JAVARRIS JAMES INDIANAPOLIS COLTS RUNNING BACK

Okay, let’s get down to some really serious fantasy football preseason work.  This is where the future champions of fantasy football like to get an edge up, on the competition.  Today I’m looking deep down into the wishing well.  I’m looking for a player who is only an injury away from becoming fantasy football relevant, if a player ahead of him on the depth chart goes down with a significant injury in 2011.

If you’ve played this game for a while, you know each year, there’s a player or two that gets passed over during your league draft.  Yet, he got an opportunity to play because a player in front of him on the depth chart was victimized by a season ending injury.  Then, in the next week’s waiver run, the team owner ahead of you gets the player no one drafted and he goes on to post big numbers and possibly be instrumental in that teams championship.  Next you hear team owners saying, “I was going to draft him but I just couldn’t pull the trigger.”

Running back Javarris James, Indianapolis Colts, could be that sleeper player in 2011.  The two players ahead of him on the depth chart, Joseph Addai (1st round #30 in 2006 draft, 4th RB taken) and Donald Brown (1st round #27 in 2009 draft, 2nd RB taken), are certainly no strangers to injury.  Joseph Addai missed 8 fantasy football weeks in 2010 while Donald Brown missed 5 fantasy weeks in 2009 (his rookie year) and 3 weeks in 2010.

Joseph Addai, for his NFL career, has played in 61 of 75 possible fantasy games for 81%.  Addai’s age, 28, and the fact that he missed 50% of possible fantasy games in 2010 is a cause for concern in Fanatic Fantasy Football Stadium.  I think the 81% number of games played is a bit deceiving too due to the fact that Addai had his share of games where he attempted to play hurt and didn’t light up the fantasy scoreboard.  According to NFL Combine records for these three running backs, Joseph ran the fastest 40 yard dash, being clocked at 4.4 seconds.  Still, Addai has noticeably lost a step during his first five years in the NFL and he has never been a speed merchant running back.  His best years were 2006 (his rookie season) and 2007.  In 2006 he ran for 1081 yards on 226 attempts and scored 7 touchdowns.  He followed that up with 1072 yards on 261 attempts, the most in his career, and he scored 12 touchdowns (4 rush, 8 rec), also the most in his career.  Those were his best years.  He has never gone over 1100 yards and has double digit touchdowns in only two of five years (2007 & 2009).

Donald Brown was drafted in the 2009 NFL draft, and many fantasy coaches thought he would take over the Colt running back job in his first year and certainly no later than his second year.  NFL scouts were a little more pessimistic about Brown.  They questioned his overall frame, being narrow in the shoulders, and his ability to withstand the punishment he would experience in the NFL week after week.  Considering the success of past UConn backs, who played under college head coach Randy Edsall, - and their subsequent lack of success in the NFL – you might understand how NFL scouts could be suspicious of Brown's production.  Central Florida's Kevin Smith was also a product of the same head coach.

Javarris James is the cousin of Edgerrin James.  Both are members of “THA U” running back bloodline.  Edgerrin was a great running back for the Indianapolis Colts.  Javarris was expected to be drafted in the 2010 NFL Draft but was passed over and eventually signed with the Colts as a rookie free-agent.  The Colts cut him during training camp and he made stops in New England and Washington before finally signing again with the Colts.    Javarris James fits the mold of the typical running back used by the Colts in the backfield.  He is tough running between the tackles, he doesn’t have blazing speed but can break a long run, and he can shed tacklers to gain the extra yard.  Javarris, in four years at Miami University, averaged 126 rush attempts per year, 540 rushing yards per year, and 5 rushing touchdowns per year.  He also averaged 14 receptions per year, 126 receiving yards, and .25 receiving touchdowns per year.

Due to injuries to running backs in front of him, Javarris James was called into limited action in 2010 (rookie year) and made the best of his playing time.  He played in 8 games but 4 of those games saw him touch the ball only once or twice.  In the other four games, he contributed to the point where he just might have shown a glimpse of what he could do as a full time back.  In those games, where he carried the ball 4 or more times, he averaged 9.25 carries, 26.25 yards rushing, and 1.5 touchdowns per game.  Javarris has very good hands for receiving the ball out of the backfield.  He hauled in 9 of 11 targets, 82%, in 2010 and averaged 7 yards per reception.  With more playing time, Javarris James could raise his stats and some eyebrows within the organization.

These aren’t earth-shattering numbers for J. James, but the 6 touchdowns in only four games get’s my attention.  At least keep your eyes open if Joseph Addai or Donald Brown goes down with an injury

Article provided by: J. Piatt
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