2010 Fantasy Football Preview: The Ram-ifications of Drafting Steven Jackson

It's not often you see a top-five talent in the league get so widely passed over in fantasy drafts, but that's exactly the current case for Rams starting RB Steven Jackson.

Thanks to a taciturn offensive line and a horrendous passing game, Jackson saw the end zone just four times in '09, disappointing fantasy owners who had burned a first round pick on him. It wasn't all bad for S-Jax and his owners, though, as he did manage 1,416 yards on the ground and another 322 through the air which adds up to 1,738 yards all-purpose yards for the hard-nosed gamer.

Entering 2010, Jackson is routinely ranked by experts as a fringe top-10 RB behind guys like DeAngelo Williams, Shonn Greene, and even behind rookie Ryan Matthews. While I'm certainly not discrediting the past production of the aforementioned players, it'd be foolish to base Jackson's ability to contribute in 2010 off of his '09 campaign alone, so let's dig a little deeper.

S-Jax enjoyed his best season in '06-'07 when he ran for 1,528 yards, tallied 806 yards through the air, and racked up 16 total TD's on his way to a Pro Bowl appearance in Hawaii. It's been a real struggle since that time for Jackson as he hasn't come close to matching that productivity over the last few seasons.

A true workhorse, Jackson is (and has been) the most talented player on the Rams roster by a longshot and is the epicenter of the offensive scheme. He's never averaged less than four YPC, and with a hard running style, tremendously quick feet, and extremely soft hands out of the backfield, S-Jax is a franchise RB who still has plenty left in the tank—and the Rams know it.

Despite many chalking up injuries as the reason for Jackson's decline, that's only one contributing factor. In fact, although Jackson has dealt with a laundry list of aches and pains over the last few years, he's never missed more than four games in a season (although he's played in all 16 just once in '06/'07). 

Besides his health, Jackson's biggest nemesis has been the inefficiency of his teammates. St. Louis has been one of the worst teams in the NFL over the last few seasons, and teams have been able to key in on Jackson because of it. Let's face it, if Jackson was on any other NFL team with a somewhat capable QB, he could have been a perennial pro bowler—but instead, he'd been stuck toiling in obscurity on a desperate team that had been without any sort of identity.

Not any more.

After scoring the number one overall pick in the April draft, the Rams finally gave S-Jax the present that he sorely deserved: Sam Bradford.

Finally, a franchise quarterback capable of taking some of the pressure off of Jackson. Heading into the regular season, Bradford has looked every bit like an NFL-caliber QB thus far showing tremendous pocket poise and boasting a rocket arm. Despite a less-than-desirable receiving corps, Bradford clearly has the makeup to make it in this league. After finishing the last two preseason games 21-28 for 257 yards and three TD's, he was announced as the team's Week 1 starter.

So what does Bradford's takeover mean for S-Jax? 

A lot. Not only does it legitimize Jackson as a bonafide top-10 selection in any fantasy format (especially PPR leagues), but S-Jax is now a rare breed in the fantasy world, a proven, pro-bowl RB with upside. 

When in doubt, draft talent, and there's nobody convincing me that S-Jax is not a top-five RB in this league based off of that. While I'm not predicting that Jackson will enjoy a resurgence back to his Pro Bowl campaign, owners shouldn't hesitate to nab him in the first round.

Fully healthy heading into 2010, Jackson is primed to enjoy his best season in the last few years and could very well wind up being the value pick of your draft.

He's got all the talent in the world.