Every year fantasy managers get gypped by drafting what have become known as “Fantasy Busts.” Unfortunately many times these costly picks eventually lead managers to a near basement finish in their fantasy league. So lets change the scenery in 2008, and let your fellow managers draft this seasons Fantasy Busts. Here are my best bets to become Fantasy Busts in 2008.

TOP 5 FANTASY BUSTS

Clinton Portis - RB - Washington Redskins
To say Clinton Portis won’t be a quality fantasy running back in 2008 may be a bit harsh, however expecting something close to his 2007 numbers of 1,200 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns is highly unlikely. Given the fact that the Redskins will have a healthy Jason Campbell under center this season, coupled with an emerging tight end in Chris Cooley and deep threat Santana Moss, I do not anticipate Portis carrying the load for the Redskins in 2008. Thus a stat line somewhere in the range of 950 yards and 7 touchdowns is more realistic for Portis in 2008.

Brett Favre - QB - New York Jets
Ok while the Brett Favre hype is dominating the New York football landscape, fantasy football managers must move forward with the upcoming season. And this means leaving Favre on the “should be retired” list in fantasy football. To say it lightly, even though many now feel the Jets are somehow a playoff and maybe even Super Bowl contender, I fully expect Favre and the Jets offensive to struggle this season. In fact if I didn’t know better, I would say 2008 is shaping up to be a repeat of the 2005 season for Favre. In other words, what was then a very young Packers team trying to pull all the pieces together, now appears to be where the Jets are headed in 2008. With this in mind, I expect Favre to be his “Classic Favre” self, and play outside of the offense. Much like he did in 2005, Favre will force balls into small spaces, and a plethora of interceptions are sure to follow. So if you want a quarterback that will help your fantasy team in 2008, stay away from Favre.

LenDale White - RB - Tennessee Titans
He may have been great in college, but White has been anything but special in the NFL. His 1,100 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns may have looked nice to fantasy owners in 2007, but in reality I believe these numbers were more of a cover for how bad Vince Young played, than how good LenDale White really is. Oh and if the Titans were truly convinced White could be their running back of the future, then why draft two running backs in back to back years with first day picks? Can we say …. Chris Johnson! I’m betting LenDale won’t rack up more than 600 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Ben Roethlisberger - QB - Pittsburgh Steelers
Now I’m not saying Big Ben isn’t a great fantasy pick at quarterback, but if you think he is going to put up another 30 plus touchdown campaign in 2008, you may want to rethink your logic. A healthy, or at least mostly healthy Willie Parker, combined with rookie running back Rashard Mendenhall, should result in a significant drop in touchdowns for Roethlisberger this season. A line of around 3,000 passing yards and 23-25 touchdowns is more likely than last years binge of nearly 3,200 passing yards, 32 touchdowns, and only 11 interceptions.

Brandon Marshall - WR - Denver Broncos
It’s almost as if Marshall’s career has gone from up-and-coming superstar, to off-field jailbait in a matter of 8 months! With a 3 game suspension to begin the 2008 season already under his belt, Marshall better improve his off-field troubles or his football career will be over before it ever really starts. Right now Marshall is a very high reward, high risk pick. Just make sure you have better options at wide receiver before you start to rely on Marshall carrying your team.

Check Out the Rest of This Article

These two leagues differ only slightly, but that difference equates into a large difference when creating your draft strategy.In points per reception leagues, a player is awarded a set point value for each reception he has in a given week’s game. Obviously, this differs from those leagues that do not count receptions for points.

This affects your draft strategy in many ways. Among them are:

Pass Catching Running Backs
Backs such as Brian Westbrook (90 receptions in 2007-08), Steven Jackson, and Reggie Bush (73 pass gatherings in 2007-08) will be the primary targets for participants in a PPR league (look for Frank Gore to also catch passes out of the backfield in a Mike Martz operated offense).

Possession Wide Receivers
Wide Receivers who are not prominently featured as ‘downfield threats’ in a team’s offense such as Donald Driver, Wes Welker, Hines Ward, Derrick Mason (yeah, 103 catches last year) and even Bobby Engram (94 catches last season) become more valuable in a PPR league.

Tight Ends
Tight ends also become slightly more valuable in PPR leagues as they tend to catch a few passes each game for a lesser number of yards than wide receivers. Last year 4 of the top 25 pass catchers in the NFL were tight ends (Tony Gonzalez (99), Jason Witten (96), Kellen Winslow (82), and Anthony Gates (75)).

So, if you’re a first time Fantasy Football participant you will want to know the details of the scoring in your particular league in order to adjust your draft strategy (and your in-season strategies) accordingly. Certain types of players are discreetly more valuable than are others simply because they’re a favorite target of a quarterback.

Sure handed receivers and running backs are the name of the game in the NFL and that doesn’t differ in PPR Fantasy Football leagues.