Fantasy Football Quick Hits: 6 Guys I Love and Hate More Than You

Here’s a fun little exercise: Today I am going to quickly run through six fantasy football players I love and hate more than you and explain why. The idea is to take a quick hit at all six players, and provide a quick analysis on why I love ‘em or hate ‘em.

Three of these players are guys I already once talked about, so I will provide the links to the pieces so you can further dig in the dirt, and three of them are being added on as new mentions.

Ready?

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Jacoby Ford – WR – OAK: LOVE

Ford’s preseason and camp performance lends itself to the original prediction of him, as a starting flanker.

Ford is also expected to put some time in as a slot receiver when the Raiders go three-wide, which makes him a nice well rounded late-round selection with huge fantasy upside for the 2011 season.

Ford is primed for a breakout season in Oakland, considering they will rely heavily on their receivers without a true TE threat in red-zone and goal line situations.

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Jared Cook – TE – TEN: LOVE

Cook had an impressive camp, is having a great preseason and has a new quarterback under center that is an upgrade from last year. Cook is figured to be a huge part of the offense this season.

Some Tennessee beat writers even believe he could lead the team in receptions, so how is Cook still a guy being drafted as a TE2 when he has TE1 potential?

With so much value here, it’s hard to look away.

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Michael Jenkins – WR – MIN – LOVE

Michael Jenkins is a sneaky back-end draft pick that could put up some very unexpected numbers this season. He is getting his first real stint as a legitimate deep-ball threat and every-down receiver.

I say first time because Jenkins was used more as a blocking receiver in Atlanta, which really hurt his fantasy productions. Many fantasy owners are unaware of this, so they initially feel he isn’t worth a squirt.

Don’t be that guy. He’s gonna put up some numbers this year.

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Marcedes Lewis – TE – JAGS – HATE

I am not a big fan of guys who put in one good year when that year in is a contract year—meaning they were looking to elevate their play for the big payout.

This is too common of a situation  in the NFL, and too often fantasy owners jump on the bandwagon thinking the player will repeat the production the year after, which isn’t likely in my opinion.

You can do better than Lewis.

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Roy Williams – WR – CHI – HATE

Well, this experiment went south really quick didn’t it?

I originally had this guy pegged as a fantasy football sleeper, but now I am reversing that prediction as Williams has failed to stay physically fit, or even earn a spot as a member of the starting three receivers in Chicago.

The expectations were reasonable, but the player failed to live up to them.

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Cedric Benson – RB – Bengals: HATE

I can’t fall in love with a guy who can’t stay out of trouble and who isn’t mentally ready for opening day. Period. 

The problem here is that Benson—ranked 22nd in our RB rankings— is unpredictable, and a fantasy football liability, which is something to avoid in your fantasy football drafts.

If you want to jump on his wagon, by all means, but don’t say I didn’t warn against the notion.