Brandon Marshall Returns

September 10, 2008 at 12:33 pm | Article by Paul Hickey |

One issue that many fantasy outlets haven’t even discussed yet is the return of perhaps the best player in fantasy football - that’s right. Denver Broncos WR Brandon Marshall returns from a shortened suspension to face the San Diego Chargers in Week 2. Marshall should be in all fantasy line-ups, because when it’s all said and done, he may just be the most dominant force in fantasy football.

I’m sure you witnessed what rookie Eddie Royal did against the Oakland Raiders on Monday night, right? Okay, if you missed it, his stat line says it all - nine catches for 146 yards and a TD. Not to take anything at all away from the rookie, as he played a phenomenal game, but the key to his success lies in the hands of Jay Cutler. In other words, when Marshall returns to the field this week, Cutler will have a new primary option, wearing jersey number 15.

Number 19 (Royal) will still be involved, and still worthy of a potential starting role in deep leagues, but expect Marshall to be the one with the impressive stat line from now on, and for Royal to play second fiddle.

What does that mean for the Broncos other wide outs? Not great things for Darrell Jackson, who caught a TD pass from Cutler in Week 1, nor Brandon Stokley or Keary Colbert. All three are now relegated to back-up roles, as TE Tony Scheffler should see more targets than all of them combined.

While Marshall’s return has changed the landscape in Denver, the loss of other key players in other cities, is the cause of change.

Seahawks WR Nate Burleson is out for the year in Seattle, which means Courtney Taylor is now the team’s number one WR by default. His owners shouldn’t get too excited though, as it doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be a force to be reckoned with. Rather, it means that the Seahawks will utilize Julius Jones often (with Maurice Morris out at least two weeks), and Matt Hasselbeck will have an extremely low ceiling until the return of Deion Branch and Bobby Engram takes place - although that might not happen until Week 7 or Week 8.

Avoid the Seahawks offense until then, with the exception of Jones, and rookie TE John Carlson, who may benefit most from the WR massacre that we’ve witnessed.

The biggest blow this week though, came with the announcement that Saints WR Marques Colston will miss four to six weeks after undergoing thumb surgery to repair ligament damage. This doesn’t so much affect the Saints offense, as it just opens huge doors for David Patten, Devery Henderson, Robert Meachem and Jeremy Shockey to put up bigger numbers.

Don’t think that the WR landscape is done changing folks. We already know that Carolina’s Steve Smith will be back in Week 3, so stay tuned for analysis on how his return will affect the Panthers’ offense.

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