Fantasy Football Rankings 2011: Mike Vick and 3 Lucky QBs to Avoid
By on July 25, 2011
Jared Wickerham/Getty Images Every single year, there are fantasy quarterbacks that seemingly come out of no where, do well, and then fall off in production the next year.This is based on a number of factors, but there is certainly an element of luck involved.
Last year, there were a few quarterbacks who stuck out to me as getting particularly lucky and some digging around proved me to be right.
Keep an eye out on these three quarterbacks because if their fortunes change, they won’t produce the eye-popping fantasy stats they did last season.
No. 3 – Kyle Orton
Orton was a solid fantasy player for the second season in a row as a member of the Denver Broncos. He is going to be the starter again this season but he won’t be nearly the same QB.
Last season he threw for 3,653 yards, 20 TDs and just 9 INTs in 13 games. He is under the gun more than ever this year and will need to step up and perform to silence the doubters who want Tebow to play.
He was lucky enough to have only 25.7% of his potential interceptions turn into actual interceptions and an upswing in this number could see him riding the pine.
No. 2 – Josh Freeman
Freeman became a fantasy stud last season when he emerged in his sophomore campaign to throw for 3,451 yards, 25 TDs and just 6 INTs.
It’s going to take him some luck to achieve these same numbers next season. Those interception numbers are certainly going to go up, as he was fortunate to have only 19.4% of his potential INTs actually converted into turnovers. This number led the league.
Freeman also is an injury risk as he was the second leading QB rusher last season and the more you make plays with your legs as a QB, the higher the potential to be hit hard and get injured.
No. 1 – Michael Vick
Vick joined Freeman as the co-luckiest QB in the league last year. He only threw 6 INTs compared to his 21 TDs, but he had a combined total of 31 near-interceptions.
If a couple of balls got tipped closer to a defender or a corner held on to a near-pick, Vick may not have even been the starter in Philadelphia last season.
Vick also makes a ton of plays with his feet and as we observed last season with his rib injury, he is not an iron man. Vick is prone to injury and he will get hit hard next season.
If Vick’s luck holds up, he will be an elite quarterback, but if things change he may not live up to his high-draft pick status.
-Alex Kay
Follow @AlexPKay
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Top 10 Dumbest Things Pro Athletes Do
There seems to be an endless stream of idiotic things professional athletes do. I guess if you put a bunch of young men together, give them a boat-load of money and lots of free time, what can you expect? When beautiful women, the media and the luxuries of life are thrown at them, their cockiness and stupidity are only amplified. Here are my top ten, but of course there are lots more. However, we must always remember, they are only human too.
1. Me Make Good Play!Ever see NFL players beat their chest like a gorilla after they just made a good play? I guess it's a Tarzan thing or something, but they look kinda ridiculous. Maybe if I was out there on the field and I was a 170-pound kicker watching a defensive lineman beating his chest after a sack, I may be a little intimidated, but overall, they look really silly doing it. (I attended a professional all-women's football game this year and saw a 350-pound woman do this, which was particularly scary.)
2. The God Factor, Part II hate it when players point up to Heaven and thank God after a good play too. Bear in mind however, that I am not criticizing religion or anyone for having faith in God. But this just looks lame. It happens a lot in MLB for some reason. A strikeout will cause Pedro Martinez to do the chest-touch and double-index-finger-point to God as if he and God were chatting earlier about possible pitching strategies in the locker room, and the strategy they chose together worked, so he had to personally thank God using his direct line.
3. The God Factor, Part IILocker rooms, sidelines, dugouts, bullpens, and court sides are often full of praying men. One question: "If you are praying to win, and your opponent is praying to win, who does God choose?
4. Bad Boys, Bad Boys, Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come For You?Why do pro jocks get arrested for drug and/or gun possession so much? Of course, lots of people do this one unfortunately, we just happen to hear about the famous athletes who do. C'mon guys, keep the drugs at home, stop driving while high, and for crying out loud, stop packin'! You don't need a gun. Who's going to harm you? You're six six and weigh 275 pounds!
5. It Wasn't Me!Telling Congress you don't do steroids, then getting caught doing steroids is pretty dumb. I loved watching the clips where Rafael Palmero sat pointing a finger at the Congressional hearing stating with disgust and confidence, "I do not take steroids." And then the next clip showing him apologizing profusely for taking steroids.
6. I Love You To DeathMurdering ex-lovers doesn't happen very often fortunately, but my list wouldn't be complete without at least mentioning O.J.
7. RabbitsIt seems that there are a lot of NBA players out there who use the phrase, "My baby's mom" a little too often. And there's too many pro athletes' offspring introducing their buddies as "My brother from another mother." Ever hear of a condom?
8. How Much Bling Bling Do You Need!?It's fascinating to watch professional athletes blow through all their millions in their first year or two and then have nothing left at retirement, which is usually only a few years later. How many fifty-year-olds are still playing pro sports? Not many (minus golfers of course, who will drag their canes and oxygen tanks with them on the fairway). So why don't pro athletes save a couple of bucks?
9. Love My HogIt's not too smart to get injured off the job when you're a pro athlete. Cleveland Browns Kellen Winslow Jr. crashed his motorcycle recently and will now miss the 2005 NFL season. Jay Williams, a number one draft pick of the Chicago Bulls, also got into a motorcycle accident and has not played since. What's with motorcycles anyhow? Talk about killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.
10. "When You Come To a Fork in the Road, Take It" - Yogi BerraSaying really dumb things in the media seems to be a particularly easy thing to do if you're a professional athlete. I looked in a lot of places online to come up with a good list here. My problem was that there were so many good ones, I wasn't sure which ones to pick. But here are a few gems:
a. Paul Hamm, Gymnast: "I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father."
b. Baseball player Tito Fuentes, after getting hit by a pitch: "They shouldn't throw at me. I'm the father of five or six kids."
c. Football coach Ray Malavasi: "I don't care what the tape says. I didn't say it."
d. Baseball player Dizzy Dean, after a 1-0 game: "The game was closer than the score indicated."
e. Boxing Analyst: "Sure there have been injuries, and even some deaths in boxing, but none of them really that serious."
f. Soccer commentator: "Julian Dicks is everywhere. It's like they've got eleven Dicks on the field."
g. Bill Cowher, Pittsburgh Steelers coach: "We're not attempting to circumcise rules."
h. Jim Wohford: "Ninety percent of the game is half mental."
i. Joe Theismann: "Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."
j. Charles Shackleford of the NCSU basketball team: "Left hand, right hand, it doesn't matter. I'm amphibious."
k. Shaquille O'Neal, on his lack of championships: "I've won at every level, except college and pro."
As I already asked before, what can we expect from professional athletes? They often reflect society as a whole. Too much time, money and fame at a really young age can augment stupidity, simple as that. We all say and do dumb things, but thankfully, we don't have microphones and video cameras pointed at us all the time. As Norman Einstein used to say, "Really smart athletes stay away from problems because they can predict the future with their ESPN."
Author BioJason OConnor operates www.bestshowticketslasvegas.com and loves to attend NFL and MLB games.
