Danny Amendola: Updated Fantasy Football Analysis, Outlook for Rams WR

If you've been reading my fantasy football articles here at Bleacher Report recently, then you know that I touted St. Louis Rams wide receiver Danny Amendola as a sleeper heading into this season.

Well, Amendola woke up today in a huge way in the Rams' win over the Washington Redskins.

Amendola was fantasy football's top wideout in leagues that award a point for receptions in Week 2, racking up a career-high 15 catches for 160 yards and a touchdown for a cool 35 fantasy points (he lost a fumble as well).

Granted, I'm not going to pretend that I saw that sort of statistical explosion coming from the fourth-year pro, but there was reason to believe that Amendola was going to post fantasy production that would more than outpace his modest price tag in drafts over the summer.

The former Texas Tech standout emerged as quarterback Sam Bradford's favorite target in 2010, reeling in 85 catches, best on the team. However, an elbow injury wiped out nearly all of Amendola's 2011 season, although Amendola told reporter Dan O'Neill of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch in August that he was 100 percent healthy and ready to pick up where he left off two years ago:

"

It was kind of a freak injury and there's nothing I could do about it. I understand injuries are part of the game and things like that happen, but I'm good now. It was a bad injury but it's not anything that lingers or is threatening. I'm 100 percent.

"

Amendola certainly appeared healthy on Sunday while tying the NFL record for receptions in a half, with 12.

With that said, the biggest surprise regarding Amendola this year has probably been his yards per catch, which has jumped from 8.1 yards in 2010 to 11.5 this season.

That number may drop a bit, as no one is going to confuse Amendola with Mike Wallace any time soon where speed is concerned. However, there's no denying that Bradford continues to look Amendola's way a lot, and any time that a wideout receives as many targets as Amendola does, that player is going to be a steady performer in PPR leagues.

Danny Amendola has become just that, and he also receives a boost in leagues that award points for return yards, so Amendola certainly seems to have cemented himself into high-end fantasy WR3 territory, making him a weekly starter in the majority of leagues.

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