Can Tom Brady Return to Form in 2009?

Fantasy football owners have seen Tom Brady's fantasy information bounce around quite a bit in the last few seasons.

In 2007 we all wondered how Tom's fantasy production would change with new receiver Randy Moss on the team. Man oh man did we ever find out when Brady flopped out 50 touchdowns and the Patriots had an undefeated regular season. In all of Brady's success he also made Moss a star again and fellow receiver Wes Welker became a household name in fantasy football.

Disappointment in 2008

At my draft, I hit the fantasy lotto (or so I thought) when I selected Adrian Peterson, Terrell Owens, and Randy Moss with my first three picks. But like so many in week one of the season, my fantasy dreams were crushed when Brady went down for the year.

With Brady down it took Matt Cassel about 10 games to really find his grove as the quarterback for the Patriots.

In that time, Moss suffered from inconsistent play and made fantasy owners question if and when he would score again.

To Cassel's credit he did turn it around in the final six weeks or so, thus helping Moss and Welker have good endings for the 2008 season.


Can Brady Return to Excellence in 2009?

One of the biggest questions on fantasy owners' minds this summer is how effective Brady will be this season. While it is never easy to return from MCL and ACL surgery, one has to believe that if anyone can, it's Brady.

So far there are encouraging signs as the Patriots traded away Matt Cassel and Brady is reportedly back to throwing on the run. Just recently his tight end Ben Watson came out and noted that Brady has looked great in camp so far.

I personally liken Tom this season to Dan Marino in 1994 when he returned from knee problems. That season Dan dropped in fantasy draft because people were concerned about his health. Marino proved his doubters wrong and had 30 touchdowns and 4,453 passing yards.

At the end of the day one should never turn his back on a great player with the tools to succeed in hand. Brady will have his great supporting cast back as well as veteran receiver Joey Galloway.

Brady even came out in early June to let people know he plans on playing another 10 years (he would be 41 by that time) and is focused on winning championships. The first step to winning a championship is to have a hot start (like Marino in 1994) and let everyone know that Brady is back.

Fantasy Football Information on Tom Brady

With the confidence and arrogance that Brady can have at times, all fantasy owners should expect success from this all-pro quarterback.

Some players are just able to rise to the occasion and succeed time and time again. Tom Brady is that kind of player and I'm not going to doubt his abilities. Look for Tom as a nice second or third-round pick in most fantasy formats this season.

With the great team around this man I would be very surprised if you find him lower than the third round, even in smaller eight-team leagues.

Look for Brady to post at least the same kind of numbers that Dan Marino had in 1994, as he returns to his MVP status in the NFL.