After Brett Favre’s appearance on Joe Buck Live, there can be little doubt of his intentions regarding the 2009 season. During the course of his appearance on the show, Favre told Buck the following:
- he plans on playing in 2009 provided his arm is healthy,
- the Vikings are the only team he has had discussions with,
- he has received advice from Vikings trainers on how to rehabilitate his arm,
- he chose not to sign with the Vikings earlier and attend their organized team activities, and
- the team is a perfect fit for him.
Based on that, it’s fair to conclude that the only thing that would prevent Favre from suiting up with the Vikings in 2009 would be if his bicep does not recover from his recent surgery.
Fantasy Football Impact
There are always two issues with acquiring a player for your fantasy league – production and value. Favre has generally been a solid fantasy performer and that was the case in 2008 with one important caveat. His 2008 production can be broken down into two categories – pre- and post-bicep injury.
Over the first 11 games of the season, Favre was averaging 15.2 points per game. His points per game were reduced dramatically over the season’s final five games of which only one was against a solid defense (Miami), going down to 9.8. In New York, Favre was surrounded by a solid offensive line, career seasons from the team’s two running backs (Thomas Jones and Leon Washington), two solid wide receivers in Laveranues Coles and Jerricho Cotchery and a solid rookie tight end in Dustin Keller.
With the Vikings, Favre would benefit from a solid offensive line, albeit one in transition at the centre and right tackle positions. The team also has fantasy football’s number one performer in Adrian Peterson and his solid backup, Chester Taylor. Bernard Berrian is a solid deep threat and tight end Visanthe Shiancoe is coming off a career season. In addition, Bobby Wade is a solid slot receiver plus Sidney Rice and rookie 1st round pick Percy Harvin have intriguing potential.
In summary, the Vikings are quite similar to the Jets on offense with a better pair of running backs and a group of wide receivers without the history of production of Coles and Cotchery but with decent upside.
That being said, the biggest issue with Favre is that he is always drafted before he should be or his auction cost is more than it should be. With one more year on his resume and no solid number two receiver, he ranks as a low end backup fantasy quarterback who has little chance of putting up top ten fantasy stats.
