The Lion’s Free Agent Diary
by John Gustafson, john@fantasylion.com
It’s my favorite time of the football offseason, free agency! I could give two you-know-whats about the scouting combine, because most of that is hype. But I digress, this offseason should be a crazy one so I wanted to started a diary of my thoughts on the free agency period and how it relates to fantasy football. Check back here throughout the next few weeks to get my take on what’s going on. I will try to update this a few times a week.
Friday, March 5th
Chester Taylor to the Bears, boo. Sorry for you Charger fans, he would have been a great pick up, but not all hope is lost. There are still some quality backs out there (Fred Jackson, Jerome Harrison, Thomas Jones, Pierre Thomas). The Bears also paid him $12.5 million which could have gone towards reuniting Marshall and Cutler. Big mistake if you let Marshall slip away Chicago.
Futhermore, Seattle is now interested in Marshall. Marshall will be a great pickup wherever he goes, but Seattle’s subpar QB situation has me wishing Marshall went somewhere with a good to great QB so Marshall can continue to put up beastly numbers. He’ll still get his, but with the likes of Seneca Wallace or the oft-injured Matt Hassleback throwing him the ball, he may be inconsistent, but then again it may be just what Matt the Hassle needs.
Before I get into my 49ers dream player, I want to get back to the Chargers. I like that they re-signed Darren Sproles. $7 million is too much to pay a 3rd down back but Sproles is also a great special teams player and hey it’s not my money so what do I care? The Chargers still need a 1st & 2nd down back to get 15-20 carries or so with Sproles getting 5-10 carries and 3rd down duties. However, what no one is talking about is the other Chargers RB, Mike Tolbert. Tolbert will be a 3rd year player out of Coastal Carolina. He flew under the radar last year, but managed to grab my attention around week 11. Should the Chargers not sign another back and promote Tolbert, Tolbert could become a household fantasy football name if he produces like he did this year in 2010. Tolbert quietly amassed 4 touchdowns, 17 catches, and averaged almost 6 yards a carry in very part time work. I’m not going to go out on a limb and call him the next big thing, but he’s definitely a guy I will have my eye on this offseason.
I have been keeping my fingers crossed that some Anquan Boldin to the 49ers talk will arise, but I doubt it will happen. I fell in love with Boldin because of his toughness. The dude broke his jaw on this hit (if I remember correctly) only to return weeks later. I can’t remember if his jaw was completely healed when he returned but I doubt it as broken jaws don’t heal overnight. It doesn’t really matter, the point is the guy is tough as nails and severly underrated. If he were the #1 on any other team, he’d probably get more credit, but playing alongside Larry Fitzgerald, it’s easy to see why he isn’t in the spotlight like he should. I think my pipedream of Boldin going to the Niners will soon deflate as ESPN’s Adam Schefter (who is the best in the business) is reporting that Baltimore and Kansas City are the leading candidates. As a fantasy footballer, I would love to see him go to either place. In Baltimore he would be the true #1 WR they have been needing. Current #1 Derrick Mason has been solid, but he’s more of a #2 WR playing a #1 by default. As far as KC, their O really turned it on the 2nd half of the year. Add Boldin to the mix with Bowe and Charles and they have themselves a nice little 3-headed monster.
The Lions brought in Nate Burleson from the Seahawks. Burleson is a guy I’ve always liked, but he’s not consistent enough. One week he comes out of nowhere and appears to be the waiver wire savior, then the next week he does nothing, so you bench him, only to see him go off, then you start him the week after and he gets hurt. Oh yea, I’m hip to your game Burleson. The Lions overpaid for him, but again, not my money. However, it is nice to see them spend some money and at least look like they’re trying to improve. If Burleson can stay healthy (and that’s a huge if) then he’ll make a great complimentary WR to Megatron (aka Calvin Johnson for those new to the football scene). Megatron’s stock is down coming off an injury and could be a nice value if he falls into the late 3rd or early 4th round next year. This obviously helps Stafford out as well who was a pretty decent fantasy QB for being a rookie on a crappy team in 2009. The Lions still have a long way to go but they’re definitely make steps in the right direction.
Finally, in a move that has me scratching my head, my 49ers brought in David Carr. Why? Now I went to Fresno St and was there for the Carr glory days and am by no means a Carr-hater, but the guy has not been a good pro at all. He’s not better than Alex Smith and probably not even better than Shaun Hill. I’ve only seen a little bit out of the 49ers other QB, Nate Davis, but what I did see out of him, I liked. I would rather take my chances with Davis over Carr. Carr, if signed, will probably be too expensive and do very little. I share the same sentiments as 49ers LB Patrick Willis who tweeted this earlier today about the situation, “for real for what. we have 3 qb’s that are better then him. That’s a waste of his time.” Well said P-Willy, well said.
