A Man Possessed

Guest Column by Packer Pat  

During this weird time where our Brewers have all but won the National League Central and our Packers are getting ready for their lame-duck preseason finale, now is that weird time where I was able to consider an individual not related to Wisconsin sports whose numbers just blow me away.  This all came about after seeing just how far Wes Welker fell to me in my fantasy fooball draft yesterday. 

For a guy who has caught 234 passes since the beginning of the 2008 season he doesn’t get much love.  And by love, of course, I mean the all-nerdy “fantasy football love” that is heaped upon first, second and third round “elite” drafted players.  This is the same guy who came back from an ACL and MCL reconstruction of his left knee in January 2010 to not only play in his team’s season opener eight months later, but lead the team with eight catches for sixty-four yards and two touchdowns in a win against Cincinnati.  Wow.

The main reason, however, for the lack of fantasy football love for Welker is the fact that of those ridiculous 234 passes that he caught during those three years, only seven went for touchdowns.  That means that only three of every one-hundred passes that he caught, went for touchdowns.  That’s really staggering.  Which means, numerically speaking, that he is the most prolific “possession receiver” thus far in the history of the NFL.  By definition, the “possession receiver” isn’t going to go up and fight for jump ball touchdowns or blow by the defense using his sub 4.3 speed.  He’s going to move the chains, and then, move them some more.  He will score the occasional touchdown when the defense thinks there’s no possible way they’ll go right back to him, but then they do. His touchdown/reception ratio is laughably lower than any other player who averages 60 receptions a year or better.   And you know what?  Tom Brady would probably list Wesley Carter Welker as the one skill player he wouldn’t allow management to trade.  Think about it, for all its complexity, the team that possesses the ball more during the game often comes out on top.  Brady knows this, he wants the ball, and with Welker in tow, they’re gonna score.

Packer Pat 89