Saturday, September 1, 2012

My Fantasy Five

I recently competed in the Grantland fantasy writers contest where the top 10 entries were selected to be in a fantasy league and will compete throughout the season to become a fantasy writer. Since I wasn't selected for the top 10 (I'm pretty confident I was 11th), I figure I might as well post them on the very underused blog. So without further ado, here are my top five fantasy players for the 2012 season:


1. Arian Foster
Anyone who takes any running back ahead of Arian Foster has no intention of winning their league. Is Foster a bit of injury risk? Yes. But you’re not going to win your fantasy league playing it safe.  Not only is he the best running back based on a talent standpoint, but he also get two games against the Colts and two against the Jaguars. Those are 4 weeks you already won in fantasy if you have a healthy Arian on your team. When you combine the Texans schedule of opponents with the fact that they are no longer a prominent passing team by any means, it would be foolish to not take Foster with the number one overall pick.

2. Thomas Brady
Brady is hands down the number one quarterback. This is a guy who is coming off one of the best passing seasons in NFL history and his offensive weapons have improved? The addition of Brandon Lloyd makes coverage of the Patriots near impossible which may lead to them becoming the first team to ever go an entire season without a rushing attempt. Brady’s getting up there in age but until we see any sign of regression don’t concern yourself about it. Assuming a Gronkowski blow-dryer prank doesn’t go horribly awry, it’s going to be a near perfect season for the man named Brady.

3. LeSean McCoy
Remember when the Eagles were the next great dynasty in the NFL? Remember when we all thought no team could keep up with their offensive speed? Well some bad luck, poor coaching schemes, and stupid play contributed to the Eagles never getting off the ground in the first half of last season. But we certainly saw flashes of that offense that could be towards the end of last year, and the guy who was primarily behind those flashes was Shady McCoy. In terms of making guys miss in the open field, there is no one in the game better McCoy. He’s probably the safest player in the top five and I would expect almost identical numbers that we saw from him last year with a possible bump in receiving yards.

4. Drew Brees
Just about everything went wrong for the New Orleans Saints this season, which is why people are hesitant about touching Saints players this year. But with the exception of Coach Payton being suspended, is it possible that the other penalties will actually help out Brees? He’s always been the guy playing with a chip on his shoulder so he’ll certainly be looking to show the world that these setbacks aren’t going to hinder his season. Also, with some of their key defensive players on the shelf there’s a good chance the Saints will have to be throwing more to stay in games. The loss of Robert Meachem hurts, but as long as he still has Graham, Colston, and Sproles, we’ll be seeing another big fantasy year from Drew.

5. Julio Jones
Mark your calendars for September 4, 2012 because that is the last day for a long time that Julio Jones gets drafted out of the first two rounds for fantasy. He’s part of the group of freakishly athletic wide receivers that seem to be plaguing the NFL these days and he’s only coming off of his rookie year. The Falcons have a pretty favorable schedule for opposing defenses and their running game isn’t what it used to be which could lead to increased passing attempts. Now that he starts to develop a better understanding of route running and NFL defenses, I see a big breakout year coming.

Sleeper: Danny Amendola
I absolutely love Amendola, especially if you find yourself in a PPR league. It was only a year ago that we thought Sam Bradford was on his way to being the next elite quarterback until injuries to both himself and the entire Rams team plagued them throughout last season. Amendola is coming off of his own triceps injury, but it happened in week one so he’s had plenty of time to recover. He’s going to be Bradford’s favorite target and will get a lot of looks, including in the red zone. Plus, don’t you always feel good about yourself for giving the short, plucky guy a chance?

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