Tom Brady's Week One 2008 Fantasy Injury
Next Steps For Tom Brady Fantasy Football Owners
Sep 7, 2008
The 2008 fantasy football first round draft had many fantasy football teams drafting Tom Brady in round one. Long time fantasy football players know that one would rarely draft a fantasy quarterback in the first round, with few exceptions. Unfortunately, for thousands of teams in the 2008 fantasy football season, Brady was that exception. His reported season-ending torn ACL injury has stunned the NFL and will leave many teams clammering for a backup plan. So exactly what are the options for those who drafted Brady in their 2008 fantasy football league?
The Pros of Pickup Up Matt Cassel
- Cassel is presently owned by less than 10% of fantasy football teams in the most popular free fantasy football sites, including ESPN.com and Yahoo! This makes him easy to draft to a team, without having to trade a more valuable player.
- Cassel has the benefit of passing to established, solid fantasy receivers, something lesser offenses with otherwise great quarterbacks do not have.
- In the 2008 preseason, he averaged a 75.6 passer rating. If he continued performing at this rate, he would tied for the 11th highest passer rating in the NFL, puting his rating ahead of Eli Manning, Brett Favre, and Carson Palmer. His passer rating for week one of 2008, filling in for Brady, was 116.
- Having spent the last two seasons as Tom Brady's backup quarterback, Cassel is familiar with the Patriots offense.
The Cons of Picking Up Matt Cassel
- 2008 is only Cassel's fourth season in the NFL, and has never played often enough as the quarterback to know whether or not he will perform consistently.
- Cassel, who backed up both Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC, has not been a starting quarterback since high school.
- His inexperience as the leader of the team leaves him vulnerable to strong defenses and his preseason performance indicated that he struggled in reading opposing defenses at the line of scrimmage.
- Fantasy quarterbacks rely on strong passing skills to score points. Matt Cassel's limited experience with top wide receivers Randy Moss and Wes Welker may force New England to rely on their strong running game, utlizing Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris and limited the quarterback's passing yards.
Overall Summer of Matt Cassel as a Fantasy Quarterback
Matt Cassel is a fairly new quarterback who had a strong enough preseason to beat out two other quaterbacks for the backup position to Tom Brady. But with little experience as the leading quarterback of one of the strongest teams in the National Football League, picking up Cassel in a fantasy football league is a gamble. He would be a strong addition to teams who need depth in their quarterback roster or for teams who drafted Tom Brady. However, Matt Cassel has not particpated as a starting quarterback since high school, which demonstrates his considerable inexperience in leading a top team in the NFL.
Sources:
www.nfl.com, National Football League Official Site, September 7, 2008, Online
sports.yahoo.com, Yahoo! Sports, September 7, 2008, Online
