A History of Poor Decisions

I have a position quandary in z34 that has been much discussed but not detailed for the masses. How does a team get to the point that they make the following Week 1 acquisitions that help his WR core?

Free agents picked up: Jerheme Urban. Besides being the first player named Jerheme in the NFL (and white with that moniker to boot), he was the most productive WR4 in the league in 2008. He had five 50+ yardage games. Not only that, he completed one pass. Last year's 34/448/4 line is his best by far in five NFL seasons. As long as Steve Breaston and Anquan Boldin are questionable, he has some value.

Number two guy is Legedu Naane. He's been in the NFL three seasons and already has two numbers. He started as a fullback/h-back type and moved to wideout for the Chargers. Before last week's 5/49 "explosion", his previous receiving high in a game was 39. Do you hear the Rocky music in the background when you think about the former Boise State "star"? Shut up.

My final roster move was to trade for Josh Cribbs. He is a former Pro Bowler, but as a returner. Including last week's 2/10 line, he has 163 receiving yards for a career. This is his fifth year in the National Football League. He returned his seventh career kick for a TD last week and had a few wildcat snaps. He's a desperation start at best. I traded Limas Sweed for him. Sweed may develop into a useable receiver. Those odds just went up since I got rid of him.

You may laugh at my three pickups, but they all scored more week one points than any of the receivers on my roster. How did I get to this pitiful state? We have to go into the way back machine, to a distant year. 2005.

In my initial draft I selected the following players: Torry Holt (3.06), Ashley Lelie (5.07), Nate Burleson (7.06), Donte Stallworth (14.02), Michael Jenkins (22.05), Clarence Moore (stop laughing), Shaun McDonald, and Derick Armstrong (seriously can't remember if he was a WR). In the rookie draft I took Vincent Jackson and Roydell Williams. You see Jackson and think there has to be a happy ending. We are far from through with this sad tale.

Holt was a stud for my team for a while. The rest of the guys, not so much. I added D.J. Hackett and Ronald Curry the first year.

I did not add a receiver in the 2006 rookie draft. I did trade my second round rookie pick for Michael Clayton. Can you make this crap up? I don't think so. The only good thing that came from picking up Clayton was that I turned him around for Chris Cooley and a draft pick. Yes, Cooley needed a trade kicker when grabbing the powerhouse that is Michael Clayton.

Prior to 2007, I was still a trading fool. I got Deion Branch, T.J. Duckett, and a 2007 3rd round rookie pick for Cedric Benson. For a while, this was a lose-lose deal. Branch has been injured at least for two seasons since, and I'm about to release him for good. I also got rid of Larry Johnson after his "career" year. Part of my return was Chris Chambers. Gosh, he's really paid off. I think I started him once last year.

I acquired Bernard Berrian at some point. He may have been a free-agent addition. My 2007 rookie "haul" included Sidney Rice and Jacoby Jones. Still waiting for one of the two to "ripen".

I made a series of moves to capitalize on Ben Roethlisberger's career year in 2007. I traded him for Donovan McNabb and a first round pick. Then I turned around McNabb for the another first-round pick. Sadly the trade "kicker" in this deal was Vincent Jackson, the year of his own career year.

LImas Sweed was my second consecutive 2.01 rookie pick before the 2008 season. I just traded him for a kick returner. I also picked up Adrian Arrington (2009 practice squad) and Hank Baskett (twice released and picked up this week by the Colts).

With a beyond horrid set of receivers and the 1.02 pick, I had to wheel and deal for a starter, right? I turned down offers for Ochocinco and Randy Moss for the pick. Instead, I took Michael Crabtree. I also drafted Hakeem Nicks and Mike Thomas, who scored about two points last week. Nicks is injured. My big free agent pickups included David Clowney (didn't see the field in week one) and Steve Johnson (released for Mr. Urban).

Torry Holt led my receivers with 4.7 points last week. He's a stone-cold lock as a starter this week and probably for most of the rest of the year. I will now put my head through a plate-glass window. At least through this exercise I see how many, many deals have led me to this point. I have made the wrong decision about 30 times in a row in regards to this position. The rest of my team is fine. I have top 30 players at every other position. It's just one that really really sucks.