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I don’t have to tell you what a disappointment Steven Jackson has been for fantasy owners this season. He was oozing with top-10 running back potential before the season began but as you well know, things didn’t exactly work out that way. Half because of time missed due to injury and half because of sheer ineffectiveness when on the field, Jackson has just 547 total yards and four touchdowns on the season. He’s posted several week-ruining duds and understandably become incredibly hard for fantasy owners to trust. Still, when the matchup is right it’s hard to ignore it.
The Atlanta Falcons take on the Washington Redskins this week and Jackson has a good chance of winding up with a solid fantasy line. Although he had a mediocre game last Sunday he’s still shown some signs of life recently. Two weeks ago he rushed for 84 yards and two touchdowns against the Buffalo Bills, and the week before that he rushed for 63 yards and a touchdown against the New Orleans Saints. The numbers obviously aren’t eye-popping but they’re certainly decent. Even though he didn’t produce much last week he still actually averaged 4.7 YPC, turning 15 rushes into 71 yards.
The Redskins’ defense has been pretty poor all season and although they were starting to improve, the complete state of disarray within the organization has stalled any positive progress that the team was making. With bad blood brewing between pretty much everyone and head coach Mike Shanahan, morale isn’t all that high in Washington these days. It’s unfortunate for them but great for a Falcons team looking to take advantage.
Atlanta is in good position to win this game, especially since the Redskins will be playing without Robert Griffin. That means Jackson could wind up with a few extra clock-killing carries as well. As scary as it is to play him, the matchup is favourable and he just might come through.
Dan Freeman is a Fantasy football writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanFreeman88.
