Despite not scoring many points early on and sustaining some damaging injuries, the Scooters are in pretty good shape at the season’s halfway point, sitting at 4-1-1 overall (yes, a goddam tie, don’t ask) and a tidy 4-0 in my division.
However, with the realization lurking that issues at quarterback were eventually going to catch up with me, I made a massive trade at the halfway mark -- something I rarely do. I pulled the trigger on a deal that brought me Denver signal-caller Kyle Orton and San Francisco wideout Michael Crabtree, in exchange for Detroit receiver Calvin “Megatron” Johnson.
Based on that backdrop, a quick position-by-position look at the Scooters thus far.
QUARTERBACKS
I was happy to have landed Philadelphia’s Kevin Kolb in the draft, with the thought that he would take advantage of some nice weapons around him. When he suffered a concussion halfway through the season opener, though, he yielded to Michael Vick, who went on to beat two bad teams and get handed the starting job. Then Vick cracked some ribs and Kolb got his chance again, then set about dashing the ridiculous notion that all he did was throw checkdowns. I was outbid for Kolb on the FA market, but now not even Eagles coach Andy Reid seems to know whether he’s going to eventually roll with Kolb or Vick.
All that is a long way of saying that my QB situation has been a disaster thus far. I picked up St. Louis rookie Sam Bradford at one point, and he has actually been serviceable at times. However, a rotating series of faces such as David Garrard, Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Hill have gotten me more negative points and injuries than anything else.
Hence the difficult decision to deal Megatron for Orton. The question is whether Orton can keep up his huge yardage and point totals throughout the season and turn my long weakness into a strength. I had him on my team last year and made the mistake of not starting him (over, gulp, Cutler) until my season was essentially over. Obviously, I won’t make that error again this year.
RUNNING BACKS
San Francisco’s Frank Gore has been a beast and Kansas City’s Jamaal Charles is still putting up points at a nice clip considering he’s sharing time with Thomas Jones, and they’ve put me in good stead at this spot. I’d like to see Gore get in the end zone more (I think Mike Singletary would as well) and I’d like to see Charles get the rock more over Jones, but I think there’s a chance both of those things could happen as the season progresses.
My team took a bit of a hit when New Orleans’s Reggie Bush broke his leg, and Dallas’s Marion Barber might be the only unplayable starting running back in the league now, because owner “Botox” Jones is determined to force-feed a third-down back, Felix Jones, into the lead-back role. I put Bush on injured reserve, freeing up a spot for Atlanta backup Jason Snelling, who put up a monster day when Michael Turner was hurt. Unfortunately (sorry, “Burner”), Turner didn’t miss any time with his injury, and Snelling is now just a bit player for the Falcons.
I wanted to keep Gore and Charles intact in any trade scenario for a quarterback, because I think both players’ best days are ahead this year. When Bush comes back (soon, I’m hearing), I will occasionally fit him into the rotation as a flex player based on the role he assumes in the Saints offense upon his return.
WIDE RECEIVER
Megatron’s production definitely got knocked down a few pegs when the Bears knocked out quarterback Matthew Stafford in the opener and teams began double- and triple-teaming Johnson. He was still good for touchdowns, but the yardage totals were modest until a huge Week 6. He also has a nagging shoulder injury, but don’t get me wrong: I certainly wasn’t looking to deal CJ, and wasn’t happy that the circumstances dictated that I had to.
What made the decision a little easier were two developments: the return to health of the Colts’ Pierre Garcon and the arrival of the Titans’ Kenny Britt. A hammy sidelined Garcon for a few weeks, but he is back and catching Peyton Manning’s eye, with lots of targets despite more drops than I would like to see. After being dogged by questions about his maturity all offseason long, Britt has now caught a touchdown in four straight games, allowing him to force his way into my lineup and make me feel a touch better about the Megatron trade.
Denver’s Eddie Royal is also enjoying something of a resurgence, though he’s still more of an every-other-week guy and not consistent. The Orton-Royal connection was a variable in my trade choice, but I’m still not sold on Royal as a full-time starter. The fifth wide receiver spot has been manned by Miami’s Brian Hartline, who is open a lot more than he gets the ball and usually ends up around 35-40 yards—not enough to score or play. My last WR roster slot was first taken by Chicago’s Earl Bennett, then Minnesota’s Greg Camarillo, then Buffalo’s Roscoe Parrish and now Seattle’s Deon Butler. I like Butler because the Seahawks have been jettisoning every veteran receiver on the roster and he’s now a starter; his 33-yard touchdown last week gives me some hope that he can be something.
Of course, bringing Crabtree into the fold also helps with the Megatron trade analysis. With the change in offensive coordinators in San Francisco, Crabtree is starting to get a lot more looks, which could eventually lead him into a spot in my rotation, at least in bye weeks.
The bottom line is that I felt this was a position that was strong and deep enough to withstand the subtraction of CJ; we’ll see if I was right in a few weeks.
TIGHT ENDS
Zach Miller is a freaking beast. There, I said it. That being said, he and the Raiders are going to start seeing some doubling on Miller, just like the 49ers did to him in Week 6. Is he good enough to adjust? Yes. Are the Oakland quarterbacks?
The backup is the Seahawks’ John Carlson, who has been solid. I thought on draft day that I had two good tight ends on my roster, so I’ve been thrilled to learn that one of them is borderline great.
KICKERS
San Diego’s Nate Kaeding has been a little inconsistent and disappointing—and now he’s injured. He had a 49-yarder blocked in Week 6, and throw in the fact that the Chargers are underwhelming and a good red-zone team, giving him limited chances. On the plus side, the Bills’ Rian Lindell has had a couple of nice games for Beefalo, but they rarely get into scoring territory. I can’t believe that I’m probably going to have to go out and get a kicker (likely Dan Carpenter of the Dolphins).
The hope here is that the Bolts get a few things figured out and Kaeding once again emerges as a top-tier fantasy kicker.
DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS
I spent an unusually high draft pick (seventh round) on the Vikings this year, and they’ve been besieged by injury and a tough schedule thus far. However, Percy Harvin took a kickoff back for a touchdown in Week 6, and hopefully they will come around and Jared Allen will start to torment quarterbacks again.
My backup is, um, Houston. So yeah, they’re horrible and they are losing guys to injury every week. They are most definitely in drop territory.
Going Forward
All in all, a sound roster with no glaring holes, thanks to the trade. One of the potential issues is that I would say I don’t have any sure-thing TD scorers on a week-to-week basis, but if Orton can keep rolling (can’t believe I just typed that), my team has a more-than-legit chance to do some real damage this season.
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