The Favre Effect on Fantasy Football

Even though the media was talking about Favre's return last summer at nauseum, I was still surprised that he came back. After the Jets released him recently and he reportedly met with Vikings head coach Brad Childress this week, many people are predicting another Brett Favre comeback. I wanted to make sure that I was prepared this year, so I have compiled a short list of the effect he would have on the fantasy football season this year if he did decide to comeback again and play for the Minnesota Vikings.

It should be noted that he probably will need surgery on his bicep in order to return but he has ample time to take care of that if he chooses and also that he has said in interviews that he is confident he has played his last game in the NFL. However, if you recall he originally wanted to go to Minnesota last year because of his relationship with Brad Childress and this would give him the opportunity to stick it to the Packers twice a year, who he didn't exactly have the greatest of endings with. Oh yeah, and he has only said about 8 times now that he will retire. All things considered, I think he will return next year and will have a good chance to not only have a successful season but a significant impact on fantasy football. Here are some fantasy football tips and advice on how to handle the situation:

• Being a Lions fan I have watched Brett carve up the Detroit defense many a times. However, it's no secret that he tends to throw a lot of picks. I love his gun-slinger mentality, however your fantasy opponents may also love the points he loses you as well. My feeling towards Brett in regards to my fantasy team has always been to try to get the skilled players around him, but not Brett himself for that reason. Sure you can probably get some good value for him in the later rounds but let somebody else draft him in the mid rounds because of his name if they want to. He does make other players around him better, but often at the expense of his own statistics.

• Particularly this year, I believe that you will benefit the most by having Bernard Berrian on your team. Defenses will obviously key in on Peterson, leaving the speedy Berrian many opportunities downfield. He even posted some decent stats last year without having a quarterback that throws a good deep ball, imagine what would happen with Favre throwing to him.

• I would expect Adrian Peterson's stats to increase even more this year with the Vikings investing in other offensive talent to surround him in the early rounds of this year's draft. We know he loves to throw to the tight end so Vincante Shianchoe is an obvious beneficiary as well, along with Percy Harvin. Don't count Percy out just because he's a rookie, remember how quickly Favre developed a rapport with Greg Jennings?

• Upgrade other players in the NFC North division a bit simply because Favre ( and Cutler) will make this a higher scoring division. So players like Aaron Rodgers, Calvin Johnson and Matt Forte will have more opportunities to put up points and thus should be moved up on your boards accordingly.

• I would expect the Packers defense to be fired up to play him, especially at Lambeau. I would also think that they would have a pretty good idea of his tendencies and how to defense him well. So, be sure to see if the Packers defense is available for this game, who might not be a bad defense anyways with the addition of rookies B. J. Raji and Clay Matthews.

I probably don't have to tell you this, but the Lions defense would not be a good pickup for this game, or any other games for that matter.