Week 13 ranks reax: The 'T.J. Yates effect' 

November, 30, 2011
11/30/11
2:56
PM ET
I admit to not knowing a ton about Houston Texans quarterback T.J. Yates, a fifth-round draft pick out of the University of North Carolina and now the team's starter for perhaps the rest of the season. Then again, I feel like I don't need to. In a general sense, fantasy football owners should not be interested in signing/activating Yates, but they're likely concerned about his potential negative effect on running back Arian Foster and wide receiver Andre Johnson, two top-10 picks on fantasy draft day now seeing their value muddled a bit.

The thing about Yates is we just don't know what he'll do as the starter -- neither do the Texans, for that matter -- and presuming he's going to play as poorly as, say, Kansas City Chiefs lefty Tyler Palko, Arizona Cardinals fill-in John Skelton or anyone slingin' it for the Indianapolis Colts seems a bit unfair. What if Yates can play? My argument on a "SportsCenter" segment earlier this week, where I aim to stay positive, was if you're just now worrying about Foster and Johnson, that pretty much insinuates all was going to be well with Matt Leinart in the first place.

For Eric's rankings explanations of Andre Johnson, LeGarrette Blount, Laurent Robinson and others, you must be an ESPN Insider.

Eric Karabell | email

ESPN.com Senior Writer
  • ESPN contributor on TV, radio, podcasts, blogs, Magazine
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  • Author of "The Best Philadelphia Sports Arguments"

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Eric Karabell
Eric Karabell

Eric Karabell is an ESPN.com senior writer. He has worked at ESPN since 1997 and covered fantasy sports for ESPN since 2001, specializing in baseball and football. Eric appears several times per week on SportsCenter, NFL Live and other ESPN shows, contributes to ESPN Radio and ESPN The Magazine and is the host of the Baseball Today Podcast. He has been honored twice as fantasy sports writer of the year by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, his blog was named best fantasy baseball series for 2007 and he was inducted into the inaugural FSWA Hall of Fame class in 2010.

Eric grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs, and accordingly, favors Philly teams first, his fantasy teams second. He previously served as ESPN.com's lead NBA editor, and is a former Washington Post and Philadelphia Inquirer sports writer. Eric is also the author of "The Best Philadelphia Sports Arguments," published by Source Books and available in bookstores and online.

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