In the realm of fantasy football, nothing is worst than having high expectations for a draft pick, only to see him shatter your championship dreams by not living up to the hype. Yet, it happens all too often where one or two busts leads to a season down the crapper. Shaun Alexander, anybody? Well, we here at Bruno Boys Fantasy Football want to make sure you're not stuck cussing out many of your team's guys. To that end, we present to you another fine edition of Bruno Boys Q & A with Bruno Boys Staff Writer, Chris Ziza.
Question: As of right now, who do you project as being the biggest QUARTERBACK bust of the 2008 season?
Answer: Eli Manning of the New York Giants!
Not to say that he is a horrible QB by any means, but he is riding
high, coming off a Super Bowl victory and he of course is Peyton’s
younger brother. Those two factors alone will have him coming of f of
the boards quicker than he should. But then you consider the fact that
they do not have a solid running game to fall back on, Jeremy Shockey
is working himself out of favor with management and coaches and his
2007 overall season stats are not too impressive: 3336 yards passing,
23 TD’s to 20 INT’s, and 4 fumbles irks me a lot! Now, if you are
looking at him as a mid-to-low QB2, then that is fine. But he most
likely will be going somewhere in the high QB2 range, thus making him a
most likely bust this season.
Q: As of right now, who do you project as being the biggest RUNNING BACK bust of the 2008 season?
A: Michael Turner of the Atlanta Falcons could
be in for a long season! He was excellent as LT2’s backup, but that
was in part-time situations and in favorable situations at that. He
signed a nice contract this off-season to come to the hapless Falcons.
They do not have much of a passing game, and they have a horrible QB
situation to where they may have to play rookie QB Matt Ryan
almost immediately. If that happens, expect the defenses to key in on
Turner, stacking the box and closing holes that would have been there
for him when he was in San Diego. Anything earlier than a late RB2
draft position and you are just asking for disappointment.
Q: As of right now, who do you project as being the biggest WIDE RECEIVER bust of the 2008 season?
A: Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals
is already becoming a bust before the season even starts as he is
having it out with coaches and management, saying that if he is not
traded that he will sit out the season. Now folks, we know this won’t
happen. Chad is all about, well… Chad! Heck, he even has a self-titled
book out on the shelves right now. I haven’t read it, but I am guessing
it is all about…you guessed it!!! Chad! T.J. Houshmandzadeh had
proven last year that he is ready to be the Bengals #1, and rightfully
so! In my mind, Chad is a high-to-mid WR2, but will most likely go
amongst the top WR’s once again during Fantasy Football drafts.
He has the skills to where if he pulls his head out of his butt that he
could perform as a WR1, but that would only benefit you if you can get
him as a WR2. Most likely he will go as a WR1 and perform like a WR2,
making him my WR bust of 2008.
Q: As of right now, who do you project as being the biggest TIGHT END bust of the 2008 season?
A: There are many candidates who could be on this list. Injury riddled TE’s Todd Heap and Vernon Davis
all have potential to be top 5 TE’s, but it is like rolling the dice on
whether or not they will have a healthy season. Then you have aging
veterans Gonzalez and Watson, but they still are performing at a solid
level. So, my bust TE for 2008 will be Jeremy Shockey. He is
playing himself out of a big role in NY, he has a poor attitude at the
moment and he is constantly hurt. Skills wise, he is definitely at the
top of the list. But when it comes down to it, the nitty-gritty, it is
starting to look as if Shockey is becoming a player to which people
talk about him as, “He could have been…but…!”
Q: As of right now, who do you project as being the biggest TEAM DEFENSE bust of the 2008 season?
A: THE CHICAGO BEARS!!! There isn’t
even a close second on my list! Individually, they all played decent
last year, but as a whole, that squad for some reason played horribly!
It is one of those situations in which it just feels as if most of the
key players are playing for themselves rather than for the group in
whole. Their key stats such as tackles, sacks, INT’s and such were very
good. Their points allowed was horrible and they are tied to an offense
that allowed the D to be on the field longer than the competition. Tie
into that the facts that the Bears running game is getting no better,
that they lost their top WR through free agency and that their QB
situation is the laughingstock of the NFL and it would not surprise me
to see the Bears D on the field even longer this year!
Tie into it that Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs
are causing numerous problems this off-season and it is not hard to see
why I don’t feel that they will perform up to standards. The Bears for
some reason, and believe me, I fell into this trap last year as well,
always gets drafted high. And I see no reason why they won’t be drafted
amongst the top-5 or so again this year. But they will play more like a
top 10. I wrote a very interesting article on why you should avoid the
Chicago Bears this year. As soon as it is posted, I recommend you read
it as it will open your eyes to things that you may not even have
thought of. So, unless you are able to grab the Bears as your DST2, not
taking them any higher than low DST1 positioning during the draft, I
would avoid them. They should be a team that fills in nicely from
time-to-time, but if you are looking for a team that can produce week
in and week out, look elsewhere!
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If you are interested in getting your questions featured in one of my future articles please visit the Bruno Boys Message Board and leave it under the appropriate sections or email me at cziza@brunoboys.net. Please remember to leave your name and where you are from!