In what I believe is one of the signs of the apocalypse, Andy Reid benched Donovan McNabb.  The same Andy Reid who drafted him despite getting booed, continued to start him despite rampant booing after Jeff Garcia played far better in limited time, stuck by him despite the boo-filled outcry of fans…you get the idea.  It’s Philly.  They throw batteries and they boo.

Of course it was short lived.  Reid has announced McNabb will start this Thursday.  Apparently the best thing for job security is to have a backup who’s exponentially worse than you are.

In the words of Misti, the Official IFS Eagles Fan, “Our offense is sickeningly inept either way so I’m not sure it makes much of a difference.”

Chargers Castoffs: The New Denver Running Backs?

Drew Brees continued on his record-setting pace this week, single-handedly blowing out the Packers.  His 323 yard game increased his season total to 3,574 and put him on pace for 5,198.  If you drafted Drew Brees you have my permission to declare yourself a fantasy genius and never let the other people in your league forget it as long as they live.

But that’s not the really interesting part.  Brees has 3,574 yards.  Phillip Rivers, who the Chargers decided to keep over Brees, has 2,806 yards.  Now don’t get me wrong, Rivers’ total is great.  In fact it’s good for 5th in the league.  But it’s still 21% less than Brees.

Meanwhile Michael Turner has 1,088 rushing yards.  LaDainian Tomlinson, who the Chargers decided to keep over Turner, has 770 yards.  Again, respectable, and I realize there are loyalty issues as well, but it’s 29% less output.

The moral of the story is two-fold.  First, you want San Diego castoffs on your fantasy team.  Second, while I know Chargers fans love dumping the blame on Norv, this seems to suggest maybe the general manager has a significant hand in it as well…

Don’t Draft Quarterbacks Early

Every year the top fantasy draft advice is to draft a running back in the first round.  Right after that is, “Don’t draft quarterbacks early.”

But why?  Quarterbacks put up huge points, right?  Yes, but not the ones you’d expect.

Guess who the top three point-scoring QBs in Week 12 were.  Go ahead, guess.  WRONG!  They were Matt Cassel (34), Trent Edwards (33) and Chad Pennington (30).  The highest-drafted quarterback who’s not in IR, Peyton Manning, scored 17.

And for the season?  Using Yahoo’s draft results, both because it’s most popular and because I have easy access to it, the top three quarterbacks taken were Tom Brady (usually taken in the early first round), Peyton Manning (mid first round) and Tony Romo (early second round).  On the season they have 3, 182 and 142 points respectively.  Manning is 6th among QBs in fantasy scoring, Romo is 12th.

The top three?  Brees with 210, Kurt Warner with 200 and Philip Rivers and Aaron Rodgers tied with 190.  Average draft position?  Early third round for Brees, late 11th for Warner, mid-11th for Rivers and mid 12th for Rodgers.

Think of it another way.  Rather than drafting Peyton in the first you probably could have had Marshawn Lynch, Brees in the third and an additional 28 points on the season.