Well my little peanuts and pretzel sticks, it’s another great season of NFL ahead of us.  I am so excited for the games to start – I just can’t wait. So instead of sitting around waiting I will spend this time doing a little pre-season prep work and share it all with you.  

For those of you new folks who don’t know me, my name is Hunter and I have been around with Kevin since this was just year 1 of a blog he had of daily fantasy football strategy.   I used to do a bit more writing back in those days with “Hunter’s Corner” and various columns on Defense analysis, Vegas line breakdowns, and general player value analysis, but I have not done much writing in the last several years.  Mainly for selfish reasons due to time constraints and wanting to spend my time working on my game and becoming a better DFS expert. I am not sure if I will ever consider myself an expert until perhaps I take down a milly or win first at a live final, which I have been to a couple but have yet to win one outright.  But, I can say I am certainly experienced at the game. Note: I said expert and not professional – I do not make a living at this and I work with a reasonable budget on a weekly basis. Typically in the couple hundred dollar range. I am a fan at heart and I play DFS because I truly love football, I love daily fantasy and I love the comradarie of our DFS Army group here.  The money I win playing DFS each year is just a bonus.

Okay enough about me – bla bla bla right.

NFL Team Breakdowns

I am going to give a summary breakdown of each NFL team below with the most important information I feel is relevant for the upcoming DFS season and for anyone looking to get a decent summary going into a season-long draft.  Note that my recommendations when made will be done with the idea of Fantasy scoring similar to DraftKings as either 1pt PPR or ½ PPR leagues. So you will need to make adjustments if you play in standard leagues or on Fanduel.

Also the Offensive Line Score and Defense Scores are 1 to 10 ranks with 10 as highest.

9-10 – exceptional

7-8 – good

5-6 – meh

1-4 – ugg

Arizona Cardinals:

Offensive Line Score: 4

Defense Score: 7

Strength of Schedule Score: 1

Key Personnel Changes:

• New HC Steve Wilks (former DC) – expected to run the ball often
• Sam Bradford – QB (should be week 1 starter) – he favors short middle passes <20y (major injury risk with bad knees)
• Josh Rosen – QB – rookie who likely will play at some point in 2018 assuming Bradford gets banged up or just doesn’t play well.
• Chase Edmonds – RB brought on as rookie will backup David Johnson
• They traded John and Jaron Brown away and picked up Brice Butler at WR.  Larry Fitzgerald, JJ Nelson and Chad Williams remain. They also picked up a rookie in Christian Kirk who is a PR specialist but may have some opportunities as WR.  Keep an eye on him. But right now it looks like Fitzy and Butler are the starters before Preseason shakes out. Butler and JJ Nelson are more deep threats – so I expect another receiver to emerge – maybe will be second year C. Williams or rookie C. Kirk.

Quick-take:

David Johnson is returning from being out all of 2017 and should be primed for a lot of work.  He is coming into a rather tricky scenario though. The offensive line is not great in ARI and it will make it tough to run especially with one of the hardest schedules this year.  He is still an every-down fairly young RB with extreme talent and an amazing receiver, but I don’t expect him to have a repeat of 2016 necessarily. There are some good things going for him though – Sam Bradford is a checkdown machine and should feed plenty of passes to the stud RB and plenty to Larry Fitzgerald on shorter routes, which is great for PPR situations for both.  Fitzy exceeds 100 passes every year and I don’t expect that to change this year, especially with the hodge podge of WRs around them. Eventually someone else will materialize in ARI, but for now I have no problem going back to the old man Fitzy catching machine and DJ. Bradford and Rosen are both non draft scenarios for me. I am not really interested in any of the other players on this team yet, but will keep an eye on them through preseason for someone to emerge. Fitzy and DJ are the clear #1 and #2 receivers though.  #3 is still a TBD and I don’t think there is any fantasy relevance beyond that. I think they have improved on defense in their secondary as well and will end up ranking out higher than where most experts are ranking them (around the mid-mark) – I have them closer to 10.

Atlanta Falcons:

Offensive Line Score: 8

Defensive Score: 6

Strength of Schedule Score: 6

Key Personnel Changes:

• Steve Sarkisian – OC – second year here.  Steve came in to replace wonder boy Kyle Shanahan who helped Atlanta to their amazing offense of 2016.  2017 was viewed a mostly a disappointing performance all-around on offense for Atlanta, but I think that is more in comparison to the amazing performance of 2016 than anything else.  Last year Atlanta was on the wrong side of TD regression and Matt Ryan, Julio and Freeman all suffered from that. But that is a why they are also all great draft values in 2018.
• Calvin Ridley – WR – rookie came in this year – tons of talent, but will lack for targets on this offensive barring an injury ahead of him.
• Ito Smith – RB – rookie – will backup and likely replace T. Coleman after this season.

Quick-take:

I have been looking at Matt Ryan closely as one of my favorite late round / cheap value QBs.  He will be super undervalued and is still an elite QB with high efficiency. I feel the same about Julio Jones who should slip farther than expected in most drafts.  If Julio is around when you are considering taking the 10th RB off the board you should reconsider and take Julio. He was still like 2nd in receiving yards last year and only suffered due to TDs which should correct itself.  Devonte Freeman was pretty banged up last year and I expect that if he is healthy for this season he is a great RB choice who gets plenty of attempts, sees goal line work and is a good pass catcher. I am not expecting a top 5 performance from him since he is sharing at least 30% of the load with Tevin Coleman, but he is still a top 10 RB if he plays all year.  Mohamed Sanu is a decent fill in consistent middle-tier WR who you can expect a consistent 800 yd season from – nothing special and he has never really gotten me too interested. If Julio has injury issues however, then Sanu becomes a must-have player. One thing to consider here is to pick-up T. Coleman as a high upside player if Freeman gets banged up and can’t play.  We saw last year that Coleman did excellent when Freeman missed 2 games mid-season.

Baltimore Ravens:

Offensive Line Score: 5

Defensive Score: 7

Strength of Schedule Score: 7

Key Personnel Changes:

• Picked up John Brown, WR from ARI and M. Crabtree, WR from OAK and W. Snead, WR from NO and let Maclin, Wallace and Campanaro go.  At first glance this seems like a bit of an upgrade. Crabtree is a good RZ target and J. Brown when healthy and not dealing with his sickle-cell issues is a 4.4 speedster with decent route running ability as well.  He was on the upswing in ARI last year.
• Drafted Lamar Jackson QB and picked up RG III.  The writing is on the wall for Flacco. I think everyone expects to see one if not both of these QBs playing this year if Flacco struggles again.

Quick-take:

I have heard that Joe Flacco has looked amazing at practices and his throwing great, but it is hard to tell how much of that is just preseason fluff.  It is possible that having BAL draft a rookie and pickup another seasoned QB like RG III has lit a fire under Flacco to really turn things around, and he did have a serious back injury in preseason last year which plagued him all year, but that seems to be a recurring thing with him.  BAL just re-signed Flacco for 3 more years for like 66 million, so it is not exactly like they are in a hurry to get rid of him, but it certainly paves the way for a rookie to learn and get ready to take the reigns in coming years. I think Baltimore is stuck with Flacco for at least another year before they will look to trade him.  This all doesn’t really mean anything other than you are not going to draft Flacco, but you might keep an eye out for a mid-season QB pickup if Flacco is benched. Depending which QB is at the helm DOES affect the outlook for the other players (specifically Crabtree, J. Brown and Alex Collins). If Flacco is at the helm we can expect a lot of passes and mostly shorter passes, but high volume – so Michael Crabtree should benefit from this the most I would think.  If L. Jackson is at QB then this is a big bump for the run game with Alex Collins since Jackson is such a dual-threat run/pass QB. Same for RG III. I really like Alex Collins this year, he is a rising star and has opportunity for an every down back, even with Buck Allen around. I think we will see him around 16-18 carries per game. Based on where he is likely to get ADP I think he will be a great value. It will also set you up for a late season rally if the QBs do end up changing out.  Raven’s TE Hayden Hurst has looked really good so far this preseason however, he was injured in preseason and looks like a 3-4 week recovery which would impact first couple weeks of regular season.

Buffalo Bills:

Offensive Line Score: 5

Defensive Score: 5

Strength of Schedule Score: 6

Key Personnel Changes:

• K. Benjamin (WR) joined late last year and then was injured again with his knees.  He is slow and just doesn’t get open. He should see a decent amount of targets so could be used in that fashion – but I would not reach for him and not expect anything but volume.
• AJ McCarron came over from CIN where he did not do anything overly special but was average as a backup with a talented set of weapons at his disposal.
• Josh Allen (QB) – drafted this year and will likely take over for the AJ McCarron sometime this year unless McCarron does something miraculous.  
• BUF lost several key OL this offseason Rank near the bottom at offensive line.
• Corey Coleman (WR) was just traded from CLE to BUF and will add to a much needed WR lineup of underwhelming options.

Quick-take:

This is pretty much a situation to completely avoid in 2018 aside from mainly some Daily DFF matchup or injury picks.  Both AJ McCarron and Josh Allen are replacing dual-threat Tyrod in a team that ranks at the top of the league in run attempts every year for the last several seasons.  This is definitely a run first team and AJ is abysmal as a runner and Josh, while a very mobile passer, isn’t a rushing style QB either. This is terrible news for LeSean “Shady” McCoy who is already on the losing end of another battle called age (entering 10th season).  He is still should see 240+ carries as RB if he plays all year and thusly can not be totally dismissed, but I have a feeling we have seen the last of the 1000y+ seasons for Shady unfortunately. RBs just don’t last that long and McCoy has honestly had a great career of at least 6-7 good seasons.  Charles Clay at TE is a possible TE2 option who should rank among the top receiving options in this offense, but he has not had a great record so far in Buffalo….perhaps the changing the QBs here will be a positive factor for him. Corey Coleman will likely be the best pass catching option for the Bills now and is worth picking up as a value if you need him late in the draft.

Carolina Panthers:

Offensive Line Score: 7

Defensive Score: 6

Strength of Schedule Score: 5

Key Personnel Changes:

• OC Norv Turner takes over for Mike Shula – not sure yet how this will affect the offense but under Shula CAR was consistently in the top each year of rush attempts, but that is also due to Cam’s dual threat nature.  It is unclear if Turner will try to force Cam into more pocket passing situations (as is his past experience). Will be interesting to watch first few games to see how this develops.
• Kelvin Benjamin (WR) was traded late last year
• D.J. Moore (WR) drafted as top WR pick this year.  He should see a starting role as WR3 in slot behind Torrey Smith or in 3-wide sets.
• Torrey Smith, Jarius Wright (WR) were also picked up.  Torrey should be WR2 across from D. Funchess WR1. Torrey is more of a deep threat but the new D.J. Moore has some blistering speed as well but accels more on inside routes.
• CJ Anderson (RB) picked up from Denver will share snaps with C. McCaffrey in a likely committee.  

Quick-take:

There are actually a lot of quality players on this team and if they can’t get their crap together this year they could be a force to be reckoned with.  Keeping their veterans healthy will be key. Greg Olson at TE is always a factor and a top TE pick again. He will chew heartily into the receiving targets for Devin Funchess and other receivers, although if injured again there is no real TE threat behind him and targets should go way up for the WRs.  The offensive line looks fairly strong and the defense has some talented playmaker veterans. Cam Newton is in a good position to be another top 5 QB this year. Christian McCaffrey is currently listed as the RB1 ahead of CJ Anderson but I suspect that it will be closer to a 50/50 split. Even so, McCaffrey has some big PPR appeal.   I would caution against being too optimistic since CJ Anderson is likely to get the goalline and early down work. I also question how much of McCaffrey’s target volume of 2017 was due mainly to the injury of Olsen and departure of Benjamin. I think perhaps Mike Shula had to get creative and find ways to get McCaffrey the ball in open space.  That may be considerably different this year under new OC Norv Turner. McCaffrey has looked great so far in preseason with his limited touches and showed his speed and pass catching skills in game 2 of preseason. I think he is probably appropriately positioned around the 12-14th RB pick right now. Honestly, I don’t have too much interest in drafting any of these WRs.  I am sure Funchess will have his games and Torrey Smith will likely be boom or bust like usual. The rookie D.J. Moore is a guy I will keep an eye on but no need to draft him. McCaffrey and Olsen and Cam are likely the only guys I would consider on this team at the moment.

Chicago Bears:

Offensive Line Score: 5

Defensive Score: 6

Strength of Schedule Score: 5

Key Personnel Changes:

• Allen Robinson II (WR), Taylor Gabriel (WR), Bennie Fowler (WR) all picked up from other teams.
• Anthony Miller (WR), Javon Wims (WR) both drafted this year as well.
• Chase Daniels (QB) also picked up, but they will clearly be starting QB Mitch Trubisky who has a lot of hype on him right now.
• Trey Burton (TE) also joins this new receiving corps giving Trubisky a far better set of passing options than the worst in the league set they had last year.
• Maybe the biggest change is new young Head Coach Matt Nagy taking over for John Fox and new OC Mark Helfrich.

Quick-take:

The Bears have significantly improved their weapons from last season and with new coaching staff breathing new young life into this team I have high hopes to see what they can do.  Perhaps it won’t be as grand as the Rams transformation last year under similar situation, but it should be better. Allen Robinson gives them a good #1 assuming he stays healthy this year after sitting out all last year for JAX.  Taylor Gabriel gives them a lid popper at 4.4 speed to run the deep routes and the new rookie Anthony Miller that they traded up to pick in this years draft should be the slot man that excels at route running and could end up being the top PPR option on this team.  You may consider picking him up in a late round to see how things shape up in ChiTown. Trey Burton is an interesting prospect at TE with a newer QB who will be more inclined to use his TE in the middle of the field. He is still a TE2 with TE1 upside potential for me.  The big question is the running game here: Jordan Howard is not a receiving RB and has a lot of dropped passes. That on top of all the rave reviews coach Nagy has given to Tarik Cohen during the offseason could mean we see a lot more of Cohen in designed run-pass options.  He has even likened Cohen to a Tyreek Hill type of player. I like picking up Cohen as a later round RB option in PPR leagues. Unfortunately J. Howard is still going to get all the early down and goal line work and last year that turned into a decent number of TDs and raw yards for him.  I am a little concerned about the timeshare with Cohen here but if Nagy uses Cohen more like a Tyreek Hill receiver then Howard’s role from last year should be safe. We can pretty much expect that howard won’t be given much more than 25-30 passes for the year based on his drop rate. Nagy has said they won’t limit howard to only a 1st and 2nd down role though, so we will see how that nets out.  I don’t have any issue drafting Howard as early as a late second round pick in PPR leagues, he has more upside in standard leagues but will never be a top 5 back in PPR due to the pass-attempts he is given.

Cincinnati Bengals:

Offensive Line Score: 5

Defensive Score: 4

Strength of Schedule Score: 6

Key Personnel Changes:

• They traded away Jeremy Hill (RB) and drafted Mark Walton (RB) this year.
• They also traded AJ McCarron (QB) and picked up Matt Barkley as a backup QB
• Cord Glenn (LT) and Billy Price (C) were picked up on trades as well to help with losses from last year to their O-Line

Quick-take:

Andy Dalton is really a middle of the pack QB and not really worth a pick for me outside of picking him up for a bye week.  AJ Green is a monster and is almost always good for 1000+ yards and lots of TDs. He is a top 10 WR almost every single year.  I have no problem going back to him again this year. Joe Mixon should take a step up this year hopefully with an improved OL from last year and even if he splits time with Giovani Bernard or the new rookie Mark Walton it is likely to be more of a 70/30 split unless he has an injury or just can’t get it done.  One thing to note is last year, due mainly to ayismal offense in general and a decimated O-line, CIN ranked really low on rush attempts which is not the norm for them, typically they are in the top 10 most rush attempts per season and I expect that to correct itself this year. Mixon is an interesting RB pickup who should see close to 18-20 touches per game and will likely be going around an ADP of 25-30.  I would call him a very solid RB2 choice. Tyler Eifert, when healthy, can be a TD catching machine but he has had so many injury problems with back and knees it is really hard to draft him. I won’t risk it past a TE2.

Cleveland Browns:

Offensive Line Score: 6

Defensive Score: 3

Strength of Schedule Score: 3

Key Personnel Changes:

• Drafted Antonio Callaway (WR), Nick Chubb (RB), Baker Mayfield (QB), Damian Ratley (WR)
• Traded for Tyrod Taylor (QB), Drew Stanton (QB), Jarvis Landry (WR), Jeff Janis (WR), Carlos Hyde (RB), Darren Fells (TE).
• Let go: Sammie Coates (WR), Isaiah Crowell (RB), Cody Kessler (QB), Kevin Hogan (QB), DeShone Kizer (QB), Jason McCourty (CB), Kasen Williams (WR)
• Dez Bryant (WR) is planning to visit with Team to talk about a deal
• Josh Gordon (WR) has yet to show up to camp or practice.  His return is unknown at this point, but is mysterious and suspicious considering his Substance abuse history and past suspensions.
• Corey Coleman (WR) was traded to BUF as well.

Quick-take:

The Browns were probably the most active in trades, drafting, and changes to the team out of all teams this year.  And, well, frankly they needed a complete overhaul. However, it is unclear if the problem with CLE is not more due to Hue Jackson and less about the players they have assembled.   Initially it looked as if they had a decent overhaul to their WR with Jarvis Landry, Josh Gordon and Corey Coleman being the top guys but now with Coleman gone, Gordon M.I.A. and talks with Dez Bryant scheduled – it is not so clear how week 1 will actually look.  What is clear is that Tyrod Taylor will be the starting QB, at least initially and new QB Baker Mayfield won’t get his shot unless Taylor gets injured or just can’t get it done and the fans call for a change. Rookie RB Nick Chubb and Carlos Hyde will need to battle it out for the starting role.  Right now it seems like Hyde would be the starter since they gave him so much money but they didn’t waste a 2nd round pick on Chubb to sit him all year either, but preseason will tell us more. This may end up being a full committee with Chubb, Hyde and Duke Johnson rotation. Callaway has some drug problems brewing as well and may see some suspension time before he even gets started.  The TE David Njoku actually looks pretty promising here as a 2nd year guy, outside of that I would like to see how the WR situation develops, but Landry should be a solid bet for a high amount of targets again, but they may depend on a more run-heavy offense with Taylor at the helm. Update: I just watched the first team series in week 2 of preseason and Carlos Hyde looks really good. He is making good cuts, smart decisions to bounce outside, stiff-arming defenders and running really hard.  They did rotate in a bit of Duke Johnson still, but Hyde got the bulk of the first team reps and Chubb was working with Mayfield and the second team. If this holds up this way for regular season then Hyde’s ADP at like RB 35 and 80th overall is a steal.

Dallas Cowboys:

Offensive Line Score: 7

Defensive Score: 4

Strength of Schedule Score: 5

Key Personnel Changes:

• Conner Williams (LG) drafted to join a solid other 4 offensive line.
• Allen Hurns (WR) and Tavon Austin (RB/WR) picked up on trades.
• Bo Scarborough (RB) drafted in 7th round. Likely a backup for Zeke along with Rod Smith
• Verteren Jason Witten finally retired and that leaves TE position open likely will be 4th year Geoff Swaim (TE)
• Dez Bryant was released to FA.
• Michael Gallup (WR), Mike White (QB) Cedrick Wilson (WR), Dalton Shultz (TE) also among this years notable drafts.

Quick-take:

Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliot are an amazing duo when they have the supporting people around them, we saw at the second half of last year how quickly that can fall apart if they are missing pieces of the puzzle.  Offensive line injuries, suspensions, etc. Zeke’s suspension drama is done now and Dallas has a really solid O-line again. I think the biggest concern here is the receivers. Allen Hurns, Cole Beasley, Terrance Williams are not exactly the star-studded field you would want.  I think Dak’s passing struggles may continue if without some good receiving targets. Perhaps someone will emerge as a solid target for Dak. With the amount of rushing yards Dak will get this year, he is still a good fantasy choice and Zeke should continue to be a top 5 RB, however he won’t break into the top 3 without getting more passing attempts in PPR leagues.

Denver Broncos:

Offensive Line Score: 5

Defensive Score: 8

Strength of Schedule Score: 5

Key Personnel Changes:

• Royce Freeman (RB) and David Williams (RB) drafted
• Courtland Sutton (WR) drafted and likely to take Z receiver role across from D. Thomas and E. Sanders in slot.
• DeaSean Hamilton (WR) drafted and will compete with Sutton for starting role.
• Case Keenum (QB) picked up from MIN

Quick-take:

Case Keenum is a major upgrade for DEN for QB and should help make Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders relevant again this year.  I personally like Sanders out of the slot over D. Thomas, but Sanders has always been more of my type of receiver to pickup.  I think Keenum helps him a lot actually similar to Adam Thielen in MIN last year. D. Thomas is also a good option but if you can get Sanders as a bargain I would not be upset.  Need to watch how the competition between Hamilton and Sutton shapes up as well, but I won’t draft these guys – it just might indicate where Sanders plays more of his snaps from if Hamilton starts it likely means Sanders will play more outside, which I hope does not happen because I think Sanders is more efficient out of the slot.  Royce Freeman isn’t a bad pickup at RB to see how he develops. Devonte Booker and him are likely to split carries but that doesn’t mean one of them won’t emerge as a lead back. Both are able to catch well but Booker is going to be the preferred choice on pass blocking situations. Denver faces a pretty soft pass-defense schedule this year and that gives me hope for playing some of these receivers and possibly drafting Keenum as my QB2.

Detroit Lions:

Offensive Line Score: 7

Defensive Score: 6

Strength of Schedule Score: 3

Key Personnel Changes:

• Kerryon Johnson (RB) drafted although there is not much to like about DET running game situation in a clearly pass-first offense.
• LeGarrette Blount (RB) was picked up on trades,
• Matt Cassel (QB) picked up from FA as a backup QB
• Levine Toilolo (TE) and Luke Wilson (TE)  were both picked up as well since Eric Ebron  and Darren Fells (TE) were let go.
• Matt Patricia (HC) – first year as head coach and came from DC from NE for last 6 or so years.

Quick-take:

Matthew Stafford is always one of my favorite QBs to pickup in draft since he isn’t one of the big names that everyone is eager to pickup and he is a consistent top QB.  I am interested to see if Matt Patricia brings any of the Belichick offensive style with him to Det, but considering OC Jim Bob Cooter remains in Detroit I expect that the changes likely will be slowly integrated as Patricia gets a sense for his new team. I don’t envision major enough changes on offense to indicate any issues with firing up Stafford, Marvin Jones Jr. and Golden Tate.  The only real change worth noting is that at TE, they got rid of Ebron, but it is yet to be seen if the new draft acquisitions will turn out to be passing threats. Golladay was all the hype last year and should increase his volume this year after a promising show in 2017 when healthy. He should have firmly set himself as the WR3 on outside with Tate in the slot in 3-wide sets. I expect that the volume for all receivers should increase slightly this year without an established pass-catching TE – most of the TEs they have block on the majority of their snaps but that does not mean that DET does not look for a guy like Luke Wilson to be their new pass catching TE.  But perhaps more of that will filter to guys like Theo Riddick (RB). MJJ is one of my top picks again this year. Typically able to get him at WR2 value he has WR1 upside. Tate is also a good pickup due to the volume he should get and his amazing yards after the catch ability. Keep an eye on the emergence of Golladay and if Tate or MJJ get hurt at all this season you better get all-in on Kenny Golladay. DET is never a factor in the running game typically ranking next to last in rush attempts. Do yourself a favor and look elsewhere for RBs no matter how the timeshare may look. Ameer Abdullah was horrible last season as a lead back and I don’t see how any draft pick is going to make a difference without a change of coaching strategies.  Even if Kerryon Johnson is their #1 RB he will be giving up passes to Theo Reddick and goal-line work to Blount in an already limited amount of rush attempts. The offensive line does look really solid in Detroit this year and should afford Stafford lots of time and would give the rookie some opportunities to make a name for himself on the rush attempts he does get. One thing to keep in mind is that the first half of Detroit’s schedule looks a lot easier against the pass than the second half, so if you are in need of high trade value for someone you might consider this around week 8.

Green Bay Packers:

Offensive Line Score: 6

Defensive Score: 3

Strength of Schedule Score: 8

Key Personnel Changes:

• Jimmy Graham (TE) joins GB as the starting TE and a likely favorite target for Rodgers.
• DeShone Kizer (QB) joins GB as a backup QB from CLE
• J’mon Moore (WR), Equanimeous St. Brown (WR), Marquez Valdes-Scantling drafted
• Jeff Janis and Jordy Nelson (WR) traded
• Richard Rodgers (TE) traded
• Aaron Jones (RB) – 2 game suspension to start season
• Mike Pettine (DC) new defense coordinator this year.

Quick-take:

New DC Mikle Petine didn’t do such a great job as Head coach in Cleveland in 2015/2016.  He apparently is a much better DC than HC since he constructed #1 defense for the Jets several years ago and has done good with defenses for Buffalo after that.  I expect him to improve the GB defense significantly over the next few years. Jimmy Graham coming to GB is going to be key for Rodgers since losing Jordy Nelson.  The only thing that concerns me is if Graham can stay healthy, but he should be a red zone target monster this year. With Aaron Jones 2-game suspension it should mean that Jamaal Williams (RB) gets plenty of usage in first couple weeks.  He could establish a larger role for himself with a good showing as well. He did well during the second half of last year with injuries to A. Jones. Jones is the more talented and dynamic pass catching back, and once he returns I expect to see a decent amount of him, which makes it hard to judge where/if to draft either RB.  In many leagues I suspect Jones may not get drafted at all and be picked up later. Davante Adams moves into the #1 role here and with Aaron Rodgers throwing to you this definitely puts him into a top 10 WR for 2018. Geronimo Allison and Randall Cobb round out the WR2 and WR3 roles. I think you could pickup either as later round picks on a high volume passing offense.

Houston Texans:

Offensive Line Score: 4

Defensive Score: 9

Strength of Schedule Score: 10

Key Personnel Changes:

• Jordan Akins (TE) and Jordan Thomas (TE) drafted and CJ Fedorowicz retires.
• Sammie Coates (WR) picked up on waivers
• Keke Coutee (WR) drafted in fourth round.
• Joe Webb and Brandon Weeden (QB) picked up on trades to backup Watson.
• Andre Ellington (RB) released

Quick-take:

Houston gets back JJ Watt and Whitney Mercilus on defense and I am ranking as a top 6 defenses this year.  DeShaun Watson was phenomenal his rookie year last year until injured. He is being ranked and taken very high in drafts right now.  Typically as #2 or #3 QB off the board. That is far too high for me for someone who I have only seen for 6 regular season games.  Don’t get me wrong, he is a dual-threat and has shown his elite play-making ability. He should be a solid top QB this year, but I have major concerns about the offensive line as maybe one of the worst in the league.  Luckily, Houston will face the softest ranked schedule in the NFL this year which should help both their DEF and Watson’s ability to have a strong sophomore season. DeAndre Hopkins is a stud regardless of the QB and he should that last year.  He will no doubt be the #2 WR off the board this year behind Antonio Brown. Will Fuller has shown his TD catching upside on deep passes from Watson when healthy as well. His TD to Catch ratio is totally unsustainable but he has a nice rapport with Watson and should be a decent fantasy value as WR2/3 option.  It is yet to be seen who will emerge as the slot receiver in HOU but my money is on Bruce Ellington. Lamar Miller should be locked into his normal lead RB role and I actually like him even though he has not been super efficient last year. He should be a lot better with a healthy Watson. D’Onta Foreman may miss the season start and maybe a few games with his Achilles tear from last year.  I don’t expect him to be a factor for a good portion of the year in challenging Lamar Miller for snaps. That really just leaves Alfred Blue, who may share snaps with Miller but I expect Miller to be the main guy. I like Miller on a high-octane offense but the O-line issues do concern me a bit.

Indianapolis Colts:

Offensive Line Score: 4

Defensive Score: 1

Strength of Schedule Score: 7

Key Personnel Changes:

• First year Head Coach Frank Reich will take over in IND from Chuck Pagano
• Eric Ebron (TE) picked up on trade
• Ryan Grant (WR) and Kasen Williams (WR) also picked up on trade
• Daurice Fountain (WR), Deon Cain (WR – out for season) drafted this year
• Nyheim Hines (RB) and Jordan Wilkins (RB) drafted this year
• Frank Gore (RB), Matt Jones (RB), Donte Moncrief (WR) all let go
• Andrew Luck (QB) is back this year after shoulder injury kept him out of 2017

Quick-take:

Andrew Luck is an interesting QB draft this year.  An elite QB but coming off a shoulder surgery in Jan 2017 which kept him sidelined all of 2017.  He “should” be back and healthy and all signs point to that in camp and preseason so far. He is likely to get a later round draft just because of his risk factor and well because there really isn’t much to like on the Colts this year.  That being said, new HC Frank Reich is coming off a Super Bowl win as Offensive Coordinator for the Eagles last year. Seeing how he helped direct both Wentz and Foles to victory may give some promise to the lack-luster supporting cast Luck has.  The acquisition of Eric Ebron is interesting. I have never been impressed with the guy, it never seems like he gives a crap or puts in the extra effort. He drops too many balls for my liking as well. We saw how much the TE was used in the offense in Philly, so if that happens here in Indy as well my money is on Jack Doyle over Ebron.  TY Hilton is definitely one of the more inconsistent boom or bust receivers out there, but he is a WR2 draft pick with WR1 upside with Luck at the helm and should see plenty of volume until some of these new receivers get accustomed to the team. Speaking of which I expect Ryan Grant to be #2 WR this year, but the rookie Daurice Fountain may get a bigger shot now that rookie Deon Cain is out for season with ACL injury.  Marlon Mack would be the lead RB for this team and has some interesting appeal but with coaching staff changes and how things were done with RBs in Philly it might be better to avoid. However, he sustained a hamstring injury in week 1 preseason and will likely be out until regular season starts. If he misses the start of the season we will likely see a combination of rookie Nyheim Hines, rookie Jordan Wilkins and maybe Christine Michael.  Robert Turbin will be suspended for the first 4 games of regular season for substance abuse. I don’t mind drafting Marlon Mack if you can get him for a value but hammy issues with running backs seem to linger, so keep that in mind. I think of the group Hines has the biggest upside potential in PPR leagues due to his speed and pass catching ability. Wilkins is more of a typical RB size and excels at pass blocking. Also, Indy will be fielding one of the league’s worst ranked offensive lines and defenses again this year – so something to keep in mind.  I am likely avoiding most players from this team unless it is just really great value.

Jacksonville Jaguars:

Offensive Line Score: 8

Defensive Score: 10

Strength of Schedule Score: 9

Key Personnel Changes:

• Second year for HC Doug Marrone with JAX with a overall 13-8 record here.
• Austin Seferian-Jenkins (TE) and Niles Paul (TE) received on trades
• DJ Clark (WR) drafted this year
• Tanner Lee (QB) drafted this year
• Cody Kessler (QB) picked up on trades and dropped Chad Henne (QB)
• Donte Moncrief (WR) picked up from IND
• Allen Hurns (WR), Allen Robinson II (WR), Jalen Strong (WR), Chris Ivory (RB), Mercedes Lewis (TE) all left this year.

Quick-take:

JAX looks pretty good this year.  They have most of their starters from last year which was a success.  And they rank with both a top ranked defense and top ranked offensive line which has gotten a little stronger this year.  Blake Bortles has some dual-threat appeal but the team did start last year severely limiting Bortles throwing attempts under 30 each game.  So it is not yet clear if they plan to do the same this year or not, but they seemed to have good success as a run first team last year on the feet of Leonard Fournette.  If Fournette can stay healthy and avoid ankle problems which have plagued him then I don’t see why this team is not destined back for the playoffs again. They face a fairly soft ranked schedule again and I think Fournette is really great option for an RB1 this year.  He is on the lower side of catches for an RB1 but not as low as Zeke or Howard. If Fournette puts in a full 16 game year I think he could easily be in the top 4 RBs this year. The TE situation here is one I will avoid because they run a lot of 2 TE sets and I don’t want to play the game of figuring out who might catch the ball.  Marqise Lee will be WR1 and behind him it is less clear. My bet is on Dede Westbrook emerging as the #2 WR here and Donte Moncrief as #3, but there is likely some opportunity for on of the rookies to make a name for themselves during preseason. UPDATE: Lee had season-ending injury to his knee in third preseason game and that opens up opportunities for guys behind him.  Also, there are rumors that Dez Bryant may have an opportunity to get picked up here. Will keep an eye on it.

Kansas City Chiefs:

Offensive Line Score: 6

Defensive Score: 5

Strength of Schedule Score: 2

Key Personnel Changes:

• Picked up Chad Henne (QB) and Matt McGloin (QB) to backup new QB Mahomes
• Picked up Sammie Watkins (WR)
• Picked up Keryynn Williams (RB) and Damien Willimas (RB)  and Jace Amaro (TE)
• Pat Mahomes (QB) will take the reins after KC traded away Alex Smith (QB).
• CJ Spiller (RB) and Akeem Hunt (RB) was released  – not to be confused with their bell cow Kareem Hunt (RB)
• Albert Wilson (WR) traded away

Quick-take:

Patrick Mahomes will be starting after having only played 1 game in week 17 of his rookie season last year.  He did play exceptionally well in that game against a Denver defense while on the road. And he didn’t have any of KC starters to speak of in that game.  So that is the plus-side. However, for as much hype as he has been getting (mostly due to his college career, large size and dual threat ability) he is still essentially an unproven rookie QB.  That being said, KC did add Sammie Watkins to replace Albert Wilson which is decent upgrade in my opinion. They still have speedster Tyreek (le Freak) Hill, and Travis Kelce at TE. At running back, standout 2017 rookie, Kareem Hunt, will be the main RB with Charcandrick West playing a backup and passing down situational position.  Alex Smith is gone to Washington just when they were starting to let him chunk the ball down the field more. Alex always was a decent running QB and Mahomes seems to fill those same shoes. Whether he can be an efficient as Alex in the pocket is to be seen. I think the person this QB changes helps the most is likely Kareem Hunt and possibly Travis Kelce.  Hunt should find more lanes to run with a dual-threat QB like Mahomes and Kelce should end up picking up a lot of the shorter middle of the field passes in what will likely be a cautious ball-control style of play. Tyreek Hill and Watkins are both threats down the field and can break big plays. Hill has the clear #1 role here but likely is not worth where he will be drafted at around 30th overall pick and a top 12 WR when you can get Sammie at around pick 70-80 overall and he has similar potential in this offense.  I am not considering picking up Mahomes unless he is available late round or low auction cost in hope he explodes on the seen like Watson did last year. KC defense looks to have taken a step back this year and KC will also face an extremely tough first half schedule this year. These issues should be factored in to any draft decisions.

Los Angeles Chargers:

Offensive Line Score: 5

Defensive Score: 8

Strength of Schedule Score: 10

Key Personnel Changes:

• Dylan Cantrell (WR) and Justin Jackson (RB) drafted
• Virgil Green (TE) picked up and likely to take over for Hunter Henry after season ending injury earlier this year.
• Geno Smith (QB) picked up and will backup Phillip Rivers
• This is Anthony Lynn’s second year as a Head Coach.
• Antonio Gates (TE) maybe will re-sign with the Chargers – we’ll see

Quick-take:

Charges are fielding a top rated defense again this year.  Phillip Rivers is one of the more reliable pass-throwing QBs and relies on heave pass volume.  He is typically a top 10 or maybe 15 QB but has never really offered elite top 3 QB potential. He is a reliable QB1 but will be usually be about 5 points below the top QBs each week.  Keenan Allen should factor in as a top 5 WR this year in the draft, especially due to the injury to Hunter Henry which means more volume for Allen. Tyrell Williams is the WR2 here and was really good in 2016, but with Allen back last year Williams production dropped way off.  Even with the Hunter Henry injury, I would push drafting Tyrell Williams until a much later round pick. Between Allen, Melvin Gordon and likely Virgil Green, Williams will be fighting for target share again. He is a solid receiver though and if Keenan Allen has any sort of injury issues this year Tyrell should be gold.  Other receivers like Travis Benjamin and Mike Williams are not really draft worthy in most 12-man leagues. Melvin Gordon, while often criticized for being inefficient with his yards per carry average, is still a top 8 running back this year. His goal line work is undeniably the highest among other RBs especially bellcow RBs and he has been steadily more and more involved in the passing game each year.  I suspect with the injury to Hunter Henry and an improved offensive line from last year we should see even higher passing volume from Gordon this year. He may rival the top 3 backs. I love Gordon in this offense and this situation sets up very well for him. Austin Ekler (RB) is the likely backup for Gordon again, but rookie Justin Jackson (RB) may compete with him for that role. Keep an eye on this in preseason to have an idea what might happen if Gordon were to get injured this year.

Los Angeles Rams:

Offensive Line Score: 10

Defensive Score: 10

Strength of Schedule Score: 4

Key Personnel Changes:

• Brandin Cooks (WR) picked up from NE will replace Sammie Watkins (WR) who was traded.
• John Kelly (RB) drafted to compete with Malcolm Brown (RB) for the #2 RB job.
• Tavon Austin (WR) and Lance Dunbar (RB) both let go as well.

Quick-take:

Pick-up your beer and pretzels because this is going to a be a show to watch.  If I had to pick one team as my favorite to get to the Superbowl this year it would the Rams.  They have one of the strongest defenses, strongest offensive-lines (all returning from a successful 2017 campaign), top ranked RB with Todd Gurley from 2017 and newly acquired Brandin Cooks as a top receiving threat.  What’s not to like here. Sean McVay enters his second year as Head Coach after a fantastic first year debut. Jared Goff looked really good in his second year and should continue to improve this year. Unfortunately, Goff does not offer any rushing upside, so you are really reliant on pass volume and TDs to offset that and the Rams were not a high volume passing offense last year.  It may increase some with options like Cooks available, but I expect a middle of the pack in passing attempts rank this year. Obviously Gurley is going to be the #1 or #2 overall pick with Bell this year, so not much to say about that. Gurley’s heavy usage in passing situations was a stark difference from his terrible 2016 campaign and made all the difference under the new style of Coach McVay.  That should continue this year and Gurley should remain at the top of the RBs this year again. Brandin Cooks is toward the lower end of my tier 1 WRs this year, just because he is coming into a new offense and due to the lower expected pass volume than he saw when he was at NO or NE. That being said he is still an elite receiver and should have a good year. Robert Woods was pretty good last year as a mid-range receiver but may see a dip in targets this year with Cooks taking much more than was targeted toward Sammie Watkins last year.  The guys who might be most interesting to look at is Cooper Kupp as the slot receiver and essentially plays as a plus-sized 6’2” guy in an offense which runs a very high amount of 3-wide sets in McVays spread offense. He should get a lot of the red-zone looks this year and it should also be noted that while LAR are facing a tough schedule on opposing defenses this year that the majority of the outside shutdown corners should be covering Cooks and Woods leaving Kupp as the high volume checkdown man.

Miami Dolphins:

Offensive Line Score: 6

Defensive Score: 2

Strength of Schedule Score: 8

Key Personnel Changes:

• Kenyan Drake (RB) will continue to serve as RB1 this year after taking over for Ajayi last year.
• Jarvis Landry was traded which is a big blow to the receivers for Miami.  This moves DeVante Parker up to WR1 along with Kenny Stills as WR2.
• Dolphins also picked up Albert Wilson (WR) from the Chiefs and Danny Amendola (WR) from NE
• Mike Gesicki (TE) drafted this year.
• Ryan Tannehill (QB) should be back from his injured 2017.
• Picked up Frank Gore (RB) and drafted Kallen Ballage (RB) to replace Damian Williams (RB) departure this offseason.
• Picked up Brock Osweiler (QB) and Bryce Petty (QB) as backups to Tannehill and Jay Cutler (QB) was let go
• Ndamukong Suh (DT) and Mike Pouncey (C), and Julius Thomas (TE) and Lawrence Timmons (LB) were all let go this offseason as well to free up a lot of cap space. But maybe at the expense of having a worse Defensive and Offensive Line.

Quick-take:

Devante Parker and Kenny Stills are inline for a decent bump in targets from previous years due to the departure of Landry. Both are decent later round picks and should return value in PPR formats.  Stills is maybe a bit more versatile and can play more in the slot or outside which makes him an interesting later round pick when everyone is talking about Parker and the upside there.  Update: Parker broke a finger at camp and is questionable to start the season. Albert Wilson and Danny Amendola should factor in with 3-wide sets or if Parker gets hurt Again. But I am not thinking either has any fantasy relevance.  I mean if Amendola was not fantasy relevant with Brady throwing to him then should we really expect more in Miami? I didn’t think so… One guy to really look at is Gesicki in his rookie year. I know, I know rookie TEs are historically not relevant fantasy options and that may very well be the case again here BUT….. here are some factors to consider drafting this guy as maybe a last pick and TE2/3 in your league: He ranks in the top 5% for his 40-y time (4.54) and top 5% in adjust speed score based on size, top 1% in Burst and Agility scores, and literally at the top for catch radius in the NFL with almost a 42” vertical leap, which all together put him in the 99th percentile SPARQ score for TEs at this years combine. He is 6’5” and 247lbs of wrecking-ball force.  Needless to say the guy turned some heads with that performance. How that translates into actual game play is to be seen, but there is no doubt that this guy is a freak of nature. Consider also that he is almost exclusively a pass-taching TE, and that Miami has a plethera of available targets that were just freed up in the middle of the field from slot receiver Landry’s departure and we can start to see the potential for a break-out rookie TE that breaks the statistics. I am willing to draft him in last few rounds this year. Kenyan Drake (RB) will be listed as the starter in Miami almost certainly, but there is a good chance he remains in a committee with Frank Gore and newly drafted Kallen Ballage. There are a couple of factors that could help Drake. First, he ranks at the top of the “most elusive” RBs in the league and finished the year very strong last year after pretty much everyone else was injured and he was the only one left to carry the ball 20+ times per game. Second, his backup is Frank Gore who while historically pretty reliable, is still at the end of his career and it is not clear how much volume he may get.  However, rookie Ballage may challenge Gore for shares and that would also impact Drake. For now it seems there isn’t a clear enough picture to warrant drafting Drake in the early rounds, I see him as maybe the 3rd or 4th RB draft pickup for me with the potential upside of producing a top 10 result this year. Watching Miami in first two games of preseason even if you just watch the part with the starters out there it is clear they have some serious concerns on defense. Losing Suh and Timmons has clearly hurt them and they have some big gaps to fill. Carolina ran all over them. At one point McCaffrey ran over the right tackle for a 77 yard TD without being touched….that’s a big hole. Until they fix some stuff, fire up offenses in DFS against Miami.

Minnesota Vikings

Offensive Line Score: 6

Defensive Score: 9

Strength of Schedule Score: 4

Key Personnel Changes:

• Tyler Conklin (TE) drafted this year
• Kirk Cousins (QB) was picked up from WAS and Case Keenum (QB) was traded to DEN and Sam Bradford (QB) traded to ARI and Teddy Bridgewater (QB) traded to NYJ
• Tavarres King (WR) and Kendall Wright (WR) were also picked up
• Trevor Siemian (QB) also picked up as a back QB
• Daniel Carlson (K) drafted this year
• Jerick McKinnon (RB) traded to SF
• Michael Floyd (WR), Jarius Wright(WR), and Bishop Sankey (RB) also let go.
• John DeFlippo (OC) joins MIN from being a QB coach at PHI during Rivers/Foles Superbowl year last year.

Quick-take:

I have always been a personal fan of QB Kirk Cousins and even more so since he helped me solidify my trip to the Bahamas for the King of Beach Live Final Championship, but he is a top 8 QB with top 5 QB upside potential – he ranked 7th, 5th and 5th the last three years in DK fantasy points.  Kirk joins a team with what I am willing to call a significantly more talented roster of WRs and supporting cast around him. While MIN has always been a more run-friendly team, due mainly to a top ranked defense giving them shorter fields, Kirk only ranked 20th, 8th and 19th in pass attempts while at WAS the last three years – so the average pass-attempts by Mike Zimmer’s Vikings of 22 in the last 3 years doesn’t bother me too much.  I think Kirk may be the most underrated QB in the top 10 this year with an ADP of 76 and QB8/9 – in many cases getting drafted after Andrew Luck, I think this is crazy. Kirk has some average rushing upside every year, but what is not talked about as much is his surprising TD rushing upside. Only Cam Newton has rushed for more TDs than Kirk out of all QBs in the last 3 years combined (13). He typically has about 4-5 Rushing TDs per year.  I like the prospects of that number matching or exceeding that in MIN this year. He will be passing to the likes of Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs, Kyle Rudolph, and Dalvin Cook. Speaking of which, I think both Theilan and Diggs are valuable players this year if you buy into the success of Kirk above. I think I prefer the sure hands of Thielen slightly over Diggs, but both are good options. Dalvin Cook (RB) is coming off a season ending ACL injury last year and should be back to full health.  He will have some competition from Latavius Murray but I think the expectation is that he will again take a feature back role in the offense. Cousins is accustomed to having a good pass catching back at his disposal from his time at WAS. I recall many games where Chris Thompson was heavily used in such a role, although they burned through RBs over there like matches tossed in a campfire. Anyhow, I think Cook should be set-up well for a solid season. He is typically going at about 10th RB off the board right now which seems about right in my opinion.  I also think he is about the last of the obvious RB1s available this year. Kyle Rudolph will likely be a TE I draft in various formats this year. He is a consistent top 10 guy that I can rely on every week and he should do very well paired with Cousins. So unless you get one of the top 3 TEs I recommend considering Kyle this year.

New England Patriots:

Offensive Line Score: 6

Defensive Score: 8

Strength of Schedule Score: 10

Key Personnel Changes:

• Danny Amendola (WR), Brandin Cooks (WR), Dion Lewis (RB) were all traded this year and Marcellus Bennett (TE) was released
• Cordarrelle Patterson (WR), Jordan Matthews (WR) were picked up on trades.  Matthews was injured during camp and then released but could return later in the year.
• Eric Decker (WR) was picked up to fill the gap Jordan Matthews left.
• Jeremy Hill (RB) and Troy Niklas (TE) were also picked up on trades
• Braxton Berrios (WR), Sony Michel (RB) Danny Etling (QB), Ryan Izzo (TE) all drafted this year

Quick-take:

Obviously, Tom Brady is a stud and should be considered in top 3 QBs taken this year.  He is all pass volume in an up-tempo high pass attempt offense. Chris Hogan should open the season as NE’s WR1 due to the departure of Brandin Cooks and Julian Edelman’s PED suspension for the first 4 games.  Hogan is a legit candidate for double digit receptions on a weekly basis and right now his ADP is around 70 which seems crazy to me. You get the #1 WR on a Super Bowl caliber team which has top 5 play volume and pass volume out of all teams and has Tom Brady throwing to him and he is picked 30th out of all WRs and 70th overall in drafts right now.  What is wrong with this? Sure, Rob Gronkowski is maybe considered the #1 receiver on that team and Tom does like the spread the ball around, but there really does not seem to be a downside here. I will pickup Hogan a round earlier just to be sure I get him and be happy with the value. Here is a crazy factor, Edelman, who will miss 1/4 of the season, is going only 4 WR picks later than Hogan.  I won’t draft Edelman until maybe the 8th round if he is available, that is about the value I think he has based on suspension. Here is another factor, NE has really only Gronk and Hogan to throw to, the rest are all new to NE. Kenny Britt (WR) joins them, although not someone I excited about. Cordarrelle Patterson has flashed some potential in the first preseason game and they added Jordan Matthews who got injured and then released but available to come back later in the year if he gets healthy.  They recently signed Eric Decker (WR) to fill this gap. I would think that a combo of Decker and Dorsett will fill the WR2 role and Patterson at WR3. All the more reason to bet heavy on Hogan. Obviously Gronk is elite, but has been plagued by back and arm problems the last couple years – when healthy the guy…well GRONK SMASH. I love gronk, but I can see spending a round 2 pick on him in order to get him where he is likely to go, but I suppose is depends on who the RBs and WRs available at that point are.  If there is no one I am in love with then maybe. I think I would rather pick up a guy like Rudolph in later rounds and stack up on my RBs and WRs.

New Orleans Saints:

Offensive Line Score: 8

Defensive Score: 9

Strength of Schedule Score: 2

Key Personnel Changes:

• Boston Scott (RB), Tra’Quon Smith (WR) drafted this year
• Benjamin Watson (TE) picked up
• Tom Savage (QB) picked up
• Cameron Meredith (WR), and Josh Huff (WR) also picked up
• Coby Fleener (TE), Clay Harbor (TE), Willie Snead (WR), John Kuhn (FB), Chase Daniels (QB) all let go
• Mark Ingram will serve 4 game PED suspension to start year

Quick-take:

The big talk this year is Alvin Kamara and his breakout 2017 campaign.  With Mark Ingram sidelined for first 4 games this elevates Kamara considerably.  There is something truly special when you watch this kid play. Kamara will likely go around the 5th or 6th RB in most drafts.  They are still going to work in some other RBs while Ingram is out though since they picked up Terrance West, Jonathan Williams, Shane Vereen, Trey Edmonds and drafted Boston Scott this year.  So there is a bit of a competition going for that 2nd RB spot while Ingram is out and who knows what happens when he returns. Drew Brees is one of my favorite QBs to draft this year. He is still at the top of his game and even though last year he threw less attempts, he was still the most accurate passer in the league with 72% completion rate.  He is due for a bit of TD and yardage regression to his mean I think as well. Which is also why I am big on Michael Thomas and even a later round Ted Ginn Jr. Benjamin Watson is an okay option at TE, but is likely more of a TE2 for me since they also have Josh Hill taking targets. NO gets back all their starters no o-line and will field another strong offensive line.  They add Cameron Meredith in the slot and with his plus size they can get mis-matches against those smaller slot CBs. I don’t think he is worth drafting in most 12 man leagues but in bigger leagues maybe.

New York Giants:

Offensive Line Score: 4

Defensive Score: 2

Strength of Schedule Score: 2

Key Personnel Changes:

• Saquon Barkley (RB) draft #2 overall this year will lead NYG RBs as new bellcow
• Cody Latimer (WR) and Russell Shepard (WR) picked up
• O. Darkwa (RB), S. Vereen (RB), Paul Perkins (RB) both let go
• Brandon Marshall (WR) let go
• Geno Smith (QB) let go
• Jonathan Stewart (RB) picked up from CAR.
• Pat Shurmur (HC) joins NYG for first year as HC and has a little HC experience over the years but mostly is an OC or offensive positions coach first.  He was responsible for the improvements to MIN last year as OC and the development of Case Keenum and that offense.

Quick-take:

Eli Manning was terribly inefficient last year, but they also had all sorts of problems with O’Dell Beckham Jr injuries, offensive line and just not really any weapons to speak of.  Keeping ODB healthy is going to be key to the Giants success this year. Even with the addition of a stud like Saquon Barkley – it won’t do them any good if they can’t threaten down the field and pull more coverage away from the line.  If Barkley faces 8 in the box every down it isn’t going to bode well for anyone. The addition of Shurmur is good for Eli and the offense – he has clearly shown some magic in his QB coaching skills in the past and well it doesn’t hurt to have a two-time Superbowl MVP as your QB to work with.  Saquon Barkley will be going off the board in the top 6 RB picks this year most likely and he is primed for a breakout rookie season. He has great size and pass catching ability and should serve as the Giants every-down back. If there was anything to give me pause on drafting Barkley it would be the quality of the O-line, but I will will take him if he falls to me at maybe 6 or 7th pick.  ODB will be the #2 or 3 WR off the board this year and should be primed for a great year if he stays injury free. Sterling Shepard is probably being ranked fairly low in ADP at about 105-110th pick. This is due to a healthy returning ODB mainly and concerns about target volume for Shepard. That being said, Pat Shurmur is likely to install his shorter, faster high-percentage passing game style that he did in MIN last year with Keenum.  What I think that means is more passing opportunities for the slot receiver, RB and maybe TE. Last year slot receiver Thielen thrived under this offense style and I think Shepard could also have a similar result. I am willing to take Shepard as early as the 7th round in 12-team leagues as a candidate to have a WR1-2 year while he is being drafted as more of a WR4-5 position. Evan Engram (TE) is also setup for good year. He gets a high volume of passing attempts which I expect to continue and hopefully should have positive regression in catch percentage (improving on his terrible 11 drops last year).  Lastly backup RB Jonathan Stewart joins NYG from CAR and could end up vulturing some of the goal-line TDs from Barkley. We will have to just wait and see if that is how it plays out, but it is a definite possibility since that has become Stewart’s role in the last few seasons. They also have Wayne Gallman as a backup RB and if Barkley were to get injured then Gallman makes more sense as a lead RB than Stewart. One last note: NYG have ranked in top 10 of teams in passing attempts in the last 4 years so there should be plenty of volume to go around.

New York Jets:

Offensive Line Score: 6

Defensive Score: 1

Strength of Schedule Score: 9

Key Personnel Changes:

• Isaiah Crowell (RB) picked up from Browns
• Teddy Bridgewater (QB) picked up from MIN and will likely not start for the Jets barring some injuries ahead of him, but may have high trade value mid-season.
• Sam Darnold (QB) drafted this year and a potential to possible start this season as rookie.
• Josh McCown (QB) – back from a broken non-throwing hand injury at end of last season with the Jets he is the expected starter week 1, but rookie Sam Darnold may challenge him as the “new face of the franchise”.  McCown ranked in top 8 QBs during his 12 games until he was injured and is someone to consider in daily fantasy lineups.
• Thomas Rawls (RB) picked up from SEA
• Jeremy Bates (OC) new OC this year from QB coach.  Important to note that he and McCown have history and they may affect how long McCown gets the start in NY over rookie Darnold, but it is good the the OC has some experience developing QBs since that is exactly what he will have to do.

Quick-take:

So right now, there is a lot of talk about Sam Darnold possibly able to start as early as week 1, but that is a lot of speculation.  I think it is far more likely that McCown gets the start and they let Darnold develop a bit more before dropping him in. He will most definitely take over at some point this year but we will have to watch the progression through preseason to see when that might occur.  Likely that poor play by McCown or and injury would accelerate that timeline. I don’t see any reason to draft either of these guys in season long leagues at this point, but there is daily fantasy value still to be had with low cost QB options. The RB situation here is a mess.  They have Isaiah Crowell, Thomas Rawls, McGuire and Powell all competing for a touches. I expect that hopefully one of these guys will fall out during preseason and they will go to a 2 back rotation with a 2-down/goalline back like Crowell or Powell and passing back like McGuire – but who knows – this will require some monitoring throughout preseason – but regardless these are not top 20 RBs that we should be considering until some more volume/role definition is available.  At WR, Robby Anderson has the most upside potential but may be looking at some short suspension this year due to some issues with the law and reckless driving earlier this year. Even with that possibility he is worth a later round draft around round 9. He has great deep threat appeal and did well with McCown last year. Sam Darnold also has a cannon of an arm and would also match up nicely with Anderson. Quincy Enunwa is coming off an injured 2017 but is a plus-sized slot target which could have very nice PPR results in 2018.  I would rank him more of a speculation draft as it is unknown yet how he will be used with new OC Bates, who will be throwing to him and whether there are any lingering injury issues. But he is worthy of a last round pickup.

Oakland Raiders:

Offensive Line Score: 7

Defensive Score: 2

Strength of Schedule Score: 9

Key Personnel Changes:

• Jon Gruden (HC) – comes out of retirement as a head coach to Coach the Raiders.  Honestly I think this is a great fit for Gruden and am excited to see what he does here.
• Jordy Nelson (WR) – picked up from GB
• Martavis Bryant (WR) – picked up from PIT
• Greg Olson (OC) – also new OC this year
• Doug Martin (RB) picked up from TB

Quick-take:

Derek Carr has not been anything more than a backup QB for fantasy purposes in the last few years.  Coming of an injured 2017 season where he played through back injuries he may be setup to improve this year, but that is not saying much.  With Gruden at the helm I expect a more run-focused offense which is Gruden’s style. So, I am a wait and see on Carr this year. As for WRs, Amari Cooper also had injuries he was playing through last year and suffered from Carr’s inefficiencies.  Cooper is terrible about dropped passes logging something like 33 last season which is just egregious. Cooper no longer has to compete with Crabtree for passes but Jordy Nelson enters now to take up those targets. Gruden has stated that he intends to have Cooper the focal point of his passing offense, but Cooper needs to improve on drop rate to help his chances of a top 10 performance.  He faces a rather hard schedule for receivers this year and I just don’t think he is worth his WR15 ADP right now typically going in 3rd round. Jordy joins OAK from GB after being released and will lineup across from Cooper as the WR2. I expect Jordy to be a decent draft pickup if he falls to the 9th or 10th round. Right now he is trending around 8th round ADP. I wouldn’t fault anyone for picking Jordy in the 8th though.  Martavis Bryant is just undraftable until it is clear about his potential suspension rumors circulating again this year due to PEDs. Jared Cook (TE) is likely to continue to get a decent volume of passes in 2018 but I rank him more as a TE2 than TE1 this year. Marshawn Lynch (Beast mode) is back for another year and should lead the backfield. Still getting it done at 32 Lynch is a Solid RB2 to pickup this year. Gruden has picked up Tampa Bay Doug Martin and may hold some favoritism toward him as a past TB guy, but Martin has not really shown anything in years with abysmal yards per carry averages. Lynch is the clear favorite to lead the backfield and I expect a lot of old-school hard-nosed run the ball football from Gruden.  Feed the Beast. At around RB28 or 65th overall pick Beast-mode is a value pickup.

Philadelphia Eagles:

Offensive Line Score: 9

Defensive Score: 10

Strength of Schedule Score: 4

Key Personnel Changes:

• Markus Wheaton (WR), Mike Wallace (WR) picked up
• Richard Rodgers (TE) picked up from GB
• Dallas Goedert (TE) drafted this year
• Matt Jones (RB) picked up from FA
• Joe Callahan (QB picked up from FA
• LeGarrette Blount (RB), Trey Burton (TE), Brent Celek (TE) Kenjon Barner (RB), MArcus Johnson (WR), Torrey Smith (WR), Caleb Sturgis (K) all let go this year.
• Mike Groh (OC) was promoted from Wide Receiver coach to OC to replace Frank Reich after he left to HC for IND

Quick-take:

Philly looks pretty good again this year but there are a couple things that have me concerned.  First, Carson Wentz is coming back from an injury and he still looks a little gimpy in practices with the knee brace on.  I’m no doctor, just saying he does not look as smooth and mobile as he should be. I think they are going to be pretty cautious with their star and future of their franchise.  They say he should be ready for week 1 but there are certainly no guarantees. Second, Nick Foles just strained his shoulder on his passing arm in Game 2 of preseason, meaning there is a chance he is not available for start of the season – we will need to wait and see how bad that is.  Next, they lost their OC from last year to IND and promoted the wide receiver coach as new OC. Doug Pederson will still be calling the plays as he did last year in route to Super Bowl victory, so this is maybe less critical of a change, but certainly noteworthy. Next, Alshon Jeffery has a shoulder injury that may land him on PUP list to start the season.  Those are my main concerns, however, there are some good things too: #1. Doug Pederson showed last year that he is an elite level play caller and coach. He has embraced analytics, taken risks like going for it on more 4th downs than any team in the league and generally been pretty spectacular. Second, Lane Johnson and Jason Peters will be back in there as 2 stud offensive tackles in what ranks as one of the best o-lines in the NFL with some decent depth as well.  Lastly with Blount gone maybe we will finally see a more featured role for Jay Ajayi at RB, but expect some rotation of Clement and Sproles as well. One thing I do like about the Eagles is a more statistically predictable usage in Daily Fantasy purposes, since they really embrace the statistics and look to get mis-matches and exploit teams statistical weaknesses it gives us an edge as fantasy players that are deeply familiar with the statistics. I likely won’t draft Wentz this year unless something crazy happens and he falls outside the top 10 (which he won’t).  He is getting drafted usually up around 5th QB which is a bit too high for me for someone coming back from a serious injury. While Ajayi will be fighting for carries, he should see an uptick from his usage last year and is a decent value at an ADP of around 39 overall. Obviously, Zach Ertz is a legit top TE. He is up there with Kelce and Gronk for top 3 spots. If it were not for Wentz’s injury I might rank him as my top over TE pick, but considering the uncertainty there I think ranking him 2nd or 3rd is more appropriate. Nelson Agholor had a great season last year which was a major bounce back for him.  He was moved into a mostly exclusive slot receiver and should consider to do well in this role in 2018. He is decent value at a 105th pick ADP I think regardless and even more so if Alshon’s status remains a mystery up until week 1. You could end up with the #1 WR for PHI for first few weeks at essentially a 9th round pick. Mike Wallace is likely to round out the WR3 position. However, I don’t think he has much fantasy value unless Alshon is out.

Pittsburgh Steelers:

Offensive Line Score: 9

Defensive Score: 5

Strength of Schedule Score: 6

Key Personnel Changes:

• Mason Rudolph (QB) drafted this year
• Jaylen Samuels (RB) drafted this year
• James Washington (WR) drafted this year
• Martavis Bryant (WR) traded away
• Eli Rogers (WR) released
• Randy Fichtner (OC) promoted from QB Coach to replace Todd Haley
• Ryan Shazier (LB) not returning after major injury last year.

Quick-take:

Ben Roethlisberger is a hard QB to draft in season long.  You would think with the league’s best receiver and all-purpose RB that Ben would be a lock for top 5 or even top 10 QB each year, but that just has not been the case.  He is rather up and down with his fantasy production and has severe road/home splits. That being said, he still somehow is able to generate top ranked performances for Brown and Bell each year.  So, I would say he is a fine QB2 but I would not draft him in the top 10 QBs. I will play him throughout the season in Daily though since he can go off for QB1 stats any week against any opponent.  Antonio Brown is guaranteed to be the #1 WR off the board again this year. And Le’Veon Bell should be the 1 or 2 RB off the board. They are both again primed for exceptional year. Bell is franchise-tagged again this year, which means that he is almost assuredly going to be shopping around in the offseason because it would be too expensive for PIT to do this again next year, but who knows maybe they will come to an agreement and finally give him the money he wants.  Now that Gurley landed that sweet 15mil a year contract, it paves the way for Bell to get what he has been asking for as well. I know everyone is saying that they will run Bell hard again this year to get as much as they can from him, I think they will have to be resigned to the idea he will be gone next year and that might give them a reason to work in more opportunities for James Conner or rookie Jaylen Samuels to gain experience in preparation for next year. It is a mild concern, but not one that would keep me from taking Bell if he is available to me.  Juju Smith-Schuster returns for his 2nd year after a standout rookie season. He will be highly drafted as well, but this kid is pretty special. I remember seeing him in practices last year before preseason and I was super impressed and made a mental note that if he ever got an opportunity to start in 2017 I would go all-in on him and that paid off in spades when Martavis Bryant was having issues into the season and Juju got his chance. He will get the WR2 spot across from Brown and still offers decent value at an ADP of 44 overall. It might be 1 round too early for my liking but I would not fault anyone for picking him up.  He is a stud. Right now the favorite to take the WR3 spot is James Washington, but I don’t think I would go that deep for targets on this team. Vance McDonald at TE now that he is recovered injury wise from last year should offer a nice big target for Ben in the Red Zone. He is still only a TE2 option right now for me though if I can get him as an alternate. PIT defense is not nearly as good without Shazier and it may cause more shootout situations for the team this year, which might mean even more yards and pass attempts than usual, or it could mean they just end up losing more games.

San Francisco 49ers:

Offensive Line Score: 6

Defensive Score: 3

Strength of Schedule Score: 7

Key Personnel Changes:

• Richie James (WR) and Dante Pettis (WR) drafted
• Jerick McKinnon (RB) picked up from MIN
• Jimmy Garoppolo (QB) will be the starter this year picked up from NE last year.
• Kyle Shanahan (HC) enters his second year as head coach for SF.
• Richard Sherman (CB) picked up after being released by SEA
• Carlos Hyde (RB) traded away
• Alfred Morris (RB newly signed as insurance for McKinnon and Breida

Quick-take:

Jimmy Garappolo will be starting for the Niners this year after finishing the season last year 5-0 with very little time to learn the new offense.  He had a natural rapport with Marquise Goodwin last year, but whether that is more of a product of lack of other options is hard to tell. They should have Pierre Garcon back this year as the WR1 and George Kittle as their Big, athletic TE and RZ target.  Jerick McKinnon joins SF from his good year in MIN and will lead the backfield here. If we expect Kyle Shanahan to impart his 2-back combo like he did in ATL then McKinnon would play the Devonta Freeman role and Matt Breida would play the Telvin Coleman role. Matt Breida suffered separated shoulder injury in week 1 of preseason and McKinnon has a calf strain in practice.  They both will likely be out until the start of regular season, but they are both expected to be ready for the regular season. That being said, SF signed Alfred Morris to a 1 year deal as an insurance policy, which makes me a little more nervous about how realistic the week 1 start is. Alfred Morris played for Shanahan while at WAS and had his two best seasons under Shanahan’s offense.  So there is clearly an advantage to bringing in a veteran RB who knows the offense style as a backup. If either injury is re-aggravated or worse than being talked about with either player then Morris will be someone to keep an eye on. At worse he offers some weekly DFS appeal if one of the RBs is out during the season. Jerick McKinnon is being drafted pretty high right now for an expected timeshare backfield (pick 7-10).  I would prefer to get him in the second round due to all factors involved personally. Pierre Garcon and Marquise Goodwin are both running in the 80-95 ADP (around 7-8th round). This seems about right considering it is not yet clear if one guys will emerge as the top WR option for Jimmy G. I think Goodwin may be a bit too high based on his success at the end of last year when they were limited on other options. It is very possible that Garcon returns and re-establishes himself as the #1 option and right now he is drafted after Goodwin.  George Kittle also suffered shoulder separation in game 1 of preseason but is expected back by regular season start. This is a bit concerning since he was setup to be a prime TE pickup. He has great athletic ability scoring in 97th percentile in SPARQ and is a clear RZ favorite. The injury to his shoulder gives me a bit of pause and knocks him down a few spots, but I think he was already a decent TE pickup at around #13 TE in ADP. If you could get him as your TE2 I would jump on it. I would love to pick up Jimmy G at QB but right now he is like the 10th or 11th QB off the board and that is a bit too high for me.  I have him closer to QB14 or 15.

Seattle Seahawks:

Offensive Line Score: 4

Defensive Score: 5

Strength of Schedule Score: 1

Key Personnel Changes:

• Jimmy Graham (TE), Luke Wilson (TE), Paul Richardson Jr (WR), Blair Walsh (K), Eddie Lacy (RB), Thomas Rawls (RB), and Trevone Boykin (QB) all let go this year.
• Jaron Brown (WR), and Marcus Johnson (WR) both picked up
• Ed Dickson (TE) picked up
• Will Dissly (TE), Rashard Penny (RB), and Alex McGough (QB) all drafted this year
• Sebastian Janikowski (K) and Jason Myers (K) picked up
• Richard Sherman was released and was picked up by SF
• Brian Schottenheimer (OC) takes over as OC from IND as their QB coach.
• Brandon Marshall (WR) picked up and competing for #3 WR role this year.

Quick-take:

Russell Wilson is currently ranked as a top 3 QB pick this year and for good reason – he has finished as a top 3 fantasy QB consistently and is never outside the top 12 QBs.  As far as reliable QB performers go, Wilson is a great choice. Unfortunately, he lost 2 of his top pass catching options this offseason with the departure of Paul Richardson and Jimmy Graham.  They pick up Ed Dickson and drafted Will Dissly to help fill the TE gap and Jaron Brown is the likely candidate for the #3 WR role behind Doug Baldwin and Tyler Lockett. They do have old-man Brandon Marshall as well but he has not shown much in years.  Obviously, Baldwin will be a legit WR1 option this year and is currently ranked at about WR14 in ADP, that is actually really good for a guy that should be in top 10 WR picks considering this is a team missing 2 players from last year that sucked up a lot of targets.  I have heard a bit of talk about how great Lockett will be this year but I will believe it when I see it. He was never right last year, but if he gets back to form then he offers some deep threat appeal with the added benefit if he continues to return kickoffs. Dickson was kind of meh last year with Carolina, even with Olsen out.  He has some good size and athleticism but seems more like a block TE than pass catcher to replace Graham. The RB situation is a little unclear but it appears that Rashard Penny was drafted to be the starting RB with Chris Carson as the backup. That being said it may very well be more of a committee approach but we should expect a bit more run-heavy offense under Schottenheimer.  Now, all that being said, Penny apparently broke his finger and had surgery on it. They are saying he will be back for the opener but we can pretty much guarantee that without any more game time during preseason he won’t be leading the backfield. That means Chris Carson is going to be the man. So what does that mean for drafting – If you can get both of these guys in later round 8+ then you will cover your bases.  They do still have CJ Prosise and JD McKissic as well, but both of these guys are really more of receivers and likely would not factor in to fantasy without injuries ahead of them.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

Offensive Line Score: 6

Defensive Score: 2

Strength of Schedule Score: 1

Key Personnel Changes:

• Ronald Jones II (RB) drafted this year
• Justin Watson (WR) drafted this year
• Chandler Catanzaro (K) picked up for dropped Nick Folk (K)
• Doug Martin (RB) released

Quick-take:

Jameis Winston is suspended the first 3 games for conduct policy.  He won’t be a draft consideration because of it, but someone to look at around week 5 bye if you are in need of a QB at that time.  Ryan Fitzpatrick (QB) will be the likely starter in first 3 weeks and is worth consideration in DFS as low cost QB. Mike Evans should remain a high target volume receiver again this year.  He had a down year last year on his TD/Redzone completions so should see some positive regression to his mean this year. I am fine with drafting Evans in the first 12 WRs toward the end of that group of WR1s.  He is still projected to get 9-10 targets per game. DeSean Jackson didn’t have a good year last year but mainly due to lack of targets, but I don’t know how that will change too much this year. He also has Chris Godwin (WR) nipping at his heels for a starting spot.  Adam Humphries is the slot guy, but I don’t see much value on this offense for either of Jackson or Humphries. They will be pretty low on my list for draft with Jackson being more of a boom/bust type of player for me. OJ Howard (TE) will be an interesting TE pickup possibly being in the top 10 TE choices.  If he can get an increase in targets he could have a blow-up year. He has a large amount of yards per route run which is good, just needs more catches. I much prefer drafting Howard over taking risk with Jackson or Humphries. New rookie Ronald Jones figures to be the starting RB this year and has some interesting appeal as a mid-round pick who should get plenty of opportunities but will need to improve on pass blocking duties in order to not lose snaps.  He will already lose snaps inside the 20 to Peyton Barber as the Bucs established short yardage back. Charles Sims (RB) should still have some passing specific work and Jacquizz Rodgers (RB) will be backup again. TB does have one of the hardest ranked schedules this year, so keep that in mind.

Tennessee Titans:

Offensive Line Score: 7

Defensive Score: 7

Strength of Schedule Score: 8

Key Personnel Changes:

• Dion Lewis (RB) joins from NE and D. Murray (RB) retired.  Derrick Henry (RB) should be the #1 RB this year – but may see a pretty even split with D. Lewis now.  Henry just does not catch passes at all.
• Matt LaFleur (OC) joins Tennessee to take over the offense coming from a miraculous overhaul of the Rams last year.
• Mike Vrabel (HC) also joins new this year and comes from a DC position at HOU last year.  
• Malcolm Butler joins the DEF from NE and is eager to put the superbowl last year where he was essentially benched for the entire game behind him.   
• Released D. Murray (RB), E. Decker (WR), Matt Cassel(QB), Harry Douglas (WR), Brandon Weeden (QB)
• Michael Campanaro (WR) was picked up along with Blaine Gabbert (QB), and they drafted a QB with Luke Falk.

Quick-take:

Corey Davis should be recovered and has flashed some impressive skills in the limited amount of time he has actually been healthy, including burning new team-mate Malcolm Butler twice for TDs at the end of last year.   He needs to stay healthy, but if he does this could be a solid year for him. I like drafting Davis as a latter round WR as I expect Marcus Mariota to be much improved this year now that he has had time to recover from his injuries as well.  Mariota will be a guy I look for later in the draft to pick up once QBs start popping off the board. I doubt I will try either Dion Lewis or Derrick Henry – I am not really buying into all the Henry talk. I just don’t like drafting guys who do not catch footballs, especially in PPR and especially in what figures to be a 50/50 split. No matter what his TD upside.  Plus – with LaFleur in charge I bet they look to involve the RB in passing game more which means more Lewis. I mean, they didn’t sign Lewis to a 4 year 20m contract to have him just play 3rd down or backup RB. They are going to use him in a lot of different ways, but I suspect he eats into a lot of Henry’s touches. D. Lewis is also one of the most elusive backs in the league.  I feel like I am talking myself into stashing him in PPR leagues if I can get him for a late-round bargain. Rishard Matthews (WR) is another interesting guy in the slot. He might find a good amount of volume in this new offense. Not someone I am getting overly excited about but a decent mid-range receiver. Lastly, Delanie Walker – one of the most consistent TEs in the league in my opinion is always a good bet.  He has surprisingly great speed and athleticism for a big dude. The amount of times I see him with a several step lead on some post route and am like – how is that dude that wide open?

Washington Redskins:

Offensive Line Score: 6

Defensive Score: 4

Strength of Schedule Score: 3

Key Personnel Changes:

• Derrius Guice (RB) drafted this year
• Kenny Hilliard (RB) drafted this year
• Trey Quinn (WR) drafted this year
• Alex Smith (QB) picked up from KC along with Kevin Hogan (QB)
• Paul Richardson II (WR) picked up from SEA
• Kirk Cousin (QB) traded to MIN
• Ryan Grant (WR), Niles Paul (TE), Terrelle Pryor Sr (WR) all let go this year

Quick-take:

Alex Smith joins WAS from KC on a big contract and should have decent success on this team.  Alex is a very efficient and careful QB. He doesn’t risk throwing passes in narrow windows downfield and that may limit the opportunities with guys like Paul Richardson.  Doctson is also a concern because of his high drop rate from last year. He has the ability to have a big year if he can be a bit more efficient with his opportunities. Jamison Crowder may be the best option on the WR set already showing a good rapport with Alex.  I would say that Alex is a good value pickup at his QB19 ADP right now – you could easily pick him up as a QB2 for your team and stream him on easier weeks. Jordan Reed (TE) has so many injury potential issues each year it is crazy not including his concussion issues.  The chances of him seeing a full 16 games is pretty low, however he is still such a talent that he can’t be discounted. We know how much Alex can look for and depend on his TE with his work with Kelce in past years. Reed is going right now at about TE9 in the 8-9th round which is a great position to draft him at if you are willing to gamble on his health.  Guice was going to be the feature RB in WAS before his season ending injury in preseason this year. S. Perine (RB) and Marshall (RB) who were competing for their respective position on RB depth chart also got injured in the second preseason game that will keep them out 1-4 games. Rob Kelley seems to be the likely candidate early down back starter at this point and is currently being drafted in about the 12th round.  He and Perine may have a committee this year which make both almost undraftable. Chris Thompson who had a big year last year before he was injured is going in the 8th round typically and should continue to be a good PPR option this year. Depending on the health of Reed may impact the amount of usage that Thompson gets but the guy has some really nice elusiveness in open field pass catching situations. UPDATE: Redskins sign Adrian Peterson (RB) to one year deal in order to deal with the loss of Derrius Guice for the season.  Outside of Chris Thompson I don’t think any of these guys are worth drafting at this point in season-long until we get a better understanding of the timeshare.