Tennessee Titans Value for your Fantasy Football Draft
By Matt Ward
Fantasy football is a game that is growing in popularity each and every year. As training camps open and the preseason talk heats up, many fantasy footballers are already trying to figure out who to draft to their team this year.
A challenge looms when your real-life team allegiance meets your fantasy football rankings. Even the most die-hard superfan has to be honest about how good (or bad) each player on his team may produce statistically. After all, fantasy football is a game of numbers.
Some players will be drafted high because of their big stats, but others will garner a high pick for their big names. If you do not want to be on the outside looking in when the playoffs come around, you will have to figure out where the value picks are. Can you get a guy that is productive but less flashy late in the draft, or do you have to grab that big name early?
After looking at the average draft positions (ADP) of players, there are four value picks that shine through as great Tennessee Titans targets. *All ADP information was taken from www.fantasysharks.com.
Best Titans Value: Nate Washington is the 73rd wide receiver picked on average thus far. People were looking for a Kenny Britt/ Kendall Wright combo after the draft concluded, and many threw in the towel on Nate.
Nate may not be flashy, but he had a solid year last year. Couple that with the fact that Nate has wonderful chemistry with franchise QB and possible starter – Jake Locker. Locker played significant time (15+ pass attempts) in 3 games last season, and Nate averaged 7+ receptions, 102 yards, and 1.3 TDs in those 3 games. Those are top-10 wide receiver numbers.
Now Britt is hurt and in trouble, so Nate should be a safe bet for a solid fantasy season. Pick with confidence Titans fans!
Jared Cook is a tight end that I have expected to break out for a couple of years now, and he is being drafted on average as the 15th tight end.
Drafters are taking guys like Dwayne Allen and Coby Fleener ahead of Cookie, and they are rookies on a rebuilding team with a rookie QB. Be careful if you pin your hopes on a rookie tight end, because they rarely pay off like you expect. Look at all the Lance Kendricks supporters from last year.
Tight end is a difficult position to pick up at the pro level, and it normally takes a year or so to get acclimated. If you miss on guys like Jimmy Graham and Rob Gronkowski early, then you can feel good about waiting several rounds to get a great late-round value out of Jared Cook.
Damian Williams is being picked on average as the 110th wide receiver. To put this into perspective, that is one slot behind Plaxico Burress who remains a free agent after the Jets did not re-sign him.
Williams does not have the talent to be your #1 WR, but toward the end of your fantasy draft you will be looking through a list of guys with question marks. The key in the latter rounds is finding the gem with ‘upside.’
Williams went from being virtually unknown last year to being a dependable cog in the wheel of the Titans’ passing game. If you can take him late in your draft, he may provide good numbers depending on the length of Kenny Britt’s probable suspesion.
The Titans Defense/Special Teams is my last suggestion for a great deal. I know many of you may have just spit out your kool-aid, but hear me out.
The Titans D is currently being picked on average as the 25th defense. Keep in mind that there are only 32 to choose from!
They are a much better defense than that, even though they struggled in their sack production last year. They have addressed those needs and they are full of young, hungry defensive talent at the corner and linebacker positions.
The Titans are younger and faster than you’ve ever seen them as a defense, so you could potentially grab them in the last round and end up with a top-10 defense.
When draft day rolls around and you are sweating bullets trying to decide which player to take, just remember that there are some good Titans value picks awaiting you in later rounds. All Titans are worth drafting – you just have to make sure you don’t take them too soon. God bless and happy drafting…
Matt Ward
@titanchaps