Keeper Analysis - Jesus the Moose

Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints
Marshawn Lynch, RB, Seattle Seahawks
Calvin Johnson, WR, Detroit Lions

To see the above list in the proper perspective, you first have to understand the truly woeful history of The Southwest Cactus Jockeys Jesus the Moose...

After six years of CKL competition, the Moose stacks 20 regular season wins against 63 regular season losses, good for a .241 win percentage, or not quite winning a quarter of his games.  The average regular season record here is 3-11.  Since Ben joined the league in 2006, his franchise hasn't finished any closer than two full wins plus a large tiebreaker deficit away from playoff contention.  In a nutshell, it's not a strong history of success to build upon.  Ben inherited a leper colony of a team from Joe-Joe, but SIX FREAKING YEARS is long enough for the mess of "mean evil & nasty" to become the mess of the Moose.

Moose shit.  Or cocktail wieners.  Can't decide.

However, there is reason to believe that the tide might be turning for Jesus The Moose and that it's possible for this team to climb out of the crater laid by the Chernobyl disaster that was the 2006-2010 seasons.  2011's semi-strong 5-8 record was followed by a 3-game win streak in the consolation tournament en route to hoisting the Ladder trophy.  And heading into 2012, Ben has his ticket booked to fly from Missoula to North Carolina and attend his second consecutive draft live and in-person.  Major good juju comes to you when you travel like that for the live draft.  And of course, he's building a team around this formidable list of keepers.

Drew Brees is, of course, an elite-level fantasy quarterback and a consensus first round pick in any/all re-draft leagues.  He's capable of 5,000+ passing yards and 40+ touchdowns in any given season, and in 2012 he'll be playing with a chip on his shoulder and will likely try to literally eviscerate his opposition.  He's also flinging the ball to a well-stocked cupboard of receiving weapons -- tight end supreme Jimmy Graham, grizzled Marques Colston, sweet-receiving satellite back Darren Sproles, reliable little Lance Moore, occasionally explosive Devery Henderson, and slick rookie Nick Toon (deep sleeper alert!)  No need to belabor the point: Drew Brees is a superstud, he's hung like a freaking horse (errrrr, Moose), and he's the kind of player who can easily gun your team to a fantasy championship.

But Brees isn't alone in leading the Moose Revolution.  Marshawn Lynch is a knucklehead who could rumble to a top-5 running back season if he stays healthy and out of jail.  Beast Mode bit and gnawed his way to 1,200 and 12 last season on just 285 carries (4.22 ypc) while serving as the focal point of the Seattle offense.  He's still young (26) and doesn't have a whole lot of wear and tear on his body after getting Fred Jacksoned in Buffalo and then resting up in an orange jumpsuit on more than one occasion.  The guy can be a punkthug, he might start the season on suspension due to this offseason's DUI, and I don't really understand the whole Skittles thing, but Lynch definitely looks like a valuable asset for fantasy football this season and beyond.

And then there's Megatron.  Ben pulled off a bit of a mini-blockbuster this offseason, trading A.J. "Starscream" Green and the second pick of the third round (30th overall) to the Pink Nightmare for Calvin Johnson and the 13th pick of the 7th round (97th overall).  So he upgraded his WR1 spot by adding the #1 wide receiver on every draft board.  Calvin Johnson is probably the most physically talented wide receiver in NFL history and he plays in an offense that is specifically geared to get him the ball. Another season of 1,600 and 16 type production seems very likely, assuming good health for him and his [oft-fragile] quarterback. And, Megatron is only 26.


So Ben has assembled an elite troika of keepers for the Moose, but had to sacrifice his early third round pick to do so.  He has these three guys, the 2nd overall pick in the draft, and the 27th overall pick in the draft to build a core to compete this season.

Ben will be at the draft in person again this season.  And while he won't be invited to participate in the Champions' Toast in 2012, he might just be a mandatory participant in 2013.  His trajectory - at least, as of this writing - appears to be that good.  The trick for this team is avoiding the crippling draft day mistakes and hail mary trades that have cursed the Jesus the Moose franchise since 2006.  His roster has turned the corner, has Ben as its head coach?  That's the question that needs an answer.