Fantasy Impact: Marvin Harrison
July 18, 2008 at 7:44 am | Article by Paul Hickey |
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Fantasy football draft guides and player rankings are definitely an important part of preparing for the upcoming fantasy football season - no question. However, it’s important to take an in-depth look at some players who may outperform where they are ranked. For the record, we believe Indy’s Marvin Harrison falls in that category.
There is plenty of reason to be concerned with Colts WR Marvin Harrison heading into 2008, but there is no reason to be closed-minded about him. Sure, he missed 11 games in 2007 with a knee injury. Sure, he was linked to a shooting in Philadelphia, and will turn 36 two weeks prior to the start of the 2008 NFL season.
However, we received good news last week when Tony Dungy said Harrison was running pain free and would be ready to start Week 1, and commented on how Harrison was not a suspect in any type of police investigation.
It’s reasonable to believe what Dungy says about Harrison’s health. After all, the injury was always more of a mystery than it was a serious one, and arthroscopic surgery is not a huge procedure. The player we saw in the AFC Divisional Playoffs could have just been more rusty than injured.
Fantasy owners have to ask themselves if Harrison was slowing down at all prior to his injury. Assuming they watched the same games I watched, and looked at his stat line at all, the answer is no. Prior to 2007, Harrison had caught 80 or more balls for 1,100 or more yards and 10 or more TDs in eight straight seasons.
The other thing fantasy owners need to realize is that age is relative.
WRs play way longer these days than running backs. Guys like Joey Galloway (37 in November), Donald Driver (33), Terrell Owens (34), Randy Moss (31), Hines Ward (31) and many others are still having an extremely positive impact in the stat column well over the age of 30.
Lastly, Harrison plays on the Colts people. Peyton Manning is his QB. Dallas Clark, Reggie Wayne and Joseph Addai are surrounding him. Teams cannot focus in on shutting down Harrison - there will always be opportunities that present themselves for him.
Assuming he can stay on the field, he’s no worse than a solid WR2, with the potential to regain his spot as a WR1 in fantasy football. If Harrison falls to you in round five or six of your seasonal draft - take him without hesitation. Dynasty owners should hang onto him, as his value will only go up from here on out. He’s one guy who is going to be worth riding out until the end of his career.
For the record, we like Marvin Harrison in 2008.
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