T O D D ' S S E A S O N V T R A D E A N A L Y S I S
There wasn’t a lot of activity on the trade front to report on this year in the TFFL as only a handful of transactions went down. Here’s a review of each deal, with the winners and losers.
Week 2: Berserkers trade Cade McNown, QB, Bears; and Raiders defense to the Jayhawks for Daunte Culpepper, QB, Vikings; and Bills defense.
Analysis: Just how badly would Jay have kicked our asses this year if he hadn’t made this deal? Culpepper scored 20 points in Week 1 for Jay, then he shipped him away for a QB who would eventually lose his starting job -– twice -– to Jim Miller. Now that's no easy task. Culpepper went on to score 253 points for the Berserkers heading into the season’s final week. McNown scored four points for the Jayhawks in two starts. The Raiders’ defense kept this from being a complete washout for Jason. Oakland totaled 113 points in 13 starts.
Advantage: Berserkers. Thank God for this trade. He saved everybody in the league about $2.50.
Week 3: Gamblers trade Peter Warrick, WR, to Jellypop Fighters for Jake Plummer, QB. This is a classic case of trash for trash. Warrick made four starts and didn’t score a point (not hard when you consider the Bengals' QB was Akili Smith and they had a running back named Corey Dillon). Plummer made one start and failed to score. This trade was a wash.
Week 5: Gamblers trade James Stewart, RB, to Jellypop Fighters for Steve Beuerlein, QB. Beuerlein scored 43 points in seven starts, abysmal numbers for a guy who was in the Pro Bowl last year and the first pick of the second round by the Fighters. Stewart lasted two weeks on the JP roster, scoring 12 points, before being shipped off to the Jayhawks in another poor personnel decision by McGee. This trade was another wash. Would have been a huge plus for McGee had he kept Stewart, who turned into a very productive back.
Week 7: Jellypop Fighters trade Joe Nedney, K, to Wile E. Coyotes for James Allen, RB. Who knew? Nedney ended up being a productive kicker for the Coyotes. McGee had claimed him while his regular kicker, Jeff Wilkins, was off. But Wilkins injured his quad in his first game back, and McGee was left to lament this move. Allen scored 28 points in seven starts. Nedney had 76 points in nine starts. McGee did rebound by picking up David Akers on the free agent wire about the same time that Nedney went south (4, 5, 7, 10 and 2 points in his final five starts for the Coyotes).
Week 7: Jellypop Fighters trade James Stewart, RB, to the Jayhawks for Travis Prentice, RB, and Ike Hilliard, WR. Another great decision by the JF. Stewart went on to score 26 points in five starts for the Jayhawks, but he had a hard time cracking a lineup that included Mike Anderson, Jamal Lewis and Robert Smith. Prentice got 13 points in five starts for McGee, and Hilliard had 23 points in two starts before getting hurt.
Advantage: Jayhawks, even though Stewart is so far down his bench right now you’d need a pair of the binoculars that McGee received as his X-mas present from Billo to see him.
Week 9: Wile E. Coyotes trade Kurt Warner, QB, to the Jayhawks for Brian Griese, QB. The Jayhawks took a chance on getting a healthy Warner back for the Tech Bowl, but it didn’t work. Griese scored 26 points in his two starts for the Coyotes before getting injured and giving way to Donovan McNabb, which wound up to be a blessing in disguise for the Coyotes. Warner didn’t score a point in his first start back for the Jayhawks and only had five in his second game, an upset loss to the Carolina Killers in the semifinals. Warner had 23 points in his last start.
Advantage: Coyotes, if for no other reason that this move eventually forced him to put McNabb in his lineup.
Week 9: Wile E. Coyotes trade Keyshawn Johnson, WR, to Jellypop Fighters for Brad Johnson, QB. Finally, after weeks of trying, McGee actually makes a decent trade. After struggling in the first half, Keyshawn scores 42 points in his first seven starts for Todd ... Not exactly great numbers, but not bad for him. Brad makes one start for the Coyotes and scores eight points before Bill turns the reins over to Brian Griese, who then gets hurt and forces Bill to backup plan No. 3 -– Donovan McNabb. Who knew?
Advantage: This is a deal that worked out for both players.
Week 9: Berserkers trade Trent Green, QB, to the Jayhawks for Rod Smith, WR. Moves like these are why Jason is the king. In five starts, Green scored 97 points. Smith made two appearances for the Berserkers, scored three points and was banished to the T-Birds in a Week 12 trade.
Week 12: Berserkers trade Mark Brunell, QB, and Rod Smith, WR, to T-Bird2 for Stephen Davis, RB. About the time the NASDAQ turned seriously south, so did the Washington Redskins’ season, and thanks in large part for that goes to Stephen Davis. In his first five starts for the Berserkers, Davis scored six points. Smith regained his form for the T-Birds, getting 29 points in his five starts, while Brunell racked up a whopping 10 points in two starts.
Advantage: T-Bird2. About 50 more trades like that one, and he could have been a contender this year.
Summary: It is hard to believe that only nine deals were consummated this season. Heck, Madonna will do more consummating than that on her wedding night, and she just had a baby! The Jellypop Fighters were the most active, participating in five of the deals. The Jayhawks made four deals, including the Stinker of the Year when he dumped Culpepper for McNown, but also made perhaps the best deal of the year when he picked up Kurt Warner for Brian Griese about two weeks before Griese went out with a serious injury. The Berserkers' trade of Brunell and Rod Smith for Stephen Davis is the runner-up for the Stinker of the Year. The Deal of the Year was the Jayhawks’ getting Trent Green for Rod Smith. Green ably manned the QB spot for the Jayhawks for five weeks, while Rod Smith's production declined over the second half of the season.
Four teams -– Carolina Killers, Weathermen, Hominy Swampers and Bottlerockets (imagine that) -– didn’t even make a trade this season. Come on, guys. Get into the game!