Fantasy Football: Hurricane Katrina Claims Another Victim

READ MORE: Deuce McAllister, Fantasy Football, New Orleans Saints, Tristan Cockroft

Oh, how we hate doing these stories. New Orleans Saints’ running back Deuce McAllister’s torn ACL has put him on the waiver wire for the season and completely ruined the seasons for many fantasy football owners nationwide. Yeah, Antowain Smith? Tremendous. Aaron Stecker? Yay. And ESPN Insider’s filthy-named columnist Tristan Cockroft goes even a step further and pretty much tells us that anybody having a New Orleans offensive player in their lineup should pretty much start writing the check now:

A quick look back at some of the most significant season-ending injuries to top-10 fantasy running backs over the past decade indicates we should be worried:

Edgerrin James, 2001: His knee injury in Week 7 caused the Colts to go 3-7 in their final 10 games, averaging four fewer points per contest with Dominic Rhodes as the starter than with James. Peyton Manning, meanwhile, had his worst non-rookie season. In six games with James around, he completed 66.9 percent of his passes and averaged 270.8 yards and 2.0 TDs; in his next 10, those numbers slipped to 61.3, 250.6 and 1.4.

Jamal Lewis, 2001: His season-ending knee injury happened in the preseason, but the impact on Elvis Grbac was readily apparent. His completion percentage slipped from 59.6 to 56.7, his passing yards per game from 277.6 to 216.6, his touchdown total dropped by 13 and he threw four more interceptions.

Oh, and there’s more, don’t worry. For more grim news, steal somebody’s account number and log onto ESPN Insider.

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