2009 Fantasy Football Breakout Players: AFC West

Every year there are multiple players at each position that have breakout seasons and put their name on the fantasy football map. In 2008 we saw players like Matt Cassel, Aaron Rodgers, Michael Turner, Derrick Ward, Antonio Bryant, and Dwayne Bowe put together what is considered breakout season and because of this they will be highly targeted in 2009 fantasy football drafts.

With it never being to early to start planning for your fantasy football draft, the Bruno Boys offer you their opinion on what players will flourish in 2009 and have a breakout season. In our first installment of 2009 Fantasy Football Breakout Players we bring to you the AFC West division.

--------------------

Oakland Raiders:  As bad as the Oakland Raiders(5-11) performed in 2008 and are expected to be in 2009, they have three or four players that are on the cusp of having breakout seasons. If these players perform at a high enough level, it could mark the first time since 2005 that Raiders franchise has a key contributor on a fantasy football roster, when running back Lamont Jordan finished with 11 total touchdowns. The one guy who continues to get better and should be able to trend upwards is tight end Zach Miller. In '08, Miller lead all Raiders receivers with 56 receptions and 778 receiving yards, but it was his lack of touchdowns that prevented him from being a top-5 fantasy football tight end option. Despite scoring 77 fantasy points, the lack of efficiency in the Raiders offense prevented Miller from getting red zone targets and he could only muster 1 TD.

Entering his third year in the NFL, Miller has established himself as the favorite target of quarterback JaMarcus Russell and as the Oakland offense matures so should his overall statistics. With some of the premier tight ends starting to blend in with the rest of the field, expect Miller to take the torch and put himself towards the top of the totem pole at the position. How does 65+ receptions, 850+ receiving yards and 4-6 TD's sound?

Also Consider:RB Darren McFadden, QB JaMarcus Russell, WR, Johnnie Lee Higgins,WR Chaz Schillings

--------------------

San Diego Chargers: Call it cliché if you'd like, but after watching running back Darren Sprolesrun wild during the postseason how can he not make our list of 2009 potential breakout players? Some people might consider Sproles 256 total yards and 3 touchdowns during the 2008 playoffs as breaking out, but unless you played in a fantasy football playoff league you weren't fortunate enough to reap the benefits of his success. Therefore, the the Bruno Boys still consider him as a breakout option because he has to produce when it counts in the eyes of fantasy football players, which is from week 1 to17.

Heading into 2009, Sproles will once again backup All-Pro RB Ladainian Tomlinson, but with Tomlinson showing signs of breaking down expect the Chargers to try and keep him fresh, which should lead to the speedy Sproles' seeing a consistent amount of touches. If you combine the '08 regular season and playoffs, Sproles totaled 928 yards and 9 TD's on just 133 touches. For those of you number crunchers, that's 6.97 yards per touch and a TD every 14.78 touches. Despite this being a small sample size, it's obvious that Sproles is a play-maker and look for the Chargers to try and give him 10 touches per game, which would be a 56% increase from last regular season. Snag him as a RB3 and if you are an L.T. owner, don't be afraid to grab Sproles and use him as a Flex option.

 
Also Consider:WR Malcom Floyd,

--------------------

Denver Broncos:  If there is one phrase that can sum up the Denver Broncos off-season thus far it should be "what a mess." After tanking at the end of last season the Broncos proceeded to fire head coach Mike Shanahan, hire 32-year-old Josh McDaniels, trade franchise quarterback Jay Cutler and still enter training camp with no clear cut choice to be the primary running back. Think this is what GM Pat Bowlen would have thought heading int week 15 when his Broncos had a three games lead with three to play? Probably not, but that's the beauty of the NFL and that's why Bowlen chose to mix things up in 2009.

Now looking at the Broncos from a personnel standpoint, both Kyle Orton and Chris Simms are battling it out for the starting QB job and the winner has the supporting cast in wide receiver Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal to post career numbers. Consider the winner a QB2 with Orton being the favorite to win the job heading into training camp.

When taking a look at the running back options in Denver you will notice a lot of mediocrity but nothing that is set and stone to emerge as the RB1 option. The list includes free agent signees Correll Buckhalter, LaMont Jordan, J.J. Arrington and current Broncos players Peyton Hillis, Selvin Young and Ryan Torain. Even with fantasy football hater Mike Shanahan out of Denver you can expect a revolving door at the position all season long. Our advice, stay clear of all options until you know their roles and what the new age of the Broncos offense has in store for the fantasy junkies.

Also Consider:  TE Tony Scheffler (can he put together a complete season)

--------------------

Kansas City Chiefs: Out of all the teams in the division, the Kansas City Chiefs roster is the most depleted and lacks upside. Quarterback Matt Cassel broke out in a big way last season, but that was as a member of the New England Patriots and he doesn't have the fire power surrounding him in Kansas City. We know this article is about breakout players but we want to warn you that Cassel will be overvalued heading into your fantasy football draft.

The one guy on the current roster that stands out as a breakout candidate is running back Jamaal Charles but even he needs to overcome a few obstacles before you can consider him a fantasy football option. A large part of his success has to do with the status of Larry Johnson. If Johnson sticks with the team through training camp and enters the season as the RB1, Charles will need to wait his turn, or wait for Johnson to have another run-in with the law. What Charles brings to the table that no other Chiefs skill player has is breakaway speed. Out of his 94 touches he had in 2008, 10 of them went for 15 or more yards and in his only game with double-digit carries Charles had 106 rushing yards and averaged 5.9 yards per carry. As you can see the potential is there for Charles to breakout, but he needs to see an increase in playing time before we get to confident.  

Also Consider:  None (It's that bad in Kansas City)

--------------------

TO READ ABOUT BREAKOUT PLAYERS FROM OTHER DIVISIONS CLICK BELOW...

Bruno Boys Fantasy Football