Biggest Bust of the Year?

I've been reading through a lot of the fantasy sites and now that atleast half the fantasy footballers have been eliminated from the fun, people are starting to do a lot of finger pointing. Trying to find where they all went wrong.

Well, with all of that, I guess now is as good a time to debate the biggest bust of the year as any. The names most frequently that seem to be coming up are Edgerrin James, Lamont Jordan, Domanick Davis, Chris Chambers, Randy Moss, Daunte Culpepper, Trent Green and Drew Bledsoe. Feel free to correct me, but these seem to be the "Big 8".

So who is it? Who ruined you? Who ruined the most teams this year?

Well let's see...

I have a personal stake in the Drew Bledsoe argument. I had him tabbed as a nice sleeper this year and drafted him somewhere in the middle rounds to be my QB. C'mon...T.O. to the Cowboys joining Terry Glenn and Jason Witten as solid passing options? How could I go wrong? Well, we all know how that turned out and now I'm playing matchups with Chad Pennington and Vince Young. I refused to jump on the Tony Blow-mo bandwagon, so no...I didn't even handcuff him to Bled-suck -- not that he would have done anything for me this past week. But I still won my division and am headed into the playoffs this week. He had some risk, but it's not like anyone wasted an early pick on him. So the answer is no...Bledsoe, in my opinion, is not the bust of the year.

Trent Green? Probably not. The guy got hurt. What can you do? You can't blame him and label him a bust for an injury. This is still football we're talking about.

Culpepper? How can you label a guy a bust when he has a "buyer beware" sign around his neck on draft day? The bum knee and his hesitation in the pre-season were huge red flags despite the presence of a back like Ronnie Brown and a "premium" WR like the soon to be discussed Chris Chambers. He was a huge risk/reward guy to start, so his disappointing season cannot be the bust of the year.

So how about Chambers....and Randy Moss for that matter? Well, the thing about the wideouts is that they're only as good as the guy throwing them the ball. Chambers has had to trudge through Culpepper and Joey Harrington this year so I'm giving him a mulligan here. And Moss? Well, c'mon...Aaron Brooks to Andrew Walter and back to Brooks? I throw up a little bit in my mouth every time I think of the Raiders. Moss may be unproductive and a whiney bitch, but is his disappointing fantasy season all his fault? Nah. You should've known going in.

So that's gonna bring us to the three biggest losers at RB, and where we'll find our ultimate bust of the year.

Domanick Davis? Listen...unless you drafted sometime in July, you knew not to pick him up. If you used a first round pick on him then you either auto-drafted like a moron or didn't do a lick of research. He should never have been picked up like that. If that's the case, then the only thing you should be labeling as a bust is your draft strategy. Unless your strategy was to be an idiot that is.

Down to two then.....

So who is it? Edge or Lamont? Biggest disappointment? Both pretty bad and both drafted on average in the late first round/early second round in all leagues. Both have put up pretty crappy numbers all year. Jordan has missed time with an injury and Edge played most of the year like he should have missed time with an injury. So what tips the scales?

Well, let me ask you a question? What was the biggest knock on the Arizona Cardinals this year? That's right....the offensive line. With so many people focusing on what it meant for uber-rookie Matt Leinart, few people thought about what it would do to Edge's numbers. How do you run when your line can't block? Not to mention the presence of Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. With those guys on the field and no run blocking you should have known you were doomed from the start.

Who knew? My friend Drew knew. And he protected him anyway. Where is he now? Sitting at 6-7 and out of the playoffs (he also kept McGahee. Doh!!).

So that leaves us with our #1 anti-hero.


:: cue Sanford and Son music::

Good ol' Lamont.

The expectations were pretty high going in for the Raiders. Not everyone was sold on Aaron Brooks to lead the offense, so expectations had Jordan touching the ball atleast 35 times a game, rushing and receiving. He was a pass catching, bulldozing back who could be leaned on...or so they thought. Well, with the exception of one game in Week 4 against the hapless Browns, Jordan did not put up double digits in fantasy points in any week. As a matter of fact, if you take out that one week, Jordan was averaging 4.3 points per game up until he was lost for the rest of the season. Forget RB2 numbers, those aren't even RB5 numbers. Not even worth a flex play. The season ending injury was just more salt in the wounds for his owners. He was a wasted keeper for some, a wasted draft pick by the rest. You may have known the Raiders were risky but it was hard to see this coming like it did.

Therefore, Lamont...
Thanks for nothing! WHAT A STINKER!!!!!

It is my pleasure to tag you with this season's Bust of the Year.

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Got a better argument for someone else? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one. Send me an email at hbender26@yahoo.com and let me know if you think someone else is more deserving.