Fantasy Football Predictions for the 2018 season

The preseason is over and we’re just days away from the start of the NFL season! Now seems like a great time to break down every team with some fantasy football predictions for the 2018 season!

This space will normally be reserved for a “What we Learned” column but since we didn’t learn anything from a Sunday with no fantasy football, I’m going to go team by team and make some fun predictions. These predictions are based in what I think are legitimate outcomes for the 2018 season. I’ve tried to stay as consistent as possible with the tiers I’ve already put out but some of these predictions are a little bolder than others. Let’s get into it!

2018 Fantasy Football Preview: AFC East

New England Patriots – Much like the Hulk, Gronk will SMASH puny defenders 

It seems kind of crazy to look at the Pats wide receiver depth chart and see players like Coradelle Patterson and Phillip Dorsett near the top of the list but that’s where we’re currently at. Sure, Chris Hogan and Julian Edelman are talented and will be tasked with carrying that unit but the lack of depth at receiver and the question marks of health at running back have made me come around on tight end Rob Gronkowski. He finished like a WR1 and a RB1 last season with the lowest touchdowns he’s ever had in double digit games. That’s not happening this year. Gronk is going to smash this year and set career highs in receptions(90 is current high) and yards(1327 is current high) and find the end zone 15 times.

New York Jets – Receiver Quincy Enunwa is still a thing 

After trading quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to the New Orleans Saints, the Jets appear poised to let rookie Sam Darnold take the reigns from Week 1 moving forward. While Robby Anderson is getting the attention after a breakout season, don’t forget about Quincy Enunwa. Just 26 years old, he missed all of last season with an injury and was coming off a season where he caught 58 passes for over 800 yards on 100 targets.

Things have changed since that season but the Jets don’t have a lot of depth at receiver. That includes Terrelle Pryor, ArDarius Stewart, Andre Roberts and Jermaine Kearse. That’s not a very inspiring crew and Kearse is going to miss time with an abdominal injury. As long as Enunwa is ready to roll from a thumb injury, he’s going to settle in as the Jets number two receiver. If he sees another 100 or so targets, he could provide some DFS/weekly value. He’s also currently being undrafted and is going to finish in the top 40 at WR.

Buffalo Bills – This team is the worst for fantasy purposes 

Past running back LeSean McCoy and receiver Kelvin Benjamin, there is no fantasy value to be had with this offense. They seem committed to rookie Josh Allen at quarterback and the poor guy is going to be thrown into the fire immediately. Buffalo has seen a drastic step backwards in their offensive line play due to trades and retirements. McCoy has a ton of mileage on his body and isn’t getting any younger. Benjamin is actually a value in drafts right now just because he’s going so late and opportunity, not any other reasons. He’s the 45th receiver off the board and he should see at least 100 targets, which does count for something even in the worst offense. You’re never going to feel great starting these two but they can be solid fantasy contributors. Just don’t expect a lot and understand how bad of a situation this is. McCoy will finish no higher than the RB25-30 range and Benjamin will be an impossible to predict WR3-4 range.

Miami Dolphins – Ryan Tannehill wins someone the Milly Maker once this year

The Dolphins will be kings of the garbage this season because their offense is going to rack up points late out of necessity. Miami might have a hard time getting over five or six wins but that’s going to put the ball into the hands of quarterback Ryan Tannehill. If you don’t think garbage time production is something that’s all that helpful, look at the finishes of Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles in 2015 and 2016. He was top 10 in both seasons and Tannehill won’t be quite that high but he will be a top 15 quarterback. He’s going to be especially valuable in 2QB leagues because owners can load up on position players while snagging a high upside third quarterback on draft day. Tannehill is gong to have am monster game at a dirt cheap price and be in the winning lineup of the Milly Maker on DraftKings once this season. He’s going to find receiver Kenny Stills for over 1,000 yards and at least eight touchdowns this season as well.

2018 Fantasy Football Preview: AFC NORTH

Cleveland Browns – Tyrod Taylor finishes as a top 12 QB

Nobody ever seems to want quarterback Tyrod Taylor. He’s currently the QB23 on draft day but the folks who take a chance on him late are going to be richly rewarded. Taylor has been fairly consistent so far in his career. Had he not been benched for dubious reasons last year, he would have eclipsed 3,000 yards passing again and he has rushed for at least 400 yards and 4 touchdowns the past three seasons. Now he gets to work with offensive coordinator Todd Haley, who has quite the track record as a coordinator.

As a coordinator in Arizona and Pittsburgh, Haley’s passing games have never finished under 16th in passing attempts, yards and touchdowns. Granted, Haley has been lucky to work with quarterbacks Kurt Warner and Ben Roethlisberger and Taylor is not at that level. He is a very competent NFL quarterback and will finally be surrounded by a talented offense in a system that accentuates the pass game. Everyone loves receivers Jarvis Landry and Josh Gordon. Even tight end David Njoku is gaining steam as a back-end TE1. Someone has to get those three playmakers the ball. I’m a huge Baker Mayfield fan but I think the Browns stay competitive through the season and fight for the last Wild Card spot in the AFC. Taylor is going to keep the job for the majority of the season and finish as a top 12 quarterback in fantasy football this year.

Cincinnati Bengals – Joe Mixon finishes as an RB3 

There’s a running back who has been assigned bell cow status and I’m not entirely sure why. In college, he exceeded 20 touches in a game five times out of 25 possible games. In the pros, he’s done it four times out of 14. Via Pro Football Focus, this back forced a missed tackle only 21 times on 208 touches which ranked 49th out of 53 backs. He also was good for just 1.72 yards after contact, which ranked 44th. That was good enough for a finish outside the top 30 last year but suddenly Joe Mixon was being taken in the top 15 at the running back position.

I’ll give everyone out there that the Bengals offense was a nightmare last year. The offensive line was very poor(although it didn’t stop Gio Bernard from gaining almost a full yard more than Mixon every carry) and they were dead last in plays per game in the NFL. The Bengals offense should be better as a whole but Mixon haas not given us much reason to believe he’s the next big thing in fantasy. He only surpassed 62 yards rushing twice in 14 games. Mixon will not be a top 24 running back in 2018.

Baltimore Ravens – Running back Alex Collins is an RB2, again

 Running back Alex Collins was a fantasy football savior for many teams last year. He was cast off from Seattle only to find a home in Baltimore for 212 carries and 973 yards in just 12 games that he started. After he started getting a real workload in Week 4, Collins was on pace to score 186 points in half PPR settings. That would have placed him in the top 10 at the position and the only back behind him that poses any type of threat to his role is Kenneth Dixon, who is coming off a lost season of injuries and suspension. The Ravens added receivers Michael Crabtree and John Brown, which represent a significant upgrade over the 2017 corps. Still only 24 years old, Collins will prove that last year was not a fluke and rumble his way to 1,000 yards on the ground and 8-10 touchdowns this season, being a reliable high end RB2 for fantasy football players.

Pittsburgh Steelers – Juju Smith-Schuster is a top 15 WR

Much has been made about second year receiver Juju Smith-Schuster’s draft position and him going to high. He eclipsed 900 yards receiving in his rookie campaign on just 58 receptions and 79 targets, making him insanely efficient. The key reason he’s going to be well worth his draft price is there’s no longer a Martavis Bryant in the offense to soak up 84 targets. Don’t fool yourself into thinking rookie James Washington just walks into that target share. Smith-Schuster is going to see at least 100 targets this year as the Steelers may run more no-huddle offense, providing more opportunities for the skill players.

The other reason that the offense is going to have to score a lot of points is something that seems to be flying under the radar and that’s the defense could be quite poor. In the five games after linebacker Ryan Shazier suffered his terrible spinal injury, the Steelers defense gave up an average of 28 points. That includes a game against the Houston Texans they only allowed six points to an offense that was led by quarterback T.J. Yates for most of the contest. Even then, Pittsburgh was gouged for over 150 yards rushing. The only changes they made on defense was signing safety Morgan Burnett to replace Mike Mitchell and linebacker Jon Bostic to fill the void in the middle. That could easily not be enough and the Steelers offense is going to have to carry the team. Smith-Schuster ends as a top-15 wide receiver and could hit WR1 status.

2018 Fantasy Football Preview: AFC South

Houston Texans – DeAndre Hopkins doesn’t finish as a top five wide receiver 

Hopkins might be the most physically gifted receiver in football. His hand/eye coordination is ridiculous and he can seemingly get his feet down near the sidelines every time for that big catch. However, he saw a monster target share last year of 33 percent. That was four percent higher than Antonio Brown and was right around Julio Jones. He might be able to repeat the target share and he will still be incredible, but his 309 PPR points would have only been the number one finish at the position in one season since 2006.

The past two seasons have been a little lower than normal at the top end but that doesn’t seem like a trend that should continue. Will Fuller and quarterback Deshaun Watson showed some serious chemistry in a short sample size and that could cap Hopkins just a little bit. Fuller did average a whopping 18.1 PPR points compared to 18.5 for Hopkins. The split is clearly skewed by Fuller scoring seven touchdowns but it’s something to note. Hopkins is a sure fire WR1 but players that took him ahead of Odell Beckham, Julio Jones, Keenan Allen and Michael Thomas will wind up having some small draft day regret.

Indianapolis Colts – The defense will be a goldmine to target against

So this isn’t exactly bold but any stretch but it’s just to glaring to ignore. The Colts defense on paper really looks like it’s going to struggle. Safety Malik Hooker might be the only defender of note and this is going to be a team we target time and agains in DFS this year. Just look at this projected starting unit –

It’s going to be stream city and even some offenses that we’re not too certain about are going to look fantastic when they draw the Colts. This will also play a role in the waiver wire column for season long, so just be aware of how much of a weakness this unit is for Indy this season. On the slightly bolder end of things, quarterback Andrew Luck will start a little slow but ends up as a top eight signal caller despite having missed so much time.

Jacksonville Jaguars – Keelan Cole finishes as a top 30 WR

This might not look terribly bold after the unfortunate injury suffered by Marquise Lee, but Cole is going to emerge from a very crowded receiver room and be very fantasy football relevant all season long. He led the Jacksonville corps last season with 748 yards last season and did it despite having fewer receptions than Lee, who finished second. Cole also only officially started six games as opposed to the 14 that Lee started. Cole’s 17.8 yards per reception was explosive and finished only behind Marvin Jones Jr. 18.0 mark. Cole also finished in the top 30 in his percentage share of targeted air yards per NFL’s Next Gen Stats even in a part time role. Cole is on the verge of breakout.

Tennessee Titans – Running back Derrick Henry easily outscores Dion Lewis 

I’ll include myself in this but I think a significant chunk of the fantasy football community has underestimated Henry and his chances at a great fantasy football season in 2018. Nine running backs saw eight men in the box last season 40 percent or me and Henry saw that defensive alignment 50 percent of the time. Of those nine backs, only Mark Ingram of the Saints and Orleans Darkwa had a higher yards per carry and Henry sat at 4.2 yards. He also inexplicably got fewer carries than ineffective DeMarco Murray in 2017, finishing at just 176 rushes. Lewis is a very talented back and deserves a share of the work but he’s also touched the ball more than 100 times in a season once. You have to be skeptical if he can replicate that success. Combine that with a new offense for the Titans that has the goal of opening up the pass game, Henry could be an RB2 that everyone pushed to the side.

2018 Fantasy Football Preview: AFC West

Oakland Raiders – Amari Cooper sees a career high in targets, still finishes outside the top 20 

Whew boy, the Raiders did not have a great Saturday. Say what you will about the salary cap implications but it’s a hard sell to anyone that trading a player of Khalil Mack‘s talent and getting a grab bag in return makes you a better football team. Yes, all they got is a grab bag because those picks from the Bears are going to have to be pretty darn good to replace what Mack brought. Anyways, losing Mack is going to create more negative game scripts for Oakland. That will be good for Cooper in some respects, as he will set a new high in targets over his current of 132. People must think he’s going to breakout because he was drafted as a top 15 receiver but he’s not going to return that value. His career catch percentage is only 56.7 percent, he’s never caught more than 83 passes, never been over 1,200 yards and hasn’t scored more than seven touchdowns. I can’t see what has changed this year other than potentially more targets and just don’t see it happening this year any different than his previous seasons.

Los Angeles Chargers – Keenan Allen leads the NFL in targets and receptions  

Allen wis flirting with my number three receiver in PPR this season because I’m really starting to think he could hit 200 targets in this Chargers offense. With the injury to tight end Hunter Henry, 62 targets from last year need to be re-distrubited. Antonio Gates just came back to the team, but will he see 50+ like he did last season? Both Tyrell and Mike Williams will see some of those lost targets as well, but Allen is clearly the best pass catching option on the team. The red zone targets could bump up as well. Allen was the red zone monster with 26 targets but the two tight ends combined for 25. That number is going to drop without Henry and Allen should see a few more there as well. He really caught fire from Week 11 on, when he averaged 24 PPR points. That would have been good for 384 points on a 16 game pace.

Kansas City Chiefs – Tyreek Hill scores double digit touchdowns and racks up 1,300 yards 

Hill is a confusing player to me. He doesn’t score from the red-zone. He doesn’t command a ton of targets. He’s not a PPR monster, which is something I almost always prefer in receivers. Yet, he has been a top 25 receiver in both seasons so far and was a top 10 receiver even in PPR formats last year. Per NFL.com, former quarterback Alex Smith was graded as the leagues best deep ball passer. While Smith does deserve credit for that, new quarterback flat out has better raw arm strength. His touchdown pass to Hill in the preseason that traveled 69 yards in the air was the longest touchdown pass via distance in the air since Aaron Rodgers threw a 67 yard Hail Mary in 2014. Mahomes and Hill could not be more perfect for each other and Hill will enjoy a career season.

Denver Broncos – Emmanuel Sanders is the highest scoring Broncos receiver

This isn’t bold in some circles but I believe it’s going to be true. Sanders has moved into the slot during the preseason and he and quarterback Case Keenum are going to mesh well together. In fact, it’s over 50 percent so far and it’s hard not to compare Sanders to Adam Thielen from the 2017 Vikings. Thielen led the Vikings in receptions(91) and target share(32 percent) and Keenum was the main man behind this stats. Yes, the offensive coordinator isn’t Pat Shurmur like it was last year but Sanders had three straight seasons of 1,000+ yards. Last year was a disaster as Sanders had an injured ankle and pretty poor quarterback play. Those things have changed this year and Sanders is ready to get back to form.

2018 Fantasy Football Preview: NFC East

Philadelphia Eagles – Carson Wentz is not a QB1 in total or on a per game basis

It’s funny how perception plays a role in fantasy football. Take Jared Goff for the Rams. After a pretty rough rookie season with Jeff Fisher, new head coach Sean McVay showed he’s a very talented player and they enjoyed a great season while leading the NFL in scoring. Some think Goff will regress a little bit which he very well might. After all, he threw a 5.9 percent touchdown rate which is among the very elite of football. Here’s the thing – Wentz threw a 7.5 percent rate and is coming off a very serious knee injury. One of his best receivers is out for at least the first two weeks in Alshon Jefferey. Wentz not only is not guaranteed to start in Week 1 but he consistently went in the top 10 during draft season. Players who took him there are going to be bummed out at the end of the season.

Dallas Cowboys – Michael Gallup leads the team in targets, yards and touchdowns 

Of all the rookie receivers, there might not be a player in a better situation to make an immediate impact. Of the 485 total targets Dallas had last season, a whopping 258 are gone. 53 percent of the Cowboys passing game was either traded, released or retired this offseason. Quarterback Dak Prescott played 39 snaps in the preseason and Gallup was on the field for 31 of them, which was three more than Allen Hurns. That tells you most of what you need to know about the Dallas passing game and Gallup might be the latest in the draft that you can get 100+ targets this year. Gallup is going to be the most productive rookie receiver in Year 1.

Washington Redskins – Vernon Davis is going to be a waiver wire savior 

When he’s on the field, tight end Jordan Reed is a great player. The issue becomes that he’s only played in 52 of a possible 80 games and has missed 14 of the past 32. As unfortunate as it is, counting on Reed seems pretty foolish. If the injury bug bites him again, Davis is going to be a huge boost off the waiver wire. He quietly eclipsed 600 yards last year and ripped off 15.1 yards per reception. Even with Alex Smith as his new quarterback, Davis is still going to be a major priority at some point this year and pay off with solid back end TE1 production.

New York Giants – Evan Engram is a total bust and barely finishes the top 12 at tight end 

Engram has been a very popular target as a tight end for much of the offseason and while I think Engram has a role in the offense, he’s now in a much more crowded offense than he saw last year. Odell Beckham played four games. Sterling Shepard played in just 11. The Giants will get both players back healthy to start the season and on top of that, they drafted running back Saquon Barkley with the number two overall pick. He’s a polished receiver, having caught 58 passes last season at Penn State. New York didn’t pass on multiple quarterbacks to not use him in all facets of the game. Engram has virtually no chance at 100+ targets again barring injuries and might be the fourth option in the passing game.

2018 Fantasy Football Preview: NFC North

Chicago Bears – Trey Burton leads the team in targets, receptions, yards and touchdowns 

Burton is really shaping up to have an incredible season. I had wrote earlier that I thought Adam Shaheen would cut into his production but Shaheen suffered an injury and was forced to the IR with an option to return. That means Burton is going to have the tight end role to himself and coach Matt Nagy seems to be deploying him in the “Travis Kelce role” that many thought Burton would inherit.

The third preseason game saw Burton catch four of his five targets for 45 yards and a touchdown in just over a quarter of work. As we see quarterback Mitchell Trubisky grow, the connection between he and Burton is going to be a crucial part of that. Allen Robinson and Anthony Miller are going to fight for the second receiver role in this offense.

Green Bay Packers – Jimmy Graham catches 12 touchdowns and is still a pain to own

Graham is going to finish as a top five tight end of the back of catching a boatload of touchdowns from Aaron Rodgers. Everyone who loved him during the offseason will take their victory lap and say “I told you so” but Graham is still going to annoy owners on a week to week basis. When he isn’t finding the end zone, Graham isn’t doing much else.

His yards per reception dropped massively to 9.1 and the previous lowest mark was 10.5 in 2014, his last season in New Orleans. It’s admirable that Graham has been able to resume an NFL career after the devastating knee injury he suffered a couple of years ago but his game could totally drop off the cliff at any point. If Graham isn’t scoring consistently, his 520 yards was good enough for 17th among tight ends and his receptions were good for ninth. Rodgers is the best quarterback a TD-reliant player can ask for, but it has to come through for Graham not to lay an egg on your team.

Minnesota Vikings – Stefon Diggs is a top five receiver

There is no doubt that Diggs is a risky pick. He’s never caught more than 84 passes, he’s never cracked 1,000 yards and he’s never finished above the WR19. I totally get why people are hesitant but I’m going to use perhaps my favorite stat of the preseason one more time –

Keep in mind, the Vikings went out and signed quarterback Kirk Cousins. While nobody is mistaking Cousins for Tom Brady anytime soon, he’s better than what the Vikings have had over the past two years. If these kind of splits hold, you could draft a Julio Jones in the third round which is a massive boost to your team. In the third preseason game, Diggs drew eight targets. I fully believe the pendulum swing back to Diggs instead of Adam Thielen this season.

Detroit Lions – The trio of receivers are difficult to peg week to week 

The Lions are blessed to have three receivers in Golden Tate, Marvin Jones and the up and coming Kenny Golladay. That’s great for real life but it’s going to make fantasy football predictions very difficult to get right every week. At the end of the season, the scoring should skew towards Tate then Jones and then Golladay. Last year, Golladay only saw 48 targets through 11 games. Combining a second year progression with the loss of 86 targets from tight end Eric Ebron could push Golladay towards 100 targets. If that happens and all three receivers see 100 targets, the volatility for these three is going to be off the charts. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t want them but you have to be prepared for an outcome like this.

2018 Fantasy Football Preview: NFC South

New Orleans Saints – Michael Thomas scores 10+ touchdowns 

There’s been a lot of noise about the Saints turning into a running team and that’s because they came pretty close. They passed 536 times compared to 444 rushes, good for a 54.6 percent pass ratio. That was also the fewest attempts quarterback Drew Brees has thrown since 2009. That shouldn’t be taken as anything was wrong with Brees, who had the highest yards per attempt in his career and he backed that up with his lowest interception rate ever as well. The only stat that was way out of whack other than attempts was his touchdown rate, which was just 4.3 percent. When Brees has a 5.3 mark for his career, you have to assume that bounces back. Thomas only scored five touchdowns and had 16 red-zone targets. He’s going to bounce back with Brees and is well worth his lofty draft position.

Atlanta Falcons – Julio Jones score 12 touchdowns

This one seems kind of silly for a top flight wide receiver until you realize Jones has 17 touchdowns…in the last three seasons combined. There just has to be a season where a receiver as good as Jones finds the end zone a ton. He saw 18 red-zone targets last season and only caught five of them. That just defies logic and the chorus of voices against drafting Jones so high got a little louder this offseason. That tends to happened when you only score three times in 16 games. This just sets up as a troll season for a receiver that has the track record of production in every other facet of the game.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Peyton Barber starts all season and is a useful RB3

Ronald jones might be the high draft pick rookie but he really struggled during the preseason. He was given 28 carries and managed a putrid 22 yards. That’s not great and even if the offensive line play was poor, he faced off against plenty of defenders that weren’t starters. The Tampa coaching staff is fighting for their jobs after a disappointing year in 2017 and have to deal with the James Winston suspension. They’re going to go with the best back regardless of draft stock and that is Barber by a lot currently. He can catch the ball a little bit which is going to help fill the void left by Charles Sims going the IR. Barber isn’t going to be flashy but he’s going to be a useful piece for the entirety of the 2018 season.

Carolina Panthers – Cam Newton unseats Aaron Rodgers as the QB1

By now, we kind of all know what Newton is a little weaker at than other quarterbacks who are among the fantasy football elite. He has a career completion percentage of 58.5 which would be considered awful from any other quarterback. For reference, everyone’s favorite whipping boy Blake Bottles is at 59.1 percent for his career. What Newton does bring to the table is massive upside on the ground, averaging 617 yards rushing per season. When Newton won the NFL MVP in 2015, he scored a massive 389 points in a standard league. The last time a quarterback has scored more than that was in 2013 when Peyton Manning threw 55 touchdown passes. Newton has the deepest amount of talent in the offense he’s ever played in with Christian McCaffrey, Greg Olsen, Devin Funchess and D.J. Moore at receiver. Even the backup running back of C.J. Anderson is an improvement over Jonathan Stewart. Newton is going to be dynamite this year.

2018 Fantasy Football Preview: NFC West

Arizona Cardinals – Ricky Seals-Jones finishes as a TE1 

The track record for Seals-Jones is extremely short so there’s not a ton to fall back on. However, when he was seeing targets in the Arizona offense, there were five games out of six that he saw at least three targets and eclipsed 18.0 yards per reception. The Cardinals offense really needs to have some type of receiving threat aside from Larry Fitzgerald and David Johnson. Rookie receiver Christian Kirk has played the slot role through much of his college career and that role is taken by Fitzgerald. If Seals-Jones emerges, he and quarterback Sam Bradford might really mesh well. When Bradford has been healthy in 2016 and 2015, the tight end finished as the TE9 and TE2.

Seattle Seahawks – Not one player is a top 10 player at their position 

The scariest player to say that about is obviously quarterback Russell Wilson. He’s never finished lower than the QB11 in his career but this Seahawks offense looks a little questionable on paper. Here’s the biggest concern outside of the lack of talent – Brian Schottenheimer. He’s been an offensive coordinator in nine seasons, none since 2014. In those nine years, his quarterback has finished as the QB16 or worse eight times, the wide receiver has finished as the WR20 or worse eight times and the running back has finished as the RB15 or worse seven times. That’s a terrible track record, regardless of the talent he was working with. Seattle has lost Jimmy Graham and Paul Richardson this offseason and Doug Baldwin has already declared himself not 100 percent and will need to manage a knee injury all year. Quarterback is deep enough that I’m passing on Wilson and Baldwin has to fall to me to gamble on. It could be a long year for the Seahawks.

Los Angeles Rams – The D/ST finishes as the number one unit 

OK, maybe this isn’t especially bold seeing how the Rams finished as the third best unit last season. However, it’s being widely accepted that the Jacksonville Jaguars will repeat their number one finish. They have a ton of talent on that side of the ball to be sure but the Rams added corners Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters in addition to Ndamukong Suh on the defensive line. If there’s one defensive coordinator who can mesh all the new pieces on and off the field, it’s going to be Wade Phillips. I still don’t end up with them a lot because I typically just stream defenses but if you sink an earlier pick on them, the Rams defense might pay off the most.

San Francisco 49ers – Jimmy Garoppolo is a top 10 quarterback 

Once Jimmy Handsome took over the 49ers offense, he was a yardage machine. He threw for 1,542 yards and that was good for a 4,934 yard pace. Tom Brady led the league with 4,577 yards last year. The only thing that didn’t follow for Garoppolo was the touchdowns, as he only threw seven compared to five interceptions. That’s not great but let’s hit the rewind button for amount to 2015. Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan struggled mightily in his first season in Kyle Shanahan’s offense, throwing just 21 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. The next season he won the MVP with 38 touchdowns and just seven picks when the Falcons went to the Super Bowl. Garoppolo not only was traded mid-season to a new offense but also didn’t have Julio Jones at wide receiver. The loss of Jerick McKinnon at running back hurts but they still added Dante Bettis and they’ll get Pierre Garcon back from injury. The touchdowns are going to come and Garoppolo is going to stand out at a crowded position.