Sink or Swim: Marvelous Marvin, Vernon and The Deuce

You have tough decisions to make and I've got your tough-to-swallow answers. It's another round of "sink or swim" where some of the obvious names will surface and others... well, not so obvious. How do you manage these underwhelming guys and do you ditch them or save them? As usual, I'm glad to be the guide of this ship with the hopes of preventing it from sinking.

Today's targets are a few of the bigger names from fantasy years past and even present. Please welcome Marvin Harrison, Vernon Davis and Deuce McAllister. Consider this the Fantasy Football hot seat and it should come as no surprise these guys find themselves on the hot seat. Ultimately the choice is yours, but hopefully my words of wisdom and pessimism can be a compass for helping you manage your precious roster space.

Without further ado, let's roll right into this week's "sink or swim."

Vernon Davis: How's that breakout season coming along Vernon? Seriously, what has Davis ever done to warrant all the respect and hype fantasy experts continually give him each year? Are we all just in awe of his freakish size and raw athletic ability? I recently had a chance to mingle in the 49ers player parking lot after a preseason game and when Vernon Davis came out of the tunnel, I too was in complete awe.

He stands every bit of his 6-foot-3 and 250-pound listing if not more and I must reiterate that in person he is simply enormous. However, not a drop of that God-given ability or rigorous workout regimen has translated into NFL success. He's been touted as the "next" great thing and thus, we've placed him on a pedestal of greatness prematurely. I recall last season many in the Fantasy Football world were predicting a huge season for Vernon where he'd catapult himself into the upper echelon with the likes of Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez and Jason Witten.

Well, we waited and waited, but poor Vernon Davis managed to eek out a sub-par season in which he nabbed 52 catches for just over 500 yards and four TDs. Sure, he's battled some injuries and suffered from a god-awful offense in his young career, but still the guy has never even gone over 100 yards receiving once in his career. Somehow, call it selective memory, but most people seemed to forget about the past performance and proclaimed this to be the year the monster tight end finally cut loose.

We are two weeks into this season and not much has changed. Last week against Seattle he failed to even grab a single catch. Mind you this was a game in which, J.T O'Sullivan exploded offensively and old man Isaac Bruce posted monster numbers. Where was Vernon Davis on this day? Nowhere to be found. The hype bubble is bursting fast for this guy. It's a risky call to throw in the towel, but equally as risky to continue trusting him with a starting roster slot.

My advice: temper the expectations, rest him on your bench if you can and if nothing changes, cut the dead weight. Consider me not at all sold that this is in fact Vernon's year to "bust" out.

Marvin Harrison: I know it's Marvin Harrison. How can anyone confidently part ways with one of the best receivers of his generation? Relax, I'm not ready to cut the strings here... just yet. However, it's worth realizing that at some point players just hit the wall. And Harrison may or may not quite be 100 percent. Still though, he's simply not producing respectable enough numbers to warrant his once infamous "must-start" status. In Fantasy Football, you can't ever get caught up in the names -- it's a numbers game.

For the past few years, even when healthy, Harrison has gradually taken a back seat to Reggie Wayne. There is no longer any debate over who the go-to-guy in the offense is, Mr. Wayne. Look, we all knew Harrison was entering this season with lowered expectations, uncertainty and much less hype. However, with the emergence of Anthony Gonzalez in the offense and Harrison's continued fading glory, you have to wonder just how valuable Harrison can or will be moving forward.

It'd be insane to simply ship Harrison off to the waiver wire, because at any given point he could reestablish the connection with Peyton Manning. Yet, rest assured that's certainly no longer a given and it will not, repeat not, be a weekly thing. You simply have to give Harrison the benefit of the doubt with a little more time. How long you're willing to wait is another thing. I'm not saying it's gonna be easy, but for now just sit Harrison.

Yup, I know it's the hardest thing to do, but it's for the better. Let him earn your trust back and make him earn his starting roster spot. You'll be very disappointed if you keep entrusting Harrison to give you No. 1 WR numbers. I call it like I see it and it just ain't 2005 anymore.

Deuce McAllister: I like to save the easiest call on the board for last and this one is very easy -- it's over. Yup, the Deuce will not be cutting loose anytime this season. His fantasy star has done faded and you'd be best to shake hands and go your separate ways... like right now. The dude has suffered two major knee injuries in his career and he's not even getting a chance in New Orleans right now.

Aside from just Reggie Bush getting the majority of the snaps now, there's also the emergence of Pierre Thomas. There's just simply no more room for Deuce in the Saints offense. And that's been made pretty explicit with a meager two carries on the season. You won't regret this decision, it's the obvious and only choice. Who knows, maybe he gets cut and the Lions try and sign him at some point. Even then, you'll want no part of the Deuce.