Last year I wrote an article about how taking Robert Griffin III as a late round flier would pan out for fantasy football owners in a very peculiar way. A blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then, and this time I nailed it.
RG3 took the NFL by storm with his cannon of an arm combined with his break away speed. He was, and still is, a nightmare for defensive coordinators to game plan against. Mike Shanahan played to the young quarterback’s strengths, and Alfred Morris quickly became Griffin’s best friend in the read option offense.
Unfortunately, the same old story goes for the mobile quarterback, they lose time to injury sooner than later. Especially for guys who don’t know how to slide. In last year’s article, I predicted RG3 would immediately be the most productive rookie quarterback, but injury would be inevitable.
My plan was to trade the young quarterback after 5-6 weeks of success while his value was at a premium (which I did after his first concussion for a RB2 to cement my flex position). Remember, you took RG3 as a late round flier, so your QB1 was hopefully holding down the fort making the rookie expendable. This was a great way to strengthen your team elsewhere.
This year Michael Vick is being drafted as that late round flier. You can usually find him in the 10th to 12th round in 12 team standard leagues.
Vick is going to be successful early. Very successful. Why?
1) It will be almost impossible for defensive coordinators to predict what Chip Kelly will throw, or run, at defenses in the first half of the season with the Oregon Offense 2.0.
2) With this fast paced tsunami coming to Philly, Vick and Shady McCoy will run more offensive plays per game, which naturally produces more opportunity to score fantasy points.
3) This is also combined with Kelly’s amazing ability to run the ball effectively, making Vick even more valuable.
The tricky part is knowing when to sell high. It may be a matter of another starting quarterback falling prey to injury and capitalizing on another owners need. It could be seeing a quarterback, like Romo or Eli, vastly under produce, and then making a deal with the underperforming Romo owner.
You drafted Vick at a discount this year, hopefully as your QB2. Like RGIII last year, Vick will most likely go down due to injury with the amount of abuse he takes week to week and horrible judgment in avoiding big hits. As Vick’s stock goes through the roof in the Chip Kelly offense, look for ways to dump him and upgrade your squad.
What if you drafted Vick as your QB1? That’s fine. This strategy still works, you will just need to be getting a suitable QB in return along with a upgrade at a different position. Timing is everything. So until then, sit back and watch Vick’s stock go through the roof, then sell baby, sell.
Fantasy Football Diaper 