Not to sound like someone who hasn't appreciated -- and benefited -- from what Fred Taylor has accomplished statistically in his career, but I always felt like it was going to be tough for him to put up fantasy-relevant numbers for the New England Patriots this season. It's going to be really tough now -- really, kind of impossible -- because his season is likely over after the 33-year-old running back had surgery on his torn-up right ankle Thursday.
Taylor helped fantasy owners in one game, though I can't imagine too many people had him active in Week 3 against the Atlanta Falcons. Honestly, I didn't expect to see Taylor owned in that many ESPN standard leagues today, but he was up to nearly 87 percent ownership, so he was pretty popular. In retrospect, it wasn't only his name that got him owned. Give the old guy credit, though, because Taylor ranks 29th in fantasy points for running backs, ahead of Michael Turner, Clinton Portis and Brian Westbrook, though more than half his season fantasy output came in one week. It was a nice story for someone who has had an underrated career; did you know he's third among active running backs in rushing yards? The first two guys were doing less this season (Edgerrin James, LaDainian Tomlinson). It's a shame he got hurt, really. I could have seen maybe 800 rushing yards and six or seven scores.
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Eric Karabell
