Fantasy Football Preview: New Acquisitions to Target
2016 Fantasy Football Preview: Off-season moves part two
Recently, I wrote my first article for Fantasy CPR. I covered three newly acquired players that I think you should avoid in your upcoming fantasy football drafts. That was in a sense, part one. This week I’m going to look at the other side of the coin. I will talk about some newly acquired players that I think you should target.
As with the last piece, I’m only going to be considering players that were traded, or signed through free agency this off-season. I will cover three players I believe worthy of standard league consideration (10 teams) and three deeper league targets.
Next: Signed by the Lions
Marvin Jones
The Lions signed Marvin Jones to a 5 year deal this off-season. Although, not much of the deal is guaranteed, it is still a sign the team liked him quite a bit. Some other receiver needy teams like the Titans, Browns, and Falcons were rumored to have interest in him as well. Two years ago he amassed 712 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns on just 51 receptions. That touchdown production is certainly lucky, but Jones showed he could be a big play receiver. Last year he set career highs with 65 catches for 816 yards, but fell to 4 touchdowns. When you have A.J. Green and Tyler Eifert combining for 23 touchdowns, it does not leave much for the rest of the receivers.
This year Jones is virtually guaranteed to be at worst the second option in a Lions passing game that was rolling to end last year. The Lions gave the offensive coordinator job to Jim Bob Cooter in week 8 of last season as they did not like the production of the offense. The team did not get immediate results going into their week 9 bye, but they really turned things around coming out of it. From week 10 on, Matthew Stafford had a completion rate of 70 percent, he threw for over 2000 yards, and he had a 19-2 touchdown to interception ratio.
Only 26 players had over 1000 yards receiving last season. With Calvin Johnson retired, and only Golden Tate as an established receiver to compete with, I think that could be a realistic goal for Jones. He’s a low risk target at the moment as he’s currently the 38th wide receiver off the board in ESPN drafts. I think he can be a high upside WR3/Flex play in standard leagues and he could even be a WR2 in deep formats.
Next: Signed by the Saints
Coby Fleener
Coby Fleener agreed to a 5 year contract with the Saints this off-season. Fleener has never been a player I loved. I felt he was a poor blocker and route runner for his position, getting by on his height and speed. He’s also been a timeshare with Dwayne Allen since both came into the league in 2012. In their rookie season Allen was much more productive and also played in all 16 games to Fleener’s 12. Since that time, Allen has struggled with injuries, and Fleener put up at least 51 catches in all three seasons. Two years ago Fleener had career highs with 774 yards and 8 touchdowns, and Allen also had 8 touchdowns. Last year was a step back for the whole Colts offense, so we have to consider that when looking at Fleener’s numbers.
Drew Brees continued to be one of the best quarterbacks in the league last season, and while doing so, he made Ben Watson fantasy relevant. Watson has pretty much never been fantasy relevant. It was the first time he reached 800 yards, and only the second time he had 6 touchdowns. He came into the league as a speed demon much like Fleener, but he was 34 last year and he’s 3 inches shorter than Fleener. This is an offense that has always been tight end friendly, I don’t believe that will be changing. Sean Payton and Drew Brees have also stated they expect good things from Fleener this year.
Now there’s certainly risk involved here. This obviously isn’t a sleeper pick because Fleener is going as tight end number 6 in ESPN drafts. However, outside of Rob Gronkowski and Greg Olsen, there’s risk with any tight end, and even Gronk has dealt with a lot of injuries in his career.
Next: Signed by the Steelers
Ladarius Green
Ladarius Green signed a 4 year deal with the Steelers this off-season. He’s leaving a team in the Chargers that employed one of the greatest tight ends of all time, Antonio Gates. That situation didn’t leave a lot of room for Green to produce. He now steps into a powerful passing attack in Pittsburgh. As the undisputed number one tight end, Green offers plenty of upside. Green shares a lot of similarities with Fleener, who I mentioned in the last slide. He stands 6 feet 6 inches tall, and he also has incredible speed. Like Fleener, he’s going to have a top-tier QB throwing him the ball in Ben Roethlisberger. However, he has never shown the production that Fleener has.
With the retirement of Heath Miller and suspension of Martavis Bryant, a lot of targets are now available in Pittsburgh. Of course Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown are going to have monster seasons (barring injuries), but outside of them, there are no locks for production. I’m not a believer in Markus Wheaton. He will get another chance to be the number two receiver for the Steelers this season, but that’s the same chance he wasted when Bryant was suspended for the first five games of last season. Wheaton had one monster game where he had 9 catches for 201 yards and a score. Other than that game, he did not post more than 72 yards or 6 catches. He had more games with 1 catch (5) than he did with 4 or more (3). He also had the same number of games with less than 20 yards, seven, as he did with more than 50 yards.
Again, there are risks with Green, but if you’re going to wait on tight end, which I believe is viable strategy, Green could be your man. He’s currently going as tight end number 8 in ESPN drafts.
Next: Deep league targets
Mohamed Sanu
Like his former teammate Marvin Jones, who I covered in the first slide, Mohamed Sanu left the Cincinnati Bengals this off-season. He received a 5 year contract from the Falcons. Atlanta was in dire need for a number two receiving threat. Leonard Hankerson, Jacob Tamme, and the near dead body that was Roddy White, all took turns being that guy last season. None of them did very well, although Tamme was respectable as a pass-catching tight end. Now, unlike Jones, there’s a clear-cut number one receiver in Atlanta, Sanu will not be passing Julio Jones on the depth chart. However, he looks like a lock to be the number two.
Sanu is being drafted as wide receiver number 60 in ESPN drafts, and he’s being drafted in less than fifty percent of leagues. He could be a last round type flier or even a WR3/Flex consideration in deeper formats. He might be poised for a break out season.
Brandon LaFell
I’ve covered the two players who left the Bengals receiving corps so it’s only fitting to cover the man brought in to replace them. Brandon LaFell struggled with injuries and drops while playing for the Patriots last year. However, two years ago he put up a career year for them. There are targets available in this Bengals offense with the departures of both Jones and Sanu. A.J. Green and Tyler Eifert will get the most looks, but they will also generate the most attention. This could lead to LaFell being matched up in single coverage with a weaker defender.
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It remains to be seen if LaFell can regain his 2014 form, but at the moment he’s a no risk deeper league target. He’s currently being selected as wide receiver 86 in ESPN drafts, and he’s being drafted in less than 5 percent of leagues. There are even retired or suspended players drafted above that. Tyler Boyd, a second round rookie drafted at LaFell’s position is currently going before him, yet all reports are that LaFell will start, not Boyd.
Martellus Bennett
Martellus Bennett unceremoniously departed the Bears this off-season. He found a pretty good place to land in New England, with the perennial Super Bowl contender Patriots. While he greatly increased his chance of winning NFL games, his fantasy output is in question for this season. Scott Chandler had some hype last year as reports came out that he worked with Brady exclusively in the off-season. He was a disappointment, but Bennett is twice the receiver he is. The Patriots had two very talented tight ends a few years ago, but one of them was literally a murderer. Let’s hope this turns out a little better.
Bennett will surely be a top 10, if not top 5 tight end, if something were to happen to Gronkowski. While both are healthy it’s tough to forecast how he may produce, however there is at least one report that Bennett could be in for a nice season. He’s currently tight end number 16 off the board, and he’s being drafted in right around 30 percent of ESPN leagues.