Fantasy football seasons are often littered with tales of players bouncing back from a challenging year to surprise us all with an impressive follow-up and continuing biases from one year into the next isn’t helpful in this game.
This article will put together the best contenders for a second-chance season.
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Fantasy Football Players Who Deserve a Second Chance
Russell Wilson (QB – DEN)
Russell Wilson needs a second chance as much as any player in the NFL right now, with his departure from Seattle having been the source of great amusement to many across the league as Wilson fell flat on his face with the Broncos. There are reasons for optimism, though, with Sean Payton installed as the new head coach of the Broncos, and he immediately got to work rejuvenating the Broncos’ offensive line, adding several high-profile additions, which should allow Wilson more time to survey the field and make correct choices.
After Nathaniel Hackett was fired, Wilson went on the have two top-five performances across the last three weeks of the fantasy season, and with a better head coach, better offensive line, and healthy receiving options, Wilson could come good on his second chance, particularly if he allows himself to be coached by Payton who had great success with Drew Brees for many years.
If Wilson doesn’t pay attention to Payton, he might find himself unable to get a third chance in the NFL.
Jonathan Taylor (RB – IND)
2021 was an incredible year for Jonathan Taylor as he finished as the RB1 in total points and RB2 in points per game, but he was unable to repeat that measure in 2022, crashing back to Earth and finishing as the RB19 in points per game. Taylor struggled to overcome a sluggish Colts offense that regressed under Matt Ryan, with the offensive line also taking a noticeable backward step.
Now with Anthony Richardson set to take over as the Colts starting quarterback Taylor can hope to benefit in the same way many running backs benefit from defenses having to try and account for a dual-threat quarterback as well as the other offensive weapons. Taylor will likely lose some work in the passing game, but if his efficiency can take a step forward, then we know he has the talent to break off game-changing runs at any moment.
JK Dobbins (RB – BAL)
This time last year, fantasy managers were right to be skeptical about JK Dobbins, who was returning from a very serious knee injury that went far beyond the ACL injury that it was usually surmised as. Dobbins needed a second surgery to remove scar tissue which further slowed down his recovery, but by all reports now, he’s moving much better and is keen to make up for lost time.
Under Greg Roman, the Ravens’ running backs were frequently rotated, with Dobbins averaging 11.2 touches per game through his career and often taken out at times when Roman seemed to prefer Gus Edwards for unknown and unobvious reasons. John Harbaugh would often remark in post-game press conferences that he wasn’t sure why Dobbins wasn’t featured more, only for Greg Roman to continue to be the scourge of fantasy managers, but that is no longer the case with Todd Monken in Baltimore.
In 2016 and 2017, when Monken was the OC in Tampa, Doug Martin averaged 17.1 touches per game, and in 2018, Peyton Barber averaged 15.9. When Monken was in Cleveland in 2019, Nick Chubb averaged a whopping 21.3 touches per game. If Dobbins is finally trusted with a large workload, as well as seeing even a slight uptick in the receiving game, with Monken’s love for screen passes well known, then it absolutely could be wheels up for him in 2023.
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