Fantasy Football

I have some good and bad news for the fantasy world: Much to the delight of Kansas City Chiefs fans, Scott Pioli has been named their new GM.

This implies a few things: 1) Herm Edwards might be out of a job unless he can charm his way into leading the Chiefs to another sub-500 record. 2) Assuming he is shown the door sooner rather than later, then the Chiefs should no longer be a black hole of suck for the NFL or fantasy owners. For the most part, they’ve only had one reliable player since Dick Vermeil left (Tony Gonzalez) and a slew of injury prone running backs. Just with Pioli being there, they could produce some notable players other than Gonzalez (and now Dwayne Bowe) even if Edwards keeps his job. And 3) We’re in the early stages of this team’s makeover, but regardless of what they look like heading into next season, no one will have any idea how to draft them.

Think of how the NFL works these days with the abrupt single season turnarounds from teams, the inconsistent week to week and season to season individual performances, and that’s just the on the field effects outlook of fantasy football. When you factor in all the clubhouse drama that can sway the incredibly fragile individual and collective psyche of these teams, everyone is guessing from the get-go. Throw in a new GM and a completely revamped offensive roster with (one would hope) a new quarterback, and you might as well auto-draft when it comes to the Chiefs.

While I’d be cautiously optimistic as a Chiefs fan for the upcoming season, as a fantasy participant I would just be cautious. There isn’t anything that says a new coach won’t come in and completely revamp this offense and turn Tony Gonzalez into primarily a blocker instead of a receiver (that’s assuming he stays in KC, which he probably won’t). What if they start a rookie quarterback who isn’t Matt Ryan? Will Dwayne Bowe warrant a high pick? Whose going to be the primary running back? Is Larry Johnson still reliable with a decent passing game? Whose there backup? If they draft a third round running back and keep Johnson, what will the division of carries look like?

So while it is almost impossible to predict how anyone’s fantasy season will go (with a few notable exceptions every year), it’s even more so with a new front office. Which is exactly what the Chiefs will be rolling in 2009’s season with. In short, Scott Pioli’s arrival in Kansas City should only strengthen the parity that the NFL goes out of its way to procure. I hope everyone outside of Missouri and Kansas is happy.

Actually, the good news for everyone else is the Patriots should be collapsing within the next decade. I, for one, welcome the trade off. Not for any spiteful reasons, the Chiefs just have a cooler stadium. It looks like a halfpipe.

Talking Fantasy Football is a meritocracy, and aesthetically pleasing stadiums head our ranking of merits.