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QB Brett Favre (GB) Highest Ranking: #3 by Scott Luebke Culpepper, Garcia and McNabb all have some main question marks. With Cris Carter retiring, will Culpepper have enough weapons to retain an elite fantasy quarterback status? Randy Moss is great, but D'Wayne Bates won't put a scare in anyone. With a shaky offensive line, Culpepper will be hard pressed to gain elite status, which is why he is placed in the middle of the 2nd tier quarterbacks alongside McNabb, Favre and Garcia. Will San Francisco and Philadelphia ever find more quality receivers to help McNabb and Garcia? Not this season, which is a main reason these two quarterbacks will be slotted slightly behind Favre. Both McNabb and Garcia had terrific seasons last year, but there is no evidence to show signs on greater improvement, unlike Brett Favre. With new receivers in Green Bay, the signs of increased production are evident. However, let's take a different approach and look at the why I believe there is good upside in the changing receivers. Here is a grid of Antonio Freeman's career stats:
Over the last 3 years, there has been a steady decline in Antonio Freeman's production, including two consecutive season in which he failed to reach 1,000 yards receiving. What does this show? Antonio Freeman's upside is limited because his age is increasing and his talent is decreasing. Now, let's take a look at Bill Schroeder:
As you can see, Schroeder's yardage production peaked in 1999 and has declined ever since. He did manage a career high 9 touchdowns in 2001, but I attribute that to being the go-to-guy with Brett Favre at the helm. Let's take a look at Terry Glenn's career stats:
Throughout his career, Glenn has surpassed the 1,100 yard mark twice. The questions surrounding Glenn have never been about his athletic ability, but rather his character and proneness to injury. Glenn never seemed happy in New England, probably because of the team's lack of productivity in the redzone passing offense. The New England offense was vertical and was not able to use Glenn's run after the catch ability that he displayed at Ohio State. Look for that to change this season. He appears to be happy with a 2nd chance in the NFL. Playing with one of the league all-time great quarterbacks will keep Glenn happy and result in a career year. Now, let's take a look at Favre's career stats.
When healthy, Favre has been one of the most consistent and productive quarterbacks in the league. Keep in mind, Favre played through a painful thumb injury in 1999 and 2000. Favre returned to form in 2001 and the signs show a similar, if not more productive season this year. With Ahman Green leading a terrific ground attack, Favre and the Packers offense will once again be among the league's best. This is all you can ask about a quarterback for your fantasy team. However, there are a few questions leading into this season. There have always been questions about the stable of receivers surrounding Brett Favre, but Favre's ability has removed all doubts. Keep in mind, Favre lost Sterling Sharpe to injury and there were major concerns. However, Robert Brooks stepped in and produced. Then, Brooks gets injured and Antonio Freeman stepped in and erased all doubts. We are once again at the transitional period in the Green Bay receiving core. With Terry Glenn, Robert Ferguson and Javon Walker, Favre has the most talented set of receivers at his disposal in his career. Combining these 3 receivers with Bubba Franks and Ahman Green will help Favre once again cross the 30 touchdown mark. Look for Favre's stock to rise on everyone's draft board as we head into training camp and the preseason. Lowest Rankings: #10 by Chris Smith The first worry I have for Favre is that the defense will continue to grow stronger this year, which will enable the Packers to throw the ball less. The emergence of sensational running back Ahman Green will continue into this season and he will likely get another 30 to 40 carries this year. Last year, Favre put up an impressive 32 touchdown passes. That was significantly higher than the 2 seasons before. I expect that number will dip back into the mid 20's this campaign. Another reason I have him ranked a little lower than others is his lack of a rushing threat at QB. While he is a much better overall quarterback than players like Steve McNair, Michael Vick and Aaron Brooks, their rushing totals are so much higher than his that there value becomes much greater. Since interception totals are not included in the scoring for these rankings, Vick and other mobile quarterbacks should be able to leap-frog past Favre in the rankings. To conclude, Favre is still a starting fantasy quarterback but he will end up a few notches back from his performance of a year ago. |