Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

- Written by Ryan Czopek
- Edited by Allie Fontana

There is a saying in the NFL that anything can happen on any given Sunday. The same goes for fantasy football. A player can put up 24 fantasy points one week and none the next. It’s the unpredictability of the season that makes football and fantasy football so interesting and exciting. No position in fantasy football is as unpredictable as wide receiver. So many receivers are fixtures in a fantasy lineup one season and on waivers the next. Just because a player makes the bust list, doesn’t necessarily mean you have to avoid him completely on draft day (though we’ll let you know who to avoid altogether). Some, not all busts are overvalued players, while the majority have seen their situations change (e.g., new team, new coaching staff, upgrade or downgrade of players around them, injuries, etc.) or are likely to have a hard time living up to expectations. Use our 2010 Fantasy Football Busts Wide Receivers list as a guide to move some players down your draft board.

Steve Smith, WR, New York Giants – Last season the “other” Steve Smith had one of the best receiving years in Giants’ team history. Smith came out of nowhere to set a franchise record with 107 receptions and his 1,220 yards were the second most in team history, trailing only Amani Toomer. Used as nothing more than a possession receiver in the slot in 2008, Smith was the receiver who benefited most from the loss of Plaxico Burress in 2009. The sure-handed Smith built an early rapport with quarterback Eli Manning and through the first-half of the season, he was arguably the best receiver in the NFL, producing 61 receptions for 719 yards and five touchdowns. As the season wore on, however, opposing defenses used blanket coverage toward Smith’s side of the field and he had a difficult time creating separation. This led to just two touchdown receptions over the Giants’ final seven games.

There are two potential road blocks that could prevent Smith from repeating his stellar 2009 campaign. First, New York had trouble running the football a year ago and head coach Tom Coughlin has been on record saying that they are going to establish the run early in 2010. Last season, the Giants finished No. 17 in the league with 1,837 rushing yards and the team’s 14 rushing touchdowns were good enough for the No. 16 spot. They averaged 4.1 yards per carry, which ranked them at No. 20 overall. To put these numbers in perspective, Giants’ running back Brandon Jacobs had 15 rushing touchdowns alone in 2008. Both Jacobs and running mate Ahmad Bradshaw have recovered from the injuries that plagued them last season and you can expect New York to get back to a 50-50 pass-to-run ratio (they passed 55% of the time in 2009). Another factor that makes Smith less appealing this season is the development of second -year wide receiver Hakeem Nicks. The tall, athletic Nicks shows signs of having elite, game-breaking ability as a rookie. Last season, Nicks caught five passes for 40-plus yards and three of his touchdowns were for 50 yards or more. Toward the end of Nick’s rookie campaign, Manning seemed to favor this talented youngster, and it won’t take him long to figure out that the emerging Nicks has what it takes to be the true No. 1 option. In the end, Smith is still fantasy worthy; however, a significant decline in production is expected and you shouldn’t overvalue him based on one solid season.