MCT Campus

Hey guys, did you miss me?

Well, I missed you. I longed for your phone calls, asking me who to start or who to trade. For weeks, those questions – from all six of you who read the column – made it all worth it.

So, this longer version of Do’s and Dont’s is for you, precious reader. Straight from the heart – and right in time for the late-season playoff run.

DO scramble to make trades before the trade deadline. Many deadlines have passed, but for leagues with a late one or none at all, it’s not time to get lazy. Try and pluck spare parts from teams who have no shot at the playoffs. Just yesterday in one of my leagues, one guy fleeced another royally. Jacksonville wide receiver Reggie Williams and Pittsburgh tight end Heath Miller for Ocho-Cinco Chad Johnson and Antonio Gates. Sure, we’re in the process of vetoing the trade but still, it was a nice try.

DON’T expect to find any superstars on the waiver wire – but look anyway. In a huff, someone in your league might’ve dropped Willis McGahee when he went down with what some considered a season-ending injury. A frustrated owner – surely no higher than fifth place – might have let go of Cadillac Williams after taking him in the first or second round. In anything more than a 10-team league, they might be longshots, but they’re still worth looking at.

DO take a chance on new Broncos starting quarterback Jay Cutler. After Thanksgiving came and went, I thought I was all “thanked” out. Then came Saturday, and the news that Mike Shanahan was benching Jake “I couldn’t hit an open receiver if my life depended on it because I am a worthless quarterback” Plummer. I’m not bitter or anything.

Cutler will – and this is coming from a devout Denver fan, so take it with just a pinch of salt – fare much better than Craphead, I mean Plummer. With his arm strength and accuracy, he’ll be a better fit with long-ball threat Javon Walker. Plummer simply couldn’t exploit the Broncos’ best offensive advantage enough, so Cutler is in. And with four consecutive mediocre-to-downright-awful defenses lined up for Denver – Seattle, Arizona, Cincinnati and San Francisco – Cutler could live up to the hype that saw him ranked right up there with Vince Young and Matt Leinart.

DON’T ignore running quarterbacks in high-point leagues. In one of my five fantasy leagues, we get one point per five rushing yards. Who does that benefit the most? In our league, that would be Aksarben A**holes, who has a little guy I like to call Mike Vick. Sure, Aksarben also has Tom Brady and Carson Palmer – two more top-10 quarterbacks – in a one-QB league, and that makes no sense. But Vick has been a beast for him. With 870 rushing yards, the Falcons inaccurate hurler leads the fantasy league by 50 points over Peyton Manning (with Donovan McNabb out). In a league like that, Vinnie Young of the Titans is a lot more valuable.

-Jon Gold is a journalism senior.

-This column does not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Daily Aztec.