Week 1 Fantasy Football Players to Watch: Steven Jackson

TheSportsWatchers.com: This post was published 2 years 8 months 15 days ago which may make it irrelevant to your fantasy football inquiry. For up to date fantasy football projections and predictions, go to our homepage at TSW Fantasy Football.

As some of you know, I’m pretty high on Steven Jackson. I drafted him in 2 of my fantasy football leagues, and I do expect him to have one heck of a season in 2009. The only problem with my prediction of a big year for Steven Jackson is that nobody seems to agree with me.

Okay. Some people agree with me, to some degree. Steven Jackson appears to have gone 6th on average in fantasy football drafts. It was probably even higher before DeAngelo Williams started to climb the charts following concerns over the health of Jonathan Stewart. However, I think Jackson is much more valuable than then his 6th place ranking would suggest. To put it plainly, Jackson will have a better season than any running back in the league.

That’s right! I said it!

Some of you might think that statement contradicts both the TSW preseason running back rankings and the Top 10 rankings posted earlier this week. However, those rankings factor in perceived value. Realistically speaking, nobody but me and my crazy self thinks that Steven Jackson is going to be the best running back during the 2009 fantasy football season, and it takes a team of people to come up with those rankings.

That being said, perceived value doesn’t matter after the drafts. The only value that matters is how many points your fantasy football players are putting up on the board, and Steven Jackson is prime to score as many points as anyone else in football.

First, Steven Jackson wasn’t just good last year, game for game, he was the best running back in football, despite being dinged up for a good part of the season. In 2008, Jackson produced 1,422 yards from scrimmage in just 12 games. Extrapolate that number to cover 16 games, and the resulting figure of 1,896 yards is more yards than any running back in the NFL accumulated last season—and that was with depleted Rams offense. Not to mention, due to injury, Jackson only played in 1 quarter of one of his 12 games, which if you factor that in, Jackson’s extrapolated number goes over 2,000 yards, something he has done before in his career.

Of course, a lot of you are worried about Jackson’s team, the St. Louis Rams, and it’s ability to score points. I know; yards or nice, but in fantasy football points come in bulk with touchdowns. The Rams did only score 8 rushing touchdowns in 2008, but a lot of that was the result of their schedule. The Rams had to play the NFC East, and needless to say, they didn’t fair too well against those teams. They also played the AFC East, which had 3 teams with 9 wins or more and all four teams had reputable defenses. And one of the team’s other two non-divisional games came against a solid Bears defense. So at the end of the day, this team never really had a chance to gel as an offense. In facing superior teams, dealing with injuries to both Jackson and Marc Bulger, and having the most injured offensive line in football last year, the Rams offense shouldn’t have been good. But this year, everyone should enter Week 1 of fantasy football healthy, and they have an easier schedule than the AFC East and NFC East. So their scoring should improve significantly 2009.

And speaking of the schedule, have you seen how the Rams finish the season? Steven Jackson could flirt with history during the final 8 weeks of the fantasy football season. During the final 8 weeks of the season, Jackson will see the defenses of the Detroit Lions, the New Orleans Saints, the Arizona Cardinals twice, the Seattle Seahawks, a Chicago Bears defense that isn’t nearly as good as it was last year, the Houston Texans, the Tennessee Titans and the San Francisco 49ers. The only one of those defenses that scares me is Houston, which was a top 5 defense during the final 5 weeks of the season. The Titans rush defense won’t be nearly as good as it was last year now that Albert Haynesworth is with the Washington Redskins. And the Bears defense won’t be the same now that Tommie Harris has to virtually play the rest of his career on one leg. I almost gush when I say this, but Steven Jackson is going to tear the league up during the second half of the year. (And he should get off to a good start in Week 1)

So those reasons, and more, are why I believe Steven Jackson will be the best running back in all of fantasy football during the 2009 NFL season. People who are concerned with Jackson’s injuries over the last 2 years need to worry no longer. He ended the season with 62 carries for 269 yards and has never looked better. So sleep on Steven Jackson if you want to, but I’m scooping him up in every league I can, because once again, on the per-game basis, there wasn’t a more productive running back in football in 2008.

Week 1 Fantasy Football Projections – Top Picks
1. Quarterback Projections
2. Running Back Projections
3. Wide Receiver Projections
4. Tight End Projections
5. Defensive Projections

Week 1 Fantasy Football Projections – Extra Picks
1. Quarterback Fantasy Football Projections
2. Running Back Fantasy Football Projections
3. Wide Receiver Fantasy Football Projections
4. Tight End Fantasy Football Projections

Week 1 Fantasy Football Projections – Sleeper Picks
1. Quarterback Sleeper Picks
2. Running Back Sleeper Picks
3. Wide Receiver Sleeper Picks
4. Tight Ends Sleeper Picks
5. Defensive Sleeper Picks

Week 1 Fantasy Football Projections – Duds
1. Quarterback Duds
2. Running back Duds
3. Wide Receiver Duds

Fantasy Football Week 1 – Buy or Sell
1. Quarterbacks: Buy Garrard, Sell Favre

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