The Arena Guru's Fantasy Impact
By Scott Lange
Focus on Chris Greisen (Georgia Force)
The Georgia Force lost one of their key members of their 2006 roster in QB Matt Nagy who left as a free agent and signed with the Columbus Destroyers. Nagy left behind perhaps the best trio of WRs in the AFL in Chris Jackson, Derek Lee, and the returning Troy Bergeron. So which QB would be lucky enough to inherit this group of talented receivers? Look no further than last years back up QB for the Desperados, third-year man Chris Greisen.
While one would think Greisen lacks experience as an AFL QB, he learned from one of the best in current Desperado QB Clint Dolezel. Last year in week 16 Greisen was put into the game to rest Dolezel as Dallas had control of the game. Greisen played the entire second half and connected on 8 of 11 pass attempts for 118 yards and two TDs, a very effective job in limited duty. The one thing Greisen has in 2007 that Nagy did not have is WR Troy Bergeron. Bergeron gives the Force an amazing third option at WR.
Let's look at what Nagy accomplished last year. He threw for over 4200 yards and 85 TDs with his receiving core from last year. Impressive stats considering he really was only throwing to C-Jax and Lee, who accounted for 62 of Nagy's 82 TDs. Now the Force bring back Bergeron and this offense is ready to explode. Greisen could easily lead the league in yards and TDs with this group of WRs. All three receivers have proven they can play the WR position in the AFL. The only question is with what WR will Greisen find more chemistry? I expect he eventually will find it with all three WRs, because that's just how good they are.
Now, let's look at the 2007 version of Chris Greisen. Greisen's stat line for Week one was very impressive, as he spread the ball around very nicely. Greisen's 337 yards and 9 TDs led all AFL QBs and proves to me that this kid is ready for the AFL. To assess how much of a fantasy impact Greisen will have, one must first look at the Force style of offense. The Force are hardly ever caught running the ball. Last week, the Force ran the ball a grand total of twice, for one yard and a score. Running the ball just isn't Georgia's style. It's tossing the ball up to C-Jax, Lee, and Bergeron, and who could blame them with that trio?
Another factor to look at is the Force defense, which has been known to give up a lot of points. This translates into the offense for the Force being on the field a lot. The more time Greisen spends on the field, the more time he gets to throw circus passes to his WRs. The last factor I would like to point to is the division the Force play in, the Southern Division. With the exception of perhaps Orlando, the other teams field no defense that could even consider stopping the Force offense. Should I also point out that Georgia plays each of those teams twice?
If Greisen and his trio of WRs can stay healthy, he will be a Top 5 QB fantasy-wise. I can see Greisen passing for 4500+ yards and 95+ TDs by year end. The potential and weapons for Greisen are there for him to have a record-setting year.
Scott Lange is a founding member of Arena Football Online and has been following Arena Football for 6 years. Contact Scott at slange@arenafootballonline.com
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