2009 Fantasy Football: The Guys We Hung Onto for Too Long

(I got the idea for this article after checking out this solid piece , and had to give credit where credit was due. The theme is a bit different, as is the list, but, again, give credit where credit is due. )

Every year you start the season, shaking your head, certain that you have "the team to beat" and that nothing can go wrong when you have Tom Brady, Steve Slaton, and Calvin Johnson.

Well, yikes, dear sirs, and my ladies. Just because you spent a high pick or mid-rounder on a player, doesn't necessarily mean that they panned out for you. However, interestingly enough, despite those players hanging you out to dry, you still hung onto them.

In fact, according to Yahoo! Sports , these players were owned by at least 90 percent of teams in all of the Yahoo! leagues. That's just sad.

These were the guys that, despite laying egg after egg, we kept holding onto, hoping they'd resemble a former version of themselves.

This is the list that shows those players for their true colors, and also shows every fantasy owner out there that, despite the ownership percentage, these guys should have been on the waiver wire long before the season ended.

Read on to see who took the cake for their respective position in fantasy football in 2009:

Criteria to be named to the All-Goat Roster : Player must have ended the season being owned in 80% of all leagues (Yahoo! Sports).

QB: Carson Palmer—Cincinnati Bengals (Owned in 89 Percent of Leagues)

Thought this was Jay Cutler's turf? Well, almost. True, Cutler led the league in interceptions thrown, but from a fantasy stand-point, had a sizable lead over Palmer, who was just plain bad during the final weeks of the season.

Palmer finished with barely over 3,000 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 13 picks. He was much more careful than Cuter with the ball, throwing 14 fewer interceptions, but threw for almost 600 fewer yards and six fewer touchdowns.

That, and Palmer was shooting blanks in his final four weeks, throwing just five touchdowns while Cutler threw eight in his final two games (plus no picks).

Honorable Mention: Jay Cutler (81 Percent)

RB: LaDainian Tomlinson—San Diego Chargers (97 Percent)

Sure, Tomlinson stayed relevant down the stretch, but let's admit it, you were kicking yourself for not pulling the trigger and selling high on him at midseason.

The 12 touchdowns were nice, but just 63 yards per game was a giant disappointment. LT wasn't a factor in the passing game, and rushed for over 73 yards just once all season, while failing to crack 100 yards in a game all year.

Considering he was taken in the first round in a large number of drafts (nearly every one), this was beyond a disappointing year for LT.

Honorable Mention: Matt Forte (96 Percent)

WR: Terrell Owens—Buffalo Bills (89 Percent)

Owens is the consensus pick for the wide receiver position. He was hyped up as Buffalo's savior on offense, yet he failed to crack 100+ receiving yards until Week 11, and only topped 80 yards receiving three times all season.

His 829 yards and five scores were his lowest totals since he played just seven games with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2004, and his lowest total for a season (14+ games) since 1999.

Honorable Mention: Calvin Johnson (96 Percent)

TE: Jeremy Shockey—New Orleans Saints (81 Percent)

Shockey was supposed to jump to a new level of play in the Saints' high-octane offense after scoring zero touchdowns with them last year in his first season.

While his numbers did rise (three touchdowns), he actually caught two fewer balls, and still recorded less than 600 yards for the second-straight season (both with NO).

He didn't have a horrible season, but compared to the other studs of this year's tight end class, Shockey was a bit of a bust.

Honorable Mention: Jason Witten (97 Percent)

Note: While Witten has had a great yardage and reception year, he scored just two touchdowns.

K: Mason Crosby—Green Bay Packers (86 Percent)

Crosby was a solid source of points, as usual, coming out of a high-powered Green Bay offense, but he was also a source of disappointment.

He missed nine field goals and one extra point, and went just 2-7 beyond 50 yards.  For a kicker with a big leg, he had a down year.

Honorable Mention: Rob Bironas (82 Percent )

Defense: Pittsburgh Steelers (90 Percent)

Perhaps their name and the image of their Super Bowl defenses kept the dream alive that the famed Steelers defense would step up when we needed them the most.

Near the end of the season, that was about half-way true, but it was fairly clear that, without Troy Polomalu, Pittsburgh wasn't an elite defense, and was routinely carved up by opposing passing attacks.

The Steelers allowed over 300 points, and recorded just 12 interceptions.

Honorable Mention: None

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