The latest installment in an ongoing series where Huddle staffers address some of the burning questions fantasy folks will face heading into their drauctions later this summer.
 (John Tuvey) There’s no question Galloway was done back before the turn of the century. After all, following back-to-back double-digit touchdown, 1,000-yard seasons in Seattle in 1997 and 1998, Joey fell off the face of the earth. He missed 23 games over the next two seasons and didn’t top six touchdowns or 908 yards during his stay in Dallas—which certainly explains David’s animosity towards him. Or maybe he was left off the guest list to Galloway’s notorious parties at the Ramada Inn.
And just about the time we’d all filed Galloway in the trash bin for fantasy purposes, he resurfaced in Tampa. Despite being on the wrong side of 30, Joey has racked up three consecutive 1,000-yard campaigns; in fact, if you stack his three-year averages against last year’s results you’ll find he slots in at a very comfortable 15th in yardage (1,119) and 17th in touchdowns (a shade under eight per year). There’s clearly something to be said for playing in a Jon Gruden offense.
There are obvious concerns about Joey’s advancing age—he’ll turn 37 this fall; then again, so will Carla Guigino, Brooke Burke, and Christina Applegate, and they look okay—and the fact that both his yardage and touchdowns have trended down slightly each of the past two seasons. But it’s not like he was a spring chicken last year, and his yards per catch has actually increased the past two years; in other words, he can still go deep—even using his walker.
The Bucs have had a different player lead them in passing each of the past five seasons, and Galloway did spend time catching balls from Luke McCown last season, but this year Tampa Bay threatens to have some stability at the quarterback position—or maybe even a certain former Packer and Kiln, Mississippi native slinging the pigskin in pewter. There’s no Buc ready to step into Galloway’s role as the go-to receiver in Gruden’s offense, meaning another year of 60 catches, 1,000 yards, and eight touchdowns is in the offing. Top 20 wide receiver numbers—starter-worthy in virtually any league—with an ADP that ranks him closer to his age than where he’ll actually end up. How can you not love plugging those digits into your lineup?
 (David Dorey) I’m not saying Joey Galloway has no fantasy value, I am saying that he is always over-valued in drafts the last couple of years. That means he would never fall far enough to warrant my drafting of him.
Sure, he has topped 1000 yards in each of the last three seasons after six straight years of injury and minimal statistics. The last two seasons – 1014 and 1057 yards – barely clipped the threshold but Galloway has definitely exceeded expectations given the six years of sub-par play and the fact he went on this late career streak starting at the age of 35. Kudos to aged one.
But when we start a receiver on a fantasy team, we are doing it every week. Problem with Galloway is that he is inconsistent in how he turns in his stats. Last year, over the first five games he had a monster game of 135 yards and two scores and averaged 43 yards with no scores in the other four games. Yee-haw. Hope it was a total points league. How about how Galloway did during the fantasy playoff time for the last three weeks of the season? When you needed him most? Oh yeah, had a total of three catches for 45 yards over the final three games. So much for that championship.
On the plus side, he does play the Saints twice a year. Last season that accounted for 292 yards and two scores and was two of the three 100 yard games he had all year. If they could all be New Orleans, then sure – grab Galloway in a hurry. In 2006, Galloway had 207 yards and three scores against the Saints and only two other 100 yard games. But Galloway doesn’t play the Saints every week. And you want a starting wideout to have more than a 1 in 6 chance of having a decent game.
Perhaps Galloway can remain healthy as a 37 year old who lives on the long ball, but he just costs too much in a draft based on his name and his ability to barely clip 1000 yard seasons thanks to the Saints.
What do you think?
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