Fantasy Football Profile: Michael Turner
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Michael Turner more than proved he was capable of stepping out of LT’s shadow to be a feature back. Early in the season he was inconsistent. He would dominate bad Defenses [Detroit, KC, GB (injuries), Oakland, Denver] and get bottled up by good ones [TB, Carolina, Chicago, Philly]. Something happened in Week 12 though as he destroyed Carolina for 117 yards and 4 TDs. He became a machine putting up solid games against everyone he faced, including TB and a tough Minnesota run D. He had 100+ yards and/or a TD in his last nine games.
There is some cause for concern though despite the monster numbers (1699 yards, 17 TDs). He had 376 carries last year. That is a lot for a back even if he didn’t have much mileage prior to the season. Historically, RBs with such a huge workload see a dip in production the following year. I’m already calling for his TDs to reduce because of the addition of Tony Gonzalez, who is great inside the 20. He’ll face a tougher schedule this year with games against Miami, New England, Dallas, Washington, NY Giants, Philadelphia, and the Jets, along with two games against Carolina and Tampa Bay. His fantasy playoffs schedule consists of matchups with New Orleans, the Jets, and Buffalo, which isn’t terrible. Despite the likely dip in production I still think Turner will be a top 3-4 back. I’m expecting 1700 total yards and 13 TDs.
