Lloyd’s Christmas

Boom:

 Brandon Lloyd – My theory is that the new offensive coordinator of New England – Josh McDaniels, is actually a direct descendant of “The Pied Piper.” In some unique and charismatic fashion, McDaniels always finds a way to lead Lloyd out of the abyss and reunite with him in his new landing spot. In only three years, both Lloyd and McDaniels have been with Denver, St. Louis, and now New England. In a two year span with Denver and St. Louis (27 Games), WR Lloyd snatched up a combined 2,131 yards, 16 TDs, and my favorite statistic concerning 2012 – an astounding 270 targets. Sure, there are plenty of options for Tom Brady this season in New England. However, Brandon Lloyd may provide that ounce of electric to put New England back into 2007 form. Since 2008, there have been 20 WRs with more than 65 targets of at least 21 yards downfield. The only receiver to not drop a deep ball was Brandon Lloyd. Expect New England to have a lights out season, with McDaniels pushing many looks and targets toward his favorite WR Brandon Lloyd.  Brandon Lloyd may in fact be a very good Christmas present for fantasy owners this year!

Antonio Brown – The Steelers situation this season may in fact be a mess with their offensive line woes, an injured RB Ra-shart Mendenhall (kidding on the shart, but not on the injury), and a recently reported Ben Roethlisberger rotator cuff problem. That being said, I still look for Antonio Brown to build on a strong 2011 campaign. Keep in mind that in 2011, Antonio Brown only had 3 less receptions than Mike Wallace. Furthermore, Brown also had 10 more targets than Wallace. Mike Wallace’s absence in camp coupled with the fact that injured rotator cuffs don’t exactly project well for deep threat WRs, I expect production to increase for WR Antonio Brown. Look for him to be a mid-to-late round sleeper in most drafts.

Matt Ryan – Entering his 5th NFL season, Matt Ryan hit new career highs last season with 4,177 yards and 29 TDs. It has been reported that Atlanta expects to do less running this season and more passing to the explosive receiving corps of Roddy White and Julio Jones. It’s a possibility that Ryan could end up as a Top QB by this season’s end. If you are in a situation where top tier QB’s are snagged up before you, feel comfortable in building a strong core of players, then grabbing Matty Ice with a later round pick – yielding similar numbers.

Bust:

Tim Tebow – Whether you are a casual fantasy football player or a very serious one, I hope that we are all able to agree that we would rather step on lego’s than draft Tim Tebow. Some of you out there are probably skipping over this paragraph saying, no kidding – but I thought I would put his name in red ink for those of you falling into the Jedi Mind Trick of coverage that ESPN gives this guy.

Frank Gore – Gore will remain on top of the San Fran RB depth chart, however they will look to keep him fresh with a crowded backfield of Brandon Jacobs, Kendall Hunter, Anthony Dixon, and LaMichael James. With Jacobs more than likely to vulture some goal-line carries, along with the fact that Gore only caught 17 receptions last season – they may try to fill that chink in the armor with recently draft Oregon RB LaMichael James. It was evident in 2011 that as the season continued on, Gore’s production slipped, not reaching 100+ yards in the final 8 games. Gore won’t see the production and statistics he once did and should be viewed as a later 2RB or 3RB. Keep an eye on Brandon Jacobs’ injury situation as he suffered “no major damage” with his knee injury.