Upside by Cathy Fazio
Kevan Barlow has been confounding fantasy players who know that he has the talent to be a top running back in the NFL. Finally he has been given the opportunity that fantasy owners have been waiting for. Previously stuck in a rotating situation behind Garrison Hearst, there is now nothing standing in his way to excel.

It was evident at the end of the 2003 season that Barlow has what it takes. When given the opportunity to start the last four games, Barlow responded by rushing for 433 yards and 4 touchdowns. Add to that 18 receptions for 160 yards and a receiving touchdown and the numbers are quite impressive. With Garrison Hearst out of the way look for Barlow to stay on track with his late season burst.

After much reshuffling this offseason, the San Francisco Forty-Niners have a very young unproven offense. Though this is only Barlow's fourth season, the only starting offensive players at skill positions at this point in the preseason with more experience than Barlow are Curtis Conway, a journeyman wide receiver and the fullback Fred Beasley. Look for Barlow's experience and veteran status to factor into his use and the role he will play in the San Francisco Forty-Niners offensive playbook.

This is a make it or break it year for Kevan Barlow. Will he finally become the feature back that so many believe he can be? Just looking at how he responded last year when handed the spot, I believe the answer is a resounding yes!

Downside by Will Grant
Try as I might, I just cannot get excited about Kevan Barlow. I agree that he's the #1 back in San Francisco with little or no chance of being beaten out without an injury. I agree that his 5.1 YPC average projected out over 16 games looks pretty impressive, and I can even agree that he should be drafted in the first round, somewhere around 1.10 after all of the 'proven' top tier RBs have been taken. But I just can't feel 'good' about it.

Maybe it's the fact that San Francisco's offense is one giant question mark. Their 2003 top SF QB Jeff Garcia is now in Cleveland. Backup Tim Rattay is #1 on the depth chart, but has been battling injuries and is still recovering from surgery. The QB taking all the snaps now is Ken Dorsey who has never taken a snap in a regular season NFL game. 2003 #1 and #2 wide receivers Terrell Owens and Tai Streets are now in Philadelphia and Detroit (respectively). Brandon Lloyd and Cedric Wilson are the #1 and #2 receivers now. They have 64 career receptions between the two of them. 2003 #1 TE Jed Weaver is in Denver now. Eric Johnson is the #1 TE now. He didn't even play during the 2003 season. This team is going to have a lot of growing pains as they learn to play together as a unit, and they are going to be playing from behind a lot.

Maybe it's the fact that Barlow has never had more than 201 carries during the course of a regular season. Every year since he was drafted in 2001, we have heard that Barlow is going to be the feature back. Every year he split carries with Garrison Hearst. Can he handle 350 carries over the course of 16 games? How much will his yards per carry suffer?

Barlow is worth taking at the end of round 1, but he is definitely not a 'sure thing', and should be surrounded with other backs until he can prove otherwise.