Think twice

Below are players who you may want to think twice about starting tomorrow. I’m not suggesting you necessarily bench the players below because some may actually have decent games. The purpose of the list is to help you make those close decisions of who to start and who to sit because most people consider the names below no-brainers to start and I don’t.

Tom Brady – Conventional wisdom says you need to start New England’s star, but a closer look at the numbers suggests otherwise. It’s true that Brady’s career numbers against the Jets are impressive, but the numbers since former Pats coach Eric Mangini joined the Jets aren’t. Last season Brady’s quarterback ratings were 73.9 and 84.6 against the Jets after tossing just two touchdowns and two picks in two games. Although the Pats got a better offense, the Jets defense got better too. Don’t expect a monster game from Brady.

Lee Evans – In his three career opening day games, Evans has zero career touchdown passes and he’s never caught more than three passes. Add to that the fact that Evans will be matched up with Dre Bly and Champ Bailey and you can consider benching Evans. The only thing that could save him are cheap fourth quarter passes when Buffalo is trailing by double digits and Denver is in a prevent defense.

D.J. Hackett – I like Hackett, but this won’t be one of his best weeks. Word out of Seattle is that Nate Burleson is pushing him for playing time and Seattle might jump out to an early lead which means lots of Shaun Alexander late in the game.