Is it really possible that I’m reading the numbers right and that Jaguars WR Cecil Shorts III is still a player that people have on their fantasy football rosters? I’m looking at his profile on ESPN, and I could swear that it says he’s more than 97% owned. That’s not just me, right? If that means what I think it means, it’s absolutely insane, and it just shows how slow people are to admit that they’ve made a mistake and throw in the towel. (I’m new to some of the larger fantasy issues, so be sure to tell me if I’m missing something here).
Here we are, winding down the first real month of the NFL season. We’re still in that enjoyable time where winter hasn’t occurred to us, and we can pretend that it’s still appropriate to use the BBQ. Yet Shorts is already on his fourth injury of the year! As someone who sits around all day logging injuries, I can attest that Cecil Shorts has occupied more than his fare share of my time, haunting my database like a Scooby Doo villain who is trying to scare people away because he knows there is hidden pirate gold buried beneath an amusement park. To make it even more frustrating, all four of Shorts’ injuries this season are hamstring injuries. His first came during June training camp, though I cannot figure out if it was his left or right side. Then he missed two preseason games with a right hamstring strain. Once the season started, he missed the first two regular games with a left hamstring strain. Yesterday he re-aggravated that same left hamstring. As far as I can tell, his thighs are now made of Jello and absent of any structural support. As I’ve mentioned before, hamstring injuries love nothing more than to linger and linger and linger like hummus breath, so we almost certainly have not seen the end of Shorts’ hamstring woes. And if that’s not enough, Shorts is also coming off a suspiciously slow recovery from sports hernia surgery, something I noted here.
So given all that history, why the hell is Shorts still on anyone’s fantasy radar? As far as I can tell, you’d be better off dropping him and picking up basically anyone else. Even a multi-kicker approach, a la Taco, seems like it has a better upside. Please feel free to tell me how stupid I am if I’m missing something here, but I can’t figure out what the appeal is with this guy. Sorry Shorts… now I sort of feel like I’m always picking on him. Then again, he’s the one with the name that makes for delightful post titles, so it’s pretty much all his own fault.
