| Maybe Robert Smith was a lot better than
I thought. I never much cared for Smith from a fantasy football perspective. The
injuries always scared me, and I just figured the high-powered passing attack would take
away many potential touchdowns.
But I guess when Smith retired, so did the Vikings’ offense.
I can’t put my finger on exactly what’s broken, but maybe that’s because
it is more than one thing.
Michael Bennett has not got the job done filling Smith’s shoes, and the
Vikings cannot keep pass defenses honest enough to ever get Daunte Culpepper’s
big guns the football in isolated situations. It isn’t going to get easier, however,
as neither of Bennett’s replacements, Travis Prentice or Doug Chapman,
makes one believe the ground game is going to get untracked any time soon.
Culpepper also seems much more willing to bolt the pocket than before. This isn’t
always a bad thing, as the bulky QB gains a lot of points for fantasy owners on the
ground. However, he hasn’t shown a willingness to throw the ball deep as regularly as
in the past.
What this all means is this offense, no matter how talented, will not get back on track
until the Vikings all get back on the same page again. Will that happen? It sure
doesn’t look like it.
The Vikings used to be a team from which you’d like to accumulate players, but not
so much anymore. Probably the only Viking who has exceeded expectations is TE Byron
Chamberlain, and that doesn’t exactly set the world on fire.
I often like to look at teams rather than individual players to determine whether or
not someone is a good play.
If you have players on the following teams (I’m leaving out the obvious Rams
players), you might want to take a long look at playing them on lineup day.
Detroit Lions: I know this sounds odd as the Lions aren’t winning. But they are
scoring points, and with Charlie Batch back at the helm, Johnnie Morton has
value. I think David Sloan and even Larry Foster deserve a look.
New Orleans Saints: This is a team that always posts stunning fantasy numbers when it
gets behind. Even though it spent much of Sunday on the comeback trail, and that accounted
for the passing numbers being heavily padded, Aaron Brooks for the first time
finally looked like the quarterback that enticed me so much at the end of last season.
Cincinnati Bengals: The best thing about the Bengals this season is they are finally
going to players other than Corey Dillon. Dillon is still a mammoth part of the
offense, but Jon Kitna is doing a nice job stretching defenses with Darnay Scott,
and Peter Warrick will get back to his explosive form.
On the other hand, I would tend to avoid players on the following teams.
New York Jets: This offense is meager at best. Without Curtis Martin trudging
out big games from week to week, the Jets would have little offensive hope. It might be
time to consider throwing Chad Pennington to the wolves as Vinny Testaverde
has looked very shaky recently. Laveranues Coles might be a breakout performer if
he could get the ball in situations where he could make plays, but that isn’t
happening much at all.
Miami Dolphins: This team may win a lot, but it is pretty much a fantasy football
wasteland. Lamar Smith is productive and should play in most lineups. But the
Dolphins don’t seem to put together enough sustained drives, or throw enough, to make
the Dolphins a worthwhile play if you are looking for potentially explosive yardage
totals. |
