Fantasy Football: Time to Sell/Keep These Superstars

It happens every season. There is someone that typically plays like a stud that comes out and plays like an absolute dud in the first couple of games.  Sometimes its because they happen to play two very tough defenses right out of the gate, but often times the lack of production is a total mystery.

If you have a guy like that on your roster you are probably under siege with insanely bad offers, but since your superstar has blown it for the last two weeks they might not be that crazy after all. The question is whether you should keep a player and see what happens or sell now before you can't even get a kicker for him.

Not sure what to do? Don't worry! Read on and we'll tell you.

Chris Johnson:

Sell: He sucked last year and he sucks this year. CJ2K got paid and forgot how to be a good running back let along an elite one. He simply doesn't have the fight that it takes to succeed anymore.

Keep: The Titans will get better. Eventually the passing game will get going, take some pressure off the running game, and open up some holes for Johnson once again.

What you should do: Kick yourself for wasting a first round pick on this guy and sell him now. If someone offers you Al Del Greco take him! Rather than dedicate himself to helping the team get back on its feet he's too busy pointing fingers at everyone else.

Wes Welker:

Sell: The team doesn't want to pay him what he was worth so they put the franchise tag on him and have cut his role in the offense significantly. At the end of the season they'll cite a reduced role and his age as a reason to pay him peanuts.

Keep: There is no way that the Patriots are going to cut out a guy that has contributed 100+ catches for four of the last five years. Now that Hernandez is out for a month they'll come to their senses and get him back in the game.

What you should do: Sell him now. The Patriots are trying to go younger and will stick with Julian Edelman.

Peyton Manning:

Sell: Manning is not only past his prime, but he has yet to heal from his neck injury yet. Since he can't put sufficient velocity on his deep passes teams will blanket short to mid-range receivers and dare him to throw deep so they can pick him off all day long.

Keep: This is Peyton Manning we are talking about. He's made a living dissecting defenses with ease sometimes with little or no protection. Head coach John Fox will get the running game back on track and have Manning performing like a surgeon on shorter routes like he was in the first game.

What you should do: Keep him. This is Peyton Manning; he will rise again. He may have to adjust how he does what he does, but with the young talent around him and a solid running game he will not have a season quite like he did in Indy, but it will still be better than most.

Tom Brady:

Sell: The Patriots are going to try and establish the run a little more this season. Running back Stevan Ridley is averaging just under 100 yards a game and 19.5 carries; Ben Jarvus-Green Ellis only got that many twice in 16 games last season. You could probably still get a good (not great) quarterback and running back for him if you trade now.

Keep: The evil genius that is Bill Belichick will figure out a way to get the offense going. By figure it out I mean he's going to tell Brady to just start slinging the ball around which is what he does best.

What you should do: This one is tough. It all depends on what you are offered relative to the needs of your team. If you get offered something like Andy Dalton and Ray Rice (and need a running back) take it. If the offer is more like Mark Sanchez and Brandon LaFell mock whoever offers it and say no.

Darren McFadden:

Sell: Without a second back as a change of pace and an additional battering ram McFadden is not going to breakout and have the big season many were expecting him to have. He'll either be too tired to do much or will get hurt, and either slow down or miss time.

Keep: The team is trying to get the ball into his hands as much as possible. The 13 receptions he had in Week One is evidence of that (even if he only had two catches last week).

What you should do: Keep him. McFadden is going to be a decent No. 2 running back for you. He can ground and pound with the best of them, and if he gets into open space the man is gone (which explains the 13 receptions).