No one knows who this year's Zac Stacy will be, but I thought it'd be kind of cool to throw a guess out there. I'll give you a few more names as to who is this year's "Player X", but take these with a grain of salt. If you start moving all of these guys up your own cheat sheets, I'm sure you'll be in for plenty of disappointment. Sure, I might even get a couple of these right...but I'll probably get most of them wrong. I should point out that I also considered including questions like "Who is this year's CJ Spiller or Steven Jackson?" But I don't want to try to predict injuries or even get too negative with this article. Sure, there are question marks about players like Doug Martin and Arian Foster, so they might be reasonable answers to the question. But I'm going to keep it positive here and see if we can discover those diamonds in the rough for the 2014 fantasy football season.
Let's start with the running backs and the original question...
Q: Who is this year's Zac Stacy?
[Description: A rookie (later-round draft pick) who is in a clouded backfield situation, UNDRAFTED in virtually all fantasy leagues, but could get a shot sooner rather than later to be the "bellcow" running back.]
A: Lorenzo Taliaferro
One of the last picks in the 4th round of this year's NFL draft, Taliaferro appears to be buried in the Ravens depth chart. But Ray Rice is suspended for the first two games of the season, and Bernard Pierce probably won't be expected to play every down against the Bengals and Steelers. If Taliaferro can at least be the third string RB, he should get some playing time in the first couple of weeks. Who knows? If he shines in either of those games, he could be in for a bigger workload if Rice comes back and is as ineffective as he was in 2013. (Note: I also considered Alfred Blue for this long shot. Blue was a 6th round draft pick of the Houston Texans, and he's currently behind Arian Foster and Jonathan Grimes on the depth chart. A player like James White doesn't fit this category because the Patriot backfield is always clouded, and he's on everyone's "sleeper" list and is being drafted as such.)
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| Tate is in Auburn's top-5 all time rushers |
[Description: Former early round NFL draft pick, career plagued by injuries, but finally finds himself in a nice spot to be a feature running back.]
A: Ben Tate
OK. So I'm kind of cheating here because Knowshon was selected WAY later in fantasy drafts than Ben Tate will be this year, but this was a tough one!
Check out the similarities though...
Moreno was a 1st round pick in the 2009 draft and Tate was a 2nd rounder in the 2010 draft. Now here we are a year after Moreno's big season, and I'm looking at Ben Tate in a similar situation with a similar opportunity. The Terrance West hype is getting to be close to that of Montee Ball last year, but Moreno was able to stay healthy and beat out the rookie. I think Tate could do the same thing in Cleveland, and he could thrive behind a strong O-line and an offense that should run it quite a bit.
Q: Who is this year's Danny Woodhead?
[Description: Shifty veteran who sneakily finishes in the top-20 overall fantasy RBs.]
A: Dexter McCluster
Last year was Woodhead's 5th in the league, and he was with a new team in San Diego. McCluster is entering his 5th season in 2014, and finds himself with new digs in Tennessee. Interestingly enough, Ken Whisenhunt is the new head coach for the Titans. What was he doing last season? He was the offensive coordinator for the Chargers. So it's not a huge leap to think that Dexter McCluster could fit right into that role in this offensive scheme. With Shonn Greene plodding along as the goal line back and Bishop Sankey trying to make a name for himself as a rookie, people might forget about the versatile player that McCluster could turn out to be this year.
Q: Who is this year's Alshon Jeffery?
[Description: High NFL draft pick, super fast/talented, ready to break out in his 2nd year after doing virtually nothing in his rookie campaign. Going WAY late in fantasy drafts too.]
A: Markus Wheaton
DeAndre Hopkins almost fits this category because he's not going super high in drafts, but he had 800 receiving yards last year so he's on people's radars. Justin Hunter is also kind of an easy pick here, but I've also heard it before. Meanwhile, Wheaton barely played in 2013 behind Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, and Jerricho Cotchery (plus, a broken pinkie in Week 4 kept him out of action until November anyway). Well, Sanders is now in Denver and Cotchery is in Carolina, so the Steelers are in need of someone to step up and be that #2 WR. I think the former Oregon State Beaver has the best shot of anyone, and right now the job appears his to lose.
Q: Who is this year's Keenan Allen?
[Description: Rookie WR who finds himself on a team with a solid QB in need of a #1 WR, so he becomes that guy. Must be late-round fantasy pick or even undrafted in most leagues.]
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| Matthews struggled against the Bears, but I like his potential |
I wanted to talk up Kelvin Benjamin here, but a lot of people are expecting him to fill that void in Carolina. As a result, he's climbing in fantasy drafts. But a rookie WR who continues to fly under the radar is Jordan Matthews. A 2nd round pick out of Vanderbilt, the 6'3" Matthews finds himself in an excellent spot to be a big part of a high-powered offense. With Jeremy Maclin returning from a torn ACL and Riley Cooper more of a #2 WR anyway, I think Matthews could be that #1 WR in Philly.
Q: Who is this year's Josh Gordon?
[Description: Second year WR with the best chance to be the #1 playmaker on his team and lead all WRs in fantasy points.]
A: Cordarrelle Patterson
I wish I knew this was the actual answer to this question because Cordarrelle is a potential keeper of mine. But it's kind of tough to keep him over Peyton Manning or Jordy Nelson. I realize Adrian Peterson is still in Minnesota, but Cordarrelle has a decent chance make even more big plays than him this year. With Norv Turner running the offense in Cleveland last season, Josh Gordon became the clear #1 option and ended up leading all WRs in fantasy points (and receiving yards...even though he missed the first two games of the season!). This year, Norv is calling the shots for the Vikings, and he could end up doing the same thing with the talented Patterson.
Q: Who is this year's Carolina Panthers?
[Description: Average fantasy defense the previous year (Carolina was around #15 in 2012) but a consistent top-3 fantasy defense this season (Carolina ended up as #2 fantasy defense in 2013). Has to be undrafted in many leagues, which has me excluding the Broncos.]
A: New Orleans Saints
I bet you weren't expecting a defense thrown at you, now were you? Well, the Saints were much improved in 2013, and I think they'll be a top-10 fantasy defense in 2014. With their easy(ish) schedule and now a full year of experience in Rob Ryan's system, I think it's possible they could even be top-5 this season.
Q: Who is this year's Julius Thomas?
[Description: Tight end who did virtually nothing his first two years in the league (yes, Thomas was drafted in 2011), then went off in his 2nd/3rd(ish) year.]
The benefit for Julius Thomas was that he didn't have one of the best tight ends of the last couple of decades ahead of him on the depth chart. It might not matter though. Philip Rivers only has a couple of reliable guys to throw to, and Green has the athleticism to become a favorite target of his. If Gates suffers an injury and/or gets phased out of the offense even slightly, the door could be open for Green to have a monster season.
Q: Who is this year's Andy Dalton?
[Description: Somewhat of a boring mid-round fantasy pick, a guy in his 3rd or 4th year in the league, goes from a #12 or so fantasy QB one year to top-5 the next.]
A: Colin Kaepernick
Based on my league's settings, Andy Dalton was the #12 fantasy QB in 2012 and he finished #3 QB in 2013. Kaepernick was the #12 fantasy QB in 2013, but we'll have to wait and see what happens this year. Personally, I feel like all of the pieces are there for him to put everything together and have a HUGE fantasy season. We all know the defense is solid, so the Niners should be able to spend plenty of time on the offensive side of the ball. They do run the ball well, but part of that IS Kaepernick and his wheels...and check out his receivers! Keep in mind, Michael Crabtree only played 5 regular season games last year, but the 49ers now get a full year out of him again (if healthy). Kaep still has Vernon Davis and Anquan Boldin to throw to, and San Fran added veteran Stevie Johnson to his arsenal (and potentially Brandon Lloyd if he makes the team). I can't think of a better candidate for a top-3 finish for someone currently being drafted outside of the top-10.
Q: Who is this year's Nick Foles?
[Description: A young QB waiting for his chance to be the starter, finally gets it when October rolls around, and turns out to be a top-15 fantasy quarterback (even with the limited action).]
A: Johnny Manziel
I'll finish with an easy one...
Here's how I see this thing in Cleveland playing out: Hoyer starts the year as the starter only to have the Browns go 0-3 (against the Steelers, Saints, and Ravens), and the Johnny Football Era starts after their Week 4 bye. Kyle Shannahan will let Johnny run around like RGIII did in his first year in a Redskins uniform, and the rookie QB will rack up significant rushing yards to help pad his fantasy stats. I think as long as he's the starter for 12 games or so, he should finish as a top-15 fantasy QB.
Hopefully Cleveland will have something to cheer about by October, and it won't just be LeBron's return to the Cavs...
Cheers,
Bart
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