Can Donovan McNabb Put Visanthe Shiancoe Back on the Map?
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Visanthe Shiancoe ‘s numbers took quite a hit last year. I know 47 catches for 530 yards and two scores isn’t terrible, but when you consider that 162 of those yards and one of those touchdowns came in the first two weeks, it starts to paint a grim picture.
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One year after catching 56 passes for 566 yards and 11 touchdowns with Brett Favre and Shiancoe became an afterthought after two games. He had just one more standout fantasy game when he picked up 66 yards and a score against Arizona in Week 9. He had one more game with 54 yards which is a mediocre performance, but he had 41 or fewer years in the remaining 12 games.
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It wasn’t just Favre’s arrival in 2009 though that made Shiancoe a viable fantasy option. In 2008 he caught 42 passes for 596 yards and seven touchdowns. While his 2009 production would be a reach, can he get back to the 2008 level?
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There are some things working in his favor. For starters, without Sidney Rice the Vikings lack a legitimate red zone threat at wide receiver. Percy Harvin’s quickness and versatility will be called upon, but when they want to throw it to a big body, Shiancoe figures to be the man. |
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Visanthe could be one of the few players that benefit from the NFL lockout as rookie Kyle Rudolph didn’t get to attend the mini-camps and OTAs to speed up his learning curve. Not only does Rudolph have to learn his role in the passing game, he also has to learn blocking assignments.
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Finally, Shiancoe’s quarterback has a history of utilizing tight ends. When you looks at Minnesota’s sad cast of characters at WR outside of Percy, I wouldn’t be surprised if Shiancoe was the secondary read.
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I wouldn’t necessarily draft Shiancoe at this point, especially with all the time he’s missed because of his hamstring injury. I would just monitor to see whether or not he develops a rapport with McNabb. If those two gel, Shiancoe could be a solid TE2 once again.
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