Jonathan Byrd

Byrd has struggled for the past two seasons, but he's simply too good to fall below the top-125 on a regular basis. He's only two seasons removed from earnings in excess of $1.5 million, and only three seasons removed from what was nearly a $3 million season. Look for Byrd to get back on track at some point this season and easily surpass his numbers from the past two seasons.

It's pretty simple when it comes to Byrd. If he wins, he's in for a big year. If not, he'll end up near $1.5 million in earnings. Not exactly a bad formula for a salary cap pick; after all, the point is to find upside while minimizing risk and Byrd can do both. Just how much upside is the question. Byrd won as recently as 2011 and has had a habit of backing up mediocre seasons with good ones, so with that logic he's due for another solid season. Byrd is certainly worth consideration in salary cap leagues this year. In draft leagues, he should go in the fifth round.

Jonathan Byrd entered the 2011 season destined to be stuck in that mid-range of players, those with potential to win in any given week, but seemingly restricted by something, be it talent or whatever. A season-opening win at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions gave reason to believe Byrd had turned the corner. Ten months later and it looks like we are back in the same situation again, wondering whether Byrd has actually turned the corner. You see, after that win in January, Byrd compiled only four Top-10s the rest of the season and missed the cut in more than 33 percent of his starts. His numbers as a whole were impressive last year, but it's also those numbers that make him a tough selection in a salary league. In drafts leagues, Byrd should probably go near the end of the third round or early in the fourth.

Byrd pulled out a late-season victory last fall, but until that point his 2010 season was a complete bust. The problem with Byrd is we've seen this before. He has four PGA TOUR wins, but more often than not his earnings have come in autumn, which means he's not much good in normal fantasy leagues. Byrd is a true hit-or-miss player. He's won twice in the past five years, but including those wins, he has only four top-three finishes in that span. Byrd is generally a solid ball striker, ranking in the top 20 in GIR in three of the last five seasons.

Byrd has flashed some game in his brief PGA TOUR career, but he has not had enough success to indicate a jump to the next level. Byrd captured a win in 2007, but even that was not enough to get over the $2 million mark. Byrd could win a tournament this season, or he might not. Either way, he will probably finish the season with between $1.2 million and $1.8 million in earnings.

Byrd was on the way to a breakout year in 2006 before a rib injury sidelined him for 10 weeks in the heart of the season. The best way to examine his performance is to look at what he did prior to the injury. He wasn't the model of consistency before the injury, he made four cuts and missed four cuts, but it's what he did when making the cut that's impressive. In three of those four events, he cracked the top seven. That's impressive. After the injury his consistency improved, missing only two cuts in 11 events while making the top 20 four more times. It looks like he's healed and ready to go for 2007. If that's the case, look for Byrd to come out and play well early in 2007.

Byrd made most of his cuts in 2005 -- 22 of 31 -- but just couldn't get into the top tier in most tournaments and finished with just $726,023 in earnings. With only one top 10 finish, his season has to be characterized as a disappointment to fantasy owners. We expect more out of him in 2006, though $1.5 million seems to be his upside because his game doesn't seem to offer more than that.

Byrd picked up a win in 2002, which was a large part of his $1.4 million in earnings. Last year he took a different route, failing to win but picking up five Top 10s along the way. He dropped to 80th in putting after being ranked 14th in the previous year, which shows he can putt. He needs to work on ball striking, but we think he is ahead of the curve in the fact that he can already putt. The ball-striking will fall into place soon enough. Look for a good year from Byrd in 2004, say in the $2 million range.