To put it simply: No.
Not in 2010, anyway.
But can he be, eventually?
It's possible.
Even casual fans know Tim Tebow is not a polished product. If you've seen him running Urban Meyer's offense in Gainesville, you know it bears little resemblance to today's NFL. He can't step in right away in Week 1 and be an effective pro starter and fantasy force the way Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco were two seasons ago.
Even the Denver Broncos brass knows that, though they probably won't admit it. Tebow's going to need some tutelage, and they believe head coach Josh McDaniels is the guy for the job. He worked wonders with a little-known sixth-rounder (Tom Brady) who became a Hall of Famer under his watch, and then McDaniels made a guy who hadn't started a game since high school (Matt Cassel) into a legitimate starting QB.
Tebow will be given a shot to earn the starting job in 2010, and while he's probably not ready to beat out incumbent Kyle Orton or Brady Quinn this summer, neither of those guys are exactly entrenched starters who can never be toppled. Tebow will spend next year running Denver's "Wild Horses" package - their version of the wildcat - while learning the QB position. That still probably won't be enough to make Tebow fantasy-relevant, but McDaniels and the Broncos are going to give him every chance to make that the case in 2011.
So, no, even the most diehard Gator backers don't want Tebow on their fantasy roster next season.
But after that, it's certainly possible.
- Photo by The Associated Press
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Is Tim Tebow a fantasy prospect?
Friday, November 13, 2009
Sit 'Em: Week 10
- Matt Ryan was 17 for 24 for 135 yards, a TD and an INT against Washington as the Falcons leaned heavily on Michael Turner (just as I predicted).
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Sit 'Em: Week 9
- QB MATT RYAN vs. Washington: Ryan's thrown 6 picks in his past 3 games (vs. 5 TDs), and the Redskins' defense actually isn't so bad (ranked second against the pass, giving up 164.9 yards per game with six TDs). The Falcons might be better served giving the ball to Michael Turner, who topped 150 rushing yards last week, than having Ryan throw a lot against former Falcon DeAngelo Hall and Co.
- RB TASHARD CHOICE at Philadelphia: With Marion Barber and Felix Jones back to near 100 percent, Choice is relegated to third-string duties, as evidenced by his past two games (a combined 4 carries for 11 yards). Don't expect much, if anything, out of him this week.
- WR SAM AIKEN vs. Miami: This guy was a popular pickup after a 54-yard TD catch made the highlight reels two weeks ago in London. That wasn't enough to warrant starting consideration.
LAST WEEK'S PICKS
- Eli Manning was even more atrocious than I imagined against the Eagles (222 yards, 2 INTs, 55.7 QB rating), although he did manage a TD pass.
- Darren Sproles carried the ball 5 times for 38 yards and caught an 8-yard pass. Nothin' special.
- Nate Washington only made 2 catches against the Jags, but one happened to be a TD.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Using the NFL schedule to your advantage
As the days get colder and the NFL moves into Week 12, our thoughts begin to turn toward playoff time.
Every week is critical now that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and begin to position our teams for a postseason run. It’s time to take a serious look at the remainder of the NFL schedule and the matchups that will help you maximize your fantasy team’s potential.
I often use statistical rankings as a guide for which teams are the toughest and easiest to run and pass against. Of course anything can happen on any given week, but a quarterback who faces a few of the league’s 10 weakest pass defenses in the coming weeks is more likely to outperform his peers and give your team a boost in these critical games.
I’ve analyzed the schedule and crunched the numbers for you. Here are some of the players with the best and worst matchups in the next few weeks:
FULL SPEED AHEAD
g Matt Ryan and Roddy White of the Atlanta Falcons bobbled last week’s potential game-winning bomb, but after a tough test this week against Carolina, they should shine against San Diego and New Orleans in Weeks 13 and 14.
g Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte’s been on a decent roll lately. That should continue this week against St. Louis and pick up again when he closes out the season vs. Green Bay and Houston.
g Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo’s pinky shouldn’t be much of a problem against San Francisco this week or Seattle the next - assuming he's done hanging out with homeless dudes.
g Jamal Lewis hasn’t cracked 90 rushing yards in a game this season for the Cleveland Browns. His best chances come when his team hosts Houston this week and Indianapolis the next — then the fun’s over at Tennessee.
g As if the Titans’ running duo of LenDale White and Chris Johnson wasn’t already valuable, check out these upcoming opponents: Detroit (Week 13), Cleveland (Week 14), Houston (Week 15) and Indianapolis (Week 17).
g Miami Dolphins QB Chad Pennington gets to air it out against St. Louis, San Francisco, Kansas City and his old team, the Jets, in four of the season’s final five weeks.
g Jeff Garcia of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could do some damage against Detroit this week, New Orleans the next and San Diego’s league-worst pass defense in Week 16, aka the Super Bowl in most fantasy leagues.
g Brett Favre and his receiving corps could put on a show against Denver (Week 13), San Francisco (Week 14) and Seattle (Week 16).
g Buffalo’s Trent Edwards and Lee Evans have been relegated to the bench in most leagues. But they might be able to get back on track thanks to a schedule that includes Kansas City, San Francisco, the New York Jets and Denver.
NOT SO FAST
g Marion Barber deserves the benefit of the doubt, but his Cowboys face a brutal stretch of run-stuffers starting in Week 13 — Pittsburgh, the Giants and Baltimore.
g Detroit Lions rookie RB Kevin Smith also must run a brutal three-game gauntlet starting this week — Tampa Bay, Tennessee, Minnesota.
g It looks like Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger is starting to break out of his funk, and facing Cincinnati this week might continue the trend. But after that he meets four brick walls known as New England, Dallas, Baltimore and Tennessee.
g You hardly ever sit Saints QB Drew Brees, but be warned: He faces two of the league’s top five pass defenses (Green Bay, Tampa Bay) the next two weeks.
g Washington Redskins RB Clinton Portis has been excellent this year when healthy. So he might just be a little less excellent against the Giants and Ravens in Weeks 13 and 14.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Hot pickups: Week 2
WR Eddie Royal, Denver Broncos: Perhaps you saw him abuse the Oakland Raiders on Monday night, finishing with a league-high 146 receiving yards and a TD. Remember, Brandon Marshall will be back in uniform this week, and the Broncos won't be playing the Raiders every week. ... but I'm still nabbing the rookie from Virginia Tech, because he looks like a contributor. FIVE STARS (Out of five)
QB Matt Cassel, New England Patriots: You know the deal here. Cassel is no Tom Brady (yet), but he still has Tom Brady's teammates and Tom Brady's coaches. A must pickup if you owned Brady, or just want to tick off a Brady owner. FOUR STARS
RB Sammy Morris, New England Patriots: Looks like we didn't learn from last year's game of musical chairs at RB for the Pats. Check out last Sunday's stat sheet: 10 carries for Morris, 10 carries for Laurence Maroney, with Morris getting a short-yardage TD. The Pats played around like this in the early part of last year too - yet Maroney was going in the second or third round of most drafts this year and Morris likely didn't get his name called. Time for that to change. FOUR STARS
WRs David Patten and Robert Meachem, New Orleans Saints: With Marques Colston (thumb) out 4-6 weeks, Drew Brees will be looking for some new targets. Patten, who caught a 39-yard TD in Week 1, will probably make a more immediate impact, though Meachem (inactive last week) is worth a look in deeper leagues as a contributor later down the road. FOUR STARS
QB Damon Huard, Kansas City Chiefs: The veteran is starting again with Brodie Croyle out for up to four weeks. Huard is only a stopgap of course, and K.C. may even take a look at untested Tyler Thigpen at some point. But Huard does get to face the Oakland Raiders this Sunday, and in case you didn’t see them in their opener, the Raiders aren’t so good this year.FOUR STARS
QB Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons: Ryan made a heck of a debut for the Atlanta Falcons. But take away the 62-yard touchdown on his first NFL pass, and the rookie was 8 of 12 passing for 99 yards against the Detroit Lions. Granted, he didn’t have to do much besides hand off to Michael Turner (220 rushing yards), but he was also throwing against the league’s 31st-ranked pass defense from a year ago. I like Ryan, but things are going to get tougher, and he’s not an every-week fantasy starter at this point. THREE STARS
TE John Carlson, Seattle Seahawks: The rookie is one of the few healthy pass catchers on Seattle's roster right now. Carlson was one of the few bright spots at Notre Dame last year, leading Charlie Weis' team in receptions (40) and scoring three TDs. He caught four balls for 52 yards in his pro debut last week, and I have a feeling Matt Hasselbeck will be looking for him this Sunday against the 49ers, and in the weeks to come. THREE STARS
Photos by The Associated Press
Monday, April 28, 2008
NFL Draft's fantasy impact
I love it when everybody jumps in a day or two after the NFL Draft to issue their grades for each team. Sometimes it takes three or four years to really assess a draft class, but we all want to know immediately how our teams did, who's a future Hall of Famer and who's the next dud. Funny, but I don't remember too many draftniks praising the Giants' draft last year (seven draftees played significant roles in their Super Bowl run), and we've barely seen anything from 2007's big-name picks, QBs JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn.
That being said, from a fantasy perspective, we can't afford to wait. We need to know what kind of impact the Class of 2008 will have this season. Sometimes taking a chance on an untested rookie like Adrian Peterson last year can be a championship-securing move.
Here's a look at some notable first-round draftees. Obviously we'll focus our attention on offensive skill players and what roles they'll play in their first season:
g QB Matt Ryan to Falcons: The BC product might develop into a quality starter someday, and he should have a shot at immediate playing time. But as you probably know, rookie QBs rarely make for good fantasy starters. I'm not touching him unless he's my backup, and even then I'm being cautious.
g RB Darren McFadden to Raiders: Even though they re-signed Justin Fargas (more than 1,000 yards rushing in only seven starts), and also have LaMont Jordan and Michael Bush at running back, Run DMC (above) was too good to pass up for Oakland. And that applies to him as a fantasy player too ... Peterson set the bar pretty high for rookie runners last year, but McFadden is the most obvious comparison in this year's class. He's a high-risk, high-reward No. 2 RB, and there will be a lot of competition for his services on draft day.
g RB Jonathan Stewart to Panthers: We thought Carolina might be done with the two-back system after DeShaun Foster left for San Francisco. We were excited to see what DeAngelo Williams might do as a full-time starter, but now it looks like another two-headed monster, with Stewart serving as the tough inside runner and Williams as the outside-running playmaker. Both are worthy of being on your bench, but it could be a little frustrating until we really see how they'll share the carries.
g QB Joe Flacco to Ravens: Baltimore's needed a franchise QB in the worst way for years, and it seems they've finally addressed that here. Problem is, Flacco probably doesn't have enough experience to step right in and play coming from Delaware. That means Kyle Boller will probably be the starter as Flacco eases his way in. In other words, Flacco has little to no fantasy value for '08.
g RB Felix Jones to Cowboys: Dallas has essentially replaced one Jones in their backfield with another. With Julius Jones off to Seattle, Felix and Marion Barber will be sharing time this year. Seems like the 'Boys were concerned Barber couldn't handle the full load, and Jones, McFadden's former running mate at Arkansas, probably can't either. Looks like a situation where we'll see them each averaging about 12 carries a game, but both have the skills to be touchdown-makers. Treat Barber as a No. 2 and Jones as a No. 3 for now.
g RB Rashard Mendenhall to Steelers: Starting to see a trend here? Pittsburgh's got Willie Parker but they still took Mendenhall as his complement. He's more of a power runner than Parker, and he's built to take the goal-line carries, a role Najeh Davenport was supposed to fill. This means Mendenhall will be valuable, although probably as a No. 4 fantasy RB, and Parker might be downgraded a little bit to a No. 2.
g RB Chris Johnson to Titans: Johnson, from East Carolina, made it into the first round based on his speed (4.24 40 at the combine). He's probably going to replace Chris Henry as the lightning to LenDale White's thunder in Tennessee's backfield, although I have questions about how much production we'll see from all those guys. The Titans have been inconsistent in how they use their runners, so I can't count on White or Johnson as anything more than a No. 4 RB.
Photo by The Associated Press
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