6 Players Worth Reaching for in Your Fantasy Football Drafts

Brandon Marshall, WR, New York Jets

Current ADP: 5.04

Earliest Willing to Draft: 4th Round

Fantasy footballers can be a fickle bunch. Down years that result from injuries can significantly decrease the stock of players who were once considered studs.

Such is the case for Brandon Marshall, who dealt with a bum ankle all season in 2014.

Now, it’s true Marshall wasn’t that efficient last year on a per-target basis despite reeling in eight touchdown passes. But Marshall’s never been an incredibly efficient receiver. In fact, Marshall’s career efficiency as measured by Reception Net Expected Points (NEP) per target sits at 0.66, which happens to be the league average among all wide receivers over the past three seasons.

So despite average career efficiency, largely affected by poor quarterback play, Marshall’s still managed to produce at an incredibly high level due to volume.

And I don’t expect his volume to decline much. Why?

Since 2008, new offensive coordinator Chan Gailey has served four seasons as either an offensive coordinator (Chiefs, 2008) or head coach (Bills, 2010-12). In three of those seasons, Gailey’s play-calling, in terms of pass-to-run ratio, ranked in the top half of the league, and two of those were in the top 10.

So don’t be surprised if Gailey gives Ryan Fitzpatrick the green light to pepper Marshall with targets all season long.

Marshall’s career production has been amazingly consistent, posting seven seasons in a row with over 1,000 yards from 2007-2013. Marshall is also only 31 years old -- it’s not like he’s gotten his football Medicare card yet.

If I’ve been fortunate enough to load up on two stud running backs and a top-10 receiver with my first three picks, I won’t hesitate to grab Marshall in the mid- to late-fourth round. He’s a high-floor, high-upside player who can still do major damage.