Santonio Holmes

                          RUSHING                            RECEIVING                            FANTASY

By all accounts, Santonio Holmes turned in a very good 2009 season with 79 catches for 1,248 yards and 5 TDs.  Both those reception and yardage totals easily surpassed his previous highs of 55 and 942 respectively, but his TD total is for crap and ended up keeping him out of the top-10 fantasy receivers on the year.  He hasn’t been much of a touchdown-maker since he joined the Pro ranks, but for the #1 receiver on a team to get out-TDed by a 34-year old (Hines Ward), a tight end (Heath Miller), and a rookie (Mike Wallace), there has to be an explanation.  Was it the multitude of off-the-field problems that continually plague the star WR?  Maybe.  There are a number of different explanations that could be thrown out there, but whatever the case, despite the lack of 6-pointers, Holmes did well enough to satisfy his fantasy owners throughout the year.

~  Ranked 15th in the league with 155.4 WR fantasy points (basic scoring system)

~  Tied for 39th in the league with 5 receiving touchdowns

~  Ranked seventh in the league with 1,248 receiving yards

~  Ranked seventh in the league with 78.0 receiving yards per game

~  Ranked 16th in the league with 79 receptions

~  Tied for eighth in the league with 138 targets

~  Tied for second in the league with 21 receptions of 20+ yards

~  Ranked fifth in the league with 63 catches for first downs

~  Tied for tenth in the league with 491 yards after the catch (YAC)

~  Set career highs in receptions (79.0), yards (1,248), receptions/game (4.9), and yards/game (78.0)

WOW what an offseason Holmes just went through!  In March, he was accused of attacking a woman in a nightclub, and then once the story came out, was also said to have tried to pay her off so she wouldn’t press charges (where was Big Ben when he needed him?!).  Then a week and a half later, it comes out that Holmes could be facing a four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy (in other words, toking up).  Then a couple days later, he’s quickly traded to the NY Jets for a half-eaten bag of donuts.  Then a couple days later, the suspension became official and just three weeks after that, Santonio nearly had to be escorted off a plane in Pittsburgh for not complying with flight regulations.  Basically, the question is, what sort of toll does all this take on Santonio’s fantasy value in 2010?  The suspension no doubt affects it, but not nearly as much as being traded to the heaviest run-first offense in the league.  Even when he does come back and finds some sort of rapport with QB Mark Sanchez, there are still too many mouths to feed with WRs Cotchery and Edwards and TE Dustin Keller to target as well.  Our take?  Do your best to stay away from Holmes this year.  There’s more of a chance he blows up off the field than on it, which spells B-U-S-T in the world of fantasy.

~ Starting the season on a four-game suspension and not being able to find a rhythm with your new QB doesn’t bode well for a repeat of his 2009 season

~ Cotchery, Edwards, and Keller makes for a “too many roosters in the hen house” situation

~ There is no chance the Jets move away from their bread-and-butter running game just because Holmes is on board

~ How will his new teammates take to him, especially considering his immediate suspension?

Santonio Holmes (@santonio10) can be followed on Twitter at:  http://twitter.com/santonio10

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He evened things out a bit in 2009, but it's clear Santonio still loves to play on the road.  Be mindful of this if you're stuck between starting Holmes or someone else:

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How he gets up after this, we'll never know...

Santonio signed a five-year, $8.11 million contract in '06 that included $5.42 million guaranteed.  This is the final year of that contract, which works in favor of Holmes working towards a good season… after his suspension of course.  However, he’ll need to prove himself off the field almost as much as on it if he wants that next big deal.  Should be interesting:

2010 - $630,000

2011 - Free Agent

When Santonio returns from his suspension, Braylon Edwards should be his handcuff seeing that Jerricho Cotchery has some fantasy value on his own

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