The Burleson-Breaston Conundrum

For those who play fantasy football (and there are lots of us), setting a lineup often means just starting your studs and forgetting about it. For instance, this week, I played Adrian Peterson who got me all of nine points, while leaving Mike Bell on my bench who got 24 points.

Upsetting, to be sure - but it was the CORRECT decision. You don't sit All Day Peterson - you just don't.

BUT ... not every lineup slot is that clear cut. We start three wide receivers in our league, and after I lost Anthony Gonzalez in Week One and Calvin Johnson later on to injury and then a trade I made, I've largely had to choose between Steve Breaston of the Cardinals and Nate Burleson of the Seahawks each week.

It's stunning how POORLY I choose.

For those not up to speed on depth charts of all the NFL teams, Burleson is the #2 wide receiver for Seattle, while Burleson is the #3 receiver for the more pass-friendly Cardinals. Almost exclusively, Burleson has been ranked higher each week by the fantasy 'punditry' across our fair land.

At first, it seems like there's not much room for error - in the weeks where I started one of these guys, Burleson scored 47 points while Breaston scored 64.

The optimum mix-n-match here (choosing the best result each week) would have yielded 85 points. As noted, I could just have chosen the worse of the two players, left him in there and never looked back and gotten 47 points. Oh but no...I can make things worse. Much, much worse.

Somehow, I've managed to only get 30 points out of this. If I go back and look at the WORST possible outcome - that is, starting the worst points player each week, I would get 26 points. Seriously, that's how bad I've done here.

In Week 10, I started Burleson who caught ZERO passes for zero points, while Steve Breaston notched 15 points. So, I started Breaston this week - who didn't even have a pass thrown to him, let alone catch one against the woeful Rams. He threw up a donut while Burleson put up 17 points against the Vikings.

This is woeful efficiency. This is atrocious management. This ... is fantasy football.

Please excuse me while I go pound my head on the pavement. And for those playing at home, this week I'm starting Burleson. Please proceed to put Steve Breaston into YOUR fantasy lineup, as I'm sure he'll explode.