In this corner... Matt! And in this corner. And this one. And this one too.

A first name.

 

Matt Ryan (ATL), Matt Schaub (HOU), Matt Cassel (KC), Matt Hasselbeck (SEA), and Matt Stafford (DET).

 

So let’s have a little fun. Let's toss these five men into a steel cage and commence the first ever “Battle of the Matt QB’s”!

 

Matt Stafford comes out swinging but quickly falls from a folding chair to the back of the head. Why? First of all, more people call him Matthew than Matt. Secondly, of the five Matt’s entering the cage, Stafford is the only one not guaranteed to be a starter in week one. Entering the draft, Stafford was generally considered the top QB prospect, but not the most polished or NFL ready. And let’s be honest- even Joe Montana couldn’t right the Lion’s ship in one season. Not a whole lot of fantasy value in this rookie QB entering 2009.

 

Matt Hasselbeck starts off like the wily veteran that he is- landing a few solid groin kicks in the early going. But at 34 years old he can’t keep pace with his younger competition- none of whom are over 30. The bulging disks in his back that limited him to 7 games in 2008 are still a big question mark for the long, sixteen game season ahead and all the question marks on the Seahawks offensive line aren’t making anyone feel more confident. When he did take the field in 2008, Hasselbeck didn’t play well. But considering his history, the injury is the most likely culprit there and it should be safe to more or less ignore those stats. While a very solid 2007 lingers in some minds and the addition of T.J Houshmandzadeh and an O-line getting healthy are reason to believe that Hasselbeck will improve back to serviceable numbers in 2009, he falls away from the Matt Pack here. The ‘Hawks offense was in the bottom five in 2008 and they only managed 4 wins.

 

Matt Cassel collapses- untouched- in the corner of the cage. Apparently the weight of an entire struggling franchise on his shoulders was too much for him. In the group of Matt’s, Cassel is the reigning fantasy points champion- reaching that plateau with 3,700 yards and 21 touchdowns. But that was with the Patriots- a dynasty loaded with weapons including arguably the best receiver in the league. Now he gets under center for the Chiefs- a 2-12 team in 2008 that can’t seem to decide if they’re rebuilding or patch-working for 2009. In K.C. the best receiver has left town and the passing game depends mostly on third year WR Dwayne Bowe blossoming from good to great- which he has to accomplish minus the distraction Gonzalez was for defenses. The running game has it’s own question marks. Not the least of which is the aging and average offensive line and the enigma that is Larry Johnson. Cassel has shown talent for winning and leading but not yet for elevating a terrible team into a contender. It’s a virtual certainty that his 2009 numbers will drop from 2008- and in the Battle of the Matt’s – that makes him third best.

 

Matt Schaub is distracted by Matt Ryan’s rookie season numbers and the second year player takes him out with a bone crunching suplex to win a close contest. Schaub had the skills and the team to come out of this match the winner, but loses it based mostly on questionable health and his team’s offensive style? If Schaub doesn’t play a full season- as he hasn’t in the past two years- his fantasy value obviously plummets. However, if you only look at stats such as yards per game, yards per attempt, and the all important completion percentage, Shaub is the only Matt in the NFL who made the top five in any of those categories. He starts a second season with one of the best and most underrated wide receivers in the league, a solid TE, and a talented young running back. A healthy Schaub could- or dare I say, will- be a top five passer in the NFL and he is one of only two Matt’s that I would consider a fantasy starter. But I don’t love players that miss games for knees, and wrists, and elbows after taking a few hits.

 

Matt Ryan, the rookie phenom, emerges from the cage bloody, battered, but victorious. Coming off a 2008 that featured 3400 passing yards, 16 TD’s with 11 picks, and a playoff appearance with a team that not much was expected from- Ryan gives fantasy owners that irresistible trait that they’re all looking for- upside. Huge upside. When you break the 2008 Matt Ryan down you see that he was limited mostly by the ability for certain defenses to confuse the rookie. That won’t be a factor in year two. Add on one of the greatest tight ends in history (Tony Gonzalez in case you haven’t been reading the sports page), a stud running back, and a freshly paid all-pro receiver- there is every reason to think the Falcons and Ryan will have a big ‘09. So Ryan emerges the winner here based on a solid rookie effort, but more for the potential upside that could see him post league leading numbers. And although it’s likely more reasonable to expect 3800 yards and TD’s in the high twenties, who among us can resist the siren song that is upside?

 

So thus ends the entertaining, if only mildly useful, Battle of the Matt’s. Ryan and Schaub both project into solid fantasy starters, while Cassel could be a very serviceable back-up with starter potential, and Hasselbeck is more of a wait and see- most likely to ride the waivers until an owner gets desperate. But perhaps the most important things we’ve learned today is- start naming your kids Matt.