September-2010 Buffalo Edition - PDF - Sports and Leisure Magazine

September 2010 SPORTS & LEISURE MAGAZINE Page 11
Fantasy football: It’s a passer’s paradise
By Leonard J. Mytko
If you play fantasy football,
you already know the old
adage about running backs.
That the best fantasy teams
were usually the ones with
the best running backs. Yet in
this new era where teams are
throwing the ball more, fantasy
football leagues have been
shifting to highlight the quarterback
position more. Take
last year for example. There
were a record 10 quarterbacks
who threw for at least 4,000
yards and a dozen with 25plus
touchdown passes. In
the last three years, 11 quarterbacks
have thrown 30-plus
touchdowns, the highest ever
in a three-year period. One
factor for explaining part of
this shift is that more teams
across the league keep moving
towards Wildcat offenses and
running back-by-committee
Bills’ Roosevelt looking to be
the ultimate hometown story
By Charles Roberts
If there is one universal
dream every child involved
in sports has, it’s suiting up
for the hometown team.
Then as time goes on, the
dream fades; the young
child goes away for college
and lands a job in a different
city.
Naaman Roosevelt will
have none of that.
A star quarterback for St.
Joseph’s Collegiate
Institute, Roosevelt became
the first recruit by Turner
Gill and his new regime for
the University at Buffalo in
2006. Although his days
under center came to an
end with the onset of his
collegiate career, he would
find great success as a wide
receiver.
He only caught 31 passes
and two touchdowns as a
freshman, but went on to
snag 63, 104 and 70 in the
seasons that followed –
making him the program’s
all-time leading receiver.
Following their MAC
Championship and appearance
in the 2008
International Bowl, it
seemed like Roosevelt and
then teammates Drew Willy
and James Starks were destined
for the NFL.
Unfortunately, their timing
wasn’t exactly spot-on.
Willy graduated and went
undrafted, while Starks’
senior season was dashed by
a season-ending torn
labrum. Suddenly, the once
potent offense looked rather
pedestrian and Roosevelt’s
104-catch 2008 season was
lost in the transition of
2009.
Questions of whether or
not he would hear his name
called during the NFL Draft
were certainly abuzz.
“I stayed at the house,
watched a little bit of the
draft, but tried not to watch
too much of it,” Roosevelt
said of his draft-day experience.
“I wanted to keep my
backfields. Tandems such as
Photo by Joe Valenti
After leading his Saints to a
Super Bowl title last season,
Brees ranks as the top fantasy
QB for 2010.
Miami’s Ronnie Brown-Ricky
Williams, New York’s Brandon
Jacobs-Ahmad Bradshaw, and
Carolina’s DeAngelo Williams-
mind off of it and stay
relaxed.”
Despite the butterflies
during the draft, Roosevelt
had already received a call
Photo by Mike Majewski
Lee Evans may be a lock as
the Bills No.1 receiver right
now, but with the hard work
and skills he has already
shown, hometown favorite
Naaman Roosevelt could
work his way onto the field
and hopefully the endzone.
from a familiar area code
earlier in the week, as the
Buffalo Bills touched base to
let him know if he went
undrafted, they would sign
him.
“I knew there were teams
interested, especially the
Bills and actually, Chicago
had expressed interest, too,”
Roosevelt said.
The one thing rookies
always tend to identify as
the most difficult transition
is the speed of the game.
Roosevelt was no different
in that regard.
“The speed of the game –
it’s much faster, much more
physical.” Roosevelt said;
sweat still bubbling, following
a training camp session.
“Things have been going
pretty good. I have some
ups and downs, but it is definitely
intense.”
“The step higher is
always going to be a little
more difficult, but it’s all
about adjusting and adapting
to the change,”
Jonathan Stewart are becoming
much more commonplace
across the league. And based
on this current trend of teams
splitting carries amongst their
backs continuing, fantasy
owners will keep noticing
quarterbacks throwing for
250-plus yards and two
touchdowns per game. So
make no mistake, fantasy
football fans, it’s the Return of
the Quarterbacks.
Drew Brees, Saints
He’s the best quarterback in
fantasy football… period. No
fantasy quarterback has
passed for more yards (9,457)
or touchdowns (68) than the
Super Bowl XLIV MVP over
the past two seasons. And in
his last four years as a Saint,
he’s averaged a whopping
4,575 passing yards and 31
touchdown passes. So when it
comes to his value and poten-
Roosevelt added.
Roosevelt said he still
keeps in steady contact with
Willy and Starks. Willy’s
attempt at an NFL career
has been a rocky road,
having been released by
Baltimore and
Indianapolis. He’s now
vying for a spot with the
UFL’s Las Vegas
Locomotives, while Starks
is with the Green Bay
Packers.
“I talk to those guys
quite a bit,” Roosevelt said
of his former college teammates.
“Well, I guess we’re
all pretty busy now, so
actually, probably only
every couple weeks or so.”
“It’s definitely good that
we’re all on our way,”
Starks said in a recent
phone interview from
Green Bay. “We used to
talk about it (playing in
the NFL) all the time.”
“Naaman should do his
thing right there at home,”
Starks continued. “We all
still talk, you know, sometimes
text or send messages
on Facebook. It’s good to
keep in touch with those
guys.”
Roosevelt beat long odds
by earning a spot on the
Bills’ practice squad at the
end of the preseason. He
played admirably in the limited
time he was given during
the preseason and most
importantly, didn’t make
many mistakes. His cause
was helped by an injuryplagued
receiving corps,
with fellow rookie Marcus
Easley suffering a seasonending
injury, while thirdyear
man James Hardy was
cut after injuries sidelined
him for most of the preseason.
“Coach Gill gave me an
opportunity; the Bills gave
me an opportunity,” a humble,
but smiling Roosevelt
said. “I’ve just got to make
the best of it.”
tial production (4,000-plus
yards and 30-plus touchdowns),
Brees really is the picture
perfect fantasy quarterback
heading into this year.
Aaron Rodgers, Packers
After just two seasons as a
starter, Rodgers has quickly
established himself as an elite
fantasy passer with numbers
comparable to the likes of
Drew Brees, Tom Brady and
Peyton Manning. But unlike
them, it’s his rushing yardage
that adds a sparkle to his
already high passing totals.
Rodgers has ran for 523 yards
and nine rushing touchdowns
in those two years, and there is
certainly good reason to think
he’ll produce more big passing
and bonus rushing numbers
again.
Peyton Manning, Colts
If you ever find yourself
wondering what sorts of numbers
you will get out of
Manning, just stop yourself
right there. For each and every
season of his glorious 12-year
career, Manning has thrown at
least 26 touchdown passes,
and only once has he tossed
more than 33. He’s the league’s
safest bet to register 4,000
passing yards, 30 touchdowns,
and a virtual lock to
finish among the top fantasy
passers once again.
Philip Rivers, Chargers
With Tomlinson, Rivers
was a top-five fantasy quarterback.
And now that
Tomlinson is gone, the fantasy
ceiling for the 28-year-old
Rivers continues to rise. In
fact, he’s been solid gold over
the last two seasons, eclipsing
4,000 yards passing each year
while accumulating 63 touchdowns.
Plus, he’s tossed at
least one touchdown pass in
29 of those 32 games played
over that period. So feel safe
having Rivers as your ace
passer going forward this year
as well.
Tony Romo, Cowboys
Over his last four years as a
starter, Romo has solidified his
elite status, with per-game
passing averages of 269 yards
and two scoring strikes. He’s
also coming off the highest
yardage total (4,483 yards) of
his career and now enters
2010 with what could be his
most talented group of
receivers yet. So with a few
factors working in his favor,
Romo’s stats might even inch
up some more.
Tom Brady, Patriots
Aside from his lost 2008
season, Brady has been an
upper echelon fantasy passer
for almost a decade, with
seven straight seasons of at
least 23 touchdowns. A return
to his potent 2007 form
(4,806 yards, 52 total touchdowns)
is almost certainly a
distant pipe dream, but with
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