Fantasy Football 2011: 5 Unsexy Players Who Are Wrongfully Being Overlooked

If you haven't had your NFL fantasy football draft yet, one of the best pieces of advice I can give you is not to overlook anyone.

I, like everyone else, have fallen victim to this over the past years.

Whether someone is injury prone, they lack upside or they aren't "sexy," I've simply ignored guys who could have easily helped me to a championship.

It's way easier to draft rookies and studs who have the ability to have a breakout year. I love drafting Dez Bryant, Calvin Johnson and LaGarrette Blount, but that's not always possible.

Sometimes you'll have to look deeper.

While it's important to get some of those young guys on your team, it's also important to take a long look at these five guys, who will surely slide too far in your draft. 

Cedric Benson

Yeah, he's in jail. However, barring a shanking incident, he will be out on good behavior by Wednesday.

Benson's un-sexiness, combined with this jail stint, is sure to drop his value, and he even dropped to the 80th pick in my most recent draft.

80th pick? Really?

You can probably count on one hand the amount of running backs who have better chances at 300 carries this season. 

Benson has surpassed that amount the last two years, and while his yards per carry is unexciting, his heavy workload helps him get it done.

Expect a lot of 22 carries, 90 yard lines with touchdowns sprinkled in every other game. 

He's not exciting to own, but getting a running back with no competition and no injury problems at the 80th pick?

That's value.  

Frank Gore

Injury concerns have caused drafters to look at Frank Gore and see no upside potential—certainly a non-sexy attribute.

However, when healthy, Gore is a Top 5 pick.

For his career, he's averaged 4.7 yards per carry and over 1,600 total yards and eight touchdowns per 16 games.

In a PPR league, Gore has the ability to claim a top two or three spot by season's end. His work as a receiver in the backfield has increased every year, as he averaged over four catches per game last year.

If you are sitting with a late second- or early third-round pick and Gore slips to you, don't hesitate.

Again, the injury risk is there, but his upside is a lot higher than people think. 

Matt Forte

Usually, whenever I talk to someone about Matt Forte, their response is, "Meh."

I get that the Chicago Bears are anything but explosive, but Forte shouldn't be overlooked.

Marion Barber is now in town, but he struggles in goal-line situations, and I highly doubt he brings Forte under the 237-carry mark, which is how many he received last season. I wouldn't worry about Barber.

Last season, Forte averaged 4.5 yards per carry, didn't fumble once, caught 51 passes at about 11 yards a clip and is about as safe as it gets.

Sure, he's not a sexy pick, but he won't let you down for where he's being drafted.

Peyton Manning

In his 13 seasons in the NFL, Peyton Manning has surpassed 4,000 yards 11 times. Over time, he's become an un-sexy pick because you know what he's going to do.

There's another word for that: consistent.

The neck doesn't bother me as much as it does most people. He may miss Week 1, but he's already practicing, and I highly doubt he misses any more time than that.

Manning threw a career-high 679 times last year for 4,700 yards. The Colts haven't revamped their ugly running game at all, and they will be throwing just as much this season.

I'm buying everyone involved in the Colts' passing game.

Manning is being drafted as the seventh QB and somewhere around No. 40 overall right now, and I would feel lucky to grab him there.

Don't always skip consistency for upside.  

DeAngelo Williams

A lot of people are forgetting about DeAngelo Williams because of his disappointing start and subsequent injury last season.

Not so fast.

In his career, Williams has 841 carries at five yards per touch. 

Chris Johnson, a guy in the Top 5, has more mileage at 925 career carries and the exact same YPC. 

Now, obviously situation has a lot to do with things, and Williams is splitting carries with Jonathan Stewart, while Johnson is all alone in Tennessee. However, Williams' explosiveness is right on par with that of CJ2K.

I expect the Panthers to reel Cam Newton in and run the ball quite a bit this season.

Williams will hit at least 200 carries and 1,000 yards.

With a lot of people starting to overlook him, he could be a steal, a la 2008.