Fantasy Football: Preseason Up/Down

With the preseason coming to a close some players have improved their initial fantasy projections, while others are going to leave their fantasy owners upset over what could have been. With that said, let’s see who is moving up and down draft boards for those of you who have yet to draft.

UP

Doug Martin: I thought going into the season that Martin would be the starter for the majority of the year in Tampa, turns out it will be for the entire season (assuming no injuries during the regular season). He’s look good running the football as well as receiving  and has gone from a 20-25 rated RB to now near the top 15. If you had your draft before the season you probably got yourself a steal, now your going to have to  get him around the 5th round.

Alfred Morris: Morris might just be that running back that comes out of no where and ends up being a top ten RB. The 6th round draft pick out of Florida Atlantic was probably drafted in less than 1% of drafts before the season but now looks like the Redskins starting RB. Every other RB on the roster can’t seem to stay healthy and Morris has capitalized, running for 107 yards and a touchdown on just 14 carries against the Colts starting in Saturday’s game yesterday. If you’ve already drafted, you should pick him up off waivers ASAP.

Matt Ryan: I had him as my 10th best QB to start the season; he’s now in my top 5. The Falcons are looking to pass the ball a lot this year and Ryan has two really good WRs to get the ball to.  Ryan looks ready to make the next step and I suggest you wait to draft him to get real value for your QB position.

Julio Jones: Speaking of Matt Ryan’s two really good WRs, Jones has looked like a top 5 WR. Other than “Megatron” I don’t see anyone else with as much upside Jones and I wouldn’t hesitate to take Jones in the second round.

Justin Blackmon: Blaine Gabbert doesn’t look like a high school QB anymore and Blackmon looks like he is worthy of the 5th pick the Jaguars selected him with. Blackmon projected as a guy you might want to grab as your 4th or 5th WR on your fantasy team to a number 2 or 3 WR with a lot of upside.

Steven Ridley: The Pat’s pass protection has not looked good so far this preseason and with an injury to the Pats other RB Shane Vereen things are looking good for Ridley. New England isn’t going to be a running team any time soon but Ridley will still get 15-20 touches every week.

Vincent Jackson: Tampa Bay seems to know how to use Jackson a lot better than San Diego ever did. He’s no longer just a homerun hitter but a guy who’s going to go over the middle and get you 6+ catches a game.  He’s went from barely in my top 20 to now near my top ten.

DOWN

Roy Helu: He’s gone from a 5th round pick in most leagues to now near undraftable to me. He just can’t stay healthy and Morris looks like he’s won the job to me.

Matt Forte: Michael Bush was always going to steal his goal line touches but now it looks like Bush might steal more than that. With Mike Tice announcing that he wants 1000 yards out of BOTH backs, it looks like Forte is going to lose a lot of touches. He was a 1st round pick in a lot of drafts but now looks more like a 3rd rounder to me.

Maurice Jones-Drew: I thought MJD would be back sooner and I’d be willing to bet it comes back to hurt him. Holdout RBs don’t tend to do well when they come back and Jacksonville looks like they want to air it out a little more this year to see what they have in Gabbert.

Jason Witten:  This spleen thing would scare me if I had Witten on my fantasy team or was a Cowboys fan. I don’t think anyone knows when he will be back for certain so he’s no longer a top 10 TE to me.

Shonn Greene: Everything about the Jet’s offense looks awful. They may get a lot of time on TV but that won’t fill the stats sheet.

Beanie Wells: I honestly thought that Beanie would be a top 10 RB and have a career year this year. I’m already gonna go ahead and say that I was way off on that one.

Have any questions or comments? Feel free to email me at vikingagefantasy@yahoo.com or reach me on twitter at https://twitter.com/PHowell02