Favre In Fantasyland: Should Brett Land on Your Fantasy Roster?

Stop me if you've heard this one.

BREAKING NEWS!! Brett Favre is coming out of retirement.

Yes it is true, just weeks after Favre announced that he had no intention to play professional football again he is doing just the opposite.  Favre will sign a contract with the Minnesota Vikings and will become the Vikings starting QB pending a physical.

While football purists ask the question - what does this do for the Vikings chances of winning a Super Bowl this season?  Fantasy purists ask - what does this do for my fantasy football team?

The obvious starting point is that Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels are no longer starting quarterbacks and should be removed from your roster and/or draft chart.  However, if these two players were on your team to begin with you need more help than this article can offer.

With the preliminaries out of the way, the question becomes, is Brett Favre a viable starting quarterback option in fantasy football for 2009?

The answer, very simply, is no.  

Brett Favre should not be starting for the Rochester Rubbernecks, the Durham Demons, or the (enter your fantasy team name here).

Now this is not to say that Favre will not have a productive year.  Maybe he still has the passion, maybe he still has the swagger, and maybe his shoulder is fully repaired and ready to go.  However, Favre will not be a top fantasy quarterback this year, and here are 12 reasons why.

Reasons 1-7:

Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Kurt Warner, Philip Rivers, Donovan McNabb - no explanation needed.  These are the elite quarterbacks this year in fantasy, and Favre's production won't even be close.

Reason 8:

Matt Ryan - Ryan established in his rookie year that he has the tools to become a star in the NFL and in the realm of fantasy football.  With weapons of Roddy White and future Hall-of-Famer Tony Gonzalez, Matt Ryan will continue to progress and have a stellar year.

Reason 9:

Jay Cutler - Cutler no longer has Brandon Marshall to grab his jump balls, which he learned in his first preseason game while throwing a jump ball for Devin Hester that was promptly picked off.  Even without Marshall, the fact remains that Cutler may have the best arm in football.  He also has Greg Olsen, Matt Forte, and Hester at his disposal.  Before you scoff, isn't Hester just another version of Eddie Royal?

Reason 10:

Carson Palmer - Once upon a time Palmer was a Top 3 quarterback.  One bad, injury plagued year later and he has fallen off the map.  No reason to think that he won't right the ship.

Reason 11:

Matt Schaub - If Schaub stays healthy he could very well be a top 5 quarterback this year and one heck of a value pick in your draft.  Andre Johnson could make any quarterback look good, but he can make Schaub look great.

Reason 12:

Tony Romo - No T.O., no Jessica Simpson, no problem for Romo.  Romo makes plays with his feet and this will keep his numbers solid.  He is sort of Brett Favre Light, when Favre was in his prime.  The talent level between the two is not comparable, but the style of play is reminiscent of a young Favre.  Roy Williams should step into T.O.'s shoes and Witten will continue to be a beast.

For these reasons, please, I implore you, do not make Favre your starting quarterback.  Draft him as a back-up, play him against the Lions twice this year, but if you rely on him to win your league, you will be sorely disappointed.

The positive impact that Favre does have will be seen in other Viking's players stats.  Adrian Peterson will have a more balanced offense, Bernard Berrian has a quarterback that can throw the ball, and Visanthe Shiancoe has a quarterback that can find him in the red-zone.

Berrian and Shiancoe unquestionably become better options this season in fantasy, but not Favre.

Not this year.  Maybe next year when he retires and then un-retires to play for the Tampa Bay Bucs.