Knowing which offenses are fantasy friendly is helpful when deciding between potential additions to your team. For example, I would rather own James Jones or Tom Crabtree of the Green Bay Packers, than Chaz Schillens, Konrad Reuland or any of the other “skill” positions on the New York Jets.
First we must define what makes an NFL offense “fantasy friendly”:
- A high octane offense that produces gaudy numbers for all skill position players.
- A balanced offense, where defences must respect both the pass and run
- An offense that doesn’t rely on any one player and can absorb the loss of any individual
- A coaching staff that is intent on putting up lots of points.
- Your defence gives up lots of points, forcing the offense to remain aggressive
1. New England Patriots – The Patriots run most of their plays out of two tight end formations. They not only run the ball, but they throw deep, intermediate and short routes from these sets, which allows them to disguise their plays very easily. This has led to a league-leading 439 yards of offense each week. The opportunities in this offense are seemingly limitless. New England has at least 3 running backs, 2 tight ends and 3 wide receivers that get involved each week. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady make a point of spreading the ball around and this offense can sustain major injuries (Brady in 2008), which makes it our most fantasy friendly offense of the 2012 season.
2. New York Giants – The Giants offense is fantasy friendly because they are able to turn a middling running back, receiver or tight end into a stud on any given Sunday. Whether it be Andre Brown, Ramses Barden, Dominik Hixon or Martellus Bennett, the Giants have a QB and system that is capable of turning water to wine. New York also sports one of the weaker secondaries in the league, which means that Eli and the boys are usually forced to keep throwing aggressively late into games.
3. Atlanta Falcons – Offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter has installed a fast-paced and explosive pass-first system and his players love it. Matt Ryan ranks 2nd among quarterbacks with 110 fantasy points. Roddy White and Julio Jones are both viable WR1’s every week. Tony Gonzalez has re-discovered himself and is putting up numbers reminiscent of his days in Kansas City. Michael Turner has continued to give this offense good balance and even backups such as Jacquizz Rodgers and Harry Douglas have seen a boost in their numbers under Koetter’s offense. The potential disaster that awaits if Matt Ryan gets injured, is the only thing keeping Atlanta out of the top-2. Read the rest of this entry »
