Newsmakers: Favre, Tate, Westbrook

Brett Favre

I'm sick of reading, writing, talking, and listening to crap about Brett Favre. So I'll make this quick. He is returning for the 2010 season. His performance last year was an anomaly that he cannot replicate. In his entire career, he has never missed a game but something tells me at age 41, that streak cannot continue throughout this entire season. I'd provide you with some data to back that up but frankly, there aren't a whole lot of starting QBs in their 40s. (Though in '07 Vinny Testaverde played a few games for the Panthers at age 44.) Although he finished 5th of QBs last year, we're ranking him 80th overall, close to his ADP (Average Draft Position). I've seen him slip further in drafts at which point I'll gladly grab him, at least for his potential. But DO NOT take Favre as your QB1 without getting another guy you're comfortable starting too. His return is obviously good news for Sidney Rice, Percy Harvin, and Visanthe Shiancoe. I'm not especially high on the Minnesota receivers however, because again, I don't think Favre plays 16 games this season. And you don't want a guy named Tarvaris throwing the ball to your guys. I don't think it has any effect on Adrian Peterson. AP would get more carries without Favre, but defenses would key in on him with 8 men in the box, so his fantasy value remains equal either way.

Ben Tate

I can't imagine how tragic it must be for a player to work so hard to get drafted by an NFL team, only to have a season ending injury before your first professional game. As a law student, it would be like having my brain shut down for a year the day before my first day of work at a firm. Anyway, with Tate out of the picture, Arian Foster is shooting up draft boards and rightfully so. Some managers may avoid Foster because of the way he burned them in the semi-finals last year. (It was announced Foster would be the starter in a juicy matchup against St. Louis in week 15. Foster didn't get any owners to the finals with his 2 carries for 7 yards, a 13 yard catch, and a fumble lost. In many scoring formats, he actually lost points.) But Foster finished strong with 97 and 145 yards in weeks 16 and 17. I actually think he's not being drafted high enough. Steve Slaton will very likely be a 3rd down back of the Chester Taylor variety. Foster is the feature back on a high-powered offense. I'd take him as early as the 5th round around Brandon Jacobs, Matt Forte, Marion Barber. But the beauty is that you can probably get him 2 or 3 rounds later (especially if your league-mates don't monitor the news or this blog as closely as you do.)

Brian Westbrook

Westbrook signed with the 49ers which will fill the void of Glen Coffee, ahem, Father Coffee. Westbrook has stud potential. He pulled off over 2,100 yards in '07 with 90 catches, but has since slumped, in large part due to 2 concussions suffered last year. Westbrook is an elite pass-catching back, so he could be a good fit for SF as they exhibited a shockingly high pass-to-run ration last year. Alex Smith is inaccurate on long bombs, but will dink and dunk underneath all day. The problem with the theory that Westbrook could be the pass-catching 3rd down back is that Frank Gore is also an elite pass-catching back. Gore has remained a top RB each year despite a steady decline in carries in large part due to his consistency in catching the ball (and a few long TD runs last year). Ultimately, I like the acquisition because Westbrook is the posterboy for a "playmaker", but he also spends as much time in the Doctor's office as he does on the field. I think he will be a good backup to relieve and spell Gore for a few plays, but I'll draft Gore where I would have drafted him last week (5th), and draft Westbrook just a bit higher than I would have drafted Coffee last week (187th).