Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

Every football season, there are a handful of players who fail to live up to their expectations, aka BUSTS. One of the (many) keys to success for fantasy owners is identifying those individuals who will fall off the proverbial wagon and take a step back in statistical output. Draft a player too high who doesn’t perform, and chances are you’ll be staring up at your fellow owners in the standings. To help you avoid that situation, we here at the Bruno Boys have done our best to analyze who those BUSTS could be for 2009. With that said, we present to you the 2009 Bruno Boys Wide Receiver “Bring Out the Pepto” Rankings.

Ranking System: The higher the “Bring out the Pepto” ranking, the more likely a player is to bust.

Jerricho Cotchery (New York Jets) - Don’t be fooled by Laveranues Coles’ move to Cincinnati in the off-season. While it would seem that would make Cotchery a breakout candidate, there are more red flags here than a Soviet parade. The first would be the Jets’ quarterback situation. We’re all well aware by now that barring injury, Mark Sanchez will be under center for New York, and despite Matt Ryan’s performance last season, rookie quarterbacks have a difficult time putting up numbers, which obviously transfers over to their receivers. Also, look for the Jets and new head coach Rex Ryan to do what his previous team, the Ravens, did last year, and that’s run the ball – a lot – with the three-headed tandem of Thomas Jones, Leon Washington, and rookie Shonn Greene. Then there’s the fact that Cotchery simply fizzled in New York’s final 12 games, catching just two scores with seven contests of fewer than 60 receiving yards. Included in that are games of zero, 18, 10, and 34 yards.

PEPTO BOTTLES: 6 BOTTLES

Santana Moss (Washington Redskins) - Inconsistency, thy name is Moss. On the surface, Santana had a solid output last season, with 79 grabs for over 1,000 yards and six scores. But, a closer look reveals that most of the production from Moss came early, and that type of inconsistency can be a killer for fantasy owners. Moss had half of his touchdown catches in the teams’ first three games, and of his five games with at least 75 receiving yards, each came in his team’s first eight games. Additionally, Washington will certainly want to get second-year players Malcolm Kelly, Devin Thomas, and Fred Davis involved in the passing game more often, which means you have a player who could be headed for a down season.

PEPTO BOTTLES: 5 BOTTLES

Antonio Bryant (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) - The best thing you can say about the quarterbacks on Tampa’s roster is that there a lot of them, which doesn’t bode well for Bryant. No matter whom starts under center – Byron Leftwich, Josh Freeman, Luke McCown or someone else, the team will certainly not employ a vertical passing attack. Tampa will continue to pound the rock with Earnest Graham and newly acquired Derrick Ward, and new tight end Kellen Winslow should do his share of damage as well, meaning Bryant’s career-high numbers from last season aren’t likely going to be repeated, especially now that the Bucs’ receiver has suffered a torn meniscus in his knee that will keep him out the majority of the pre-season.

PEPTO BOTTLES: 4 BOTTLES

Hines Ward (Pittsburgh Steelers) - People have been predicting his drop-off for a number of years, but he’s maintained steady success, but there’s more reason than ever for the 33-year-old Ward to drop-off in 2009. The emergence of Santonio Holmes is one of the main reasons. Holmes emerged as the team’s go-to guy in the end zone in the team’s final eight games – including the playoffs – when he caught five touchdowns and had four games of 70 or more receiving yards. Pittsburgh should be even more reliant on the run this year as well, as former first-round draft pick Rashard Mendenhall will be healthy, and will team up with Willie Parker to give the team the dynamic one-two punch in the backfield they thought they were getting last year. Ward will certainly still be a contributor, but more as a WR3 for fantasy owners.

PEPTO BOTTLES: 3 BOTTLES

Isaac Bruce (San Francisco 49ers) - Michael Crabtree, if he signs, and Josh Morgan, that’s why. Bruce showed last season he still had something left, but the 49ers have two younger, more dynamic play makers on their roster, again if Crabtree signs, and by the middle of the season at the latest, it would be a surprise if both weren’t starting. At some point, you would think the team would do everything it could to get freakish athlete Vernon Davis involved more in the passing game as well, and all those young options means someone will have to take a back seat, and that very well could be Bruce.

PEPTO BOTTLES: 2 BOTTLES

Brandon Marshall (Denver Broncos) - Marshall is far too talented to put too much stock in a tremendous decline, but Kyle Orton remains Kyle Orton. We’ll believe he makes a Matt Cassel-like ascension when we see it. Then there’s the off the field issues. Marshall is as combustible as antimatter, and any misstep along the way could cost him significant time. He’s one of the ultimate high-risk, high-reward players this fantasy football season.

PEPTO BOTTLES: 1 BOTTLE

 
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See More ‘09 BUSTS:  QB | RB | WR | TE | K | DEF

See More ‘09 SLEEPERS:  QB | RB | WR | TE | K | DEF

Cheat Sheet RANKINGS:  QB | RB | WR | TE | K | DEF

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