I know what you're thinking, and trust me, I'm thinking the same. But let's be reasonable, remove our collective hands from the red button that will jettison our woeful fantasy team back into cyberspace never to be seen again and take a second to conduct a true inventory of what we've got. You also may want to resume breathing now.
As if some things couldn't get more muddled than they already are, this weekend's games came along and opened up a brand new can of worms. Injuries are one thing. They're unavoidable, always untimely and have killed many a fantasy team in the past. But that's why we build depth, especially at running back and QB, right? For those of you with Brandon Jacobs, Cadillac or Chester Taylor (probably not starting on your team anyway) I hope that's the case.
I think the biggest surprises this week were the winners and busts. Like the beginning of a new year in grade school, those first days of unfamiliarity you stuck to what and who you knew. You put the big name players in your starting lineup thinking they'll surely be passable while holding out hope for bigger things. Unfortunately, that probably means there was a plethora of points scattered around your bench this week. In one league I had Chris Brown, Jake Delhomme and Jason Witten sitting on the bench. Ignoring tonight's doubleheader, they've outscored my entire starting lineup. Doesn't that shit just make you sick? Ugh.
The world seems to have turned on its axis most noticeably in the realm of the running back. A whole bunch of second and third tier backs did absolutely nothing; from Maroney to Reggie and Ronnie and Benson to Jones-Drew. All a person can do is ask themselves why? It's way too early to be giving up on them and couple you may even go after as buy low prospects but you know that at least a few of these guys are going to continue the trend they started in week one and suck all year long. I call it Cadillac Syndrome. Then you've got the really confusing guys. The Steven Jackson's and Larry Johnson's of the world. Maybe we shouldn't be trusting RBs who's last name starts with "J". I don't know, but I'm open to explanations. I can't be positive about this, but 58 rushing yards, along with 3 receiving yards and two fumbles, is not what most people spent a number two pick on. Didn't he say he was going to run for 2,500 yards this year or some other nonsense? As Rick Ricardo would say, "You got some 'splaining to do!" And Johnson - oh Mr. Johnson - is this the kind of 43 rushing 44 receiving yard performance were going to get out of you this year? If the Chiefs only had a passing game or a line or a defense or wide receivers or a team.
Then you've got the good surprises, though I doubt most took advantage of them. If you had told me Chris Brown was going to rush for a career high 175 yards against a seemingly stout Jacksonville defense, I probably would have ordered you a straight jacket. If you had told me that Adrian Peterson, rookie running back, would be the number one back in all of fantasy football after the first week, again excluding tonight's games, I might have kicked you in the junk for saying something so preposterous. And yet, here we are. So what now? First, hit your waiver wire and pick these guys up if they happen to still be there along with Derrick Ward, who should be starting in New York for the foreseeable future. They may not continue to perform at current levels, but they'll certainly be useful in most leagues. As I see it, with a few more 100 yard games for Peterson, he might claim Minnesota's running back spot outright, whether Chester comes back healthy or not.
On tap: Look for my first rating of the gurus to come out tomorrow. I've started gathering the evidence and, just as I thought, there were some monumentally poor calls but also a few very good ones. Tomorrow, we discuss.
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