Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

6. Reggie Wayne (Indianapolis Colts) — Wayne was sixth among wide receivers in fantasy points after a season in which he had 100 catches for 1,264 yards and 10 scores. All of those statistics ranked among the top-seven in the NFL. The only detriment to Wayne was his finish. He put up his worst numbers at the most important times, amassing four or fewer fantasy points in four of his last five games.

Despite all of that, Wayne will presumably still be catching passes from Peyton Manning next season, and will still be the No. 1 wide out for the Colts, cementing his spot among the top-five fantasy wide outs heading into the 2010 season.

7. Roddy White (Atlanta Falcons) — White had an interesting season, one in which he got off to a relatively slow start. He had fewer than 60 receiving yards in 10 of his 16 games on the year, yet managed to offset that relatively quiet production by scoring 11 touchdowns, which was tied for fourth in the league. Matt Ryan also suffered through some injuries this season, which may have hurt White’s overall production.

White still managed to gain 1,153 yards, which was 11th in the NFL, and catch 85 passes, which was 10th in the league; that led him to place seventh among receivers in fantasy points. He’ll be a preseason top-10 among fantasy wide outs in 2010.

8. Sidney Rice (Minnesota Vikings) — Rice was eighth among wide receivers in fantasy points this season by racking up 1,312 yards, good for fourth in the league, and eight touchdowns, which placed him among the NFL’s top-20 in that category. He had the proverbial breakout season and was a great value for anyone who selected him later in their drafts.

Rice will stay in the top-10 next preseason among fantasy wide outs as long as Brett Favre returns for another year with the Vikings. And at this point, there’s no reason to think Favre will be riding his tractor in Mississippi next September. At least, I don’t think there is. Then again, with Favre, you just never know.

9. Brandon Marshall (Denver Broncos) — Marshall was on everyone’s list of players to avoid before the season started because of his volatile behavior at that time. Nobody knew if he was going to play another snap for the Broncos, or how much he was going to play if he did stay in Denver because reports coming out of the city said that he didn’t know the playbook. Well, he overcame all of that to rank tied for fourth in the league with 101 receptions, 14th with 1,120 receiving yards and tied for seventh with 10 touchdowns.

Those digits led Marshall to rank 10th among wide outs in fantasy scoring for the season. His off-season once again bears watching, because he still wants a new contract, but even if he winds up elsewhere, he’ll be inside the top-10 in the preseason rankings of fantasy wide receivers.

10) Steve Smith (New York Giants) — Unlike others on this list, Smith may not be a preseason top-10 among fantasy wide outs in 2010, but if not, he will be just outside of that, and he deserves mention on this list because of his steady and surprising performance this year. Smith was eighth in the NFL this season with 1,220 receiving yards, second with 107 receptions, and 20th with seven touchdowns.

Smith is a possession receiver, and his relative lack of big plays (he had 14 plays of 20+ yards this season, putting him 14th in the NFL) could lead to lesser numbers if he doesn’t get quite as many opportunities in 2010 as he did this season. That’s something you may see happen if, for example, the Giants’ defense and running game improve (thus not as much need for the team to throw the ball), and rookie Hakeem Nicks takes on a bigger role in the offense.

2009 The Good:  QB  |  RB  |  WR  |  TE  |  K  |  DEF

2009 The Bad:  QB  |  RB  |  WR  |  TE  |  K  |  DEF

2009 The Ugly:  QB  |  RB  |  WR  |  TE  |  K |  DEF

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