Gettin' Thiggy With It

You may be asking yourself: "Who in the world is Tyler Thigpen and why the heck is he the hot pickup du jour in fantasy football right now?" Glad you asked! Thigpen was taken in the seventh round of the NFL draft by the Vikings last year and competed for the third quarterback spot on the depth chart in training camp. When the Vikes released him with the intention of putting him on their practice squad, the Chiefs snapped him up and added him to their active roster behind Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard.  He attempted only six passes and had one of them intercepted his rookie season. 

He began this season buried in the third spot on the KC depth chart again, but when Croyle and Huard were placed on Injured Reserve three weeks ago, Thigpen was given his chance to start. In his first game, he out-dueled his idol, Brett Favre, by throwing for 280 yards and two touchdowns. His performance raised many eyebrows. Two starts later the Chiefs still have not won under him, which is hardly a surprise given the state of their defense, but Thigpen has not been to blame. Through three starts he has completed 65 percent of his passes (66-102) for 710 yards, six touchdowns, and no interceptions.  The completion percentage and touchdown-to-interception ratio is particularly impressive for such an inexperienced quarterback out of the Big South conference. Note: he was the first player from the conference to be drafted by an NFL team. 

I'm sure that in the coming weeks, opposing coaches will begin to develop a book on Thigpen, but how much that matters is debatable since his remaining schedule is so favorable. His last seven games with are as follows, with defensive rank against the pass in parentheses: Saints (27), Bills (16), Raiders (13), Broncos (28), Chargers (32), Dolphins (25), and Bengals (10). 

As you can see, the balance of his schedule is loaded with cupcakes. With two great weapons like Tony Gonzalez and Dwayne Bowe, and the return of Larry Johnson to supply an actual running game this week, there is reason for optimism surrounding Thigpen. If you are in need of quarterback depth down the stretch, you could do much worse than to get Thiggy.