Bleacher Report - Articles by Zachary Nichols

2008 Fantasy Football Busts: Say It Ain't So Peyton!

Zachary Nichols — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 08:54:21 -0400

So, we have officially crossed the halfway mark for most fantasy football leagues. It really seems to have been an interesting year in the NFL, to say the least. It seems that a lot of players that went in the first round in most fantasy football drafts have underperformed for various reasons.

It also seems that there’s always an excuse as to why a player hasn’t performed up to the level expected by most fantasy owners. Here, we will discuss the most talked about busts of the season in each position, reasons why they’re underperforming, and what is going to have to happen to for these players to return to glory.

QB-Peyton Manning

I wanted to insert Tom Brady here, but I didn't think that it was fair, considering his injury and all. Everybody expected Manning to be one of the premier quarterbacks in the NFL this year, especially with Brady going down in the first quarter of the season.

I'm not saying that Manning is playing poorly, just that he's not playing to his potential. Blame it on the receivers, blame it on the O-line, or blame Manning himself, but what fantasy owners want to see are double-digit games from him, consistently.

His timing's off, and he's got nine interceptions to his 10 TDs. In my opinion, it boils down to decision-making abilities.

RB-Adrian Peterson

This one was tough. I had a hard time deciding between A.P. or LaDainian Tomlinson. There were high hopes for L.T., to which he hasn’t lived up, but Peterson, on the other hand, had almost just as high expectations, but just hasn’t been consistent. It may just be a sophomore slump, and most owners should just hold on and hope that he stays consistent, something that should come with a little help from the Minnesota offensive line.

WR-Chad Johnson
Another tough one here. There are a lot of receivers that were expected to excel and have completely collapsed. Some names that come to mind are Randy Moss, Torry Holt, and Marvin Harrison. Blame his bust on whatever you like. It could be that he’s been ridden with injuries, that Carson Palmer’s been inconsistent, or Ocho Cinco’s attitude in general. Johnson, at best, should be a fantasy owner’s flex position in specific matchups this season, until he decides that he wants to be part of a team.

TE-Todd Heap

Picking the bust in tight ends wasn’t easy. Let’s just admit it, tight ends aren’t something that most fantasy owners bank on for scoring a lot of points. Only one player in the league this year has scored more than three touchdowns. Heap, however, has been given the opportunity to shine in Baltimore but has only 137 yards in 13 catches. What Heap needs is to find his rhythm with rookie quarterback, Joe Flacco. I think those two should be spending some extra time running through plays together after practices.

D/ST-Chargers

Who knew that the No. 1 ranked defense/special teams at the end of last year and beginning of this year would falter as much as they have? San Diego is, without a doubt, missing Shawne Merriman’s intensity and leadership. It’s hard to put a finger on exactly what is causing the hemorrhage in San Diego, but you cannot allow an average of 253.5 pass yards per game. The secondary and the linebackers need to step up the intensity and keep their opponents’ passing game under control.

K-Martin Gramatica

I know, kickers are usually an afterthought in fantasy football. And I know that Gramatica is on IR. He has not been asked by his team to do much, but he is only 6/10 in total field goals. That amounts to a 60 percent success rate. That’s pretty bad, considering John Carney is kicking 95 percent this season. Not only is Gramatica missing field goals, but the ones missed have been clutch, game-saving attempts.

There you have it. My list of players this year that people sold their souls to the devil to get in their fantasy drafts that bombed. Some may disagree with some of the listing, but again, this is just a compilation gathered from discussions around the water cooler and on Monday mornings.

I am personally excited to see players like Manning or Ocho Cinco return to glory to show fantasy owners that they do deserve a spot on the starting lineup.

How Do the Denver Broncos Finish Strong in 2008?

Zachary Nichols — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:50:11 -0400

So here we are, smack dab in the middle of the 2008 NFL season. The Denver Broncos are atop the AFC West, as they have been the entire season. Although it does seem that being atop the AFC West this year seems to be like taking candy from children.

With a paltry 5-3 record, and arguably one of the leagues worst defenses, the Broncos do have the potential to make it through the first round of the playoffs this year. Something that Denver fans haven't experienced since ending the Patriots chances of a Super Bowl three-peat in the 2005 season.

I am a third generation Broncos fan, and even I will admit that the remainder of this year's schedule frightens me a bit. The following is a little football fan perspective on improvements that should help get the team through round one. I know, they're all very obvious, but apparently someone at the Denver Broncos Football Club hasn't caught on yet.

The Broncos defense stands out as the obvious cancer. The pass defense is ranked 28th in the league, the rush defense 29th, and the overall ranking is 28th. Although Denver's offense has been a high scoring unit all season, you cannot allow an average of 27.9 points a game scored against you.

The first thing I can remember my father telling me about football is that offense sells tickets and defense wins games. That has stuck with me throughout the years as the key to winning football games.

Dre Bly, in this writer's opinion, was an overrated acquisition. Bly has been getting burned all season. Now, I know he's been picked on by QB's that avoid throwing in Champ Bailey's direction, but we need results to match the hype that came along with Bly. Now that Champ will be out for the next three to five weeks, the secondary is going to suffer even more.

The linebackers need to speed things up a bit, as they're looking a bit sluggish. That goes double now that Boss Bailey is out for the season. Elvis Dumervil just needs to keep doing what he's doing and show the rest of the D-Line how to do it.

The defense isn't the only problem facing the Broncos. One that comes to mind, especially in recent weeks, is turnovers. This should be an easy fix, you would think. The biggest turnovers this season have either come from receivers fumbling after contact, or Cutler making bad decisions.

I am not going to harp on the offense much, but this is a must. We need to see Denver get back to the basics. Throwing into double or triple coverage is not going to work. Cutler is the best quarterback to take snaps in the orange and blue since No. 7 made his departure, but he knows it. It goes to his head, and he makes bad decisions.

The receiving core is one of the better ones that Denver has seen since the days of the Eddie Mac and Rod Smith tandem. Brandon Marshall needs to get his poop in a group, do what he's capable of, and not fumble at the absolute most inopportune time. There, it's been said.

The final idea that I've been tinkering with over the past year as a potential issue with the Broncos...is Mike Shanahan. I have been in denial that there could possibly be a chance that Mike Shanahan has lost his touch in Denver. I know, I know. Blasphemy.

I have personally regarded Shanahan as a football genius. Right up there with Bill Belichick for sheer genius with running football schemes. But, it has been ten years now since the Denver Broncos won their most recent Super Bowl. Denver fans have incredibly high expectations, and we refuse to settle for mediocrity and below .500 seasons.

It is my speculation, that if Denver does not make it into the second round of playoffs this year, Shanahan will have to find another team. I didn't want to have to say this, but it had to be brought to the table.

Denver begins Week Nine coming off of a bye. I hope they have been working on stopping the rush and holding on to the ball. Champ will be back in three to five weeks. I can only hope that it's enough to finish out the season remaining on top. The remainder of the season includes some tough games like Carolina and their high-ranked defense and San Diego at home. If Shanahan can get his team to fine tune the few things mentioned here, I can't imagine the rest of this year being too difficult.