Major erupting dilemmas are already occurring after week three. The waiver wire is already jammed with people’s requests. That’s just the start of it. There are a lot of decisions to be made on certain teams with problems already surfacing.

Did disappointment find its way on your fantasy roster? Let your frustration out in this weeks take of, you’ve got to be kidding me.

Quarterbacks

Chad Pennington:
Patterns of downgrades is all you can look at with Pennington. Throughout his career he has continually been susceptible to injuries more than any other starter over the last four years. Tearing his rotator cuff has to be looked at like a baseball pitcher. This is his second time dealing with that shoulder. When pitchers have to go in and get scoped with surgeries in their shoulder, they never return the same. The velocity of speed is gone in their throws. Pennington was never good in that department, and it’s sad to say but his career may be over in the NFL. It truly is going to take a remarkable recovery for him to be the Jets starting quarterback and play at the level the Jets need him to.

Josh McCown:
McCown quietly was pouting and griping on how the Cardinals gave up on him last season, and then went and got Kurt Warner. Well Josh, it’s the way you play. The Cardinals were actually playing decent football until Warner went down. Then came in McCown who looks like he needs some re-educating in every aspect of being a quarterback. Maybe he should take the Kurt Warner route. Go bag groceries then find his way in NFL Europe and the AFL. Then maybe he could be a great starting CFL quarterback.

Aaron Brooks
Blotches of games like Brooks had against the Vikings are what holds the Saints down, and Brooks career. He can’t grasp a handle of controllability. The Saints are getting to the point where a complete makeover. Their five year Hollywood story has been nothing but struggles of mediocrity. This is it, as another average season is going to cause construction of total rebuilding. To conquer and rule in the NFL you need to have the will and Brooks seems to leave that somewhere.

Running Backs

Steven Jackson
Case in point of why not to over pursue a back in fantasy football based on one year and hypothetical rave thinking by every magazine. The same two things that slowed Jackson down are this year. One is the Rams lack of commitment to the running game, and the second is Jackson’s risk of injury level. On top of that, we all know that Marshall Faulk is going to see some action. So until those two things change with Jackson he is nothing more than a fantasy backup.

Travis Henry
We hope he wiped his dried his eyes. After all that crying he did to get out of Buffalo, he knew that he violated the league’s substance abuse policy. He could have been paid in Buffalo for that and his reputation would have been slightly less damaged. What a difference a couple of years makes. Henry has went from a Pro Bowler, to losing his job, getting traded, and now a suspension.

Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson
They made more owners happy than not. There were plenty of owners out there with a shaky lead, especially knowing what Holmes and Johnson usually are capable of. Shutting the two down proved easier because of the Broncos aggressive front seven. Also the big lead Denver had forced the Chiefs to adjust their game plan.

Ahman Green

And the running back bust of the year goes to……

Wide Receivers

Jerry Porter
Targeting Porter has become harder than finding Osama Bin Laden. Last season Kerry Collins saved his reborn life with the Raiders because of Porter. Now the two connect like Porter is a 42 year old Jerry Rice, trying to make a catch or two just to keep his name out there. If Porter can’t have a great fantasy year with Moss on his side than money really turned to be an over ruler for Porter.

Eric Moulds and Lee Evans
This just in, JP Losman could have used another year on the bench. Bledsoe is looking smooth and Julius Jones hasn’t been as great as last season yet. Moulds and Evans had disastrous games Sunday, and may end up having seasons stats like the Giants receivers did last year with Eli.

Joe Horn
A couple of games here and there are going to happen like this for any receiver. But it shouldn’t of happened this week against Minnesota, Joe. Even Brooks horrible game shouldn’t correlate to a pathetic one catch for eleven yards.

Lavernues Coles
Who’s wishing they would have stayed put? It’s been downplayed, but Santana Moss is out dueling Coles by a large amount. It hasn’t been because of Pennington’s shoulder either, as Coles has dropped passes like he was a Seahawk.

Kicker

Sebastian Janikowski
Who was the personnel that decided to draft Janikowski in round one? We saw ESPN classic do a complete show on the worst busts of all time. Janikowski technically should make the list, as he’ll never live up to his first round selection. We guess the NFL will try anything once.

Ryan Longwell
Missing that extra point proved to be the difference of attempting for a win in overtime, and the result which was a one point loss.

Which athletes shocked, embarrassed, and burst your teams chance to win this past weekend? The list is heavy this week, but the baggage can’t be trashed yet. No matter how bad they’ve stunk they have to remain like excess clothes. You may not wear them every day but knowing that they’re available is a nice resource. So don’t pack it up yet on those athletes, but let’s rag on them for the time being.

Quarterbacks

Daunte Culpepper
Someone needs to do a rattled check on Culpepper. It seems when things are going well Culpepper can be a calm Pro Bowl quarterback. When things are bad though he seems a nervous wreck in the pocket. This trend has happened time and time again for Culpepper, so getting out of this funk should just be a matter of when. First at hand for the Vikings will be to re-plot the right people on the offensive line. For a team that’s as high on a passing attack as the Vikings, they sure are unprepared to block. Seemingly eight interceptions and a handful of fumbles could have been accepted at the midway point, but by week two is just downright beyond pathetic. Someone needs to embrace Culpepper and get his mind cleared up a little bit.

Joey Harrington
By golly if Jeff Garcia would have been ready for relief duty, Harrington would be without a starting job right now. The planned course of action would have fitted right in to the plans the Lions had when signing Garcia. Games like Sunday’s against the Bears is what Harrington is known for. The games he does well enough to win are usually because he does enough not to blow the game. Harrington is losing all believers, and it may soon be the time to throw Harrington on the list of first round franchise busts.

Peyton Manning
Manning makes the list for the first time since…ever. He played in a defensive struggle and showed that the Colts offense can be held still. Any thoughts of Manning chasing his record of last year can be forgotten about. He has had a rough two weeks stat wise. Like last season though Manning said all a long he doesn’t care as long as they’re winning. Keep emphasizing that Peyton, you’ll be making everyone without you on their fantasy football team’s extra happy.

Mike Vick
His stats just make you want to feel nauseous. Draftees will always be high on Vick because of his running ability, but he isn’t worth being a starter in fantasy football leagues. His weekly average every year in the passing department has been a meager one hundred and fifty yard type average. Without researching that would put him on the bottom five list in the league. It’s sad to say but if you’re stuck with Vick as your starting quarterback you may be in real danger. Look for someone on the waiver wire, maybe a Trent Dilfer, because Vick is a bench rider for fantasy leagues until his arm shows up.

Running Backs

Jamal Lewis
Registering a few points would have been nice Jamal. Thanks for putting up the donut on the fantasy live stat tracker. It looked good seeing that there were no kinks in the live stat tracker, just that you were stinking it up. Come on, Baltimore. You were facing a team that started Willie Parker’s career. Lewis is looking for a new contract, but he isn’t going to get it if this keeps up.

Warrick Dunn
The Seahawks are notorious for flopping on the field like Vlade Divac when seeing a running back come at them. For some reason the Seahawks stood up and attacked this weekend. Dunn didn’t even pick up numbers in the receiving department. Fantasy owners probably were overly excited to start Vick once they saw the follow up team they were playing after the Eagles. Remember fantasy owners looks can be deceiving. If Dunn is your third running back, and your other two are solid, start them.

Ladainian Tomlinson
It’s hard to knock a guy for scoring two touchdowns, but that’s not where we are going to badger him. Tomlinson was risked by everyone owning a number one fantasy pick. The least he can do is post the yardage numbers owners expect from him. Touchdowns are nice, but yardage are the padding numbers that voltage out fantasy leads. You want to be able to turn the lights out on any lead you have from being comfortable to insurmountable. If that game was a year ago against the Broncos defense, Tomlinson owners would be looking at their fantasy team in a 2-0 position. Now they must hope that players from the Saints, Redskins, Cowboys, and Giants fold.

Ahman Green
Alerting fantasy owners of the Packers demise didn’t seem to click in, did it. We saw the Packers unraveling coming four to five months ago, and it has been falling just like we foresaw it. Before long the Packers are going to get so desperate that they’re going to throw Najeh Davenport in for some sort of different look.

Wide Receivers

Colts Receivers
Egh, the highest receiving total came from Edgerrin James. This was a ghostly week for the Colts, and we thought Halloween was in six weeks.

Drew Bennett
Key word “Drew Bennett” in Notjustagame.com’s search engine on the home page. Some fantasy football prognosticators need to retire or refrain from making idiotic miracle projections.

Jerry Porter
Moss has had back to back explosive weeks, while Porter has been held in check. That’ll change quickly and owners will need to be patient. Remember Moss has been somewhat held down as well, if it weren’t for two bombs to ignite Moss’s stats.

Who cost you a week one win? Naming one supposed super star athlete may not be the best solution. There were way too many athletes that didn’t bring their fantasy value to the field. After all the trash talking you did during the off-season, you started off the year with a loss. Let’s point the blame.

Quarterbacks

Daunte Culpepper
Culpepper should take the pepper out of his name, because he wasn’t hot. He was as cold as Lambeau field is in January, and he didn’t even balance out his miscues with some touchdowns. Hopefully he isn’t going to flashback completely to his old days, and is rid of this week in his mind. We all know that Culpepper has been a trend type of quarterback, so this isn’t a good sign.

David Carr
Carr isn’t worthy of starting in fantasy leagues, but if you got desperate boy did you pay. He lost you points. Like a coach that cuts a special teams player out of frustration for losing, as a fantasy owner I would cut Carr like it was nothing.

Chad Pennington
Should we even start with Pennington? The Chiefs defense was expected to be better, but Pennington made them look like the best defense in the league. We all know that can’t be the case. If it ends up being than that is what you call a 360. Pennington’s strength is obviously not there. Permanent damage may have been done to his shoulder, like a pitcher in baseball. You don’t want that to happen to anyone, but he has had the entire off-season and preseason to show improvement, and it hasn’t happened.

Running Backs

JJ Arrington
Pack it up and move on from Arrington. This detour was a site seeing disaster, not even worth developing film. The Cardinals running game has no chance, and Arrington is going to dread his rookie season.

Ahman Green
Fifty eight yards isn’t going to get it done as a starting fantasy football back. For the people that drafted a Moss or quarterback with their round one pick, Green was their choice as a starting fantasy back. Oh boy, fantasy teams with that mold are going to have a lot of fun this season.

Steven Jackson
Add one yard to Green’s stats and that’s what you call a close call. Sixty yards for Jackson, and this was against the 49ers defense. The Rams disappointed more than any team on Sunday. Hope was high and still can be for Jackson. But if the Rams are going to plan to abandon the run and let Bulger throw fifty times, than there is no chance for team success.

Wide Receivers

Lavernues Coles
Coles looked like he was a Seattle Seahawks receiver, dropping balls constantly. He dropped a for sure touchdown, and just had his mind elsewhere Sunday. With Pennington’s zip being a high concern, who knows how long that will affect Coles deep game.

Hines Ward
A new contract followed by a three catch twenty five yard performance. Willie Parker stole the show, but Ward wasn’t able to sneak out unnoticed. Roethlisberger did only throw the football eleven times, and Ward did catch three of those. So if Roethlisberger ups his attempts, than there will be no problem with Ward’s stats.

Jerry Porter
The Raiders opened up the offense, and you’d expect Porter to see some of that. He did get a portion but not enough, with only forty eight yards. He is a big key for the Raiders offensive success. If he can play at a Pro Bowl level, it’ll be history. Defenses are already geared at Moss, and once Porter takes some of that attention, Moss’s stock will boost to its highest point ever.

All aboard. A free boarding pass can be handed out to eighty percent of football fanatics. Once they see one glimpse of a great season, it’s a cause for a celebration. Perhaps the athlete does deserve greater attention in fantasy football drafts, but please don’t get out of hand with player projections.

We are not going to name names, but there is a particular fantasy football magazine that has some outrageous player rankings. It’s one thing to be bold, but backing that up with factual evidence would help.

Warning: The next paragraph goes into specifics of the aforementioned.

Okay, when I first saw this wide receiver posted at the numero uno position, I almost past out in laughter. I was so dumbfounded that I dropped the magazine, and paced back and forth real quick. As I rubbed my eyes and glanced down again, the previous vision was still there.

Drew Bennett…2005’s number one receiver.

Yes, yes, laugh it up. If comedy central had their own fantasy football show, then this would be a reasonable determination. Wait, take that back, it still wouldn’t.

It still has me shaking worse than Charlie Murphy’s giggling during the Prince episode on Dave Chappelle.

There are so many mind boggling factors that would ring a bell to not even consider Bennett as a top ten receiver.

Before we start on that top five list, we want to say that this has nothing negatively to do with Drew Bennett. The sole purpose of this article is to clear cobwebs out of owners that may have been brainwashed from reading that magazine.

Breathe in deeply, and arrive back to Earth.

5. Derrick Mason’s Gone
Drew Bennett has developed rapidly, but will now have the burden of leading the receiving corp. Derrick Mason had that pressure for the last several years, and helped Bennett’s growth tremendously.

4. Size
Big receivers with quickness and extreme raw ability are linked hand and hand. At 6’5, Bennett is listed in that category of rare receivers that aren’t project players melting on the sideline. Still, when is the last time a tall receiver has done well in the NFL? Uh, Uh? Plaxico Burress and Marcus Robinson are the only two to even consider. The key point with those two athletes is consistency. They’ll bounce back and forth on the radar with a few off the chart performances, but then there are the weeks when they won’t even catch the ball. It’s a problematic situation that won’t go away with tall receivers.

3. McNair’s Health
Steve McNair deserves a lot of praise for what he has endured over the last several years. If he is fully recovered there is no kind of ending script to see how he can finish out his veteran years. That has been a big if over the last few seasons, so that gap of certainty bumps Bennett down automatically. When McNair tried to play hurt last year it hurt the offenses direction. McNair also is a chain to chain quarterback, while Bennett is a big play receiver. That doesn’t mesh well, unless the Titans plan on opening up the deep pass. Figuring two to two together and banking on Bennett as the number one receiver just is out of the question.

2. Travis Henry and Chris Brown
Here are two running backs that could easily both be ranked as top fifteen in the league. There won’t be an official starter, as Jeff Fisher has stated that they will use both. Expect the Titans to be running the ball effectively with both backs like the Falcons and Rams do. That could open up the deep ball for Bennett after long drawn out drives catch the defense sleeping.

1. Where’s Volek?
Looking…looking….looking. There it is. During the three week stretch from NFL week thirteen through fifteen, Bennett produced more than half of his season totals. His yardage numbers were 517, and touchdowns was eight. Take that away and for thirteen games Bennett had 730 yards and three touchdowns. He did his damage when Billy Volek was quarterback, and when Chris Brown was banged up. Hmm, Volek isn’t projected to start, and the fact up above is a ding dinger for run-run-run.

Now that we are complete with that tirade, lets get realistic. Bennett is one of the elite emerging receivers in the league. He presents a lot of problems for defenses, but gearing to shut him down will also become easier. Especially since Tennessee has serious question marks at that position. Bennett will now face the opposing teams number one corner with Mason gone. If Bennett does create problems for the number one defensive back, than the defensive coordinator will just adjust with a crowding scheme.

The lack of Titans depth at receiver and Bennett’s barely dabbed success put him right inside the top twenty receiver rankings, on my list. He literally outperformed his previous two seasons combined with his stats from last season. Bennett’s trust from fantasy owners can’t come until after this season, when a realistic figure of a season should happen.

With Moss, Harrison, Owens, Johnson, Walker, etc, it may be awhile before Bennett even cracks the top ten.

You can breathe a sigh of relief, as your treatment has been successful. Once I snap my fingers, your memory will be erased of reading that magazine.

Snap.

Once in awhile you?ll find a true warrior story going into the NFL Draft. An athlete that has been under the radar his whole athletic career, but yet still keeps his goals high. 6?3 quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick may end up being a second day no name selection when his name is called, but he?ll work harder than ever to make sure he makes a roster, and go from there.

Coming out of Highland High School in Arizona, Fitzpatrick received little or no attention from division one schools. He had carried the Hawks on his back for nearly three seasons, but yet the lone offer he received was from Eastern Washington. Fitzpatrick?s grades were phenomenal so he decided to enroll at Harvard, and try his luck with their football program.

From day one he impressed the Harvard coaching staff, and went on to set numerous Ivy League records. Now that his collegiate career is over though, the normal assumption is so would be his football career. To this date there have been very few Ivy league quarterbacks to make it to the NFL, and one that still is standing is Jay Fiedler. In fact it wasn?t too long ago that the 49ers tried that route with Giovanni Carmazzi from Hofstra but it didn?t work out.

Fitzpatrick isn?t afraid to dig in and go for something, and football won?t be his only option if he doesn?t get the opportunity. Along with his economics degree, Fitzpatrick may also be interested in working behind the scenes for a sports franchise. Last summer, he was an intern for the Boston Celtics after he contacted Danny Ainge about any opportunities. He has been impressive at the combine thus far, and wouldn?t be shocking to see him drafted in the late fifth or early sixth round as a steal. This is definitely an athlete that you have to rate for his talent, and not make him suffer because he played against weaker college teams.

The 2004 season is officially over. Lets rank them accordingly one last time.

1. New England Patriots
The Patriots are in a league of their own right now. Will it be four out of five next season?

2. Philadelphia
It has to hurt deep being in second place all the time.

3. Indianapolis
May be ready to take over the Patriots next time around

4. Pittsburgh
A lot of decisions are to be made in the off season with Plaxico Burress and Jerome Bettis. Cowher is no stranger to tough decisions, but seems to always make the right ones.

5. Atlanta
Vick needs to recruit himself a receiver

6. NY Jets
They?re just a steady team, but may never be more than that.

7. Green Bay
It was an early exit once again, but Brett Favre seems poised for one more go around.

8. San Diego
The season could be all for naught, if they let Brees get away.

9. Minnesota
Trading Moss would be the worst possible solution for the Vikings, as he is dangerous every time he is on the field.

10. St. Louis
Marc Bulger is ready to show that he is among the elite quarterbacks in the league.

11. Seattle
They have too much talent to be average. First they?ll need to resign Shaun Alexander to change things in the right direction.

12. Denver
Jake Plummer will have one more chance to show that he is a viable starting quarterback.
13. Carolina
Would have been a serious threat if they could have snuck in the playoffs. They overcame a lot early on the year with injuries, and should be neck and neck with the Falcons next season.

14. Baltimore
They just need more support offensively, and with that defense their potential is unlimited.

15. Jacksonville
Byron Leftwich showed veteran leadership in only his second season, and should become a Pro Bowl quarterback in the near future.

16. New Orleans
The Saints could have folded at 4-8, but kept it together to finish 8-8. It wasn?t enough to get in the playoffs but was to keep their coach Jim Haslett.

17. Buffalo
They finished strong, but there will be obvious changes at quarterback.

18. Cincinatti
Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson are proving to be one of the top duos in the NFL. To add to that, Marvin Lewis is showing why he deserved to be an NFL coach a long time ago.

19. Houston
Davis Carr and the Texans have been steadily improving every year. It all started with their week one upset of Miami two years ago. It?ll be hard for them to overthrow Jacksonville or Indianapolis, but they?ll be able to cause havoc on any team.

20. Kansas City
Offense has never been a problem for Kansas City, but defensively they just can?t find the right nucleus.

21. Arizona
Dennis Green made some bonehead moves that cost the Cardinals a shot at the division title, but Green also learned from his mistakes. Expect the Cardinals to be a rising team in the NFC next season.

22. Oakland
When the Raiders are on they are one of the best teams in the league. The problem though is that they are the most inconsistent teams in the NFL.

23. Tennessee
Not even a year ago the Titans were going into the off-season with Eddie George and Steve McNair as their starters. Now it?s Chris Brown and looking like Billy Volek will take over McNair. It goes to show how fast time really does fly.

24. Chicago
If it weren?t for Rex Grossman going to early in the year, this team would have easily finished .500 or better. In fact if the Vikings and Packers continue to be inconsistent, expect the Bears to take hold of the division.

25. NY Giants
Would the Giants have been a playoff contender if Warner was kept in? The answer is undoubtedly yes, but Coughlin wanted his rookie to get experience so that he didn?t have to undergo the transformation this upcoming year. It could prove to be a genius idea if Manning comes in prepared.

26. Dallas
The Cowboys just need a quarterback that can throw the football more the ten to fifteen yards with zip and accuracy. Julius Jones was one of the biggest surprises last season, yet the non use of Drew Henson got more attention.

27. Miami
AJ Feeley showed big improvement in the last month of the season, and Miami could be a scary team next season. Realistically they could challenge once again, if they get an offensive line. Sammy Morris did a fine job rushing, and the defense is always there.

28. Washington
No matter what Daniel Snyder does with his pocketbook it never equals success on the field.

29. Detroit
Joey Harrington had some of the ugliest performances by a quarterback duplicate times. Still just like Chicago the youth on this team is tremendous. At wide receiver Roy Williams, Charles Rogers, and Az Hakim will be a great duo, and Kevin Jones at running back is the real deal. If Harrington can?t do it early on next year, Mike McMahon will get another shot to show his worth.

30. Tampa Bay
It?s a shame how quickly this team has collapsed after a Super Bowl win just a little over two years ago. Chris Simms is a project still, they need receivers, and Michael Pittman is always in trouble off the field.

31. Cleveland
Romeo Crennel just got himself a task to do. It?s going to take awhile, but lets not forget this team was a wild card playoff team two years ago.

32. San Francisco
The salary cap problems the 49ers are in, are going to continue to hurt them for a couple of seasons.