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TOM Brady may be Superman in a Patriots uniform. Peyton Manning does a pretty good Iron Man imitation. Tony Romo is as tricky as Spider-Man, but that doesn't mean a quarterback is going to save your fanatsy team.
Practice some patience when it comes to the pocket. Despite QBs' gaudy numbers, you can find solid fantasy contributors later.
VALUE SHOP
All drafts are different, but normally some good production will slip to the middle rounds. Spend the early rounds on RBs and WRs, maybe even a top-tier TE. You would rather have Donovan McNabb and two good RBs than get Brady early then find yourself starting a backfield of Rudi Johnson and Matt Forte.
Carson Palmer's disappointing 2007 fantasy season has sent his value south. We expect him to rebound, so if he slips to the fifth round or beyond, grab him.
On the flip side, we really like Ben Roethlisberger, but his draft position has risen much too high. We've seen him go consitently in the fourth and fifth rounds ??- much too high for our tastes.
MIDDLE MEN McNabb can offer solid value in Round 6 or 7. When healthy, as he supposedly is, he posts fantasy stats with the best of them. With no WRs and TEs, he's like Batman - he gets it done without superpowers. But you need a healthy insurance package if you lean on McNabb on your starter. Don't wait long before getting a backup.
Matt Hasselbeck offers a little more stability in the same draft range. But his upside is much more limited.
BACKUP PLAN
There is a reason QBs slip until the later rounds - they come with built-in risks. So if you wait, you need to address your backup QB fairly quickly thereafter.
That's OK, considering you can find Marc Bulger or David Garrard in the eighth or ninth round.
LATE HEROICS
If your gameplan changes, or you choose to ignore the wise teachings of the Tracker, you still can find some good gambles late. Eli Manning is a good first-half fantasy QB (before the weather gets bad). Jake Delhomme should bounce back. And we're believers in Aaron Rogers.
FAVRE FROM HOME
Labeling Brett Favre as the Fantastic 4 may be misleading at this point in his career. Having landed with Gang Green, we can see him suffering from Jet lag. Don't get us wrong, he will give the Jets a better chance to make the playoffs, and he will put up better numbers than either Chad Pennington or Kellen Clemens would have.
Nevertheless, Favre no longer will have receivers like Greg Jennings and Donald Driver, who were both capable of taking a 10-yard slant for a 70-yard TD. He's worth a later-round pick as a backup. But just watch, someone will take him much earlier based solely on name recognition. When that happens, just smile and know a better fantasy option has just been passed by.
Copyright 2007 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
