The 2009 Big Ten Receiver class is more top heavy than an orange on a toothpick. Two big-time pass catchers headline a group that offers practically no fantasy support or interest below them. But if you want one of that 2-slice orange you better peel and eat quickly because they aren’t likely to last long once that inevitable early run on WRs starts…
THE STUDS (Fantasy Starter Worthy)
Arrelious Benn has 1,731 career receiving yards, ranking him 7th in the Illinois record book
1. Arrelious Benn – Illinois (pictured left courtesy Icon SMI)
This has the makings of a potentially special season for Benn… at least by oft arial challenged Big Ten standards. The offense returns 7 others around him including the conferences elite QB. He has 6-5 Jeff Cumberland as protection on the other side to keep secondaries honest and the Illini run game should be strong enough to keep an extra DB off the field in most situations. His physical skills are second probably only to that beast running routes at Oklahoma State and Zook may even continue to utilize him in variations of the ground game as an added bonus. Fans in Champaign are expecting big things this season and if it’s going to pan out the way they hope it will, start with the playmaking tandem of Juice Williams to Benn. Don’t hesitate to make him your #1 WR. Read the rest of this entry →
Big 10 is certainly no stranger to potent and powerful ground games and elite RBs. Last year was no exception, with 3 of the nation’s best running wild last season. But Shonn Greene, Beanie Wells and Javon Ringer have all moved on to Sundays and the remaining backs entering the 2009 season are not exactly your traditional Big 10 bumper crop. However, as there always will be in the Big 10, there are still a few fantasy worthy RBs. None of them are carrying the big names and hype that many who will be drafted ahead of them are, but the under-the-radar production could lead to some great values in your fantasy backfield… You just have to know how to navigate a minefield (or backfield in this case) full of big eaters, carry sharers, 1980’s cartoon maneuvers, emerging leprechauns protecting potential pots of fantasy gold, a different kind of “Greene” impersonator and a dangerously youthful recipe. Let me explain… Read the rest of this entry →
The consensus knock on the Big 10 is that the conference lacks speed top to bottom, including the conference’s elite teams. The irony here is that the knock on the two fantasy starter-worthy QBs in the conference is that they may have to rely TOO heavily on their… wait for it… SPEED (go figure), in order to make the type of fantasy production impact needed to warrant the elite status many will be hoping for and counting on, if electing not to go QB early in drafts. Juice Williams and Terrelle Pryor do have the respective arms needed to get the job done, but in the generally not-so-spread, run first, defense rules Big 10; these guys will be available to those who choose to load up on the elite RBs and WRs early… and it could pay off big. Read the rest of this entry →
If you are like me, then you were taught as a kid to understand the difference between horizontal and vertical by remembering which way the “horizon” or sun set line went. Whatever Rudy Carpenter’s childhood teaching tool for that was, it was redefined last year by 55 defenders who each gave him a personal lesson and demonstration on what it meant to be laid out horizontal before being able to get rid of the ball. He received countless additional reminders of it just after letting it go. Despite the horrible o-line play and those resulting 55 sacks that left Carpenter battered and bruised last year, he still managed to complete 62% of his nearly 400 passes and throw for over 3,200 yards and 25 TDs. That toughness and production under constant heavy pressure led head coach Dennis Erickson to label Carpenter a “Warrior” last year.
Having to revamp and replace three members of that ill-fated o-line could either be a great thing or make things worse for The Sun Devils “Warrior” leader this season. The good news is that Erickson and staff have certainly made pass protection a top priority and even schemed personnel packages and formations to help the issue. If all goes as planned, that will mean more four and five WR sets to stretch the defense sideline to sideline and lighten up the box, more three step drops and quick reads and releases, more attempts and completions, more yards and TDs… in short, more success for Rudy Carpenter.
Being a USC fan and a fantasy player considering Trojans for your team this season must be a lot like being one of the high school kids on that MTV show where they “win” a date with a beautiful celebrity to their Senior Prom. At first it sounds great and sure, you are going to have the best looking date there but you know it’s going nowhere and in retrospect you would have been better off taking the pretty cute girl in your 5th period science class. Likewise, USC has TONS of talent at every skill position but much like taking Jessica Alba to the prom, beyond the overflowing looks (or talent in USC’s case), picking Trojans as draft day “dates” for your roster runs the serious risk of very little production beyond the last song… errrr… draft.
Tons of talent oozes from every skill position offensively and along with every single big-time potential superstar at each position comes a huge question mark of platoon (RBs), injury risk (QB), and/or unrealized potential (WRs). There are easily ten offensive skill position players on this team that could be elite level fantasy studs in the right situations of health, depth chart and performing to potential.
As it stands however, I’m not endorsing or drafting a single Trojan offensive player for my fantasy squad. Even if Pete Carroll himself decides to get under center (top left, Icon SMI).
The consensus knock on the Big 10 is that the conference lacks speed top to bottom, including the conference’s elite teams. The irony here is that the knock on the two fantasy starter-worthy QBs in the conference is that they may have to rely TOO heavily on their… wait for it… SPEED (go figure), in order to make the type of fantasy production impact needed to warrant the elite status many will be hoping for and counting on, if electing not to go QB early in drafts. Juice Williams and Terrelle Pryor do have the respective arms needed to get the job done, but in the generally not-so-spread, run first, defense rules Big 10; these guys will be available to those who choose to load up on the elite RBs and WRs early… and it could pay off big. 
