Icon SMI

More Articles from Fantasy Football Freaks

The Freaks Sleepers 2012 Week 16
The Freaks Projections and Ratings 2012 Week 16
The Freaks Waiver Wire 2012 Week 16
Weekly Freaks 2012 Week 15
The Freaks Sleepers 2012 Week 15
The Freaks Projections and Ratings 2012 Week 15
The Freaks Waiver Wire 2012 Week 15
The Freaks Sleepers 2012 Week 14
The Freaks Projections and Ratings 2012 Week 14
The Freaks Waiver Wire 2012 Week 14

By Michael Waters

As football season inches closer, many fantasy football players around the country are beginning to prepare for their fantasy drafts. The most successful fantasy players are the ones who understand the concept of value. Knowing and sticking to the value of the available players instead of chasing positions or specific players will help you go a long way towards achieving fantasy football success. Last week, we covered the most overvalued draft picks. This week, we’ll cover the top four most undervalued players based on average draft position, past performance and future projection.

Fred Jackson
Before fracturing his fibula in Week 11, Fred Jackson was in the midst of a breakout season in which he was on pace to rush for nearly 1500 yards, while adding another 700 in the air, making him the 4th highest average scorer per week at running back. Despite these fantastic numbers, he’s been the 16th running back taken on average in all fantasy drafts thus far, and while he may not match last year’s pace exactly, Jackson should give you plenty of value relative to where he’s selected in the draft.

Jordy Nelson
Nelson was drafted in the second round of the 2008 NFL draft after being selected to the All-American team as a senior at Kansas State. Many scouts believed he possessed significant upside as a deep threat and red zone target but during his first three years, Nelson was buried on Green Bay’s depth chart and received very little playing time. That changed in 2011 as Jordy Nelson became the de facto number two receiver behind Greg Jennings and responded by piling up 1263 receiving yards and 15 TDs, both of which were team highs. That production made him the second best fantasy receiver in terms of points scored per week but even with those numbers last year, Nelson has been the 14th receiver selected on average.

Brandon Lloyd
Known more for his acrobatic circus catches rather than his production at wide receiver earlier in his career; Lloyd finally realized some of his vast potential in 2010 when he led the NFL with 1448 receiving yards. Last year was a disappointment for fantasy owners, however, as his numbers fell to below 1000 yards. After a closer look, both of the teams that Lloyd played for during the season, Denver and St. Louis, were the 30th and 31st ranked passing offenses, which could help explain his decline in production. New England is clearly a better passing offense than those two (ranked 2nd behind New Orleans), and even though they have several already established pass catchers, they throw enough for everyone to get their share of targets. (Deion Branch had over 90 targets last season)

Cam Newton
Cam Newton took the NFL by storm last year, throwing for 4085 yards and 21 TD passes while adding another 700 yards and 14 TDs on the ground, making him the 4th highest scoring QB per week (25.5 pts per week). To provide context, Tom Brady averaged 25.9 points per week, and Drew Brees averaged 28. Both are selected in the middle of the first round on average, where as Newton is generally selected 10 to 12 spots later despite the difference in their production being negligible. If Newton is able to cut down on his turnovers or increase his yardage output even slightly, he could match or even surpass the production of the aforementioned players.