The Undervalued Fantasy Players: Where's the love for McNair, Benson, and Others?
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by RDS1980
In an earlier article titled "Who is the next Maurice Jones-Drew?" I tried to answer who is going to be the next fantasy waiver wire RB that hits it big. The player that no one would suspect and maybe a clever fantasy owner would pick up underneath the radar. In that article I only gave only one name, and he was a starter...my bad. In this article I am going to give my opinion on who fantasy owners should pick up, if no one else has, in later rounds. Again these guys would not be starters in most cases, or picked over superstars like LT or TO or anybody else with 2 initials for a name, but in most cases I would make them my back ups.
Steve McNair (QB, Baltimore Ravens): I can hear the nay-sayers now,” He’s old!". Maybe but he isn't showing any signs of slowing down. Take last year's stats McNair threw for over 3,000 passing yards and had 16 TD passes, which averages to over 180 yards and 1 TD per game. By comparison Eli Manning, who plenty of people had for their starter, threw for only 200 more yards and Brett Farve, another favorite starter for some, had only 2 more TD passes*. McNair is not a starter in any fantasy leagues but he is definitely a #2 I believe, and the word from the Ravens camp is that he looks very sharp this year.
Matt Leinart (QB, Arizona Cardinals): The Hollywood Kid returns for a second year and this time he is off to a better start then last year. He was in training camp on time and he didn't have to worry about signing a contract. Now with Ken Wishenhut as the head coach expect Matt Leinhart to have a great year. Wishenhut coached Ben Roethlisberger his first couple of years in the NFL and helped the Pittsburgh offense become one of the top 10 offenses for the past 3 years*. Now with weapons like Fitzgerald, Bouldin, and Leinhart imagine what he can do. Not only that but a player’s 2nd year in the NFL is are more relaxed, they become more aware, and they are ready to show what they can do. Matt has too many receivers and not enough excuses to not finish in the top 10 in passing this year.
Travis Henry (RB, Denver Broncos): When I mentioned him in my last article as someone that should be looked at as a good sleeper I got a response that did ring true once I read it. "Shanahan seems to think anybody can be the Denver running back" I couldn't agree more, since Terell Davis left the organization it seems that Shanahan has been thinking that anyone could replace him. It's been a lot of running back by committee lately but I think Travis Henry is a good fit for this position and his numbers should go up, last year in Tennessee he ran for over 1200 yards and tied Vince Young for rushing TDs*. This year look for him to be in a system that likes what he has to offer, hard running. He has been in the league for 8 years so I don't see him being around too much longer and I would strike while the iron is still hot.
Cedric Benson (RB, Chicago Bears): The big off season question for the Bears backfield was who stays and who goes. Cedric Benson stayed and Thomas Jones has left. That has to be worth something for the 3rd year man that has stayed. Benson and Jones split playing time last year and that hurt both their stats, this year they are both the starters for their respective teams backfield. Benson had almost 100 fewer touches than Jones last year yet they averaged about the same yards per carry, 4.1 yds, and they had the same amount of TDs, 6*. Definitely Benson will be leaned on heavy this year especially if Grossman becomes inconsistent again.
Darrell Jackson (WR, San Francisco 49ers): I don’t know if you caught the pre-season game between the 49ers and Broncos on 8/13 but there was one play that stuck out in my mind. Darrell Jackson was lined up across from Champ Bailey, man to man coverage, when the ball was snapped Jackson ran a very sharp post pattern and Alex Smith hit him right in the bread basket for an 18 yard reception. I know what you’re probably thinking, “How can you be excited about an 18 yard post pattern?” Because that post pattern was made against the best DB in the NFL today. If he can continue to run crisp routes like that and continue to make receptions you tell me who can stop him. It certainly wasn’t the best the NFL has to offer on that night. Jackson has averaged about 1000 receiving yards and last year in Seattle had 10 TDs. Be weary though, injuries have hit him before.
Greg Olsen (TE, Chicago Bears): Out of all the rookies coming out of the Draft I think Olson will make the biggest impact this year. Desmond Clark, last year’s starter, has almost 10 years under his belt and they really don’t have a #2 for him. Olson had 4 receptions for 34 yards in the Bear’s preseason opener and I expect him to see some significant playing time if he can learn how to block. In Fantasy football the TE is a limited position because he is not the #1 threat on almost any team and is usually a check down guy. However those that excel at this position are coveted (Gates, Gonzalez, Shockey). This probably won’t be his break out year but people will definitely be noticing his presence on the field.
Those are some of my picks. A little amendment here, I do not feel like these are all the undervalued players available (that list is quite long and includes names like Cutler, Alex Smith, and even Branch) These are just the names that I've come across in fanasy drafts as not being taken whenever I can think of plenty of reason why they should.
- -stats come from the website www.nfl.com
