By Zack Cimini

It’s safe to assume that the speculation of the Brett Favre saga will soon be ended. He’ll be sporting a new look for the second year in a row, this time in purple. Divisional rivals will be his former team and sports conversation will continue to be hyped around his play and actions. Lets not forget this time last year Favre couldn’t control where he landed. The Packers kept his choices limited and didn’t want to see him in the NFC. In reality Favre’s top choice last year was Minnesota and now he is assured of controlling his own destiny. The Jets left the door open for Favre by releasing him as a retired player. All of Favre’s razzle of I’m done, I’m done, we all knew was his indecision that he has every year after football season. Once the draft came around the itch was back.

Welcoming Favre back into the league as a Minnesota Viking will have more advantages by far than his situation last year with the Jets. Favre would have ultimate weapons to his disposal. In New York, Thomas Jones did have a career year but many factors led to Favre and the Jets decline as the season wore on. One of the main reasons of course was Favre’s ailing shoulder. Like in years past, Favre would not allow it to sideline him and he tried to play through it. If his name wasn’t Brett Favre he would have likely been sat for the better of the team. Instead a sure lock playoff berth went down the drain. We all knew the images of Favre giving away throws to the Miami Dolphins wasn’t going to be his last image as an NFL quarterback.

Up to the mid portion of last season Favre was performing beyond expectations. The team was riding high at 8-3 and many were favoring them to be the AFC representatives for the Super Bowl. That quick wave fell with four of five losses, and was a true emotional ride for Favre. His decision to leave the game was a majority decided on his shoulder. He didn’t want to have surgery on it and knew he would have to go through with it to be back in the NFL. Talks lured him into having it diagnosed and for the love of the game he decided to go through with it.

Images of him testing out his arm with local high schoolers in Mississippi have filled mini highlight clips all over sports networks. When he transitions back to the ultimate gridiron will his body fatigue and break down like it did last year?

When July 30th comes along and Favre has his press conference announcing his official return, the plan that Brad Childress has will be set. Favre will come in and know his role. To be that signal caller that the Vikings needed last year which cost them against advancing versus the Eagles. To be in that position again, Favre needs to do exactly what Tavaris Jackson did except exponentially three to four times better. Handing the ball off to Adrian Peterson is the recipe for success. Teams cannot stop him and even Jackson was able to feed off of his performance’s with big pass plays through play action and mixing the play calls.

That’s where the Jets wore down Favre. Many a games Favre threw the football between 35 and 40 times (4 times over 40). That’s a lot to ask of your quarterback, especially a 39 year old. Cold weather situations at home and on the road in the AFC East didn’t help either. Loosening up that body and staying fluid in rhythm throughout the game becomes that much more difficult. Favre is Favre though and the way he has played the game the last 18 seasons isn’t going to change. The same (no he didn’t) throws will be there as well as his precision bullet throws.

As far as a fantasy quarterback, he should be a suitable strong fill in occasional starter. Meaning he is officially a designated bench quarterback in any fantasy football league. Whether your in an 8, 10, or 12 team league there are a plethora of stronger candidates that should fill out an 8-12 team starter league. Now 14, depending on the way you fill out your draft Favre could be a teetering starter. By no means should you expect any consistency from him and that’s not what a fantasy owner wants to hear. His erraticness in the statistical category was unreal last season.

Just based on last season he had five games without throwing a touchdown pass, and another five where he only threw a single touchdown pass. Yet he threw for his career high of six against the Cardinals. Our advice is to enjoy Favre’s whirlwind storybook return but not from a fantasy football perspective.