Donovan McNabb - Buyer
Beware
StingRay - August 26, 2003
All summer long I have been reading how
Donovan McNabb is the number one quarterback in fantasy football. It’s
true that McNabb probably is the best quarterback in the NFL, but he is not the
best fantasy quarterback going into the 2003 season. If you want to know who
that is, check my cheat sheets. All summer long I have been reading how Donovan
McNabb is the number one quarterback in fantasy football. It’s true that
McNabb probably is the best quarterback in the NFL, but he is not the best
fantasy quarterback going into the 2003 season.
I
am not here to bash McNabb because I happen to be a fan, but I will bash all
these fantasy experts out there who tell you to draft McNabb over a top tier
back in what could arguably be the deepest quarterback pool in fantasy history.
Here are some facts that you need to know. McNabb in basic scoring leagues
(Touchdowns = 6 Points), (passing yardage equals 1pt every 20 yards) and (every
10 yards rushing = 1pt) was clearly the best fantasy QB until the injury. I
looked back at who McNabb and the Eagles played and I saw a very interesting
trend. The Eagles beat up some very poor teams with very weak pass
defenses. Let’s look at 7 of the 10 opponents McNabb faced before the injury
and see what their pass defense was ranked.
Tennessee (25th ),
Jacksonville (15th), Houston (8th), Dallas (17th), Chicago (24th), Washington
(5th), and Arizona (27th). All of these teams excluding the Redskins and Houston
were pretty bad in pass defense. Houston’s pass defense is deceiving
because they have no offense or a run defense so a good offense could do
whatever they wanted against the Texans. Washington was prone to turnovers in
Spurrirer’s high risk offense which caused the defense to be on the field way
too long. McNabb did what he was supposed to do and that is to take advantage of
your schedule and beat the teams you’re supposed to beat.
I excluded three teams from
the list because these are the teams that McNabb struggled against. They
were Tampa Bay (1st), Indianapolis (2nd), and the Giants (7th) against the pass.
In those 3 games McNabb threw 3 touchdowns and two of those games he failed to
even have a 140 yards passing! Yes, I know he ran in one touchdown but a guy
coming off a leg injury probably will run a little less this year especially
after what happened to Mike Vick and Chad Pennington. If you exclude McNabb’s
career game where he threw 4 touchdowns against Arizona and include McNabb’s
two playoff games, McNabb totaled 6 touchdowns over his last six games. That’s
not impressive to say the least.
Here are five reasons why
you shouldn’t jump for Donovan this year.
- The
Schedule - When the Eagles faced
tougher opponents McNabb struggled, as would any quarterback. Have you seen
how the season starts for Donovan?
·
Week 1 vs. Tampa Bay
·
Week 2 vs. New England
·
Week 3 Bye
·
Week4 at Buffalo
If
you know anything about Fantasy Football you know it’s important to get off to
a good start and I do not like the start or the finish for McNabb. He has two
games vs. the Giants and an improved Dallas defense, not to mention the fact
that he faces Atlanta, Carolina, and Miami later in the season. This does not
bode well for McNabb owners.
- Free
Agency - The Eagles defense will miss
DE Hugh Douglas and LB Shawn Barber who were a big reason their defense was
so dominate. Their departure means fewer turnovers. This will prevent the
Eagles’ offense from playing with a short field and dominating the game
clock.
- Special
Teams - Brian Mitchell proved to be
the best player in the NFC Championship game by setting up the opening
touchdown. The Eagles rewarded him by letting him go to the New York
Giants.
- Supporting
Cast - McNabb carries this team on his
back. With the possibility of the overrated James Thrash not being
available for week one, there is cause for concern in an already weak
offensive unit. Throw in the circus atmosphere of Duce Staley’s long
holdout and I see the Eagles’ offense struggling.
- Pressure
- This team has lost two straight Championship games. To be dominated
like they were at home was an awful way for them to end their season. The
Philly faithful are getting restless and the boo birds will be out early if
a repeat of the Championship game happens on opening day.
Now after all the information I have just
given you, are you still jumping for McNabb on draft day? If you do, don’t say
that I didn’t warn you. Last year I told you that Edgerrin James was a bust
and people thought I was crazy. StingRay doesn’t play favorites; I just
call it like I see it.
If you have any comments on this article feel
free to contact me. Stingray
