Factoid
When I’m putting together my fantasy draft board, I always like to look at how a player finished the season. I’m more impressed if a player put together a solid December than a solid September.
Who cares, after all, if a player was great in September if he went on to prove in October, November and December that he could keep it up?
With that in mind, look at the second half numbers from last year:
Receivers with the most TDs, second half of 2008
Includes each team’s final eight games.
TD Player
7 Larry Fitzgerald, Ariz.
7 Randy Moss, N.E.
7 Lance Moore, N.O.
6 Calvin Johnson, Det.
6 Johnnie Lee Higgins, Oak.
No surprise that Fitzgerald is on the list. He might now be the best receiver in the league. But a few thoughts on the others:
Randy Moss is getting up there in years (he just turned 32), but he’s still a big-time scoring threat. The Patriots definitely feature him inside the red zone.
Amazing that Calvin Johnson, playing for a winless team, was able to tie for the league lead (with Fitzgerald) with 12 TD catches. Great talent. He’s still rough around the edges; he still needs to fine-tune his game. But it looks like he’ll be one of the big-time receivers in the upcoming years.
Lance Moore might not be able to match the likes of Moss, Fitzgerald and Johnson in talent, but he plays in that wide-open offense in New Orleans. That makes Moore a threat to compile big numbers.
Higgins is the most surprising name on the list. He plays for a team that ranked next-to-last in passing, and he wasn’t even a starter for most of the season (Higgins started only three games). But Higgins has big-play ability. He returned three punts for touchdowns, and he also caught touchdowns of 56 and 84 yards.
—Ian Allan
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Posted by Duane Stay | May. 23 at 11:37 PM
Drafting Moore and Higgins would cause the most concern for me. Moore hurt himself lifting weights and needed surgery. He may not be ready to play until December, so maybe he'll have another good late season. Higgins.... Oakland ....
Posted by GREGORY BLAKE | May. 24 at 01:04 AM
Ian - Moore's numbers peaked in weeks 8-12 when Bush was out injured and Colston was back but had not fully returned to full speed (I think your weekly updates during that stretch made comments to that extent). If you toss out the week 17 game against Carolina when the team posted 31 points and Brees threw for nearly 400 yards and 4 TDs and everyone had a big day (even McAllister caught 5/41) Moore was very ordinary during weeks 13-16. Bush had returned for that stretch and Colston averaged about 80 yards a game and scored 3 TDs. So I think your factoid is a bit misleading as far as Moore is concerned. Do you envision yourself slotting him as more than a better-than-average #2 WR on a team with a wide open offense but lots of options? I'm not suggesting he won't be a useful fantasy player but I think Moore will likely get taken too early in a lot of drafts.
Posted by IAN ALLAN | May. 24 at 02:59 AM
Moore probably will be about the #35 wide receiver on my list. He underwent shoulder surgery that could limit him until mid-August.