Survivor Exit - Dave Tchorz, Week 3 Dave Tchorz, Fantasy Football Staff Writer Oct 5, 2004 | More

Wow, I wasn't ready to have to write this article in late September but here I am. After analyzing what happened it was pretty easy to see why I was knocked out after three weeks. Too many key players got injured and the ones that didn't, under-performed. I would guess that most Fantasy Football teams that finish near the bottom of the pack could make similar claims.

So let's break this thing down. First the injury bug. The list is long but distinguished. RB Lee Suggs (4th round pick) and WR David Boston (9th) never got a "touch" for me. RB Julius Jones (3rd)* and WR Deion Branch (16th) gave me one game each before falling to injury. Branch's one contest was pretty successful, he was 7 for 86 with a TD. Orange Julius get an asterisk next to his third round selection because he was drafted in June before Dallas acquired "has been" Eddie George. Jones was looking pretty good in preseason and had virtually no competition for the Cowboy's feature back job. QB Mark Brunell and RB Justin Fargas (a definite sleeper pick) have also been nicked early in this 2004 campaign.

Having the first pick in the draft, I went with RB Priest Holmes because I liked the team around him better than I liked LT's chances in San Diego. Priest averaged me 26 points a game so I was relatively happy with him. But other high round picks disappointed. My 2nd round steal (24th overall pick of the draft) in QB Peyton Manning ended up being a bit less than expected averaging me only 23.6 per contest. My 5th rounder, WR Eric Moulds played two game for me averaging a nice 17.5, but 7th rounder Amani Toomer's production was a bit disappointing at 12 points per.

My Tight End play was ok with Alge Crumpler and Freddie Jones who produced averages 10.6 and 6.6, respectively. My two Defenses, which I admit were not the focus of my draft, San Francisco (14th round) and Green Bay (15th) performed pitifully. Both squads averaged me a mere 7 points in the first three weeks of the season. My Kicking game was below average too. Adam Vinatieri (12th round) gave me a decent 11.5 per contest in his two games, but Jay Feely (13th) managed a pretty weak 6.6.

So in the end getting no production out of my third, forth, and ninth round picks, killed me. If I got lucky with unexpected performances from a Kicker or Defense, or if Justin Fargas ended up taking the feature back job in Oakland, then I could have survived a bit longer, especially with Lee Suggs returning in week four, but it wasn't to be. See you next year boys!