The Super Bowl just ended. I know, it’s supposed to be baseball season. Not here at F.F.T., baby! Our unwaivering O.C.D. keeps us on a one track quest toward helping you to win your 2009 fantasy season; so we aren’t taking a single day off in that crusade.
One of singlemost unheralded ways fantasy football players can gain that small edge in today's cut-throat fantasy game, is by dissecting the previous year's game logs for late-season fantasy football bloomers. Problem is, that's a boatload of work which is why you have us bookmarked!
In this article I'll be focusing on a select few that quietly spiked in the second half, and poised to use that as a springboard for 2009. Suit up, men (and women)! Let’s take a look at some sneaky value players heading into 2009.
Kevin Smith (RB-Detroit Lions)
When a team goes 0-16, like the Lions just did, no one cares except the historians. But in the blissfully utopian society of fantasy, we should care. We should care because it’s not good for anyone if the Lions repeat that feat again in 2009; and we should care because that’s where one Kevin Smith plays football. Behind the cloak of horribleness that was Detroit’s 2008 season, there came a rose in a bed of sand.
Mr. Smith quietly had one of the better second halves of any running back in the National Football League. In those eight games, he only had one truly bad effort (a 22-yard clunker against the Titans). He racked up 671 yards rushing, averaged 3.9 yards per carry, scored four times (including in each of his last three games) and tacked on 124 yards receiving. He did all of that with an offensive line that waffled between "struggling" and downright putrid.
The Lions recently hired Rams outcast, and notable crybaby, Scott Linehan as their offensive coordinator. Linehan was a terrible head coach in St. Louis; there’s no arguing that. But he was a good offensive coordinator in Miami and Minnesota before that. Don’t forget, Linehan was the head coach in 2006 when Steven Jackson had a career year for the Rams.
As long as the Lions can figure a way to keep getting the ball to Megatron (a.k.a Calvin Johnson), that should keep defenses from loading up the box on Smith. You have to figure they are going to make some upgrades to their line because, hey, it can’t get any worse, right? Between Culpepper, Kitna and Stanton, the Lions should be able to find a serviceable quarterback. Finally, Linehan is not a coach that favors a running back-by-committee approach; therefore, Smith should have the job all to his lonesome.
Smith is my No. 1 late-season bloomer to watch for 2009.
Antonio Bryant (WR-Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Bryant was an absolute fantasy killer last season. Not in a bad way though; unless you faced off against him in the playoffs. No, if you picked Bryant off the scrap heap late last year, you’re probably sitting on a league trophy and some serious scratch right now.
Bryant has always had the talent, as exhibited by his 1,000-yard receiving season with Cleveland in 2005. It was his off-the-field conduct that got him in trouble. He was released by the 49ers in 2006 because of conflicts with coaches, was arrested on a variety of charges in 2007, which garnered him a suspension and sat out all of that season after a failed drug test.
2008 seemed to be the season he got his act back together. After a slow start, Bryant kicked off the second half of the Bucs season (Week 9) with an eight catch, 115-yard, one touchdown performance against the Chiefs. He finished the season by grabbing 512 yards receiving and scoring in each of the last four games of the year. That stretch included a monstrous 200-yard, two touchdown performance against the Panthers. To cap it off, Bryant’s only competition in 2009 for the No. 1 wide receiver job is Ike Hilliard and a 37-year-old Joey Galloway, who’s rumored to be cut soon.
There are some questions that still need to be answered with Bryant heading into 2009. Actually, I should rephrase. There are some questions with the Tampa Bay organization that need to be answered; not with Bryant. Jon Gruden and GM Bruce Allen were shown the door; replaced by Raheem Morris and Mark Dominik. It remains to be seen what type of offensive philosophy Morris chooses to employ, and what players Dominik brings in during the offseason.
However, the largest factor to Bryant’s 2009 season could be on the other side of the ball. Long time defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin packed up his Tampa 2 cover scheme, and has taken that act on the road to KnoxVegas (a.k.a. Knoxville, Tennessee), to join his son Lane on the staff of the Tennessee Volunteers. If the Bucs defense takes a large step backward, they could find themselves playing catch-up in more games than they’re used to. For those of us living in fantasy utopia, we all know what that means: Air Bryant.
Steve Slaton (RB-Houston Texans)
Right now, most of you are saying, “Hold up. Slaton wasn’t a second half phenom, he was there all year.” Not necessarily. At the beginning of last season, it was largely believed that Ahman Green and either of the Chris' (Taylor or Brown) would share the load. A running back-by-committee approach was in order.
Taylor and Brown went down in preseason (no shock there), and Slaton got the backup running back gig. So yes, he was on the field from the get-go; however, Slaton was still a tandem with Green through the first half of the year. He never broke the 20-carry threshold once in the first half. It was mentioned on more than one occasion that the Texans organization believed Slaton was too small to be the every down back.
(Side note: When will NFL teams learn to stop judging guys by their size? For God’s sake, Barry Sanders and Thurman Thomas weren’t exactly monsters. They did alright for themselves, wouldn’t you say?)
However, after the Texans realized that Green was, well, old, they installed Slaton as the starter. In the last eight games of the season, he went over 20 carries in a game five times, the 100-yard threshold four times, found paydirt four times and caught 20 balls out of the backfield. Much like Kevin Smith, he did this with an "iffy" offensive line.
The Texans will keep the same zone-blocking scheme in 2009. They will have the same offensive coordinator and line coach. They should be looking to improve both their offensive and defensive lines. Barring injury (knock on wood), Slaton could easily get 2,500 total yards and double-digit touchdowns in 2009.
Late Season Bloomers: Part II
Late Season Bloomers: Part III
Jeremy's special brand of humor can be found not only on F.F.T., but daily on his blog, Biting Rump, at http://bitingrump.wordpress.com/
