Jason Avant

Fresh off a ham hangover, a tryptophane overdose and a freakin’ cornucopia of chuckles following the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Crankgate scandal, I present to you another installment of the Gold Mine, where I dig deep on the waiver wire to find a guy who has a decent week and isn’t owned by many teams.

Jason Avant, WR, Philadelphia Eagles: 110 yards, 1 TD

Avant played high school football in two places: as a freshman at MacArthur High Schol in Decatur, Ill., and finished at Geroge Washington Carver Military Academy in Chicago. Carver is the home to Golden State Warriors’ star Tim Hardaway, owner of that killer crossover. Avant gained All-American honors as a free safety.

The future Eagle played his college ball at Michigan, where he began his career playing second-fiddle to Braylon Edwards…you know, the guy whose aerial love affair with Derek Anderson made the pair a one-hit wonder a few seasons ago. In his senior season, Avant caught 82 passes for 1,007 yards and eight touchdowns.

The guy has a cerebral side to him — he reportedly is an ace at Scrabble and spent an offseason learning piano.

Projections:
Injuries to Jeremy Maclin have led to Avant's emergence in Philly's offense.  This past game against the Patriots, Avant's eight receptions topped all Eaglers receivers, tight ends and running backs. Only Jeremy Maclin has caught more passes than that in one game than Avant's eight against Philly and his nine spot against the Bills. Avant's 44 receptions for the season put him two behind Maclin and one ahead of tight end Brent Celek. The Eagles' matchups the rest of the way are just ho-hum, and Avant isn't really the guy the Eagles go to in the red zone (only 1 TD this season).  However, he seemed to have great rapport with Vince Young. Keep an eye on him down the stretch.

Written by James Duren exclusively for www.thefantasyfix.com. 

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(September 10, 2011 – Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images North America)

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