2009 Fantasy Football Sleepers: Running Backs
by NFL Fantasy Analyst Russ Bliss

Every year we all look for those guys at RB who could be the big surprise contributors in our fantasy leagues. These NFL fantasy football sleepers often make us look genius by mid-season and often times prove to be vital in our playoff runs. If you’re one of those guys who load up on 2 starting WR’s and a top QB in 3 of the first 4 rounds of a typical fantasy draft, here are three RB who could be available in round 5 or later who could pay dividends.

1) Fred Taylor, New England Patriots. Entering his 12th season, Taylor is being called washed up. I don’t doubt that Taylor only has about 2 years left in his career, but he certainly isn’t as bad as his 2008 totals would indicate. Taylor missed 3 games, rushed for only 556 yards and scored only 1 TD in 2008 and that has value way down. The struggles in 2008 were more due to injuries on the Jags offensive line than a deterioration of Taylor’s skills. A change of scenery to New England is exactly what the doctor ordered for him. The Patriots have been looking for a lead RB the last 2 seasons and while they have both former first round pick Laurence Maroney and surprising veteran Sammy Morris, both have had severe injury problems. Taylor still has 1,000+ yard talent and should provide the Patriots with a lead RB who still has good speed between the 20’s and good size for goal line duties. Maroney and Morris will steal enough carries to prevent Taylor from averaging more than 16 rushes per game, and Kevin Faulk will prevent Taylor from catching more than maybe 24 passes in 2009, but Taylor is a sneaky pick to be a decent #2 RB in 2009.

2) Larry Johnson, Kansas City Chiefs. While there is still speculation that Johnson could be let go by the Chiefs, the reality is that Johnson still has the ability to provide big games. His 2008 season was a roller coaster of ups (4 games with over 90 rushing yards and at least 1 TD in each) and downs (5 games with 55 rushing yards or fewer and no TD’s). Johnson spent most of the season in the previous coaching regimes’ dog house but it appears the new leadership in Kansas City is willing to give Johnson a chance get over his off field issues, and get it going again on the field. With the new offensive system, Johnson will have to show he can get back to being a capable receiver out of the backfield, and if he does, he’ll be hard to keep off the field. The current thought is that Johnson will be a 2 down RB and replaced by Jamaal Charles in passing situations. Charles is another favorite 2009 fantasy football sleeper (deep), but if Johnson keeps his nose clean and works hard, and so far in the off-season OTA’s he has, he could be a 5th round steal pick in NFL fantasy football drafts come August.

3) Julius Jones, Seattle Seahawks. Jones didn’t have the type of season in 2008 that excited fantasy players, but there were several factors in that. The constant injury concern to Matt Hasselbeck throughout the season, a slew of injuries on the offensive line, and the team’s constant shuttling of Maurice Morris in and out taking time away Jones all combined to really hurt Jones’ production in 2008. Things will be different in 2009 for Jones. Morris is gone so the only threat to Jones for carries is really T.J. Duckett. Duckett is a prime fantasy football sleeper in TD only scoring formats as he should excel in that capacity this season, but most of the carries should go to Jones. Jones averaged 4.4 yards per attempt in 2008 and in the only games where he got more than 20 carries, he rushed for 127 and 140 yards respectively. Not surprising that it was in those two games where Jones scored his only TD’s. Jones should average between 15-20 carries per game in 2009 and a 1,000+ yards is realistic. His TD’s may only be around 5, but for a RB you should be able to get in round 5 or 6, Jones has fantasy football value pick written all over him this season.