Fantasy football wide receivers yielding in Year 2: Eric Decker, Denver Broncos

The new Easy Ed?

He was still recovering from a pretty serious foot injury, but Eric Decker was one of the more underrated prospects in the 2010 NFL Draft class. The 2009 Biletnikoff Award finalist was perhaps the University of Minnesota's only legitimate weapon on offense. Unfortunately, near the end of his senior season, he suffered a Lisfranc sprain in his left foot.

The Denver Broncos drafted the 6-foot-3, 218-pound wide receiver in the third round and were patient as he gradually increased his workload in OTAs, training camp and preseason practices. Regardless, Decker's slow indoctrination, despite a couple of thrilling exhibition games, and the team's depth put him at a disadvantage in Josh McDaniels' offense.

One year later, the big pass catcher is turning headsets and beggin' for a bit of a fantasy football love.

Double Decker dare deal

For starters, Decker is the healthiest he's been in nearly two years. And, although the Golden Gophers, as a unit, struggled immensely with the pro set in the receiver's final college autumn, the transition from the spread laid a credible foundation for its star product.

Decker, 24, spent this past offseason overcoming a sizable learning curve; he and Kyle Orton worked out together, first in Denver and then in Minnesota. Denver's quarterback gained a lot of confidence in his second-year receiver because of those sessions.

Decker, of course, also became a lot more comfortable with an offense that retained coordinator Mike McCoy, who worked as the Carolina Panthers' QBs coach and passing game coordinator under John Fox, Denver's new head man. As Denver Post writer Lindsay H. Jones' articles points out, Fox and Pro Bowl corner Champ Bailey have been able to tell.

The gutsy, fundamentally sound wideout has modest speed, but more importantly, he displays succinctness and fluidity; he's very quick in and out of his breaks. And he's such a heady player. It may not be long before fans compare him to Ed McCaffrey. Coincidence: 87?

Decker's determination has made him dangerous

Earlier this year, the Broncos traded Jabar Gaffney to the Washington Redskins, and the team's 2010 first-rounder, Demaryius Thomas, is still recovering from surgery to repair his Achilles' tendon. Thus, Decker enters the 2011 campaign as one of Denver's top three receivers, along with 2010 arriviste Brandon Lloyd and Eddie Royal. Decker has been running as the Z.

Naturally, however, Decker is no sure fantasy football thing. Fox emphasizes defense and the running game. The Denver Post's Jeff Legwold illustrated what could be considered a likely Fox goal. Last year, the Broncos attempted 580 passes. In Fox's nine seasons in Carolina, the Panthers aired it out more than 500 times in only three different seasons; the high was 539, in 2006.

And Decker still has lingering issues with his left ped. It's a stress-related injury, something that can take a long time to put in his rearview and will probably crop up again - hopefully not to the extent that it affects his availability on Sundays.

Decker will ride with far more upside in his second NFL season. He could haul in 60 or 65 passes and score at least a handful of times in the buckin' Broncos' balanced bombardment. In deep leagues, that's definitely worth a flier. But there are a couple of concerns that conspire to constrict how much he could contribute that don't have to do with his capability. Still, if Decker stays healthy, the Broncos may have a really good one, at least for the long haul.

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