Disappointing Defenses
I was scanning the leaders and trailers in one of my leagues today, and couldn't help notice two of the defensive teams in the bottom five: San Diego and Minnesota. Ted Cottrell strikes again! There have been extenuating circumstances (Shawne Merriman's injury, Minnesota's schedule), but these were the top two defenses taken this off-season. It's only two weeks, but it's another reminder to hold off on taking defenses until late in the draft. There is no other position, other than kicker, with freely available talent guaranteed to score for you.
The Seahawks are another disappointment even though they put up a huge fantasy day in Week 2. The secondary is struggling. They recorded eight sacks against the 49ers, but gave up way too many big plays. In the same game, 49ers showed how poor their rush defense is. They couldn't tackle Julius Jones, who was running much harder than he was at the end of his days in Seattle. The 49ers have made Edgerrin James and Jones look good in successive weeks. Something to keep in mind for Kevin Smith owners in Week 3.
Comments
Here's a question then.
Craig Terrill's fumble recovery TD - should it count toward the Team's D point total or no?
Yahoo says no, and their message boards are lighting up with angry Seattle DEF owners.
I say that if a a player on the defensive unit scores a TD, the team D gets the points.
Right?
Posted by: Huck | September 16, 2008 08:31 PM
Perhaps most people just evaluate fantasy defenses wrong.
Lots of fantasy defense scoring is luck. Defensive team touchdowns and fumble recoveries are mostly luck (fumble recovery percentage at least - forcing fumbles is a skill). Should it really be a big surprise when fantasy defenses whose scoring is based so much on these lucky aspects of the game are not consistent year to year?
Posted by: Dennis | September 16, 2008 09:05 PM
I'm with you. Fantasy defense scoring often doesn't match up with whether a defense is good in reality.
And a huge chunk of it is luck. Almost all of kicking is luck. That's why I'd rather spend time and early picks on everything else.
Posted by: Gregg | September 16, 2008 09:28 PM
I think Julius Jones still plays for Seattle ... and I'm still optimistic about Minnesota's defense once they decide to put in Gus at QB and start getting some leads.
Posted by: Typo Police | September 16, 2008 10:05 PM
Leads? Wake Me up when that happens!
Posted by: MN Scoreboard Guy | September 16, 2008 11:18 PM
I just busted open my Pro Football Prospectus. They have Minnesota predicted to be high as a fantasy defense, but they listed San Diego as middle of the pack, and that was with a healthy Merriman. He's important, although nowhere near as important as guys like Haynesworth or Bob Sanders are to their respective defenses.
Kicking is quite random, too. It mostly depends on the strength of the kicker's offense. Of course, the cream of the crop kicker is one that plays for a team that keeps getting in field goal position but not scoring TDs...good luck predicting who that'll be.
I didn't wait till the last round to take Kicker and Defense in most drafts this year...I took them in the rounds before that so I could get who I want and still take super sleeper Courtney Taylor in the last round. (At least I got the K and Def I wanted.)
Posted by: Dennis | September 17, 2008 08:25 AM
Hey Dennis,
It looks like I may be the cream of the crop this year!!
Posted by: Ryan Longwell | September 17, 2008 08:41 AM