The Titans addressed one of their biggest concerns this morning with the signing of Matt Hasselbeck. Though they drafted Jake Locker back in April, this move verifies early speculation that Tennessee brass believed he was not quite ready to start. For at least 2011, Hasselbeck will get to play the role of the elderly statesmen and help groom Locker for future.
Hasselbeck had, by all purposes, a down year in 2010, throwing for 3001 yards and completing just 59.9% of his passes. Even more glaring is his touchdown to interception ratio of 12 to 17. Despite these less than stellar numbers, he did show an ability to rally the troops in the playoffs. In the first round, Hasselbeck went off for 272 yards and four TDs in the first round upset of the Saints. He followed this with three TDs and no picks in the second round loss to the Bears.
What is perhaps even more interesting about this signing is that it leaves Miami and Arizona as the two noteworthy teams still in the market for a QB (as it looks almost certain that Donovan McNabb will be going to the Vikings). The domino that is Kevin Kolb still has not fallen, and it appears the Eagles asking price could be as high as Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a first-round pick. As a result, Kyle Orton is still in limbo, and there has been word that Miami may also be looking at Carson Palmer.
Fantasy Spin:
Regardless of where he landed, Hasselbeck was not going to become a QB1 in 2011. That’s not to say he will not have any fantasy value this season. With weapons like Kenny Britt and Chris Johnson, he’s an interesting guy to stash in deeper leagues. He also becomes good later round value in two QB formats.
Though Hasselbeck certainly helps Britt’s and Johnson’s fantasy value, I’d be cautious with popular TE sleep Jared Cook. For several years in Seattle, there was hype surrounding John Carlson, but he never emerged as the top-end TE that many projected. This was due in part to the relatively low target distribution to TEs in Seattle (15% of all targets in 2009 and 17% in 2010). Though Tennessee QBs have targeted their TEs more often over the past two seasons (26% of all targets), I would expect to see these numbers dip in 2011 to perhaps 20% or lower. That means less opportunity of Cook, and less value for fantasy owners.
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