2013 Fantasy Football: Don’t Forget Shane Vereen

Shane Vereen

Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

Before I get going on this one, it is fair for me to point out that I have no problems using a bench spot to stash a player for weeks. I’ve had Percy Harvin on my fantasy benches since week one. In 2010, I kept Vincent Jackson on my bench for what seemed like the whole season. With that being said, unless your league is deep it might be a little early to grab Shane Vereen, but he should be on your radar again. If your league features an IR spot, then he is certainly worth adding now.

Owned in 36 percent of Yahoo! leagues, Vereen will be lighting up the waiver wire over the next few weeks, and I fully expect to see his ownership percentage increase drastically over the next month. He appears to be on track to play in week 11, which will be the soonest he will be eligible to return from short term injured reserve.

Related: Week 8 Fantasy Football Dark Horse Sleeper: WR Larry Fitzgerald

Vereen was poised to be the featured back for the New England Patriots and started the year off with a huge week one performance, rushing for 101 yards and catching seven passes for 58 more yards, putting up 22.4 fantasy points and was the highest scoring running back for the week. With the return of Rob Gronkowski to the Patriots lineup, the emergence of Kenbrell Thompkins and the possibility of Danny Amendola staying healthy, opponents will have their hands full with the receiving corps and won’t be able to focus all their attention on Vereen. He has the size and speed to either run through or around defenders and rack up the yardage.

He has shed the cast, and is on track to resume practicing with a team that is finally starting to get healthy all over. With Vereen not being able to return until week 11, it might be a little early to stash him, but if your league has savvy owners who tend to scoop players like this early, it might behoove you to roster him now. He was on track to a huge season until his wrist injury derailed it, Vereen could be one of those waiver wire pickups that help your team make some noise on your playoff run.

As always, I welcome your comments. If you think I’m wrong, I’m willing to listen. Just back it up with some facts and solid evidence. Thanks for reading and good luck this season.

Dustin Manko is an author at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DustinManko, ”Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google

Read more from Dustin here.

Related:

http://www.rantsports.com/fantasy/2013/10/23/fantasy-football-2013-thumbs-up-thumbs-down-for-week-8/?utm_source=RantSports&utm_medium=HUBRecirculation&utm_term=Fantasy

http://www.rantsports.com/fantasy/2013/10/23/fantasy-football-week-8-dark-horse-sleeper-christian-ponder/?utm_source=RantSports&utm_medium=HUBRecirculation&utm_term=Fantasy

http://www.rantsports.com/fantasy/2013/10/23/fantasy-football-dark-horse-sleeper-brandon-gibson/?utm_source=RantSports&utm_medium=HUBRecirculation&utm_term=Fantasy


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