5 Preseason Fantasy Football Favorites Worth Buying Low

The National Football League is an unpredictable world where it is virtually impossible to predict who will shine and who will shrink on a week-to-week basis.

This is why fantasy football is very much a game of calculated guesswork and why so many preseason "sure things" produce disappointment each season.

Injuries, coaching changes and situational football can cause last year's fantasy stud to fall off in a big way. However, these factors don't necessarily mean that a player is going to continue to struggle all season long.

It is simply too early in the season to panic and dump a high draft pick just because he isn't performing up to expectations. However, that doesn't mean you can't benefit if one of the other owners in your league decides that a little panic is appropriate.

Is that first-round running back sitting on another owner's bench because of a couple of poor performances or a little injury trouble? Why not see if that owner is willing to swing a trade that favors you in the long run?

Over the next few pages, we'll examine some key players who have not lived up to the preseason hype but who are definitely worth acquiring at the right price.

Jamaal Charles

Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles rewarded fantasy owners with an impressive 1,287 yards rushing, 693 yards receiving and 19 total touchdowns in 2013.

Unfortunately, Charles was injured in the first quarter of Kansas City's Week 2 loss to the Denver Broncos and missed the following game as well. He produced just 46 total yards this season before the injury.

Charles has been listed as probable for Week 4, according to the NFL's Twitter account, though he may not be back at 100 percent and will likely share duties with backup Knile Davis. Should Charles struggle to produce for another week, your competition may be willing to give up on him.

However, injuries are nothing new for Charles (he has appeared in all 16 games only three times in his seven-year career). He has never finished a season with a yards-per-carry average below 5.0 and has topped the 1,000-yard mark every season in which he has logged at least six starts.

Charles should be in store for a productive stretch of games once he is back at 100 percent. If someone in your league isn't patient enough to wait for it, make an offer.

Tom Brady

Elise Amendola/Associated Press

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is arguably one of the greatest signal-callers to ever take an NFL field. This season, however, he has barely appeared average.

Through three weeks, Brady has produced just 632 yards and three touchdowns while fumbling three times. That's an average of 210.6 yards, one touchdown and one fumble per game.

There's a good chance that Brady is riding the bench in your league at this point.

Expect Brady to put up better numbers after the Week 5 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals. Brady has passed for at least 3,900 yards and 35 touchdowns in each of the past five seasons, and it is hard to believe that he won't find a way to reach those numbers again this season.

He will also gain fantasy value as star tight end Rob Gronkowski continues to get healthier. 

If you are in need of a bye-week replacement or got stuck with Sam Bradford or Robert Griffin in an early draft selection, offer up a backup for Brady.

Jordan Cameron

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

Cleveland Browns tight end Jordan Cameron has struggled with a shoulder injury early this season and missed Week 2 because of it.

After producing 917 yards and seven touchdowns as a fantasy sleeper a season ago, Cameron has produced just 70 yards and no scores through Week 3 of 2014.

Expect that production to rise after Cleveland's Week 4 bye. He should be much closer to 100 percent, and Cleveland will be entering the softer portion of its schedule over the next two months.

The Browns will face three currently winless teams between Weeks 7 and 9, when the team faces the Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

If your league doesn't allow for two tight ends, Cameron is probably on the bench or already on the waiver wire.

Eddie Lacy

Duane Burleson/Associated Press

Green Bay Packers running back Eddie Lacy won NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2013 after racking up 1,178 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns on the ground.

Through Week 3 of this season, Lacy has produced just 113 yards and a 3.1 yards-per-carry average.

Part of the problem might be that Lacy has been running tentatively after suffering his second concussion as a pro back in Week 1.

"I have to figure out a way to change the way I run but still keep the physical part of it." Lacy said, reports Mark Inabinett of AL.com. 

Paul Imig of Fox Sports Wisconsin believes that part of the problem is that Lacy isn't getting the ball enough. Lacy has averaged just 12 attempts per game thus far. It's an assessment echoed by running backs coach Sam Gash in an interview with the media outlet. 

Considering the 1-2 Packers have rarely played with the lead this season, Lacy's lack of work shouldn't be a giant surprise. Expect him to get more carries and to produce better results as the season continues.

Ben Roethlisberger

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

Sometimes it doesn't take poor play to be considered a fantasy disappointment.

Ben Roethlisberger continues to be one of the NFL's most successful quarterbacks, though he hasn't received a ton of fantasy love early in the 2014 season.

The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback has passed for 778 yards but has tossed just three touchdowns with two interceptions and a fumble.

His lack of big-time production stems from a couple of factors. The team struggled against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2, but it played the vast majority of its other two games with a sizable lead.

Roethlisberger typically finds a way to deliver when he is called upon. He just hasn't been asked to make a ton of big plays this season. With games against potent offenses (Indianapolis Colts, Cincinnati Bengals Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints) coming later in the season, Roethlisberger could find himself in more than a few shootouts.

With games against the Buccaneers, Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars coming in the next few weeks, he'll also face his share of suspect defenses (all three teams rank in the bottom 10 in pass defense). 

Expect more big-yardage games and more touchdowns from Roethlisberger to come.