So Soul QB Tony Graziani just went down with a knee injury and is out for the next three to four weeks. What a shocker! What kind of production can fantasy nation expect now from players like Chris "Spiderman" Jackson, Larry Brackins, and Clif Dell?
Owners of Jackson, Brackins, and newly acquired Dell need to remain calm. I've said from the beginning that the best acquisition the Soul made during the off season was NOT Chris Jackson. It was grabbing their back up quarterback, Matt D'Orazio.
Four weeks into the season, you now see why he was such a valuable addition to the team. So should owners of Chris Jackson, Larry Brackins, and Clif Dell be worried? The easy answer is no. All you have to do is look at D'Orazio's numbers last year and you will see how successful of a QB he was for the Rush.
D'Orazio led the Rush to a 12-4 record and threw for 82 TDs through the air. Anybody ever hear of Bobby Sippio last year? Anybody see his stats with the Rush for 2007? That was D'Orazio throwing him all of those TDs. He and Bobby Sippio were unstoppable offensively and made scoring TDs look too easy. Who's to say Jackson can't do the same thing Sippio did last year with the Rush?
And then there's Larry Brackins, a huge red zone target that D'Orazio should be able to mesh with quickly. The Soul offense is a pass-friendly offense, and D'Orazio should fit in very well. I would not be surprised to see D'Orazio pass for over 1000 yards and at least 25 TDs through the air if Graz is out four weeks like he's projected to be. Those are solid numbers that Jackson and Brackins will be fighting over. I think C-Jax will get the better numbers within the Soul offense.
Let's now talk about the Soul schedule real quickly for the next four games. I like what I see. They have a tough matchup this week as they go cross-country to take on Sonny Cumbie and the Los Angeles Avengers. The Avengers have a solid pass defense and may be able to slow down the Soul pass happy offense.
The next three games, however, are very favorable. The Soul will face Utah, Tampa Bay, and San Jose, all of which should be high scoring games that will favor D'Orazio and the Soul offense. Look for the Soul to keep rolling and the stats for Chris Jackson and Larry Brackins to stay steady.
Start your Soul receivers with confidence.
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So, unfortunately, due to a very late hit on his knee, Tony Graziani will miss the next four weeks of the 2008 season. Graziani seemed to be on a roll, connecting on 20 scoring passes as opposed to just two interceptions -- pretty heady numbers when you think about it. But now the reigns will be turned over the Matt D'Orazio, the Underpants Dancer from the Soul webisodes.
Good golly, Miss Molly. Things are not copacetic in Philly. The Soul are no longer hep to the jive.
You might think D'Orazio is an adequate replacement for the Ailing Italian but you'd be wise to think again. D'Orazio is a decent backup but there's a reason the Rush let him go a year after he won them an Arena Bowl. There's a reason he wasn't brought in by one of the many other AFL teams as a starter. There's a reason why he could only manage 82 TDs in 2007, 53 of which went to Bobby Sippio.
That's right. Shudder to think, but D'Orazio is a game manager. He'll run an offense efficiently and put up modest stats but they'll never be gaudy unless he runs in a TD or two. Last year, even with Sippio, he had nine games of 5 TDs or less, and only passed for more than 6 TDs once. And that was against Grand Rapids.
Ouchies!
D'Orazio loves to focus on one receiver and luckily he has one of the best in CJax, AFL's Spiderman, Chris Jackson. D'Orazio will rely on Jackson heavily, looking for him on every dropback. Every forward motion of his arm will be in Jackson's direction. Luckily, CJax is talented enough to snare a fair number of D'Orazio's errant passes, much like Sippio was last year. If ever a receiver made a quarterback look great, Sippio did that for D'Orazio. CJax will do the same for D'Orazio this year but even that won't be enough to make him worth a starting spot on your fantasy team.
The stats for the other Rush receivers last year were pitiful. Can you even name another Rush receiver from last year who made a fantasy splash? Rob Mager came the closest, logging two 100+ yard, multiple TD games when Sippio was out of the lineup, but that proves my point, doesn't it? Sippio was out of the lineup and D'Orazio focused in on Mager by default. So owners of CJax might be safe for the time being, but relying on Larry Brackins and Clif Dell would be akin to stuffing money into your pillowcase as a 401K plan.
So go ahead and think everything will be fine, but it's not. Graziani's injury was an unfair blow by an underhanded lineman but it's going to cost the Soul. And it's going to cost your fantasy team too.
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