Fantasy Football Recap: 2008 Quarterbacks (The Ugly)

At the end of every season we like to go back and recap how the players at each fantasy football position fared. And, as with every season, there’s always the good, the bad, and of the course the downright ugly ones.

In this first installment of the third part of our yearly "The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly" series, we’ll take a look at the UGLY quarterbacks from a fantasy football point of view.

Whether they failed on their own or a poor supporting cast did them in, these players had terrible seasons. Having them on your roster and in your starting lineup likely sunk your fantasy football team.

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1. JaMarcus Russell (Oakland Raiders)

Having a year under his belt, this was supposed to be the season that Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell started to produce.

There were times Russell appeared to start taking those steps forward, such as his week-one performance against the Denver Broncos when he threw for 180 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

But Russell then took steps back, like when he was 13 of 35 for 159 yards with no touchdowns and one interception against the New Orleans Saints in week six.

Altogether Russell finished with 2,423 passing yards, a 53.8 completion percentage, 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions. His completion percentage dropped from his rookie season and his 6.6 average yards per attempt does not bode well for future success.

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2. Marc Bulger (St. Louis Rams)

While many people, including some of us here at the Bruno Boys, felt that St. Louis Rams quarterback Marc Bulger was primed for a nice comeback season in 2008, it was anything but that.

Bulger only threw for 300 yards or more once and had just one multiple-touchdown game. Bulger threw for 2,720 yards with 11 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He set career lows in completion percentage (57.0), average yards per attempt (6.2) and touchdowns (11).

Some of this can be attributed to the poor play of the offensive line, however it’s quickly becoming clear that Bulger was most effective when he had Mike Martz as an offensive coordinator. Bulger will be entering his eighth season in the league and now that we’ve had all that time to evaluate him it appears his best years are behind him.

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3. Ryan Fitzpatrick (Cincinnati Bengals)

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was brought in as a backup, an insurance option in case starter Carson Palmer should get hurt, a scenario not many envisioned happening.

But that did happen as Palmer was lost for the season to a right elbow injury after the fifth week of the season and in Fitzpatrick went. Always a bit rough around the edges, Fitzpatrick didn’t fare well in a full-time starting role as he finished the season with 1,905 passing yards, eight touchdowns and nine interceptions.

He completed just 59.4 percent of his passes and had an average yards pet attempt of 5.1. Palmer is expected to be back and ready for next season and that’s a good thing because Fitzpatrick just isn’t the answer, even as a backup.

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4. Gus Frerotte (Minnesota Vikings)

After starter Tarvaris Jackson was erractic and inefficient in the team’s first two games of the season, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Gus Frerotte was handed the team.

Frerotte was never much of a passer but managed to win enough games to put the team in playoff position before a loss to the Atlanta Falcons in week 16 doomed their chances.

Frerotte is nothing more than a game manager and that reflected in his stats as he passed for 2,157 yards with 12 touchdowns and 15 interceptions while completing 59.1 percent of his passes. He was equally bad down the stretch as he threw four interceptions and just one touchdown in weeks 12-14 before Jackson became the starter again.

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5. J.T. O’Sullivan (San Francisco 49ers)

J.T. O’Sullivan beat out Alex Smith and Shaun Hill for the starting quarterback job for the San Francisco 49ers in the preseason. With Martz operating as offensive coordinator, it was believed his new protégé could be a sleeper given his history with quarterbacks and things started well for O’Sullivan when he threw for three touchdowns and just one interception in the second and third weeks of the season.

But reality hit as O’Sullivan proved he had a bad habit of giving the ball to the other team. Before yielding the starting position to Hill in week 10, O’Sullivan threw eight touchdowns but had a whopping 22 turnovers. Hill may not be the answer in San Francisco, but O’Sullivan’s days as a starter are likely over.

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6. Derek Anderson (Cleveland Browns)

After a magnificent 2007 season, it seemed Derek Anderson had finally stepped up to be the man at quarterback for the Cleveland Browns.

Anderson was drafted high in many leagues, often the fourth or fifth quarterback off the board, and was being counted on for another Pro Bowl-type season. Unfortunately that never got off the ground as Anderson threw three touchdowns and six interceptions while completing less than 50 percent of his passes in the first four weeks of the season.

Anderson finished with 1,615 passing yards, nine touchdowns and eight interceptions before losing the starting job to Brady Quinn in week 10. Quinn was subsequently injured and Anderson played in two more games before a season-ending injury placed him on the bench for good.

Given how poorly he played last season and how much money Quinn is set to make, it’s a safe bet Anderson will start the 2009 year as a backup.

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7. Matt Hasselbeck (Seattle Seahawks)

Typically this list is not one on which you would find Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. A Pro Bowler and model of consistency, you could practically set Hasselbeck in your starting lineup and let him go for the rest of the season, minus the bye week of course.

But poor offensive line play, a lack of a running game, and a debilitating back injury caused Hasselbeck to have the worst season of his career as a starter. In seven games Hasselbeck threw for 1,216 yards with five touchdowns and 10 interceptions while completing just 52.2 percent of his passes.

Seneca Wallace admirably filled in his place but the team just wasn’t the same without Hasselbeck. A healthy Hasselbeck is still a good fantasy quarterback but his back will need to be monitored in the preseason to see if he’s truly 100 percent or not. If the back injury is still lingering, then it’s best avoid Hasselbeck in 2009.

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8. Daunte Culpepper (Detroit Lions)

After an atrocious one-year stint as a Raider, Daunte Culpepper retired as he sent a somewhat bitter letter to the public where he wondered why teams didn’t want him anymore.

It appeared Culpepper was done with the league, at least for one year but then he decided the best way to revive his career was to sign with the Detroit Lions, no joke.

Soon after signing Culpepper became the starter and played five consecutive games where he appeared rusty and inhibited from prior injuries. In those games Culpepper threw for 786 yards with six touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing 52.2 percent of his passes.

Backup Dan Orlovsky actually was more efficient than Culpepper. So whether the Lions draft a quarterback or turn to Orlovsky or back to Jon Kitna, it appears Culpepper’s comeback will be short-lived.

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9. Tarvaris Jackson (Minnesota Vikings)

It’s a shame to see quarterbacks with so much potential fail to put it together but that’s exactly what’s happened with Tarvaris Jackson.

Jackson threw for just 308 yards with a touchdown and an interception in the team’s first two games, both of which were losses. He was quickly yanked for Frerotte, who quickly went on to prove he had no business starting at quarterback.

Given the potential Jackson had shown in 2007, he was considered a sleeper heading into the 2008 season but failed to capitalize on his opportunity. He finished with 1,056 yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions while completing 59.1 percent of his passes.

His completion percentage and average yards per attempt have not improved enough to say that Jackson is on his way to becoming a good, or at least a serviceable starter so don’t be surprised to see the Vikings go in a different direction in 2009.

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Notable quarterbacks that were bad but didn’t play enough to register on this list:

Rex Grossman, Carson Palmer, J.P. Losman, Brad Johnson, Jon Kitna, Vince Young, Brian Griese

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