As we close the books on the 2006 season, fantasy owners whose efforts ended without a championship game appearance are no doubt looking back at their respective drafts and assessing which player or players doomed their chances.

It was a year when hoarding running backs early didn't necessarily pay off. Quarterbacks drafted late, or not at all (Drew Brees was undrafted in 13% of leagues) went on to fantasy dominance. And, some of our favorite fantasy wideouts were quieted for much, if not all, of the season (Chad Johnson, Randy Moss).

But Chad Johnson led the league in receiving yards and scored his share of touchdowns, so while owners might have been frustrated with some of his efforts, he can't be on the list here. Nor can Terrell Owens, although owners can be salty about his drops keeping him from 18-20 touchdowns this season and possibly picking up more slack for other underperforming fantasy starters.

So, who's the biggest flop of the year?

At running back, you have many options.

LaMont Jordan - 434 yards and two touchdown in nine games with only 10 receptions

Carnell Williams - 57 rushing yards per game and one touchdown

Julius Jones -- 1,000 yards, but fewer than 60 rushing yards in six of eight games to end the year and four touchdowns

At wide receiver:

Randy Moss - 42 catches for 553 yards and three scores

Chris Chambers - 677 yards and four touchdowns

Santana Moss - 790 yards and six touchdowns, three of which came in one game

At quarterback:

Kurt Warner  - Benched after four games, having tossed 5 touchdowns with 12 sacks, five interceptions and 10 fumbles (three lost).

Drew Bledsoe - 8 interceptions, 7 touchdown passes before being sacked for Romo. Interception returned for TD by Lito Shepherd sealed his fate.

Jake Plummer - Replaced in Week 13 after averaging 181 yards per game with 13 touchdown throws

Jake Delhomme - 17 touchdown passes and 15 turnovers for the sexy Super Bowl pick Panthers

My vote goes to Cadillac Williams. The quarterback situation still could have been navigated through, as all players were on the edge of fantasy backups and cost only a mid-round pick. Ditto the receivers. Moss was disappointing, but expectations were low for the Raiders and their ability to score points.

LaMont Jordan gets his share of votes, but his injury forced him to the sidelines early and fantasy owners weren't tortured with sit/start decisions all year in the same way they were with Williams after drafting him in the late-first or early-second round. Williams retained his starting job and scored only one touchdown in a sputtering offense behind a young offensive line. He'll slide precipitously in drafts next year and suddenly becomes a sleeper target, as he'll undoubtedly shoulder a heavy workload.

Who's your flop of the year? Is there someone I missed?

The Red Sox finally came to an agreeement in principle with the high-priced hurler. The deal will be worth $50-60 million when finalized, not to mention the $51 million paid to the Seibu Lions. Matsuzaka shores up a rotation that now includes former closer Jonathan Papelbon, Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett and knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.

His addition puts another piece to a possible contender in Boston. If we assume, for a moment, that Manny Ramirez isn't traded, then the lineup will produce runs. The starting rotation, assuming health, will bring the game into the late innings and put the Red Sox in a position to win. However, once the Red Sox get into the final innings, there's still a question as to who will be there to close things out. 2005 closer and fantasy hero Jonathan Papelbon is in the rotation and the team declined to offer arbitration to former closer Keith Foulke.

But, forgetting the closer role for a moment, what will Matsusaka do with his starts and where should he be slotted in fantasy drafts? Matsusaka won 17 games for the Seibu Lions last year and brings his often-referenced, but never seen (in the U.S., anyway), unhittable "Gyroball" to the game. Jason Varitek should be healthy and ready to get behind the plate every day, so that should help ease Matsusaka's growing pains and adjustment to the Major Leagues.

Looking into his history, Matsusaka brings forth better than a strikeout per inning and a sub-3.00 ERA from his days with the Seibu Lions. He allows a considerable number of fly balls, which will serve to elevate his ERA somewhat. With all things considered, I believe he can be a 14-16 win pitcher this season with an ERA in the mid-3.00's. If Matsusaka gets considerable help in the pen, the win total can push north. You know he'll get adequate run support.

As for fantasy drafts, right now I'd chart him into the 7th or 8th round, after solidifying building a base of hitters, a closer and one or two established hurlers. Then, it's time to welcome Matsuzaka to the world of fantasy baseball.

Where would you chart him?

It has most certainly been an interesting NFL season, both on the field and in the fantasy realm. For the first time in recent years, owners who eschewed the normal strategy of stacking their backfield before moving on to other positions have been greatly rewarded (aside from those LaDainian Tomlinson and Larry Johnson owners out there, of course).

We're coming down to the wire and fantasy owners are struggling with weekly decisions at quarterback. Aside from Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Carson Palmer, the position has oftentimes been the bane of their existence. From Eli Manning to Jake Delhomme and deposed starters Kurt Warner and Jake Plummer, owners have made more looks to the waiver wire for the quarterback position than in recent memory.

What I want to know is, who are you calling on to lead your squad through the fantasy playoffs? Are you sticking with Eli or Delhomme, or are you turning to young guns such as Vince Young or Jay Cutler?

After Thursday's loss to Kansas City that dropped the Broncos to a record of 7-4, the calls to replace Jake Plummer under center are echoing across the land via talk radio. Granted, the Broncos signal caller has been erratic at times and has yet to win a game in six career starts at Kansas City, but is he really to blame for the offensive woes?

In years past, the Broncos relied heavily on a sound running game to open up the offense. For eight weeks of the 2006 season, they were able to do so again with a combination of the Bells, Mike and Tatum. But the ground game has gone silent of late, with one Bell hurt and the other offering inconsistent contributions. In last night's game, the combination of Mike Bell and Damien Nash averaged a meager two yards per carry on 14 attempts.

Jake Plummer hasn't changed. He's the same quarterback that goes through his highs and lows, offering tremendous game-breaking throws and decisions one week and maddening indecisiveness the next.

Why isn't anybody harping on the running game?

Why isn't anybody turning an eye toward the defense that was so heralded and compared with the all-time great units as few as four weeks ago? The defense has faced injuries, to be sure, but they've been unable to stop opponents in recent weeks. They were torched by Peyton Manning and the Chargers' juggernauts. The Steelers moved the ball at will, leaving the Broncos to depend on ill-fated decisions by Ben Roethlisberger to secure a win. And, they failed to stop Larry Johnson (34 carries for 157 yards) on Thursday.

Is turning to Cutler the answer? Hadn't Plummer led the Broncos to a 7-2 mark?

The thinking is that Cutler might be a bigger threat to stretch the field and make the most of Javon Walker. Mike Shanahan has raved about his decision-making and arm strength since the first mini-camp. Perhaps the ability to stretch the field would open up things for the running game and restore the balance in the Denver schemes that we'd seen for the first two months.

Perhaps the calls for Cutler would be muted somewhat if the love affair with Tony Romo wasn't stoked during his huge five-touchdown performance on Thanksgiving Day. He's looked great and has a number of tremendous offensive weapons at his disposal, but let's wait a bit before anointing him the next great quarterback. With that said, I admit to drinking the Kool-Aid, having hyped Romo in our Fantasy Fix video segment this week as the top performer for Thanksgiving. I just liked the matchup against Tampa Bay too much. Fortunately, he proved me right.

I believe fantasy owners should snatch Cutler up from the waiver wire. If the early reports are true, we'll get our first look at him against Seattle on December 3rd, and there are several favorable matchups on the schedule for the fantasy playoffs for those in a bind at quarterback. If he does get the call, look for Mike Shanahan to open up the playbook and work the ball downfield more often.

I spent much of Monday morning and evening in transit from New York City for a meeting, which left me to set the DVR to pick up the Monday game between Carolina and Tampa Bay and caused me to miss the other stories to come out of the world sports on Monday night.

After finishing my review of the game, I sat down to watch the highlight shows and saw the incident that has been the subject of virtually all water cooler talk today, the contact between Texas Tech coach Bobby Knight and Michael Prince. Given Coach Knight's history and his pursuit of Dean Smith's record for most coaching victories, this one will probably be the top subject on talk radio for the next several days.

From where I sit, this was a coach simply trying to get a player's attention and give him confidence to finish out the contest. Neither Prince nor his family took this to be an issue and the Texas Tech University administration is backing the coach.

I remember playing football growing up and being yanked by the collar of my shoulder pads or my facemask to reposition me as we worked a new formation or to demonstrate the proper stunts. Coaches grabbed facemasks to get the attention after a false start or holding penalty.

Did I find my coaches to be malicious or out of line in any way? Absolutely not.

In fact, physically moving me into position helped to clarify points that they couldn't necessarily relate verbally. Grabbing the mask after a penalty helped to refocus my efforts and made me a better, more disciplined player. And made me accountable for my play and mistakes on the field.

It was all about building confidence and trust and getting me to become a more focused individual, something that didn't need to be left on the football field. Sometimes life lessons taught by parents and guardians are reinforced by teachers and events when they are least expected.

What is your feeling on this topic? Should Bob Knight be disciplined for this incident?