Let Shaun Alexander say who not to draft

Any fantasy football general manager can draft a LaDainian Tomlinson, Larry Johnson or Peyton… Any fantasy football general manager can draft a LaDainian Tomlinson, Larry Johnson or Peyton Manning, but what separates those armchair GMs from the rest of the pack is whom they don’t pick.

These championship GMs know who to avoid – the overrated and injured – and who to pick – the big-numbers players.

I have a few tips for those armchair GMs as to which players to avoid.

Enter Shaun Alexander. Coming off an injury-plagued season in which he missed six games, this Seattle running back may improve upon his dismal numbers of last season – he ran for 896 yards and scored only seven touchdowns.

But he will not improve enough this season to warrant the top-10 ranking he has held in years past and in most magazines.

The top-10 running backs, in no specific order, are LaDainian Tomlinson, Steven Jackson, Johnson, Frank Gore, Willie Parker, Reggie Bush, Laurence Maroney, Joseph Addai, Rudi Johnson and Thomas Jones.

The attributes that Alexander lacks this year, compared to previous seasons, are guard Steve Hutchinson, a healthy Matt Hasselbeck and playmaker Darrell Jackson.

Hutchinson’s departure to Minnesota before last season left the Seahawks with a huge hole to fill and a huge hole for the opposing defenses to run through.

His replacement at left guard, Rob Sims, has helped the running game, but he is not the All-Pro talent that Hutchinson was for the Seahawks.

Also a contributing factor to Alexander’s descent from the top-rated runners is quarterback Matt Hasselbeck’s health. He comes into this season after missing a huge chunk of last year because of a knee injury.

He still complains about the play in which it happened, a clean hit. And he is neither a fine wine nor Brett Favre, so Hasselbeck’s age, 32 in September, will also be a factor when it comes to Alexander’s effectiveness.

If Hasselbeck can’t run an efficient passing game, and the team is forced to rely on its rushing attack, Alexander will be pressed into carrying the offense. He simply can’t do this behind a mediocre offensive line.

The offseason trade of Darrell Jackson also affects the team’s passing attack. Jackson, Hasselbeck’s most consistent pass-catcher and touchdown threat, departed to San Francisco.

Without Jackson, the running game will be even more pressed into duty because Jackson’s replacements aren’t too much to celebrate. They are the once-promising former Viking Nate Burleson and a third-year player named D.J. Hackett, who caught 45 balls and scored four touchdowns last season.

Another highly overrated player on many draft charts is the Super Bowl MVP’s brother Peyton Manning.

Eli Manning of the New York Giants has shown a propensity for throwing many touchdowns in his early career but also has nearly matched his touchdown numbers with that of his interceptions. He has 54 career touchdown passes and 44 interceptions.

But the interceptions are unwarranted and show that Manning is simply forcing the ball into coverage to make a play. He has had a plethora of talent in his receiving corps in seasons past with Jeremy Shockey, Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer and Sinorice Moss.

Giants’ management, though, must have seen something wrong with this group because it added former USC receiver Steve Smith to the mix in the second round of April’s draft.

The offseason retirement of All-Pro running back Tiki Barber won’t help Manning’s cause either since his replacement, Brandon Jacobs, may not be ready to put the numbers that the future Hall-of-Famer did during his time in New York.

Jacobs, a monster goal-line touchdown machine, does not boast the same speed and running style of Barber, so there is another adjustment that Manning and the entire offense must make.

Let fantasy drafters note that Alexander and Manning are only two of the potentially overrated players out there on many draft boards, so take notice and study hard before draft day.

Nick LaMantia is a staff writer for The Pitt News. You can e-mail him at npl5@pitt.edu to tell him that Shaun Alexander is indeed good.