The great thing about the NFL is that there are so many positions that every year, there is almost always at least one player who has a breakout year on every team, no matter how good or bad the team is. This is the part in a 32 part segment detailing one potential breakout player for the 2012 NFL season on each NFL team. For the Detroit Lions, that player is wide receiver Titus Young.
Young was a 2nd round pick in 2011 and had an immediate impact as a rookie, catching 48 passes for 607 yards and 6 touchdowns. In his 2nd year in the league, he’s fully expected to win the starting job opposite Calvin Johnson in Detroit’s explosive offense. The starter last season was Nate Burleson, who had 110 targets. If Young had gotten that many targets last season, he’d have had 66 catches for 832 yards and 8 touchdowns. Even though Detroit might not pass quite as many times as they did last season (a league leading 666 times), Titus Young could still exceed even those numbers.
He’s no longer a rookie. Rookie receivers tend to struggle. Discounting Julio Jones and AJ Green, since the 2005 NFL Draft, 22 receivers have gone in the 1st round of the NFL Draft. In their rookie years, they have averaged 37 catches for 524 yards and 3 touchdowns. The leader in rookie production among those 22, strangely Dwayne Bowe, who caught 70 passes for 995 yards and 5 touchdowns in 2007. And Young did all that as a 2nd round rookie, coming off a lockout.
In his 2nd year in the league, he should be much improved, especially if reports about his strong offseason are accurate and translate to the regular season. MLive’s Anwar Richardson, one of the most reliable sources on the Lions, called Young “almost impossible to stop during practices” and “amazing” and said that “nobody can defend” him, while Head Coach Jim Schwartz said that he was outstanding. He’ll see mostly single coverage opposite Calvin Johnson, and with his natural abilities in Detroit’s explosive offense, he could push for a 1000 yard year in his 2nd year in the league, which would definitely make him a breakout player.
If you’re interested in doing a fantasy football league with me, here’s the link (no draft date set yet, currently standard, with the option to become PPR with group vote). http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/football/commissioner/Registration/Private.aspx?league=55086&password=FanSpot2
[switch_ad_hub]
[switch_ad_hub]
[switch_ad_hub]
Football Fan Spot 