David Seelig/Associated Press
2015 will be the year Hyde busts out.
It is never too early to adjust your draft board or use some white out on your cheat sheets.
This column highlights the players who are in for some pretty amazing stat lines in 2015. These are the players who fantasy football owners will bow down to and thank profusely after the season ends for getting them into the fantasy playoffs and title game.
These are the players who are ready to take the next fantasy step stats-wise. These are the up-and-comers who are ready to reach for the brass goal posts and the veteran who will be bolstered by an improved supporting cast.
Here are four players primed for spectacular seasons, starting with an Ohio State product (no, not Maurice Clarett) who is about to go from seldom-used backup to full-time workhorse in 2015.
Carlos Hyde, San Francisco 49ers (RB)
400-year-old Frank Gore still has a couple gallons of gas left in his gas tank, but the chances of him returning to San Francisco are slimmer than the chances Colin Kaepernick gets all of his tattoos lasered off his body.
This means Hyde, Gore’s former understudy and San Fran’s second-round pick in 2014, is the odds-on favorite to become the top tailback on a run-first team with an above-average offensive line.
Hyde didn't do much in his rookie season, rushing for 333 yards and four touchdowns while Gore had the eighth 1,000-yard year of his illustrious career. Hyde was brought along slowly, but unlike Cincinnati’s Jeremy Hill, who went from splitting time to becoming the starting tailback by the end of the season, Hyde remained the backup from Week 1 to Week 17.
Hyde has no receiving skills and has to deal with Kaepernick’s scattershot passing allowing defenses to crush the line, yet if and when Gore signs with another team, Hyde immediately becomes the No. 1 running back and also immediately becomes a fantasy force.
1,300 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns are very attainable numbers for Hyde if he is the starter and stays relatively healthy.
Tre Mason, St. Louis Rams (RB)
Mason stormed out of St. Louis’ plodding backfield and right into fantasy owners’ hearts during his rookie campaign as he rumbled for 765 rushing yards and five touchdowns. And he did this after not getting one carry or touch during the first month of the season.
Mason will be the main man of the Rams’ rushing attack heading into the 2015 season, so unless Zac Stacy gets a leg transplant that gives him the shins of a greyhound or Eric Dickerson steps out of a hot tub time machine that transforms him into the 1984 version of himself, Mason’s starting spot is safe.
St. Louis is not trading for Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers, or drafting Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota, so the Rams will still have an offense that relies heavily on the run. With Mason being the starter at the onset rather than missing a month, he should be a super sophomore for fantasy owners in 2015.
Sammy Watkins, Buffalo Bills (WR)
While Watkins’ 982 receiving yards and half-dozen touchdowns this past year are nothing to poo-poo, it feels like there were 50 rookie receivers who were better. Didn’t Odell Beckham Jr. do that in a month? Didn’t Mike Evans do that with Mike Glennon and Josh McCown throwing to him? Didn’t Kelvin Benjamin do that and more in every major category?
New Buffalo head coach Rex Ryan is not known for having a hand in turning receivers into Pro Bowl players and fantasy studs. Just ask those who owned Eric Decker last season.
And new offensive coordinator Greg Roman is not receiver-friendly, either. How low was Michael Crabtree ’s fantasy value in 2014? The answer is right down there with Andre Holmes, Robert Woods and Nate Washington, three receivers that were on waivers all season in most leagues.
Buffalo did not trade its 2015 first-round pick to move up last season in the first round to grab Watkins without rhyme or reason. The kid has ultra-talent. He can take a five-yard slant and turn it into a touchdown faster than Doug Marrone can kill his coaching career.
Who will be the most productive for fantasy owners in 2014?
Who will be the most productive for fantasy owners in 2014?
Carlos Hyde
Tre Mason
Sammy Watkins
Russell Wilson
Watkins had his 982 yards and six scores with E.J. Manuel and Kyle Orton throwing to him and played much of the time less than 100 percent due to various injuries. With a year under his belt, a healthier body and with hopefully (fingers crossed) some better quarterback play from his signal caller, Watkins will be a 1,300-yard, 11-TD fantasy wunderkind as early as 2015.
Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks (QB)
Wilson threw for a career-high 3,475 yards, ran for a career-high 849 yards and accounted for 26 total touchdowns in 2014. Now imagine what Wilson could do if his receiving corps was upgraded to average?
When Doug Baldwin is your top target, Jermaine Kearse is your No. 2 receiver and Luke Willson is your tight end, it is pretty amazing to throw for as many yards and score as many touchdowns as Wilson did in 2014.
One of Seattle’s prime concerns to address this offseason is adding a pass-catcher or two so the offensive burden does not land solely on the legs of Wilson and Marshawn Lynch, especially since the latter is not guaranteed to return.
Look for the Seahawks to add a veteran receiver (Randall Cobb would be perfect but it's highly doubtful Seattle could spare the cap room) and for the young guys they have drafted in recent years, like Paul Richardson and Kevin Norwood, to improve and become bigger facets of the passing attack.
Wilson was able to have back-to-back 26-touchdown toss seasons in 2012 and 2013 when Golden Tate, Percy Harvin and Sidney Rice were around. He should be able to do it again if the Seahawks better the receivers he is throwing to.
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