Jerricho Cotchery is a good player in a bad situation.

Coming Down

LaDainian Tomlinson, RB Chargers – LT Is still going to give you a very strong fantasy season. However, the days of him putting up ungodly fantasy numbers and singlehandedly carrying you into the playoffs are over.

I was sitting five feet away from Tomlinson after the Chargers lost to the Patriots in the playoffs and he reminded the world of how classy a person he is. I can tell you that LT lost a lot of respect from coaches and players around the league that day.

The following season following another loss to the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, I was in the Chargers locker room after LT had pulled himself out of the game with a leg injury. Tomlinson decided he couldn’t play after carrying the ball twice, despite watching TE Antonio Gates play with a broken toe and quarterback Philip Rivers play with a shredded knee that ended up needing major surgery shortly after the game.

 I can tell you that speaking with some Chargers off the record, LT lost a lot of respect with some of his teammates that day and that’s something you never get back.

A couple of NFL people told me that a guy like LT who has never been hurt in his life and then reacts that way to pain will never be the same player again. They basically said he can’t play with pain.

I found this interesting because last year following the Chargers playoff win over the Colts in which Tomlinson injured his thigh, Andrea Kramer asked Tomlinson if he would play the following week against Pittsburgh.

Now we’ve all seen this interview a thousand times. Even if you are badly injured, you say you are playing. Remember Bo Jackson? He ripped his freaking hip out of the socket against the Bengals and never played another down but when they asked him if he was playing the next week in Buffalo, Bo replied, “No doubt. They will have to kill me to keep me out of that game.”

Not LT. He said, “I don’t know. We’ll have to see what the x-rays say and how I feel later in the week…” In other words, the guy wants nothing to do with pain and everyone you talk to in the NFL knows it.

So all you fans out there who are wondering why the Chargers gave all that money to Darren Sproles it’s because they know it too. How can San Diego not have a very good backup knowing LT is getting older and every time he has any kind of injury he “Will have to see what the x-rays say and see how he feels later in the week?”

Tomlinson has been in steady decline both on and off the field since he told the world how classy he is three years ago. Will he have a solid fantasy season? Probably.

But my advice is to just pass on him because one injury and he is on the sideline. He does not like pain and I have talked to people in the NFL who are a lot smarter than I am and think the same thing about LT.

Chad Johnson, WR Bengals – This guy is bonkos. I have looked into his eyes. He is flat-out crazy. I used to think – like many of you – that he was just putting on an act. I no longer think that. I believe Johnson has serious mental issues and I don’t believe he will ever be the player he once was because of it.

Every week it’s something new. Whether it’s changing his name or comparing Michael Jackson’s death to 9/11. It never ends with this guy and it’s never going to.

I believe guys like Dennis Rodman and T.O. also have mental issues. I agree that a certain part of them like the spotlight but I also think they have other issues that make them do what they do.

I think Johnson may end up being crazier than all of them. I’m serious I don’t see this ending well. I remember talking with him after the Bengals lost to the Patriots a few years ago and he was speaking soft and acting all weird. I remember walking off thinking to myself, “That was odd.” He’s just off in his own world.

Like LT, Johnson will still put up numbers but I just believe he is declining while many other receivers are becoming much better than him but don’t have his name recognition or fanfare yet. Dwayne Bowe and Santonio Holmes would be two excellent examples of what I’m talking about.

I look at Johnson and I see a declining player. He doesn’t like to go over the middle. For some reason his team still employs Marvin Lewis as its head coach. And I honestly believe it’s going to be another year of temper tantrums and spectacles instead of hard work and worrying about football in Cincinnati.

If you are going to start taking my advice and building a championship roster, then I would pass on Johnson and let someone else worry about whether or not he is going to show up at practice or be suspended for a month.

There are plenty of other quality receivers to choose from. Oh, and I will never call him by that other name in this column. Ever.

Joseph Addai, RB Colts – I have never been a big Addai fan. I wasn’t a big fan of his when he played in college. I thought he was a player who did a lot of things but none of them great. I thought he would have a long NFL career as a backup but was stunned when he was selected in the first round of the NFL draft.

Now, I tip my hat to Addai. He has been a much better NFL player initially than I thought. However, I think the Colts are starting to see what I thought all along: Addai gets worn down when you ask him to carry the load over a 16-game season. Hence, the Colts’ drafting of Donald Brown in the first round this year.

Addai is at his best when he is catching the ball out of the backfield and he has another back to split time with. We saw this a couple of years ago when Dominic Rhodes could still play. As he showed at LSU, when you try to ask Addai to do too much, he starts to break down and get injured. Now we are seeing the same thing in the NFL too.

If you haven’t seen Brown play yet, watch out. He is my early pick for NFL Rookie of the Year. I thought he was the second best back in the draft behind McCoy. Now McCoy obviously has Westbrook in front of him which is a much bigger obstacle to deal with but I think Brown starts getting a lot of carries right from the get-go.

Hey, I’m not saying Addai is not going to be a factor in the Colts’ offense, he will be. But if you are asking me to rate Addai and Brown both coming out of college, it isn’t close in my opinion. I think Brown is a much better pro prospect than Addai and now put Brown in the Colts’ offensive system and you have a star in the making.

If you are waiting for Addai to return to his 2007 form, you will be waiting a long, long time.

Jerricho Cotchery, WR Jets – I like Cotchery as a player but this poor bastard doesn’t stand a chance in terms of fantasy value this season. The Jets may win 10 games in 2009 but if they do it will be by winning most of them by a score of 13-9.

With Rex Ryan in town and most likely a rookie quarterback under center, it will be defense and the running game that rules the day in the Big Apple. And if Kellen Clemens is the quarterback, no Jet will have fantasy value because that dude is flat-out awful.

I actually liked Clemens coming out of college but after seeing him up close and personal, he can’t play. If I were the Jets, I would go with Mark Sanchez from Day 1 and let the chips fall where they may.

I am seeing Cotchery rated as a Top 30 fantasy receiver around guys like Lee Evans, Lance Moore and Donald Driver. I can’t see Cotchery putting up numbers anywhere near those guys this year with the kind of offense I picture the Jets running.

Like I said, this isn’t a reflection on Cotchery as a player but I remember the offensive mind Buddy Ryan had. This is the guy who once told Randall Cunningham, “Go run around and make a few plays and the defense will take care of the rest.”

The Ryan family actually despises offense so much I think they even hate their own offense when they are a head coach. I would strongly suggest not having any Jet receivers on your fantasy roster this year until you see what kind of coach Buddy Jr. is going to be first.

I am a very busy man but if you need some one-on-one fantasy help, I will try to fit you in. I have one rule: Don’t make your e-mails a book. As a freelance writer, I spend a large part of my day writing and responding to e-mails. So if you have a question, ask it. If you want to tell me how much you hate me, do it and do it quickly. If possible, try and make me laugh. If you can’t tell me that you hate me in a couple of sentences, may a suggest seeking some professional help? This is a fantasy football column. If you hate me that much, I’m guessing you have some deep rooted issues that need to be addressed. Anyway, if you must get in touch with me, my e-mail address is tcasale@mail.com.