Victor Cruz (WR, NYG) - 2015 Fantasy Football Sleeper

BALLER MOVE: Target in Mid-to-Late Rounds for WR3 Upside

CURRENT ADP: 103 STD, 96 PPR

ANALYSIS: Victor Cruz might be recovering from an injury with Odell Beckham Jr. now the number one receiver for the New York Giants, but he still has legitimate upside.

Every so often an NFL player will have a debilitating injury that basically knocks him off everyone's fantasy draft boards the following season. Such is the case for wide receiver Victor Cruz as he continues to recover from massive knee surgery. Just 10 months ago, Cruz suffered a horrendous torn patellar tendon injury, costing him the remainder of 2014. Prior to his injury, Cruz on pace for 800-900 yards but only had one touchdown through the first six games. His numbers weren't great by any means but after putting up three solid seasons in a row, he was certainly still fantasy relevant.

Looking ahead to 2015, Cruz has resumed practicing and is still trying to regain his quickness and agility. Recovering from a major knee surgery takes time and even though he won't be the Victor Cruz of old, he still possesses some fantasy value. Injury aside, Cruz now has to compete with budding superstar Odell Beckham Jr. for targets. OBJ finished 2014 with ridiculous numbers but for the purposes of this piece, let's just focus on his 132 targets. The only other Giant that had close to that many targets was Rueben Randle at 127. You can expect Cruz to eat into that target total considerably.  A decreased workload is likely, especially with OBJ claiming the number one receiver spot but the Giants won't simply toss Cruz aside. Randle's 127 targets were obviously inflated by the absence of Cruz so you should expect that number to come down anyway. If tight end Larry Donnell can finish 2014 with 92 targets, surely a returning Victor Cruz can hit at least 100.

Obviously drafting a player recuperating from a massive surgery carries tremendous risk. That risk is already built into Cruz's ranking toward the end of the top-50 at the position yet I actually like him ahead of a bunch of players going ahead of him. Give me Cruz over the likes of an aging Marques Colston, an inconsistent Kendall Wright, and an unproven Charles Johnson. He's a player that, when healthy, has WR2 potential. I believe he ends the year as a solid flex play with considerable upside.