

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