By ERIC BARTON
Don't be sad, Huard. Yahoo says you're better than Brodie.
There's little doubt the Chiefs will stink this year. But further proof turned up yesterday when I joined a fantasy football league and discovered how poorly Chiefs players are ranked. Remember back just a few years ago when Dick Vermeil fielded an offense full of potential fantasy football stars? Yeah, Herm Edwards isn't that kind of coach.
Overall, the Chiefs have no players among the 10 best this year. Only three are listed in the top 100. A mere five rank among the top 200. And after that, no players crack the top 1,000.
If you haven't seen fantasy football rankings before, they're used to figure out how many points the players will score and how much yardage they will put up. Picking the top 10 players is always a gamble, but after that, Yahoo usually does fairly well figuring out where a player ranks.
And KC doesn't rank well.
Brodie Croyle: among the worst.
Running back Larry Johnson remains the Chiefs highest-ranked player in Yahoo's ranking system. But he dropped from first last year to No. 12. Tight end Tony Gonzalez comes in second at No. 60, followed by receiver Dwayne Bowe at No. 64.
After that, it gets pathetic.
Second- and third-string running backs Kolby Smith and Jamaal Charles come in at 179th and 196th. That's right: the fourth- and fifth-highest-ranked players are backups. It's like Yahoo is predicting L.J. won't finish the season.
And it gets worse from there.
Supposed starting QB Brodie Croyle? He is ranked as the 1,904th best player in the NFL. His two backups get higher rankings. Kansas City's kickers — nobody's sure who's starting yet — barely make it into the top 2,000.
And don't think things will get better on defense. Edwards, who's supposedly a defensive-minded coach, has fielded a defense that's ranked 1,397th.
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