Fantasy Football 2013: Five Breakout Players To Consider

There are sleepers to consider, rookies to watch, and potential busts, but then there are breakout players who redefine themselves after a poor season or a lost one. The five players below are just a few of those who are ready to go to that ‘next step’ towards making a major impact in the 2013-2014 season.

1. Steven Jackson-RB-Falcons- Here’s a bold prediction right off the bat; we think that Jackson could have his best year in the NFL statistically and surely will meet or exceed his 2009 numbers. Main reason? He won’t be staring at eight in the box in Atlanta, not with their varied offensive threats. Jackson is coming off his eighth consecutive 1,000 yard season but his biggest breakout numbers will come in receptions (Jackson has averaged 45 a year) and in touchdowns where he should reach double-digits as compared to his average of 5 over the past three seasons. There is no reason, besides injury of course, why the 30 year old 6′ 1″ 236 lb tailback shouldn’t see as many red zone opportunities as Michael Turner did last year (51). The fact that Matt Ryan threw 103 passes to his top three backs last season won’t hurt either.

2. David Wilson-RB-Giants– Veteran running back Ahmad Bradshaw left via free-agency telling us that the Giants had no qualms in letting him do so because of their confidence in their 2012 first-round draft pick, David Wilson. They saw an explosive sampling of his abilities during the last four games of the season when Wilson rushed for 247 yards while averaging a whopping 5.7 yards per carry. The risk here, however, is Wilson’s propensity toward fumbling which could see him realize a lesser workload as coach Tom Coughlin has little patience for dropped balls. Wilson is poised to have a breakout year if he can keep the pigskin off the turf.

#22 David Wilson will gets an opportunity to have a breakout season with Ahmad Bradshaw no longer in RON ANTONELLI/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS picture. Photo:

#22 David Wilson will get his opportunity for a breakout season with Ahmad Bradshaw no longer in the picture. Photo: RON ANTONELLI/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

3. Sam Bradford-QB-Rams– Coming off a rebound season last year, the Rams offense greatly improved through the draft with the acquisitions of two speedsters; Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey. They will join Chris Givens now entering his second season, Brian Quick and Austin Pettis. No doubt that Bradford will miss reliable Danny Amendola, but with this group, together with big tight end Jared Cook and TE Lance Kendricks, Bradford now has a serviceable arsenal of receivers at his disposal which we feel will garner the former Rookie of the Year 4,000 yards and 25 TD passes this season, a breakout year to be sure!

4. Mohamed Sanu-WR-Bengals– Sanu is a receiver who will more than likely be overlooked in many leagues this season as a broken foot took him out of a wild three-game span last November in which Sanu logged 11 receptions and four touchdowns. The Bengals were hoping that he would be the perfect compliment to A.J. Green when they drafted him in the third round in the 2012 draft and now that he is completely healthy, this adept route runner will be there for the taking in the latter rounds and could prove a tremendous asset in deeper leagues.

#12 Mohamed Sanu could become the compliment to A.J. Green that the Bengals have been looking & John Grieshop/Getty Images for.

#12 Mohamed Sanu could become the compliment to A.J. Green that the Bengals have been looking & waiting for. John Grieshop/Getty Images

5. Randy Bullock-K-Texans- This former fifth round pick spent his rookie year on injured reserve with a torn groin. Prior to being selected in the draft, Bullock won the Lou Groza Award in 2011 as college football’s top kicker. Now that last year’s kicker Shayne Graham is in Cleveland, Bullock should post huge numbers kicking for a powerful Texans offense which helped Graham reach a team record 138 points last season.

20 comments on “Fantasy Football 2013: Five Breakout Players To Consider”

I agree with Stephen Jackson having a break out year. By having an explosive passing offense in Atlanta it should open up the run game for him to have a big bounce back season.

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fantasyfurnace on August 4, 2013 at 1:27 am said:

You would think so.
Thanks for commenting!

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marylandbroadcaster on August 4, 2013 at 4:08 pm said:

I don’t think so, they pass way too much for him to break or even come close to his career highs.

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- fantasyfurnace on August 4, 2013 at 4:48 pm said:
  
  That’s why I indicated that Matt Ryan passed 51 times to Michael Turner alone and 52 more times to his other top backs..
  
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- marylandbroadcaster on August 4, 2013 at 5:03 pm said:
  
  Okay, thanks.
  
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Reblogged this on Scoreboard Watching and commented:
This morning I want to shine some light on another blogger I follow in the sports community. Check out his latest piece breaking down the five breakout players to consider for the 2013 Fantasy Football season. Make sure to check out FantasyFurnace.com throughout the football season for great information and reads. He is a regular over at ScoreboardWatching so show him some support!

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I agree with the entire list! Solid post! I like Sanu and Wilson the best, but Brown and Wildon are listed as co-starters, backing up my projection that they’ll be used like Jacobs and Bradshaw. While I do think Austin and Bailey’s numbers are overrated, Bradford has a array of weapons, he has NO excuse this year. Let’s see if he can capitalize. Bullocks is a kicker, so he’s a give or take, he’ll depend on what Houston’s offense does.

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fantasyfurnace on August 4, 2013 at 4:47 pm said:

You’re right about Bradford. He has all the tools at his disposal this season to make him an elite QB. We’ll see if we’re correct.
As for the Texans kicker, rest assured he’ll be quite busy this season with the high-powered Houston offense.
Thanks for checking in!

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- marylandbroadcaster on August 4, 2013 at 5:03 pm said:
  
  Houston’s offense is high powered?
  
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- fantasyfurnace on August 4, 2013 at 5:10 pm said:
  
  Arian Foster, Andre Johnson, and company are formidable offensive threats, don’t you think?
  
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- marylandbroadcaster on August 4, 2013 at 5:18 pm said:
  
  Company? Arian, overused. Johnson, force fed.
  
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Good post. Just released new post. Check it out.

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Here’s what we DO know…Last year Texans kicker Shayne Graham scored a team record 138 points. They’ll move the ball enough to make Bullock fantasy relevant.

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I can logically see that Steven Jackson is a great fit in Atlanta.
Sure the conventional theory is that Jackson will get more touchdowns and more receptions, but history has a habit of destroying 30 year old backs who change teams. Jackson will not be who the Falcons had hoped and will struggle to carry the ball more than 200 times with effectiveness and that, despite all his flaws, Jacquizz Rodgers will score better than most are predicting. Jackson’s 2,397 regular season carries is a lot of work and add in a new offense with a team that needs to win now and Jackson is going to disappoint a lot of owners who see the past and not the future.

In the end I have to battle logic up against history. History wins more often than not.

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fantasyfurnace on August 7, 2013 at 1:25 pm said:

Good points all. However we will give the Falcons’ head office more credit. They were willing to let Michael Turner go and replace him with Steven Jackson. After spending his entire career on losing teams, Jackson will basque in the glory of playing for a winner at long last and as you so aptly point out, should his body hold out will turn in a banner year for Atlanta. Jackson surely realizes, as do you, that the window is closing for many more winning opportunities and he will (should) be psyched!
We’ll see.
Thanks so much for your take and for checking in here.

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