We had a great show last Thursday night, hope you had a chance to catch it before your Thanksgiving weekend began.  John was filling in for Ed and he was great!  I really wanted to get this out on the web last week, right after the show in fact, but had a run in with a deer on my way home that put a damper on the good mood. 

All is ok.  In fact I saw it coming the whole way so not only was I slowing down for a great distance, but I was essentially stopped by the time we made contact.  Of course, any time a full blown locking up of the brakes is involved shakes up the nerves.  The animal never went down, hopefully just gave it a tap but not sure, it ran back into the woods and when I got out of the car, I could hear it walking around.  Thanks to the gentleman that came out of his house just before midnight to see if all was ok, seemed like we heard the beast continue its walking in the woods.  It was dark, seemed like the car was ok. 

Finished the drive home without incident and was feeling really badly for the animal the entire way.  Not sure why, I gave it every opportunity to not cut in front of my car.  Of course, my feelings turned to anger when I got home and inspected the car a little closer - broken headlamp, argh.  I know, it could have been a lot worse and having thought about it over the weekend, small price to pay. 

In any case it gave me an interesting story to tell over turkey.  And my brother in law went right to the point, "they say deer just go into shock and when they get to the side of the road they drop dead."  Thanks, Todd.  If that's the case then hopefully the guy that checked on me that night went back in the morning and was able to enjoy a venison delight on his Thanksgiving table. 

Let's get to the Second Annual All-Turkey Team.  To briefly review, the All-Turkey Team is comprised of those fantasy players that have been busts or near busts since draft day.  We do our best to choose players that are not injured, just guys that, plainly put, stink, or have not lived up to lofty expectations.  Any thoughts, send 'em here:  dcoutts@fantasysharks.com

Without further ado.....GOBBLE  GOBBLE....

QUARTERBACKS
Trent Green, Kansas City - Over the past couple of seasons, and despite not having much of a WR core, Green has become a top 10 fantasy quarterback.  He would regularly put in the 300+ yard game while rarely putting up bad numbers.  This year it's a different story.  Thru 10 games, he's only had one game over 300 yards and only has 10 TD passes in those 10 games. 

Duante Culpepper, Minnesota - As stated above, guys that end up getting hurt are not eligible for this list.  However, Culpepper was terrible BEFORE he got hurt.  I don't think I need to elaborate much more here, especially to those that selected him on draft day. 

Honorable Mention:
Peyton Manning, Indianapolis - Before sending off the angry email, consider that Manning threw for 49 TDs last season.  This year, after no doubt being taken in the first round of your fantasy draft, he "only" thrown 20 in 10 games...and 9 of those came in the last three games.  Not to mention when he gets to the line of scrimmage he starts pointing and flapping his arms like a turkey.  He makes my list. 

RUNNINGBACKS
Jamal Lewis, Baltimore - What a terrible season Lewis is having, just pathetic.  He's only found the endzone twice in 10 games and has a mere 592 total yards.  A far cry from the 2000 he gained on the ground only 2 seasons ago. 

Kevin Jones, Detroit - Every year before the season begins the Lions have so much hope for their "vaunted" offense.  And every year something happens (well, that and Charles Rogers breaks a collarbone).  Jones has only 589 total yards thru 10 games and has not had a single game where he's gone over 90 total yards.  Perhaps a victim of the team he's on, no doubt he's victimized many a fantasy owner this season.  Rubbish. 

Honorable Mention:
JJ Arrington, Arizona - Normally I wouldn't include a rookie on this list, but Arrington was handed the starting job and still has not produced and hasn't been hurt.  Though like Jones above, he's a victim of the team he is on.  Arizona just can't run the ball at all.  Arrington has only 287 total yards and has only scored twice this season.  Turkey. 

WIDE RECIEVERS
Michael Clayton, Tampa Bay - He's following up a rookie season where he went for nearly 1200 yards with a second year total so far of 323 yards.  Not only that, he's yet to find the endzone.  Sure, the Bucs aren't a great passing team, but we fantasy leaguers expected some kind of stats from the second year player.  Bah. 

Laveranues Coles, New York Jets - There was much hype surrounding Coles as he went back to New York (again), it has not materialized into fantasy numbers.  Only 541 yards on the season and a couple of scores on the season so far...and it's not looking like the Jets passing game is going to improve much from here on out.  Ouch. 

Honorable Mention:
Muhsin Muhammed, Chicago - Muhammed had a sort of break out season last year, certainly in the second half of the season.  He was healthy for the entire campaign and with Carolina passing like crazy, he was the #1 guy on that team.  We knew that his numbers would go down when he signed with Chicago, we didn't know they would go down this much.  From just over 1400 yards and 16 TDs last year to 523 yards and only 3 TDs so far this season, quite a drop. 

TIGHT ENDS
Randy McMichael, Miami - With Miami's offense struggling this season, McMichael hasn't been able to come near last year's totals.  On draft day, he was a bit of a risk with all the off field stuff surrounding him, but we expected more than 351 yards and 4 TDs. 

Honorable Mention:
Marcus Pollard, Detroit - Ok, I'm reaching here a bit, but Pollard was thought to have been ready to "take the leap" when he signed with Detroit.  It has not materialized.  Only 333 yards and 2 TD so far this season in a struggling Lions offense. 

KICKERS
Mike Vanderjadt, Indianapolis - The Colts are not scoring as many TDs as they did last season, but Vanderjerk is still not getting enough FG opportunities to keep him in the elite kicker range.  Always a high pick on draft day (another reason why we here at the Shark try to convince fantasy owners NOT to select any of the "top" kickers on draft day), he's only booted 11 FGs in 10 games. 

Honorable Mention:
Jason Elam, Denver - Another of the "highly ranked" kickers on draft day, Elam for the first time since I can remember has slipped from the upper echelon of kickers.  The normally accurate Elam has already registered six missed this season.  

DEFENSE
Baltimore Ravens - Even though you can never count on the Baltimore offense, you could always count on the Ravens defense to be one of, if not the, best fantasy defense in the league.  This has clearly not been the case this season.  Many of their top players, including Ray Lewis, have missed significant amounts of time, and this has not has taken its toll.  As a unit, only 11 turnovers thru 10 games, but more disturbingly they are giving up 19 points per game.  The usual sacks and touchdowns aren't there either. 

Honorable Mention:
New England Patriots - Speaking of injuries, this is another unit that is missing many of its key elements.  Normally one of the top 5 fantasy defenses, the Patriots are ranked as the dead last fantasy defense.  Only 9 turnovers and one touchdown, way down from some very good numbers of a year ago.