2011 NFL Fantasy Football: Is Jeremy Maclin's Health a Concern?

Between surprising nobody with the Kevin Kolb trade, surprising everybody with the Nnamdi Asomugha signing, bringing in Vince Young and the fear of a DeSean Jackson holdout, the Eagles have been the most active franchise in this whirlwind NFL free agency period.

With all those headlines, a big story has hardly received the buzz that it deserves. Jeremy Maclin, Philadelphia’s other starting receiver, is not participating in the Eagles’ training camp.

Maclin, who battled with a “mono-like” illness this winter, lost about 15 pounds. When you’re 6’0" and 198 pounds, losing 7.6 percent of your body weight is no joke. Especially when you are playing in the National Football League with safeties that are as big as linebackers and as fast as cornerbacks will be.

Maclin is said to have gained most of the weight back, but until he can practice with the team, color me nervous.

Maclin is coming off a terrific year that saw him catch 70 passes for 964 yards and 10 touchdowns. If he goes into the season weak in any way, I worry that he won’t be able to handle the physical nature of the game.

I may be a little too quick to hit the panic button, but I can’t help but slide him down my wide receiver rankings a touch. There are several players in his tier that don’t present as big of a risk. If he can show he’s good to go, then he’ll see a small climb in the rankings.

If you’re drafting early though, I don’t know how you roll the dice on him when there is a comparable wideout available without those concerns. I still consider Maclin a WR2 at this point. He’s perhaps one of the more intriguing players to follow if and when he gets into camp.

What’s your take on Maclin?


Also check out:

2011 Fantasy Football QB Rankings
2011 Fantasy Football RB Rankings
2011 Fantasy Football WR Rankings
2011 Fantasy Football TE Rankings

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