Fantasy Draft Master

Every year around this time,

NFL players who have paid their debt to their current teams decide to hit the road and are now available on the open market, or they decide that they are done playing and it is time to hang up the cleats (a decision Brett Favre struggles with every season it seems). It is also the time when many teams have decided that some of the players on their team, no longer fit into their strategy and try to get what they can for them. Most of the time, this has no impact on the Fantasy Football value of the player on the move. The majority of the movement is by second or third tier players or interior linemen. What does happen however, is that other players on the team the player is leaving or the team the player is joining are affected greatly. A great example of this is when offensive lineman Willie Roaf retired from the Kansas City Chiefs at the end of the 2005 season. Larry Johnson immediately went from immortal to mortal. Another example of this is when Brett Favre left the Green Bay Packers and joined the NY Jets. RB Thomas Jones, who had far from lived up to the hype when he joined the jets a season earlier was again a valuable commodity because the jets offense now had the ability to stretch the field and make some holes for the aforementioned Jones.

So, who will be this years impact movers? Which of the football moves are all feathers and no chicken and should be avoided?

QBsMatt Cassell acquired in a trade by the KC Chiefs – I think this is a good trade all around.  New England got a high draft pick(34th overall).  Kansas City got a quarterback that showed last year that he can win regardless of how long he has been holding a clipboard for.  Matt Cassel had not started a game since high school before last year and still came in and went 10-5.  He is coming into a team that doesn’t have a whole bunch of weapons around him but Tyler Thigpen was still able to put up decent numbers last year.  This year they hired Todd Haley as their head coach, remember him, he is the second offensive coordinator that ran the 2nd best offense in the league last year in Arizona, so things look very bright for young Cassel provided they can add a few more options for him.  If you are in a Keeper/Dynasty league and someone doesn’t already have him make sure you take him early because you won’t get him otherwise. ~Pretzel

Let’s not get KA-razy here. Cassell looked good last year on the Patriots who can make almost anyone look adequate at any position. Remember, they did turn turn LBs into D linemen and Vice Versa. They also went to the superbowl with Troy Brown as a defensive back. I agree that he is a good pick up for QB if you can get him at a value position in the draft like rounds 5-7 but, I want to wait before I tell you he is a great dynasty pick up.~Doyadoya

Ryan Fitzpatrick signed by the Buffalo Bills -Trent Edwards is still the starter there so this will serve the team as a better back up then JP Losman. This should not even be on the radar for fantasy players. ~Pretzel

Agreed. Fitzpatrick is only notable because he is from Harvard and the only alum to ever start in the NFL. He did make a little bit of noise last year as a semi-bright spot for the Bengals, but that is because they won a couple of games with him at the helm, not because he put up numbers.~Doyadoya

RB

Fred Taylor signed by the New England Patriots – Fragile Freddy was the first running back off the board so that usually means big things for that player,  not so much.  Taylor is going to the Patriots who like to split the carries for the year evenly between all 5 running backs they carry.  Now they don’t distribute them evenly during the game so you can’t really rely on any of them consistently so this is definitely a buyer beware situation.  That being said Fred Taylor is easily the most talented running back on the team and so take him over any of the others, he could also go for six anytime he touches the ball, but if he is the best option at running back on your fantasy team your are probably in some trouble and should look to make a trade. ~Pretzel

If Fred Talyor has been your best option at RB at any point in the last 4 seasons, you should probably take up fantasy baseball. That being said, he might actually be an option this season (still not your first I hope). If history serves, although the Patriots do use many RBs throughout the season, they usually rely on the one that produces, why else would Sammy Morris keep getting touches when both Laurence Maroney and Lamont Jordon were healthy? Not because he is sexy. The only reason Kevin Faulk sees the field is because every other RB they have is a liability on 3rd down and they seem to get injured a lot. Fred Taylor is the most talented RB in their stable and will see the majority of the carries. He can play on all downs an will produce. In addition, contrary to popular myth, he really is not that fragile.~Doyadoya