Fantasy News Home

We believe Mike Gillislee is the most talented early-down option for the Patriots and offers double-digit touchdown upside, but a hamstring injury is keeping him off the field. He needs to get healthy, or it is not out of the realm of possibility that Burkhead wins this job. With fantasy drafts fast approaching, this backfield needs to be monitored very closely. If you are going to use a 5th/6th-round pick on Gillislee, it's probably wise at this point to draft Burkhead late too.

Hunt has been generating some buzz, but Spencer Ware isn’t going to go gently into that good night. Since becoming a Chief, Ware has averaged 4.63 YPC on 286 carries, and his 13.5 yards per catch was the second most of any running back with 30-plus receptions in 2016. It’s more likely that Hunt finds a role on passing downs, potentially replacing Charcandrick West. However, this is still a situation to monitor as the season approaches.

Fournette is the odds-on favorite to lead all rookie running backs in fantasy points. The last eight running backs drafted in the top 10 that saw at least 200 carries (in their rookie season) averaged 308 touches for 1484 yards and 9.8 touchdowns, for a PPR average of 240 fantasy points. The Jaguars are going to run Fournette early and often. VP of Football Operations Tom Coughlin said that the team drafted Fournette “to put the ball in the end zone.”

Lee emerged in his third season as the #2 receiving threat in Jacksonville, turning 105 targets into 63 catches for 851 yards and three touchdowns en route to a #42 finish in PPR formats. He could progress into the top 30 if he continues to improve as a receiver, but the Jaguars have drafted (Leonard Fournette) with the intent to run the ball more, and that may negatively impact Lee’s workload.

That sound you hear is the sound of McCaffrey's hype train having already pulled out of the station. With Jonathan Stewart still likely to see 200-plus carries, the third round feels pretty early for Christian McCaffrey, though he has Danny Woodhead-type (70-plus catch) upside in the passing game. The issue is Cam Newton has never been one to check down or target his running backs heavily, so it's fair to question how easily McCaffrey will fit into the Panthers offense. Given the fact that they used the eighth overall pick on the Stanford back, changing the offense to suit his skill set would seemingly be a major priority, but how flexible is Newton? Stewart has missed three games in each of the last three seasons, and has missed a total of 26 games in the last five seasons, so McCaffrey has RB1 upside if Stewart is sidelined.

Henry had a solid rookie year, turning 123 touches into 627 total yards and five scores and finishing as the #45 RB in PPR formats (#39 in standard). Unfortunately, not much has changed in the Tennessee backfield as the still-productive DeMarco Murray is expected to continue to serve as the team’s lead back. Barring a Murray injury, it’s difficult to see a path to a top-25 finish for the second-year back.

In his first 27 NFL games, Mariota has averaged 17.7 fantasy points per game, which would have extrapolated to about what Dak Prescott scored last year as the league’s #6 fantasy quarterback. When his six-attempt game against the Patriots (from his rookie year) is removed, his average jumps to 18.3 fantasy points. With the addition of Corey Davis, the #5 overall pick, and TD-machine Eric Decker, Mariota now has Davis, Decker, Rishard Matthews and Delanie Walker to throw to. The Titans have invested heavily in the passing game, which is an indicator that the team is willing to open up the offense. If he plays a full season, a top 5 season is well within reach. This makes Mariota an excellent value in the middle rounds.

Meanwhile, Lacy only rushed for 20 yards on his six carries and added a reception for three yards. Thomas Rawls did not play with a minor injury. It was Rawls who had been getting the majority of first-team reps in recent practices. C.J. Prosise also did not play. This certainly appears to downgrade Lacy's fantasy stock. It should also be noted that Seattle's already brutal offensive line from last year also lost starting left tackle George Fant to a torn ACL Friday night.

Meanwhile, 3rd round rookie Taywon Taylor impressed in his preseason debut, and the Titans have two seasoned veterans in Eric Decker and Rishard Matthews. Davis was the first receiver off the board and is probably landing in the best situation theoretically, if he can get healthy. However, we've seen this script before with rookie receivers missing time in the preseason and having their snaps limited in the first quarter of the regular season. He has a good quarterback (Marcus Mariota) and the team has a glaring need at receiver. The last eight receivers who were drafted in the top 10 averaged 56 catches for 824 yards and 6.0 touchdowns as rookies.

In 19 games (including the playoffs), Blount averaged 67 yards and 1.0 TD en route to 12.9 PPG and a #9 finish at his position in PPR formats. He only averaged 3.80 YPC on the year, and just 3.29 YPC over his final eight games. He should take over the Ryan Mathews role in the Philadelphia offense. Mathews saw 168 touches (13 receptions) in 13 games, or 12.9 touches per game. If Blount gets all of Mathews’ carries and plays a full season, he should see 185-195 carries and is a threat for double-digit touchdowns. (Mathews scored eight rushing touchdowns last year.) Beware of Wendell Smallwood though, as some reports this preseason say he may be involved more than last season. That could eat into Blount's projected early-down workload, especially if he continues to struggle.

Dalvin Cook has played 36 snaps this preseason. That's about one half of a game. He has touched the ball 17 times (12 carries and 5 receptions). That's exciting bell cow level production for a rookie whose ADP has moved into the 4th round. Cook also has the third-easiest schedule by our PPR RB aFPA tool. It's looking more and more that Cook will line up as the starter in Week 1. The Vikings had a lot of problems running the ball last year, but signed tackles Riley Reiff and Mike Remmers and drafted center Pat Elflein (3rd round) and guard Danny Isidora in an effort to rebuild the offensive line. Cook has had a good spring and his primary competition (Latavius Murray) is still well behind after offseason ankle surgery.

McDermott was non-committal after Taylor threw two interceptions in a preseason game, so we're not convinced that he or the team are fully behind their quarterback. The decision to trade away Sammy Watkins, a player who fits Taylor's downfield strengths, indicates that the team isn't invested in Taylor's success. From a fantasy perspective, Taylor is a great asset given his ability to run, but the team may move on to Nathan Peterman sooner rather than later.

This doesn't sound serious but it's something to monitor. Howard took over the lead back duties in Week 3. From that point on, he was the No. 7 fantasy back in the league, averaging 16.1 fantasy points per game. In terms of likely workload, he’s one of the safest plays on the board since he averaged 20.5 touches per game in the second half of the season. He averaged 116 total yards and 0.5 touchdowns in that span.

In 15 games, Parker was the #50 WR last season, catching 56 passes for 744 yards and four touchdowns on 88 targets. He was on the injury report for six of those games (3.3-39-0.33, 9.2 PPG in PPR formats) and healthy for nine (4.0-57-0.20, 11.0 PPG). Those "healthy" PPG numbers are about what Anquan Boldin scored as 2016's #41 fantasy receiver. If he can stay healthy, he should provide WR3 numbers, but that’s a big “if.” For what it’s worth, he has drawn rave reviews for his work this offseason.

The fact that Henne was even out there with the starters in the second preseason game shows Blake Bortles' job is not safe under a new coaching staff. If you watched the game, Bortles was worse than his pedestrian numbers even show, at one time underthrowing a wide open Allen Robinson downfield. Meanwhile, Henne had two passes for would-be touchdowns dropped by his receivers, including Robinson. However, Robinson's eight first half targets are certainly notable.

McCoy was the #3 RB in standard and #4 in PPR formats. Mike Gillislee (112 touches, 627 yards and nine touchdowns) is gone, so McCoy could see some of that work as he heads into his age 29 season. After the top three running backs, McCoy looks like the best option at the position in all formats.

This is good news for Fournette, who dealt with recurring foot and ankle injuries at LSU. Apparently, this issue is unrelated to those previous injuries.