Saturday, June 19, 2010

Fantasy Football Offseason: Running Backs

My general fantasy strategy is to stockpile wide receivers and an elite quarterback early and then to grab a slew of running backs in the middle rounds, hoping that at least one or two of them will break out. Receivers and QB's are far less injury prone, and it's extremely important to get consistency out of those positions, hence my rationale for grabbing them as my studs. Now if I have the #1 overall pick, I'm obv. grabbing CJ but this is just a general philosophy.

Top Gun: Chris Johnson. The best skill position player in football and it's not even close. The top player from 2009 will repeat his performance in 2010. Johnson runs behind a solid offensive line, has speed for days, catches tons of balls, and has no more Lendale White to poach any possible goal-line carries from him.

Value Picks: LeSean McCoy and Beanie Wells. Both will be playing with new quarterbacks, and should see a significant increase in carries. McCoy figures to also be heavily involved in the passing game making him a sick PPR pick, and is the Eagles' only legitimate back. Both can probably be had at a 3rd round or late 2nd round price, making them both fantastic RB1's who can be had for a fringe RB2 price.

Bounceback Candidate: Brandon Jacobs. He's still got a couple more good years in him, nagging injuries to him and the offensive line derailed him in 2009, and while Bradshaw is more explosive, Jacobs will still see his fair share of touches, especially near the goal-line.

Breakout: Felix Jones. Put simply, he's the Cowboys' best back and it's not even close. While Marion Barber is still owed a shit ton of money, Jerry Jones really ought to feed Jones the rock and let him take over games.

Sleeper: Justin Forsett. Absolutely love this guy, he exploded every time he got an opportunity to play, but Julius Jones clearly had some sort of blackmail on ousted coach Jim Mora Jr. hurting Forsett's value. Under Pete Carroll where the best player will play, I expect Forsett to become the feature back ahead of Jones and Leon Washington.

Bust: Joseph Addai. Donald Brown is gonna become the Colts' primary back, and more importantly see the goal-line carries, thus killing Addai's value.

Go Fuck Yourself: Reggie Bush

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