Below are a list of players that need to be monitored as the off-season rolls along. This list of fantasy athletes will either be bargains in 2008, or disappointments. Enjoy, and be sure to talk about this article on its official thread on our FFX Forums.
If you’re looking for a bargain quarterback in 2008, this is your guy! McNabb didn’t have the best season in 2007 (3,324 yards, 19TDs, 7 INTs), but it was his first year back from ACL surgery, an injury that typically takes one full season to get over. At a glance, McNabb appears to have one of the easiest passing schedules in the NFL in 2008 (we will provide a strength of schedule for QBs soon enough). With that info, and given that McNabb has been top 5 fantasy QB in points per game over the last three fantasy seasons, I firmly believe that the Eagles QB could spit out top 5-6 fantasy numbers this year. Just make sure you have a solid back-up if you’re rolling with McNabb as your ‘08 starter.
Johnson still has top 10 overall upside in 2008, and a case can even be made that he has top 10 overall upside in dynasty formats as well. The problem? As it stands right now, Kansas City has some huge problems on the offensive line, as they are still in need of at least two starters. If these problems get addressed, L.J. could really climb our 2008 Redraft and Dynasty Rankings. Many are concerned with both his mileage (400+ carry season in 2006) and his age (29 in November), but for the most part, Johnson should have relatively fresh legs. In just five NFL seasons, Johnson has only had 160+ carry seasons twice. To put this into perspective, LaDainian Tomlinson has carried the football 300+ times in all seven of his NFL seasons. All seven! That suggests to me that L.J. still has a couple elite years left. Also, keep in mind that the K.C. rusher was back to his elite form just before suffering his season-ending foot injury in his eighth game of the season. In his last three contests, Johnson scored 4TDs and he rushed for over 100 yards in three of his last four outings. He was surely back to form before going down, and also keep in mind that he had a brutal schedule early on, which explains his depressingly slow start last year.
Barber is a beast of a running back and is sure to have a monster fantasy year in ‘08, but only if he is given the majority of the carries. Why the Cowboys aren’t locking up this talented runner is beyond us, but he will almost certainly be in Dallas in 2008, as the Cowboys slapped the running back with the highest possible tender ($2.562 million). A team can sign him to an offer sheet, but then would be forced to give up a first- and third-round draft pick in order to steal him away, which is not going to happen. This means that a trade is the only other way that Barber could play elsewhere in 2008, and that is not likely to go down either given how deep this rookie running back class is this year. As for Barber’s 2008 value, it remains in question… but if the team doesn’t invest a high draft pick on a rookie runner come April’s 2008 NFL Draft, Barber will be worth a top 12 overall draft pick heading into ‘08 drafts!
Even if the Bills don’t make a ton of moves this off-season, I still like Evans as a sneaky WR2 heading into 2008. The deep-threat had to go through musical chairs at the quarterback position last year, so his rough 2007 campaign shouldn’t be held against him. Instead, take advantage of it, as the speedster has top 10WR upside each and every year that he plays. Quarterback Trent Edwards looks promising, as does the entire team… I really think Buffalo can turn some heads in this upcoming NFL season. If Buffalo drafts a WR early in April’s NFL Draft (to help Evans find space), the guy will most likely move up on a lot of people’s cheat sheets, so act now. Don’t treat him like a WR1, but keep in mind that he can play like one.
If Heap (hamstring) is 100% healthy this year, he could explode under Cam Cameron in BAL. Cameron uses his TEs early and often, so expect a monster year out of Heap if he can manage to stay on the field for most of the season.
