Dynasty Diaries: Packers Have New Face(s) - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

Dynasty Diaries takes a look at keeper leagues for fantasy football as the season quickly approaches.

With the retirement (finally) of Brett Favre, the Packers now have a new face to the franchise ... only we can't yet be 100% sure whose face it is just yet at the QB position. To me, the real face of the Packers franchise for the next few years is going to be Ryan Grant. I firmly believe the running game is going to take center stage and Grant is going to be an elite back. He's a solid first round pick in yearly fantasy drafts as far as I'm concerned (comparable value to Willie Parker) and houses even more value in keeper leagues -- being that he's only 25 years old and doesn't have much tread on his tires.

Once Brettfavre (I say it as one word because I'm trying to blend in with the rest of the media that refuse to either call him "Brett" or "Favre") called it quits, the reins of QB up in Lambeau Field were handed to Aaron Rodgers.

Or were they?

Enter draft day.

Enter GM Ted Thompson -- a disciple of famed GM Ron Wolf who believes in stockpiling QBs with the hopes that one will stick.

Enter Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn.

The Packers have said all the right things in the aftermath of selecting the two signal-callers, in that Rodgers is the QB, Brohm is there to compete for the job, and Flynn was just too good to ignore in the seventh round. Let's be honest, everyone can rattle off at least five big name QBs that were either taken late in the draft (I'll help: Tom Brady, Matt Hasselbeck, Marc Bulger) or not taken at all (Tony Romo, Jeff Garcia); while also being able to rattle off a list of first round QB busts (Heath Shuler, anyone? Ryan Leaf?). Being a part of the inexact science that is drafting football players, you can't blame Thompson for trying to cover his bases in replacing a legend.

I'll sort them out for you with fantasy spin:

Aaron Rodgers -- Don't be fazed by the draft picks. As I said, Thompson is merely covering the bases and filling out his QB stable. Rodgers is a top-half fantasy QB (that's 16, inept math guys) heading into 2008, he's only 24, and his offense is loaded with young talent. While I do think the running game will take center stage, that doesn't mean they won't pass at all (Hasselbeck was always a quality option with Shaun Alexander racking up stats a few years ago). Finally, I'd be remiss to leave out his motivation. He has been holding a clipboard and waiting for the old man to retire for three years while learning the offense and personnel. He's ready. You could do much, much worse than owning Rodgers in keepers at this point ... in fact, I'd rank him as a top-10 keeper at QB.

Brian Brohm -- Definitely worth a look as one of the top backup QBs in the league for keeper formats, because the Packers have enough weapons on offense to aid their QBs in putting up numbers. Look at what Rodgers did against the 'Boys last year when Brettfavre went down. Brohm's a handcuff to Rodgers in really deep yearly leagues and dynasty leagues, in case something happens this season to Rodgers. It would be nice to own Brohm in a keeper league if he walked into this situation. Remember, Favre relieved Don Majkowski once upon a time ...

Matt Flynn -- The least likely candidate to do anything other than hold a clipboard for a few years. He's pretty average across the board and won a lot of games last year due mostly to an incredible supporting cast. Still, he's a proven winner and we've seen stranger things happen ... worth a look only in the craziest long-term keeper leagues (I'm talking every single starter and about 2/3 of the backups being owned by someone before drafting rookies in a supplemental). Other than that, ignore for now.