Now that we know there's actually going to be a 2011 NFL season, there's only one thing to do:
Start breaking down potential fantasy football picks, of course.
Right about now, every fantasy football manager is trying to figure out who will be the Arian Foster(notes) of 2011. You know, the guy who's not really on anyone's radar but who will end up having a monster year in fantasyland
A year after he barely made most draft boards, the majority of pre-draft fantasy football rankings I've seen have Foster going first or second overall. He's earned the ranking: Foster rushed for 1,616 yards and a whopping 16 touchdowns for the Texans during his sophomore NFL season of 2010.
With Foster in the mix going into the draft this year, the board is top-heavy with stud running backs, including the Minnesota Vikings' Adrian Peterson and the Tennessee Titans' Chris Johnson. And don't forget Michael Turner(notes), Jamaal Charles(notes) and Ray Rice(notes), who have to be in consideration for your top-10 list heading into the draft.
There's a lot of talent at the running back position, for sure, but finding the next Foster is a tough task, because chances are, the guy who really blows up in 2011 is going to be a proven back or a guy who is at least more than the afterthought Foster was going into the 2010 season.
I've got my eye on a couple of second-year backs, in particular, but they wouldn't exactly be surprise success stories were they to both go off in 2011: Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back LeGarrette Blount(notes) and Detroit Lions back Jahvid Best(notes).
Both former Pac-10 Conference guys—Blount from Oregon and Best from Cal—the pair find themselves in positions to produce in 2011.
Blount's coming off a rookie season in which he rushed for 1,007 yards and six touchdowns, accounting for all but 30 yards of that total from Week 7 on. Blount didn't play at all in Weeks 1, 2 and 6, and he had just 10 total carries before accounting for 72 yards on 11 carries in Week 7. If Blount was still a free agent in your league after that, he was surely snagged up after the two-touchdown, 120-yard performance that followed in a Week 8 victory at Arizona.
I love Blount's game and his physical makeup, and I think he's poised to take a big step forward in 2011. Though not as instrumental in the passing game as Best was for the Lions in 2010 (Blount had just five receptions for 14 yards as a rookie), he's both shifty and powerful, at 6-foot, 247 pounds. It's just too bad running backs don't get extra fantasy points for jumping over defenders.
Best had a solid rookie season, rushing for 555 yards and four touchdowns, and catching 58 passes for 487 yards and two more TDs despite battling a turf toe injury. The frustrating thing about his rookie campaign for fantasy owners was that Best rushed for 108 of those yards and scored all four of his rushing TDs in Weeks 1 and 2, then didn't reach paydirt on the ground again the rest of the way.
Best's Week 2 output against the Philadelphia Eagles is indicative of why I'm looking for big things from him this season. He carried 17 times for 78 yards and two touchdowns, and caught nine passes for 154 yards and another TD.
The Lions did draft rookie running back Mikel LeShoure(notes), and Kevin Smith(notes) and Maurice Morris(notes) are also still on the roster, as well, but I like Best's outlook for 2011, considering—like Blount—he will be more comfortable with a year in the system, and he has good hands, making him a great weapon for a now-healthy Matthew Stafford(notes) to utilize in Detroit's pass-friendly system.
There are plenty of running backs who'll be available in the draft beyond the first or second rounds, and Blount and Best are just two of the ones I'm looking at to break out in 2011.
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