Sep 08 2008
The Brady Fallout
So you drafted Tom Brady in the first round of your fantasy league this year, and now news has come out that he’s done for the year with a torn ACL? Are your team’s chances done as well? Quite possibly, but you don’t have to go out without a fight. Here’s what you should do:
1) Claim Matt Cassel off waivers
This is the obvious move. Cassel was stable in his time during the KC game, and if the decision is made to make him the every week starter, Cassel could at least put up respectable numbers, given the number of weapons he still has on his side (Moss, Welker, Maroney, Watson, etc.).
2) Trade for another QB if your backup is inadequate
This is less desirable, because you are either going to have to downgrade at another position or hurt your depth at another position in order to do so, but if the Brady injury now forces you to start someone like J.T. O’Sullivan, Chad Pennington, or Brodie Croyle, you’re going to have to make a move to remedy that situation immediately. Guys like Jeff Garcia, Aaron Rodgers, and Jake Delhomme shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg to land in a trade, and they’ll be certainly better than your crappy option on the bench.
3) Keep an eye on other possible Patriot starting QBs
Word is that the Pats are looking at Chris Simms and Tim Rattay to fill Brady’s void. If either is named the starting QB, you would absolutely have to make a claim on either one. My money is on Rattay to be the guy, since he had already caught the eye of Patriot management years ago when they were deciding to draft him or Brady, and has been impressive during his short stints as a starter while Simms has not.
4) Pray. No one outside of Peyton Manning and Tony Romo will be able to successfully rival Brady’s projected numbers. No matter what you do, your team will take a hit in the points department. Now all you can do is hope you drafted strongly enough at other positions to keep your team competitive.
And what do you do about your other Patriots? The value of WRs like Randy Moss and Wes Welker have to go down. But the values of RBs like Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris might go up now as the Patriots may decide to rely more heavily on the run. I wouldn’t exactly bend over backwards to acquire Maroney or any other New England RB, but if someone was trying to unload one of them on the cheap, I’d certainly listen to offers.
