Fantasy Football Challenge - Football Fanatics Articles Archive

Enclosed in this archive is every bit of the action and updates that occurred in October 2003 within the world of fantasy football. You may want to read these articles for research on players in the coming year, or just check to see if we were way off base with our reporting. Whatever the reason, it's all here for your enjoyment.

Fantasy Football Challenge - October 2003 Fantasy Football Articles

Fantasy Football Challenge - October 2003 Articles Archives

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be on the field as much as in the past. For a month now we''ve seen a calculated gamble by coach Mike Sherman and his staff. At the very pinnacle of his career, Green has been given almost carte blanche to determine when he should play and when he should rest.

Early in the year, Najeh Davenport was Green''s primary backup. After Davenport fell into the doghouse for fumbling, Tony Fisher became No. 2.

Mike Sherman the coach knows every snap he can get from Green gives the Packers a better chance to win. But Sherman the coach and general manager has thought long and hard about the law of diminishing returns. As difficult as it must be for him, he arrived at a course of action to reduce Green''s weekly workload with the hope that he would be fresher down the stretch and possibly even extend his window as a great back.

"We found out last year that if we''re going to run the football 28, 30 times a game for 16 games, and to keep him at maximum efficiency, you''ve got to rest him," running backs coach Sylvester Croom said. "You''ve got to pick your spots and he''s got to come out."

The Packers'' arrangement is simple and straightforward. As Croom put it, "Whenever he needs a break he can come out."

At this point, Green has been given one proviso: if possible, stay in the game when the Packers have the ball inside the opponents'' 20-yard line.

Croom, who works from the coaches'' box upstairs, communicates via headset to Edgar Bennett, the club''s director of player development who functions on the sidelines as assistant running backs coach. The backs that aren''t in the game stay close to Bennett, who substitutes based on Croom''s preferences.

In a style almost devoid of emotion, Green gives the bench ample time to make changes. If he''s a long way from the Green Bay sidelines, he will raise his left hand or tap his chest. If he''s nearby, he simply starts to walk off.

Why, in the words of one scout, does Green "look like a beat dog" when he comes off, takes a knee or almost

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