Cooked Goose

Quarterbacks

Let’s talk Quarterbacks, shall we? Just look at all the commotion around Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III, and you see the importance of the position. When Griffin ran that 4.41 40 at the combine, grown men – large grown men were positively giddy. GMs and coaches are jostling now, just look at ’em. Pushing, sliding, trying to wedge themselves to the doors. Like a horde of brides to be at the doors of a once a year Vera Wang factory sale.

Think about this: Carolina Panthers or Jacksonville Jaguars? Carolina, right? Both teams drafted QBs in the first round. Cam Newton was just all man, all season. Blaine Gabbert struggled mightily. There’s a buzz in Carolina. Fans are excited. Ron Rivera is smiling. Jacksonville? They whacked Jack Del Rio, and put up a “For Sale” sign. What were their records? Jacksonville 5-11. Carolina 6-10. One game. That’s it. And yet, just because of QB play, the forecast is sunny in Carolina and rainy in Jacksonville.

What does this mean for fantasy? For one, you’d better get yourself a productive player at QB. In drafting your fantasy QB, couple trends to keep in mind. One, they as a whole score more points than any other position. Go check. How many QBs were among the top 10 scorers last season? The answer is 8. Here’s another fact: Matt Ryan had more fantasy points than Arian Foster, Calvin Johnson, Rob Gronkowski. Surprising, right? The second thing you need to know is that traditionally there isn’t as much separation between the top QB and the 2nd tier QB. Meaning the variation in scoring between the top guys and the 2nd tier guys is not as great as the variation amongst RBs and WRs. Last year however was an exception. Was last season an anomaly or the beginnings of trending in a different direction? We’ll see.

You can take all this and go one of two ways: The overall points say, “Take a stud early.” The variation or the traditional lack thereof says, “Maybe a spot to take a risk.” Whichever way you go, remember, winning or not, it’s sunnier with Cam.

Don’t Reach

Last season Jason Campbell, the serviceable if less than spectacular starting Quarterback of the Oakland Raiders went down with a broken collarbone in their week 6 win over Cleveland. Their record at the time of injury was 4-2. That week coach Hue Jackson spearheaded a deal with Cincinnati to acquire the rights to QB Carson Palmer. The trade involved a first rounder this year and a conditional 1st or 2nd rounder in the 2013 NFL Draft. Mike Brown, the owner and GM of Cincy famously declared that he would not trade Palmer: Palmer had signed a contract, and he wasn’t going to reward him for reneging, and so on. Everyone has a price, I guess. And for Brown, the price Hue was willing to pay was it.

With the trade, Hue Jackson mortgaged the future for the present. In effect saying, “With the right QB, we have a team capable of making a deep run.” In the press conference, he referred to the polarizing, late owner of the Raiders. “This is a trade Al Davis would have loved.” That week released from his self-imposed exile, Palmer ran onto the field at Oakland-Alameda Coliseum for the second half of their inner divisional contest vs KC, and promptly threw three picks in a 28-0 beat down. They went 4-6 the rest of the way, missing the playoffs in the worst division in the AFC.

2 first rounders for Palmer who’d had a miserable previous season in Cincy? Hue reached; he overpaid. And for that crime and other misdemeanors, Hue was fired. This week I’ve heard people say that Peyton Manning could go as high as 2nd or 3rd round in fantasy drafts. 2nd, 3rd round? Man, the hype machine is on full blast. Suffice it to say, in our draft last season Manning went in the 3rd. Remember, that’s before the third or fourth neck surgery and in the comfort of Indy – before sitting out an entire season. Don’t do like Hue; don’t reach.

One Man’s Trash

When you go 2-14, the demolition specialists get called out. Jim Irsay, the owner and president of the Indianapolis Colts put in that call, I’d say right around week 13. Now, a structure as large as a NFL franchise, require something a bit more … um, explosive than a wrecking ball. So, when Indy dropped its last game, securing the number one overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft, guys rolled up to Lucas Oil with truck loads of dynamite. The place was packed and wired. Irsay triggered the detonator, and the whole thing went up in spectacular fashion. Right at the epicenter of the blast was Bill Polian and his boy, Chris. Standing next to them was head coach Jim Caldwell. And the blast kept radiating out all the way to the face of the Franchise, Peyton Manning.

The dust is starting to settle. Oh, there was some collateral damage. They’re trying to mend fences in SF. The blast sent Tim Tebow flying all the way to New York, landing with a thud right on Mark Sanchez’ front lawn. Won’t know for years how much damage that’s done? The blast was felt from Coast to Coast. Wave away the smoke, and you can just start to see him: Peyton Manning in Orange and Blue. A Bronco.

What do they say? One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Yeah, that is what they say. And as a fantasy owner, Irsay’s trash can be a late mid-round treasure. It is a Quarterback driven league. True. This means two things: 1. You need a good quarterback and 2. It is the most predictable position in the league. Like to say more about that in another week. For now, here’s my bent: In our league’s fantasy draft, I like taking a risk at the QB position. No question, Manning is risky. He’s on the wrong side of Health, Age, and System. But another, lesser known, but no less true saying goes something like this: “It’s all about the money, ain’t a damn thing funny.” Last I heard, Denver is ready to part with a big chunk of what it’s all about to secure Manning’s services. Follow the money, man. You get to the bottom of things in a quick hurry. And the bottom is: The guy whispering into the ear of the guy signing that 90+ million dollar check, safe to assume that guy knows more about Quarterbacks than you and me.

Manning in the 7th as a possible starting QB. I plan to take a hard look.

I’m Glad I’m Not John Elway

In Broncos lore, John Elway is The Hero. He is the tragic, vanquished Figure in their greatest tragedies; he is the triumphant Conqueror in their greatest victories. Both the most gut-wrenching and the most exhilarating moments etched into the memory of every Bronco fan … well, every fan over twenty, have in them Elway at Quarterback. He was the “Can’t Miss” Kid out of Stanford. And when he rode into Denver with his feathery blond hair and his pearly whites, Orange Crush Nation just knew, “Things are going to be set right around here.” It took some doing, but he got it done. Back to back Superbowls, and a walk-off shot – MVP of Superbowl XXXIII.

Those exploits buy you all kinds of capital. In Denver, John can just about do no wrong … just about. We’re going to see how much capital he really has as he tries to wiggle himself free from Tebowmania. Elway sees it: You can’t win with a Quarterback who runs better than he throws. It’s entertaining for awhile, but eventually the Patriots of this world sends you packing. Elway knows this and so all last season, he tried to delicately slip the knot. How to get rid of Tebow while appeasing a rabid, irrational fan base? And then the unthinkable happens in Indy. Peyton Manning gets cut. Suddenly, the instrument to sever the tie drops, gift-wrapped from the sky. Can’t put Tebow behind Orton or Quinn, but who can argue with the best QB to have ever played the position? I think with his reach for Manning, Elway is trying to get away from Tebow as much as he’s trying to get near Manning.

Of the possible scenarios, there’s only one that favors Elway. He has to get Manning, and Manning has to play great. That’s it. All other scenarios have Elway pressed against a wall screaming, “Wait! Wait! Don’t you remember ‘The Drive’? What about the rings? Don’t you know what I’ve done for you people?”

Like I said, glad I’m not John Elway.

Wherever Manning lands, got to think he boosts the value of the receiving corps. Kenny Britt and Jared Cook? Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker?

D’you say ‘Cooked Goose’?

It’s the name of my fantasy football team. Really. For a couple years, I’d heard about fantasy football. My friends told me how fun it was, how we needed to start our own league. “Yeah, yeah,” I thought, “I don’t have time for that sort of nonsense.” At the start of the 2008 NFL Season, I relented. “Okay, it’ll be a good excuse to get regular connection with some friends, reconnect with some old ones. I’ll goof around with it.” I’m pretty much a junky now. Last season I had to carefully regulate my dosage, so as not to become a toothless, street walking mumbler.

Now, I’m not going to bore you with the “in and outs” of fantasy sports, more specifically fantasy football. If you don’t know, I figure, you don’t care. If you do, then no need to explain. The origins of “Cooked Goose” go back to Tom Brady’s historic 07 season. At season’s end, Tom had accrued enough yards to place himself 3rd all time in single season passing yards. That’s all time mind you. Them there are some serious fantasy points. What made this season transcendent however was that those yards were coupled with 50 passing TDs. And that’s the most ever thrown in a single season. Add ’em up, and you got yourself the Fantasy Football MVP. Oh, right, right … and more importantly the 2007 NFL MVP. Psshhh, I knew that.

Not knowing anything about fantasy football, I went partial auto draft that first year. My first round auto pick was Tom Brady. The Pats opened their season hosting the KC Chiefs on a sunny, New England afternoon. On the 15th offensive snap of the game, a 28 yard completion to Randy Moss, the Chiefs’ safety Bernard Pollard clumsily lunged at Tom Brady’s left knee tearing both the ACL and the MCL. It was a season ending injury. While watching the re-play of the play and the subsequent footage of him being helped off the field, I thought, “My goose is cooked.”

The following week, I changed my team name to “Cooked Goose”, and went on to win the championship of our league.