Injury Bouncebacks, Sleepers and Strategy for 2014 Fantasy Football

“Hey great job cracking jokes and barely giving us any real fantasy insight! Must be a real easy job, ya ninny. Tell me. Why are you only talking about injured wide receivers and not about any other positions?”

Hello reader who I just created in my mind (and yes, for those New Girl fans wondering, it was the voice of Nick Miller). I’m glad you’re enjoying my contribution to the world of Fantasy Football and thank you for asking such a great question!

The answer is simple. Well, sort of.

Today’s National Football League is hugely different from the NFL of ten years ago and we’re only beginning to catch up to this as fantasy owners. The pass happy tendencies of today’s NFL coaches are changing the dynamics of this silly game us fans created to enjoy our October Sunday’s on a whole new level.

A 250 carry running back just isn’t as valuable as the 200 carry, 40 catch back. Not to mention wide receivers have every opportunity to alter a fantasy game week in and week out, much likeLaDanian Tomlinson did in 2003 (trust me, I had Josh Gordon last year).

So here are the facts. It might just be too risky to pray that a running back isn’t going to reaggravate an injury. Yes, 2012 Adrian Peterson is the ultimate injury comeback story but, in all reality, you’re more likely to get an Ahmad Bradshaw or a Darren McFadden before you get the historic AP season. And even if you do get the numbers you’re looking for, you’re going to be forced to deal with the week to week uncertainty of your running back being held out.

Let’s face it. Nothing ruins noontime on Sundays more than having no clue whether one of your best players will see the field.

So, if you’re going to swing for the fences, do it with the position that had nineteen 1,000 yard players compared to running backs (thirteen) and tight ends (two), all while taking far less hits than their backfield teammates. On that note, check out my previous pieces about injury bounceback candidates Michael Crabtree and Reggie Wayne, and also Randall Cobb. There will always be new starting running backs sprouting up as incumbents succumb to the dreaded injury bug

Now with all that being said, here’s a final list of players to consider despite having stats last year that were cut down by injury.

Injury Bouncebacks for 2014 Fantasy Football

Aaron Rodgers: Yeah, well he’s still Aaron Rodgers, so don’t be dumb and take him quickly.

Shane Vereen: Though he didn’t lose his season to injury last year, a broken wrist did cost Vereen the first half of the season. When he played last season, he was a popular check down to the aging Tom Brady, looking to avoid sacks (he may or may not be a PPR deity). Of course, owners should be beware of Bill Belichick deciding to freeze him out on any given Sunday, just to remind the world who’s actually in charge.

Doug Martin: Considering his rookie explosion, no one is going to blame you for attempting to catch lightning in a bottle twice.

Percy Harvin: Remember how explosive he looked as the ‘Hawks dismantled the Broncs last February? The migraines can be annoying, but the games he ends up with 150 yards, two receiving touchdowns and one kick/punt return for a touchdown will make up for it.

Dennis Pitta: With defenses having to now account for Steve and Torrey Smith, the middle will open up for Pitta. In 2012, he was the seventh highest scoring player at TE (which is always a pain to get good production out of).

Jordan Reed: Same thing goes for the tight end in Washington. The amount of speed that needs to be accounted for in Jay Gruden’s offense is pretty crazy, so Reed will see targets.

Jake Locker: While he's rosterable only in the deepest of leagues (or 2-QB formats), remember that Ken Whisenhunt is only six years removed from riding Kurt Warner to the Super Bowl. I’m not saying that Locker is Warner, but there are similarities.

Every single fantasy football draft that happens in America will all have one thing in common: there is only going to be one Number One draft pick. So as seasoned fantasy football owners, we cannot put all our eggs into one basket and pray that the Number One Spot is coming our way each year (unless you live in Cleveland. All bets are off in Cleveland). What you can do is draft wisely. It’s important to always remember the “Can’t win a league on draft night but sure can lose one” mantra during that tense and stressful August night and take full advantage of all dozen-plus picks.

Here’s a horrible realization that you have to come to during that fateful night. The starting lineup you draft is not going to be the starting lineup you send out Week 9 to face Bob from Accounting. Sometimes you’re reaching at that fourth or fifth receiver real early in the season hoping to get any kind of production out of them that you can. You have to find as many gems as you can on draft night so that when you are reaching into the depth chart, you have a nice sense of confidence. Don’t be afraid to take flyers on players coming off of injuries (or rookies, or players with new teams, etc.) and watch as they outperform their preseason rankings.

Or watch as they go down in flames and the perfect storm of a season eats away at your Fall weekend happiness. Because that’s fantasy football. A great and silly game we play because we crave a better connection to our athletic heroes. But talk to any longtime fantasy football owner and try to convince them to give it up. It just doesn’t happen. It’s as if it’s all ingrained in our DNA at this point.