Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

- Written By Lane Rizzardini
- Edited By Marc Caviglia

It’s no secret that fantasy football championships can potentially be won with the right value pick or two in the middle to late rounds of your draft. However they can just as easily be lost by squandering early or middle round picks on players who fail to deliver results that match pre-draft expectations. Guys who fall into this category are commonly referred to as busts or overvalued players. Overvalued players tend to be those whose name recognition, preseason hype and/or past fantasy glory (think Randy Moss, Ryan Mathews, Brett Favre) lead owners to draft them too early, while the majority of busts are players whose situations have changed so much (e.g., new quarterback, new team, new coaching staff/scheme, upgrade or downgrade of players around them) that they’ll have a hard time living up to expected production. Others have significant injury histories to the extent that the risk far outweighs the reward.

Now it’s time to take a look at our Fantasy Football Bust Quarterbacks for the 2011 season. You don’t have to avoid every guy on this list come Draft Day, just go into your draft with your eyes wide open.

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Matt Cassel, QB, Kansas City Chiefs
2010 Stats: 3,116 passing yards, 58.2 completion percentage, 27 total touchdowns, 7 interceptions

In a matter of four months, Cassel went from being undrafted in the majority of fantasy football leagues to finishing No. 12 in total fantasy points among quarterbacks in standard scoring formats. His season was highlighted by an eight game stretch in which he posted 19 touchdown passes against just one interception. Things don’t figure to go as well for the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback this year though. Cassel and the Chiefs were privileged enough to have a schedule chalk-full of soft secondaries that he was able to pick on, as six of the eight teams he faced during that hot streak ranked in the bottom 10 in passing yards allowed.

Further hurting Cassel’s fantasy value is the loss of offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, whose pass-heavy, creative offense was a boon for Cassel. Once it was announced that Weis was leaving for the same job at the University of Florida, the Chiefs’ offense tanked hard. Cassel threw five picks in his last two games (including playoffs) of the season and the offense could mange just 17 points during that span. With head coach Todd Haley expected to move toward a run heavy offense the chances of Cassel repeating his breakout season are slim to none. Even with the Chiefs adding pass catching options this offseason fantasy football owners should limit their expectations of Cassel. If you are hoping for a repeat of 2010 it’s likely not going to happen. If you draft Cassel, make sure it’s as your QB2 and a bench replacement for an upper echelon QB1.