Every year, guys that shouldn’t be are devalued by huge percentages of fantasy football owners because they had a bad run that wasn’t really that bad, or because people have heard something about some hot free agent pickup or a rookie who’s killing it in OTA’s. If you can decipher early which guys they are, you can grab them in the draft or, in some wonderful cases, early in the season off the waiver wire and make everyone else look foolish for not seeing what was so obvious to you (even if it wasn’t). Here are the guys at each offensive position I think people are straight up high for discounting this year. My All-Wrongfully-Devalued Team, if you will:
QB: JOE FLACCO: I don’t know how his numbers end up, but I am willing to bet an 8-pack of Guinness that he outperforms his ADP.
RB: STEVE SLATON: I know he laid the ball on the carpet too much and Kubes didn’t seem to trust him. I don’t care. Ben Tate, Arian Foster and whoever else they bring in don’t scare me yet, either. Steve Slaton is the most talented guy in that backfield. A year ago, everybody thought he was what Ray Rice turned out to be. He may not be quite that, but would you take 80% of it from your backup? I would. (UPDATE: Ben Tate is done for the year with a busted ankle. But Slaton fumbled on the goal line week 1 and Arian Foster looked good. I’m mildly concerned, but both guys will touch it enough.)
MICHAEL BUSH: I refuse not to believe what I saw at Louisville and in his limited chances to tote the rock with any regularity in the NFL level. I also believe in Tom Cable as a running game coach, having seen his wears up close while he was coordinating offense at UCLA. Top 10 upside in a RB 2-3. I said it.
Zach Miller will put up big numbers, and you can get him late.
TE: ZACH MILLER: Jason Campbell used Chris Cooley and Fred Davis quite a bit. Zach Miller is a better player than both of them and is about to prove it. You can get him for incredible value after the group of universally-accepted elite tight ends come off the board.
WR: DERRICK MASON: Because it happens every year and every year he puts up top-20 numbers. Go ahead and think adding Boldin means he’ll see the ball less. He’s the best router in the game and makes the tough catches. QB’s don’t forget about guys like that. Especially when they’ve already completed 153 balls for more than 2000 yards to the guy over the previous two years. If you believe in Donald Driver, you should be all over Derrick Mason. He was the 19th-ranked WR in my primary league, which is a PPR. And you can get him way, way lower than you should be able to and make him your #3.
EDDIE ROYAL: Bottom line? You don’t catch over 90 balls for nearly 1000 yards as a rookie NFL wide receiver unless you’re damn good at your job. I could be off here, and maybe he just doesn’t fit anywhere in Josh McDaniels’ system, but my eyes aren’t letting me believe that. This dude knows how to get open, and McDaniels will figure out how best to use him. My personal feeling is he can play the Welker Slot nicely, but wherever they put him, he’ll be much better than last year from a fantasy production perspective.
*Kickers aren’t offense. Look elsewhere if you seriously want someone to tell you which one is the least useless.
This article originally published at the Fantasy Football Pharmacy. Please visit my contributor page HERE:
Very good article Ryan. You aren’t just wise on Twitter lol. I agree with everyone one of those, as soon as I saw Campbell was a Raider I thought Zach Millar’s numbers were gonna sky rocket. I had Flacco last year, and will probably have him this year. I’m really thinking about Slaton cause he was a beast and if he improves on that fumbling crap then yeah I’m all for giving him a shot. I should come here more often.