2011 NFL Fantasy Football Tips: Is Vincent Jackson Overvalued in PPR Leagues?

Can Vincent Jackson Reach 80 Receptions?

 With Vincent Jackson back for a full season in San Diego, the hype is starting to build on what could be a special season for the Chargers, and for Jackson’s fantasy value. Recent ADP trends have Jackson leaping up to a top five receiver in recent standard redraft mock results.

If you look at Jackson’s career numbers, I can understand why fantasy owners are jumping at Jackson as a clear WR-1 in that scoring structure, but I find it interesting that he’s also going as the sixth best receiver in PPR leagues.

In Jackson’s best year back in 2009, he posted an impressive nine touchdowns and 1,167 yards receiving. Jackson posted an impressive 17.2 yards per catch that season, and his career yard-per-catch average is the same number.

With Philip Rivers running the ship, Jackson is clearly one of the best deep threat receivers in all of football, but his 68 receptions from that season make me question if he’s truly worthy of being one of the top six receivers in PPR fantasy football.

While Jackson has been flashing the big plays on a regular basis this preseason, I started to wonder if he could build on his reception total, as I figure if he could snag about 80 receptions this year, I could justify taking him as a second-round pick.

To find out more, I could think of none other than Chargers beat writer Kevin Acee to ask him what he thought of the Jackson odds of an increase in receptions from his 2009 total. Acee recently posted a great article, breaking down the notable players on the Chargers, and how he saw their fantasy outlook for the season.

With Antonio Gates back in action, I reached out to Acee and asked him if Jackson had a reasonable shot at 80 receptions with Malcom Floyd and Gates in the mix? Acee responded by simply saying, “That’d be tough,” and I couldn’t agree more.

While Floyd isn’t the greatest route runner, he will get attention from Rivers, and the Chargers star quarterback proved a year ago he has no problem spreading the football around to lesser known pass catchers in the offense, like tight end Randy McMichael. With Gates around, I would figure that he will still be the main go-to option in the middle of the field, and likely will lead the team in receptions, when he’s playing.

If Jackson is to find his way to over 80 receptions, I would have to believe that Gates would need to miss a significant stretch, and Jackson will have to prove he can take on more of a possession receiver mentality.

While I find Jackson to be a worthy second-round selection in standard redraft leagues, I suggest you look to him as a late WR-1 in 10-to-12-team leagues and would be ideal as an early WR-2 in that scoring format.

For the season, I have Jackson's projected receptions at 71 for the year, and that is a very low total for a WR-1 in a PPR league. If you take Jackson, much like Mike Wallace, just know that in PPR leagues, they lose some value because they are 80-reception receivers at the high-end and will land somewhere in the 60-catch range but the end of the year.

Follow Kevin Acee on Twitter – http://twitter.com/sdutChargers

Read Kevin Acee’s Work - http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/sports/chargers/

Other News From Twitter

Derrick Johnson Targeting Special Season

 The Chiefs star middle linebacker looked solid in his dress rehearsal game against the Rams, as he made a terrific interception against Sam Bradford. In a recent article done by Chiefs beat-writer Josh Looney, Johnson was quoted saying, “I’m working hard at that goal of becoming a special player in this league.”

With veteran nose tackle Kelly Gregg expected to play about 25-30 snaps a game, I would expect Johnson to pick up the slack in the running game, and he could threaten for a league high in tackles. In our recent IDP linebacker rankings we have Johnson as a top five option.

Tweet – Johnson Aims To Be Special

Tim Hightower Undervalued Fantasy Star?

 Through the first three preseason games, Tim Hightower boasts a 6.8 yard per carry average in 25 attempts. As Redskins beat-writer Rich Campbell points out in his latest article in the Washington Post, Hightower “appears to be a superb fit in the offensive run scheme.”

Fantasy Outlook—At some point, Hightower deserves respect for the early success he had, and remember, this is the same offense that Arian Foster, Terrell Davis and a host of other at one time no-name running backs had terrific success. While we’ve known about Hightower for a few years, I can’t help but believe he’s worth taking a shot on in the middle rounds of your draft.

If I were to re-set my running back rankings at this point, I would have Hightower as one of my top twenty five backs for both standard redraft and PPR leagues.

Tweet - Shanahan’s vision of Redskins’ running game

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