The Washington Redskins began the 2011 off-season with Ryan Torain as their feature back and rookie Roy Helu as his top back-up. However, following a trade for former Arizona Cardinals running back Tim Hightower and injuries to Torain, things have changed dramatically.
While most of the attention in Washington is focused on the quarterback position battle between John Beck and Rex Grossman, fantasy owners looking for a diamond in the rough would be wise to start paying attention to the emergence of Hightower.
Cleverly hidden in a pass-happy Cardinals offense for several years, Hightower appears set for a major breakout season, especially after completing his third straight impressive preseason performance. And this last one shouldn’t be taken lightly, as it came against a stout Baltimore Ravens first-team defensive unit.
On top of Hightower’s impressive cut-back 37-yard touchdown run against the Ravens on Thursday night, he’s exhibited excellent receiving skills and the ability to run effectively in short-yardage situations and near the goal-line. His increasing value has rendered the injury-plagued Torain nearly useless, and the rookie Helu as merely another back on the team.
With a nice blend of speed, size, power, and versatility, Hightower could be the perfect fantasy back that nobody saw coming.
While there is always the chance that Hightower’s preseason success and role don’t necessarily translate to fantasy dominance in 2011, now is not the time for fantasy owners to think poorly of a player who is clearly on the rise. How much “on the rise” remains to be determined, but his role is looking clear enough that he should be a safe RB2, and he should be quickly ascending fantasy experts’ rankings everywhere.
Lock Hightower in as a solid RB2 sleeper with decent upside. If everything works out well, he could possibly even put up RB1 numbers in 2011.
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