Cincinnati Bengals - Fantasy News

A.J. Green 2017 Fantasy Projections

by Jonathan Willis

8/10/17

NFL

Cincinnati Bengals

A.J. Green

Last year marked the first time in his career that A.J. Green failed to tally 1,000 yards.

Green’s 2016 season was cut short after 10 games following an injury suffered against the Buffalo Bills. On the first pass of the game, Green suffered a Grade II hamstring tear and was lost for the rest of the year. The Cincinnati Bengals indicated that the team would have brought him back if they had been in playoff contention, but erred on the side of caution once they were eliminated.

Why A.J. Green Will Be a 2017 Fantasy Football Keeper

Prior to the injury, Green was on pace to have his most productive season yet in 2016. Through nine games, he had 66 catches for 964 yards and four touchdowns. That put him on pace to finish with a final stat line of 117 receptions for 1,714 yards and seven touchdowns.

When healthy, Green was one of the best fantasy options to play last year. He was worth 15.74 Dober Fantasy Points a game and could have won the week for you in Week 1, Week 4 and Week 7. In each of those weeks he lit up defenses for at least 169 yards and one touchdown.

There’s no question that Green will be Andy Dalton’s go-to receiver again in 2017. Green is a one-of-a-kind talent that will make any quarterback better. He has the size and speed to run any route and that makes it extremely difficult for opposing defenses to deal with him. Green has more than lived up to his billing as the No. 4 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.

A receiver’s production depends on the quality of his quarterback. In that regard, Andy Dalton might be one of the most underrated signal callers in the NFL. Dalton has improved drastically in each of the last two seasons, and he could put up his best numbers yet in 2017.

Why A.J. Green Will Be a 2017 Fantasy Football Bust

It’s always a concern when a player is coming back from injury. A hamstring tear isn’t as significant as a broken bone or a torn ligament, but it’s worrisome nonetheless. Although the team and Green are saying all the right things, you just never know until you’re on the field and at game speed.

This is Cincinnati’s most talented group of skill position players it has had this decade. Tyler Boyd is going to have a bigger role in his second season. He will be asked to be the possession receiver this team has needed for some time now.

Additionally, the Bengals used a first-round selection on John Ross. Ross will see a lot of the deep passes that went Green’s way in the past. He has the speed to torch opposing defensive backs and the Bengals will exploit that.

Brandon LaFell, Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard will all see passes thrown their way too. There is only one ball to go around and that will deflate Green’s numbers even if he fully returns to form.