Fantasy Football: Desean or no Desean?

So, my starting lineup is stacked. And by stacked, I mean Pam Anderson stacked. Domination. Check it out:

Yes. It’s true. Your eyes do not deceive you. I’ve got Desean Jackson pegged in as my third starting receiver. Why? A combination of factors, but the gist is that I thought I was better served drafting Jason Witten as my TE a round earlier, than reaching for a not-so-good receiver. So when the round came to draft a 3rd receiver, and Action Jackson was on the board, I thought: “Championship!”

But as I looked at this week’s matchup, I found myself projected to lose this week despite my all-star team. And the discrepancy between my expectations and Yahoo’s became glaringly apparent: Desean Jackson’s project 3 fantasy points. That means Yahoo! is predicting 30 receiving yards for Desean.

…

So I gots a quick Fantasy Football Question to all of my loyal readers: Am I better served benching Jackson and starting my only other option, Bernard Berrian?


Here are the pros and cons of each:

Starting Desean Jackson
Pros
- Productive and explosive. (See: entire career at Cal)
-Has led the Eagles in the Preseason in both catches and receiving yards.
-Injury to Kevin Curtis opens up a spot for Jackson as a starter.
Cons:
- Opening day jitters. Even the most poised of rookies go through it.
- His small frame indicates he’s one hit away from decapitation and subsequent incapacitation.
- Andy Reid doesn’t like playing rookies.

With Bernard Berrian it’s a bit simpler.
Pros
-Hauled in 951 receiving yards and 5 TDs with Rex Grossman as his QB. That alone could be enough to seal the deal. But…
Cons
-Tarvaris Jackson is his QB. Yes, the Tarvaris Jackson who posted a 70.8 pass rating, and 1,911 passing yards last season. I GUESS it’s better than Grossman’s 1,411 yards, but I’m not sure…
-Plays against a salty and veteran Green Bay secondary in the season opener.
-Has not played any preseason games due to a toe injury (Michael Calvin says “hi”), but expects to play on Sunday.

Ahh conundrum. The Bears side of me screams “Desean you idiot!” But the competitive fantasy football side of me (defending champion mind you) says I’m better served going with a more veteran receiver, at least for the first week. Why gamble with an unknown to start the season?

Maybe because a part of me feels like Jackson might explode. Who knows? I need your guys’ help. Leave a comment or shoot me an email with thoughts. Desean or no Desean?