Fantasy Football: Can Mark Clayton Be a Fantasy Option in St. Louis?

Mark Clayton never quite made the splash everybody was expecting him to make in Baltimore. Things did not look good when Baltimore acquired Anquan Boldin and then the acquisition of T.J. Houshmandzadeh sealed his fate.

Obviously, going from a playoff team to a 1-15 team is not good for your chances of winning, but will the move be good for his fantasy value?

I’m in the camp that thinks the move will have a positive impact. For starters, he doesn’t have much competition in St. Louis. Laurent Robinson, Danny Amendola, Mardy Gilyard, and Brandon Gibson aren’t exactly the who’s who of NFL wideouts. My guess is Clayton will eventually force his way into a starting role opposite of Robinson and send Amendola to the slot.

Clayton won’t have a lot of time to build a rapport with Sam Bradford, but it shouldn’t take long for the two former Sooners to get on the same page. You won’t want to use him for his first couple of weeks as he gets used to the system, and could potentially be matched up with Nnamdi Asomugha in Week 2.

After he gets by Washington in Week 3, it should be smooth sailing for a few weeks (Seattle, Detroit, San Diego, Tampa Bay).

Clayton represents a low risk, but he could end up paying dividends. If you have question marks at WR, it wouldn’t hurt to give Clayton a shot.

You can also check out my Week 1 Rankings:
Week 1 QB Rankings
Week 1 RB Rankings
Week 1 WR Rankings
Week 1 TE Rankings
Week 1 K Rankings
Week 1 DEF Rankings
Week 1 IDP Rankings