Brett Favre’s fantasy relevancy is sinking fast. The offense around him is stacked, his defense keeps points down, the special teams even score TDs, and yet, Favre has been a virtual non-factor this season. For those who grabbed him in the 5th round or so (cough) of their fantasy draft, he has been a tremendous disappointment. Luckily there have been plenty of previously lower-ranked QBs that are performing well, so more than likely you’ve been able to salvage your QB situation. Still, if I had to guess, Favre is sitting on your bench, waiting to break out. Well I’m sorry, but it’s not going to happen.

I’ve taken the liberty of listing the excuses that the national media has frequently made for Favre, while also giving you the reasons as to why they are all false.

Let’s get this party started.

Continuity with Receivers

When the Vikings got off to their 0-2 start, a majority of the blame was targeted towards Favre having “chemistry issues” with his WRs. Yeah, not buying that. I understand that Sidney Rice was unexpectedly lost for at least half the season by having hip surgery and that Greg Camarillo was a late addition to the roster acquired through a trade with the Dolphins, but what else changed? Nothing. Berrian is still there, Harvin is still there, even Greg Lewis is still there. Of course, Harvin had migraine problems early in the season, but for the most part, Favre still had plenty of experience playing with these WRs.

Berrian may not be playing to the level that his salary would indicate, but Favre hasn’t done him any favors this year. Here’s a quote from Favre regarding an INT he threw in the direction of Berrian during the Vikings’ week 2 loss to the Dolphins. The pass was into tight double coverage and very under thrown, by the way. Thanks to the Star Tribune for the quote.

“I think Bernard’s heart is in the right place,” Favre said. “I believe in my mind he did all he could do. If I felt otherwise, I wouldn’t throw it to him. We go to bat with who we got, me included. That’s the way it is. I’m not going to look out to my left or look out to my right and say, ‘I’m not going to throw it over there.’ I’m not going to play that way. That’s the way it is.”

Would you ever hear Peyton Manning, or Tom Brady, or even past greats such as Joe Montana or John Elway ever say anything like that? Essentially, Favre is not only ripping his WRs, but also their physical attributes. This response was in reaction to a question which asked whether or not Favre should be throwing balls up to his WRs like he would with Sidney Rice, instead of making more accurate throws with the smaller WRs he had at the time.

All-time dumb if you ask me. Of course, he should adapt his play to the guys that are surrounding him, but don’t tell Favre that. Now that he has a big receiver in Randy Moss, he seems to be taking less deep shots as well, but more on that later…

Poor Offensive Line

Sure, the Vikings’ offensive line hasn’t been the best, but it most certainly hasn’t been the worst. The line has blown some assignments and had to suffer through injuries to their starting center, John Sullivan, but really this weakness could easily be erased by Favre if he just simply played better. I don’t think any other QB, with the exception of Jay Cutler, holds the ball as long as Favre does. Favre will take the snap, scramble around a little bit, pump fake, pump fake again and then throw a pass falling off his back foot either into double coverage or directly at a defender (think of Sunday night’s pick six). He rarely, if ever, checks it down, instead always looking for the home run or big intermediate pass.

What’s wrong with checking it down to Adrian Peterson or Percy Harvin more often? I’ve seen the replays too and yeah, there are times when the defender may be 5 or 8 yards away from either Peterson or Harvin, but last time I checked, these guys are two of the best open field runners in the league. Why not give them a shot?

There have been multiple times every game when Favre either misses or just completely fails to even see wide open WRs. Favre didn’t see a wide open Harvin on one of his three INTs, he didn’t see a wide open Shiancoe for a TD a few games ago, and honestly the guy really hasn’t thrown that much to Randy Moss. There were multiple times on Sunday when Moss was in a weak single coverage and Favre didn’t even give him a shot to get the ball.

The Colts’ offensive line is much worse than the Vikings, but Manning still gets the ball out of his hands quickly, moves the chains and–gasp–scores points! One of the common criticisms of Tom Brady is that he’s a system QB, that being a guy that has only performed well because he plays within the confines of a great offensive scheme. Though it is a weak argument to try to discredit Brady’s great play over the years, it still has some truth to it. Favre seems to be playing his own game out there, and it’s costing his team–and him–plenty of plays and wins.

He’s Playing Hurt!

There may be some truth to this one, but I’m just sick of hearing about it. You’ve got the elbow, the ankle, the fractured ankle now and then there’s that whole Sterger thing which I guess you could classify as a mental injury or something. These injuries just all seem to belie one central point for me, however, and that is that Favre is 41 years old. Of course he’s going to get hurt playing football now–he’s too old for this game! His arm is still there, but outside of the occasional scramble where you think “hey, his legs are still there, too,” he looks every bit his age. Once again, Favre could minimize his injuries if he just played within the confines of the offensive system and got the ball out of his hands quicker like he did last season.

How’d that work out for him? Honestly, it seems like Favre is playing brain dead right now.

You Can’t Bench Favre, His Streak will End!

When Favre is basically costing his team games, then yes, you bench him. The national media makes it seem like this starts streak coming to an end is some great travesty, but really, who cares? No one is ever going to come close to matching his streak, not even Peyton Manning. I don’t really see how the Vikings can start Favre this week–he has a fractured ankle on top of throwing many of their games away this year.

Consider the fact that Adrian Peterson is currently second in the league in rushing, and that’s with him already having a bye week. Percy Harvin is becoming one of the premier playmakers in the NFL; really, the Vikings are using him like Urban Meyer used him at Florida, that being a multipurpose threat. The defense has forced enough turnovers and kept opposing offenses out of the end zone enough to win as well. Really the only hole I see on the Vikings is Favre and his league-leading 10 INTs.

Last year, Favre was one of the premier QBs in both real life and fantasy football. This year, he is neither. If you’ve been hoping that eventually Favre would turn it on, now is the time to make a break from those dreams. He’s wasting space on your bench, so drop him, grab Ryan Fitzpatrick or Josh Freeman and enjoy the points these players lacking Favre’s name recognition will deliver.

And grab Tarvaris Jackson too…I’ve always been fond of him…