WHY I WILL NOT BE DRAFTING ANY REDSKINS THIS SEASON
This is the 5th article in my series on NFL teams
that I will not be drafting a single player from in fantasy football this
season. This is a different way to look
at your draft but can be a strategy that will limit second guessing and taking
a guy just because the rankings say you should.
I will say again that it is not that I do not believe these guys should
not be drafted at all, simply that their current situations, injuries or
rankings/average draft position will not put them on any of my teams. There is still plenty of time for things to
change and I am sure players will be moving up and down draft sheets, but for
now I am working with what I have. All
decisions are also made on drafting from a standard scoring, 10 team league
since most players take part in this format today.
Previously I have eliminated the 49ers, Jets, Rams and
Jaguars from my draft sheets. Big names
such as Gore, Davis, Moss, Greene, Holmes, Steven Jackson and MJD are not going
to be on any of my teams this year. To
that list you can now RGIII, Helu, Davis and Garcon. Like the previous four teams, the Redskins
have a question mark at the QB position.
Now I do believe that of the five teams, the Skins likely have the best
QB, but a rookie is still a rookie. Outside
of the rookie QB, the Redskins hold the one, true reason why you should stay
far away from them in fantasy football, Mike Shanahan. Mike Shanahan does like fantasy football. Mike Shanahan wants you to fail in fantasy
football. Mike Shanahan laughs himself
to sleep at night thinking about the RB you thought was going to get the
carries but instead watched the guy from the practice squad pile up 200 yards
and 3 TDs. He then almost dies from pure
hysteria thinking about how you will then use your first priority waiver claim
or 50% of your FAB budget on that practice squad player only to realize that he
has scratched them from next week’s game.
The draft prospects for the Redskins start at the RB
position with Roy Helu and if you have not owned a RB coached by Mike Shanahan,
you surely have spent time laughing at the owners who have. Shanahan has never shown us that he can be
trusted to start the same RB for more than 5 carries. Sunday morning reports will come out
detailing which RB will start for Shanahan, and they will, but they are then
likely to end the game with 3 carries while their backups take on another 30. You just cannot trust a RB coached by
Shanahan in your fantasy roster and feel good about it. I would much rather grab James Starks,
currently 13 spots behind Helu, and feel more certain to get fantasy production
every week. For this same reason I will
not be wasting a pick in the 13th round on Tim Hightower. You just never want to have a Redskin RB on
your roster because you will be tempted to start them and that will be the
reason you lost that week.
Fred Davis is another possible option on the Redskins roster
many will be considering. Davis has the
makings of being a good TE, but again he has a rookie QB throwing to him. The main fault I find with Davis is that you
have to spend a late 8th/early 9th round selection to
acquire his services. He is currently
the 8th TE off the board and could easily finish around the 10th
best TE in fantasy, but I like the value of Pettigrew in the 10th,
Gonzalez in the 12th or 15th round values of Owen Daniels
or Brent Celek so much more. Davis is
just not spectacular enough to warrant where he is being taken.
The next Redskin currently coming off the board with an ADP
of 87 is Pierre Garcon. Garcon has never
been a great route runner or had the surest hands in the business. Last year he finished as the 23rd
best WR in fantasy, but that was all due to 3 monster games where all 6 of his
TDs and nearly 50% of his yardage came against the likes of Tampa Bay, Kansas
City and New England. In 13 other games
last season he averaged less than 4 fantasy points per game. As the 33rd WR taken on average
you hopefully will have 3 better options already at your disposal and then can
grab a WR like DHB or Boldin two rounds later.
Santana Moss is the 46th WR being taken in mock drafts this
season and at this point in your draft you should not be trying to buy known,
sub-par production but rather a possible breakout candidate such as Brandon
LaFell or Michael Floyd.
Lastly I come back to the prize of the Redskins’ 2011 draft,
Robert Griffin III. Robert Griffin has
all the tools to pull another Cam Newton and really surprise everyone this year,
but I just do not want to pay a 9th rounder for that
possibility. I would rather have a guy
like Big Ben, six spots behind RGIII, or even Jay Cutler or Matt Schaub who
both are 2 rounds later in drafts on my team.
In a 10 team league we are talking about backup QBs here so taking a
flier on RGIII might be fine, though you will likely be trying to grab RB
handcuffs such as Jonathan Stewart, Michael Bush, Mark Ingram or Toby Gerhart rather
than drafting your backup QB.
So because Shanahan is their coach and I do not love the value
any of them currently possess, I will not be drafting any Redskins on my
fantasy football teams this season. As
always feedback, opinions and insights are always welcomed and you can reach me
below or on twitter.
Keep checking back to see which team will get taken off the
draft sheet next and more weekly draft trends and strategies will also be
coming to the Gator Blog soon.
Luke Wetta
Fantasy Football Aggregator
luke@ffgator.com
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