Nobody has scored more fantasy points in standard leagues the past two seasons than Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and of course his stalwart production makes fantasy owners very interested in wide receiver weapons Greg Jennings and Donald Driver. However, if you knew that Driver, the team's leading receiver in catches and touchdowns in 2009, was recovering from offseason surgery on both knees, you would learn another name for draft day, wouldn't you?
I believe after three seasons of knocking on the proverbial door of fantasy relevancy, that name is James Jones. He wasn't exactly invisible last season, as he caught 32 passes for 440 yards and five touchdowns, but he was also never a great fantasy option, reaching double digits in fantasy points just twice. Even though Rodgers and the Packers' offense piled up the yards, it didn't resemble the season where Peyton Manning helped turn three of his Indianapolis Colts wide receivers into 1,000-yard options. Still, watching Jones the past few seasons, he's always seemed thisclose to really expanding his role, and we know this is one of the right offenses in football to be a key figure in. Driver is 35 and no lock to regain his stature ... Jones just needs opportunity.
"If you go through the films, James Jones, just from a production standpoint, probably stands out as one of the top performers through the OTAs," Packers coach Mike McCarthy told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel recently. "He's gotten a lot of opportunities, particularly in the slot with Donald's absence, and I think he's done a very good job of that."
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Eric Karabell | email
ESPN.com Senior Writer- ESPN contributor on TV, radio, podcasts, blogs, Magazine
- Charter member of FSWA Hall of Fame
- Author of "The Best Philadelphia Sports Arguments"
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Eric Karabell
Eric Karabell is an ESPN.com senior writer. He has worked at ESPN since 1997 and covered fantasy sports for ESPN since 2001, specializing in baseball and football. Eric appears several times per week on SportsCenter, NFL Live and other ESPN shows, contributes to ESPN Radio and ESPN The Magazine and is the host of the Baseball Today Podcast. He has been honored twice as fantasy sports writer of the year by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, his blog was named best fantasy baseball series for 2007 and he was inducted into the inaugural FSWA Hall of Fame class in 2010.
Eric grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs, and accordingly, favors Philly teams first, his fantasy teams second. He previously served as ESPN.com's lead NBA editor, and is a former Washington Post and Philadelphia Inquirer sports writer. Eric is also the author of "The Best Philadelphia Sports Arguments," published by Source Books and available in bookstores and online.
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