Fantasy Value at Army
Army is not a popular destination for college fantasy football owners. Army’s option attack is just not as explosive as Navy’s and with 120 teams out there, it is easy to look elsewhere. The other major concern is that the Black Knights just do not run that many plays. When the ball is always on the ground, the clock is always running. Making matters worse, the schedule is usually difficult and Army will play Navy on December 10th, well after the fantasy season has ended. That leaves the Black Knights with two bye weeks during the regular season and thus decreasing any player’s value slightly.
However, there are a couple players who are worth a look this year in deeper leagues. The obvious is fullback Jared Hassin. The 6-3 junior was just one yard short of reaching the 1,000 yard plateau and reached the end zone nine times. Hassin also ranked third on the team, which is not saying much for Army, in receiving yards last year. That only added 154 yards to his resume, but Hassin should be in for a better year with the experience he got last season. This is a player that very easily could average 100 yards and a touchdown per game and that is not bad at all for any fantasy back. What makes Hassin intriguing is the fact that Army’s schedule softens up while many BCS teams are getting into conference play. Maybe he will not be a starter every week in most fantasy leagues, but he could be by the end of the season and a fine player to fill in when your usual starter has a bye week or goes up against a tough defense.
The under the radar option for Army is quarterback Trent Steelman. The junior quarterback will not throw much at all, but in many fantasy leagues passing touchdowns are only worth four points and rushing touchdowns are worth six points. That adds a lot of value to rushing quarterbacks. And there is no more of a rushing quarterback than Steelman. It would not be a surprise if he ended up tallying more yards on the ground than through the air. Last season he rushed for 601 yards and 11 touchdowns and threw for 995 yards and seven touchdowns. Steelman is practically a running back and a relatively decent one at that. His production will need to improve a little bit to be a viable fantasy option in most leagues, but he could be worth a late round pick and be a good starting fantasy quarterback against teams like Ball State, Tulane and Fordham.
Read the in-depth football preview for this team
