Somewhere along that pilgrimage to His Holiness Matthew Stafford, the succulent aroma of his last two full games in the NFL — one barnburning performance against a ride-on-the-suck-stick Washington Redskins defense and a decent 2 TD performance against the Jets — have seduced most of us into passing on an emerging Sam Bradford and heroes-turned-table-scraps like Donovan McNabb and Matt Cassel.

I, sir, will not buy into the hype.

The St. Louis Rams' Sam Bradford had a better freshman season last year than Stafford did in 2009, and the talent of Bradford's top three receivers couldn't even come close to matching the ability you'd find in Calvin Johnson's left foot. In 16 games last season, Bradford had four games in which he threw multiple interceptions.  

Stafford's rookie season?  He threw multiple picks in five of the ten games in which he played. Throw in the fact that Bradford now is under the wing of quarterback savior Josh McDaniels, and you can make a strong case that Bradford could turn out a better season than Stafford.

In Yahoo leagues, Stafford is, on average, going in the 10th round, while Bradford is going two rounds later. In ESPN leagues, owners are taking both Bradford and Stafford in the 10th round.

Should you choose to stock up on WRs and RBs in the early and middle rounds, consider taking a chance on Sam Bradford's eskimo brother, Matt Cassel, who thrived under Josh McDaniel's instruction in New England. In his last 11 games last seasons, Cassel threw for 23 TDs and only 4 INTs. Those are solid numbers; far better than anything that Stafford has to offer.  

Sure, there are rumors that Charlie Weis’ departure has owners feeling a little antsy about Cassel, but that uneasiness should be equally matched by Stafford’s stomach-turning, Cutler-like 20 TD/24 INT performance in 2009. Cassel is going in the 13th round in Y! leagues, and he’s off the board in the 10th round of ESPN leagues.