Ok, let’s just cut right to the chase here, Ben Affleck is going to be Batman in the next Superman movie due out in 2015. That’s right, the guy who gave us such hits as ‘DareDevil’ and “Gigli” is now the man that is expected to help set the stage for DC Comics’ version of “The Avengers.”
Now, while Affleck has recently lifted his stock with “The Town” and “Argo,” in no way does this make him prepared to play the layered, deeply brooding Dark Knight. Maybe this is just my personal bias leaking through but for some reason when I think of Affleck my mind doesn’t conjure up one of the most renowned characters of the past 50-plus years. No, to me, Affleck will always be Shannon from the movie, “Mallrats,” who had the following immortal lines while performing R-rated acts with Rennee Humphrey:
“Yeah, who’s your favorite New Kid. Yeah, call me Joey. Oh, come on. Don’t make me get loose. Yeah, that’s right. Call me Donnie. Oh, girl. Oh, please don’t go girl.”
Not exactly Batman material there.
So, in ‘honor’ of this shocking casting news, this article is dedicated to the top four Bat-Fleck’s of the fantasy football world. Basically, like Affleck, these guys carry tons of name value but have a good chance of disappointing if you pick them.
Darren McFadden, RB – Oakland Raiders (pictured above)
2012 Stats: 707 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns.
Heading into 2013, Darren McFadden is just two injury plagued years away from his 2010 campaign that saw him post over 1,600 total yards and 10 total touchdowns. This performance, combined with his age (25), keeps McFadden at the border line of the elite RBs — at least conversation wise.
Please, take my advice and just burn his name from your mind. That’s right, take a mental match, find the mental index card with his name on it, and just make some smores or something.
Don’t want to take my word on this, then just ask NBC Sports analyst Shaun King, who had this to say on drafting McFadden in fantasy leagues.
“Darren McFadden, if you put him on your team, you will lose your league,” King said. “You will regret the fact that you drafted him, and you will emotionally be unstable because of the fact he does not care.”
Matthew Stafford, QB – Detroit Lions
2012 Stats: 4,967 passing yards, 24 total touchdowns, 17 interceptions
Matt Stafford had a career year in 2012, setting all sorts of personal bests in terms of performance. The Detroit Lions as a whole, however, blew chunks and finished with a gag inducing 4-12 record in a year where they were expected to contend for a playoff spot.
In 2013, the Lions will be looking to right the ship and get back to some winning ways. To do that, they will need to decrease the amount of times Stafford throws the ball (he threw 740 passes, 60 more than Drew Brees) while increasing the quality of his throws. Doing this, they will be hoping to improve his TD/INT ratio while also increasing his yards per attempt, which he ranked 19th in 2012 with 6.9.
The downside, other than an expected 100 less pass attempts, is that the Detroit Lions schedule is one of the hardest in the league. In the matchup strength category, Stafford is tied for 27th.
Expect a regression this season.
Arian Foster, RB – Houston Texans
2012 Stats: 1641 total yards, 17 total touchdowns
Over the past three seasons, Arian Foster could have been better known as simply ‘money’ for owners who had the luck to get him. However, during that span, Foster has amassed a ridiculous amount of touches. That number would be 1,115 to be exact, and that spells the potential for serious physical deterioration.
This potential is already on the cusp of being realized with the latest news coming out of Houston Texans camp that Foster is receiving injections for pain in his back that could keep him sidelined for an undetermined time.
Basically, you might want to consider the 2013 Foster as being less like ‘money’ and more like ‘Danger’.
Joe Flacco, QB – Baltimore Ravens
2012 Stats: 3,817 passing yards, 25 total touchdowns, 10 interceptions
With a flashy new Super Bowl ring, a Super Bowl MVP trophy and a huge new contract, Joe Flacco is now walking on water in the NFL. Name value alone may make some poor inexperienced fantasy owners actually target the guy come draft day.
That inexperienced guy would be an idiot for doing so.
Flacco comes into the 2013 season without his two best receiving options. Anquan Boldin is now with the San Francisco 49ers and tight end Dennis Pitta, Flacco’s safety valve, is out for the season because of injury. This leaves Flacco with Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones as his two best vertical options and neither of them can be described as consistent.
Expect Baltimore to compensate with a renewed focus on the running game, which makes rusher Ray Rice much more appealing that the ‘probably going to be woeful’ Flacco.
James LeBeau is a contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @Jlebeau76or subscribe on Facebook.com/CraveOnlineSports.
