The 2010 Sports Outlaw All Value Team – Part 1

Seems like every year I see fantasy owners spend most of their attention concentrating on the top of their draft boards. The guys who they believe will anchor their team each week and lead them to fantasy glory. Once they are done dissecting the first couple rounds they seem to then shift their focus to sleepers. The end of the draft guys they are just positive will come from no where and shock everyone and in the process make them look like a genius.

Well those two ends of the spectrum are sure fun to talk about and are important parts of your fantasy team. However,what about the other 12-14 players on your team? What about the mid round bargains that end up playing like first round gems? It is these types of players that make the difference between an average team and a championship team. Getting players that outperform their draft positions are each pick is obviously the goal. We all know your not going to hit on every pick, but finding the guys who end outperforming their draft spot is how you win fantasy leagues.

It is those players that we are going to focus on in this article. If you can fill your team with value players who can perform at a higher level than expected you will be well on your way to a title. You will not find any first round players here, in fact, only 1 player who has an ADP in the 2nd round is included. The players you draft in these areas are expected to be very good and for the health of your team they better be. The old saying is dead on, you can not win your fantasy league in the first two rounds……but you sure can lose it in them. So your goal in these rounds is to find the reliable producers who can set the foundation to build your championship on. Once you have your foundation set you need to start building the upside that is needed to win the title. You do this by finding value pick through out the draft.

So who are the players that you should have on your radar as value picks this year? Here is a full 18 player roster that I consider to be the best value plays of 2010. Their Average Draft Position (ADP) from fantasy football calculator will be listed in ( ) behind each player’s name.

2010 Sports Outlaw All Value Team

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Quarterbacks

• Joe Flacco, Baltimore (8.1) – Do you prefer to wait on grabbing your QB until the middle rounds? If you are, one to have on your radar is Joe Flacco. Flacco showed us a flash of what may be to come early last season when he opened the year with 3 – 300 yard passing games in his first 6 games. He performed like a top 10 QB over the first 6 weeks. As the season wore on Flacco slowed and had a brutal middle of the season before showing signs of life again towards the end of the season. So why am I optimistic about Flacco outperforming his draft position and performing as a solid starting fantasy QB this season? Simple, more experience and more weapons. Flacco has lacked a true number one WR during his first two season in the NFL. The Ravens have added veteran Pro Bowl WR Anquan Boldin in the offseason to give him that true number 1 he has been lacking. They also added WR Donte’ Stallworth who is trying to comeback after missing all of 2009 due to suspension. These additions coupled with having one of the better receiving backs in the league in Ray Rice and Flacco will be working with the most talent this offense has had since his arrival. As Flacco continues to mature as an NFL QB I expect him to take advantage of his new weapons and take the next step in his career. Grab Flacco in the mid rounds and you will have yourself a solid starting QB at a bargain price.

• Matthew Stafford, Detroit (11.07) – Stafford took his lumps as a rookie last year. Year one was a learning experience for sure and one in which he missed 6 games due to injury. With another year to work with Calvin Johnson and the additions of Nate Burleson at WR, Tony Scheffler at TE and Jahvid Best at RB the Lions should be much improved on offense this year. With more weapons to work with Stafford could take a large step forward in 2010. His current draft position makes him easy to grab and not have to count of right away. He is the perfect back-up to have as he has a very high upside at a very reasonable price. Stafford could be one of the big surprises of this season.

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Running Backs

• Cedric Benson, Cincinnati (3.7) – Benson was one of the big surprises at RB last season as he gave his owners extremely consistent production when he was healthy. In games in which he finished Benson was in single digits only twice and was never under 7 pts in standard leagues (He left week 10 in the 2nd Q with an injury). In fact, prior to his injury he was 8th in RB’s in fantasy pts per game (standard scoring). Benson finds himself once again in a contract year and with another off field incident in Austin this summer Benson will need to be on his best behavior and perform at a high level to secure a big pay day next year. The Bengals are not going to stop running the football. A formula that led them to a division title last year. The Bengals are known for giving their RB’s a heavy work load in their primes and moving on once they start to decline. I expect the same with Benson. 320+ carries and 1,400 yards are not unrealistic expectations if he stays healthy. Draft him in the middle of the third and get late first to early 2nd round production.
• Jonathan Stewart, Carolina (4.8) – The only thing that keeps Stewart from being a top 10 pick in fantasy drafts is the fact that another top 10 RB, DeAngelo Williams, happens to be on the same team as him. The good thing for owners of both Stewart and Williams is that the Panthers like to run and they like to run a lot! Stewart started slow last year but once he got going he was one of the better backs in the league. When Williams went down at the end of the season Stewart took over and led some very happy fantasy owners to the title. Even if they are both healthy Stewart will get enough opportunities to be a nice RB2. In the games when he gets the full load he is a must start and will be one of the top ranked RB’s that week. To get a solid RB2 who is an injury away from possible top 5 numbers in the 4th is robbery.
• Marion Barber, Dallas (6.11) – No this is not a mistake….I did not mean to write Felix Jones. Barber is entering 2010 with his fantasy value lower than it has ever been. He is coming off his 2nd sub par season in a row and 2nd in which he battled injuries for much of the year. So there are the reason to be worried, let’s look at the reason to be optimistic. In 2009 he played with a torn quad muscle for the last 13 games. Despite that, he still managed to lead the Cowboys in rushing and and still finished as the 21st RB in the league. Many fantasy owners are high on his counter part, Felix Jones. To me it’s simple, Barber is the superior redzone threat which results in more TD’s, he gets more yards and last year he even caught more balls out of the backfield. If Barber can put his quad injury behind him he could be in store for a big comeback season. I see no reason for him to not outperform his draft position and he should once again be the best fantasy back on the Cowboys roster.
• Michael Bush, Oakland (9.01) – I will be the first to admit that I whiffed on the Oakland running back situation last year. I was extremely high on Darren McFadden and boy was I wrong. Well this year it is another Oakland running back that has my eye and his name is Michael Bush. Bush is a gifted runner with great size. The Raiders want to use him in a power back role this year which should turn into a more consistent role in the offense and increased productivity. I’m not predicting that Bush is going to explode onto the scene and be a must start for your team. What i do see is a very solid RB3 with good upside that can be had in the late middle portion of the draft. I think he will find himself among the top 20 RB’s at the end of the season and owners will be pleased with this out of their late 8th to early 9th round pick.

• Laurence Maroney, New England (10.4) – It seems like no one really noticed, but Maroney was actually a solid number 2 RB for bulk of the season last year. It took NE a few weeks to gain their confidence back in Maroney, but once they did, he had a solid year until a week 16 injury. Maroney received a consistent work load from week 6 to 15 in which he ran the ball at least 13 times each week. Over that span, he was the #11 RB in fantasy pts per game (standard scoring). Not bad production out of the former 2006 first round pick. So what has changed? Well nothing to be exact. No new competition, no major issues that we have heard about for him to over come, the situation is basically the same as it was for the bulk of 2009. So why is Maroney virtually forgotten about going into the season? Well your going to have to tell me that, because I am not about to. Maroney can be had in the 9th to 10th round and could easily end up performing as a RB2. That is exactly what I am looking for when I am looking for value picks.

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Defenses

• Philadelphia (12.04) – Defenses are very hard to predict year in and year out from a fantasy perspective. The top defenses in fantasy seem to change more year to year than other positions. However, one constant over the last couple years that seems to be undervalued and overlooked is the Philadelphia Eagles Defense. The last 2 years they have been among the top 2 defenses at the end of the year. Despite that fact, on average they are the 8th defense off the board. Just doesn’t add up and smells like a value pick to me. Let others reach early for the flavor of the year at defense and sit back and grab the Eagles D a few rounds later.
• Cincinnati (14.08) – Are you one that prefers to wait till your last couple picks to grab a defense? Well if you are, you may want to keep the Cincinnati defense on your radar. This is a pick that can be had towards the end of the draft and could be one of the defenses that jumps up to the top this season. This defense was much improved last year and a major reason for their divisional championship. It looks to be even better this year with the return of several key players they lost due to injury last season. They have exciting play makers who can generate points for fantasy owners. Snag them late and you just have a top 5 defense in the end.

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I will be back with my top value picks at WR, TE & K in part 2.

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