Couple of questions. Handcuffed Rawls with Christine Michael. Right move correct? Is Cincinnati's D/ST better than Oakland's? Is Aguaryo worth holding onto when Dan Bailey and Catanzaro are both sitting on the WW? What is your outlook on Lamar Miller this year? Will he live up to the hype of a 2nd round pick?
I don't think Seattle is going to rely on one RB unfortunately. Rawls and Michael will split carries while Prosise looks like the 3rd down pass catcher. Given that Rawls is still coming off an injury, Michael has a chance to surpass him as the lead back in the first few weeks. I think I'd rather have the Bengals than the Raiders right now. Raiders D has improved but they still need some time to gel. A lot of new pieces. With Aguayo being a shaky rookie, I'd definitely get Bailey instead.
Sterling Shepard just showed up on my waiver wire and I'm definitely going to pick him up. What is his outlook now that Victor Cruz is back?
Cruz will never be what he once was. It is likely his career is finished. Patellar tendon injuries are much worse than ACL tears. Jimmy Graham has the same problem. Shepard's outlook is positive and he is generally regarded as the top rookie WR for fantasy purposes. As long as Eli is still the QB, the Giants will throw the ball a lot. Being the clear 2nd option behind Beckham is a double-edged sword. It caps his ceiling but it also brings opportunity to exploit favorable matchups.
I still think rookie WR's tend to underperform (although that is diminishing in the new NFL) and Shepard's ceiling feels to be manufactured by the media. Worth a pickup though if he's on waivers. But y'all LOVED Cordarrelle Patterson for no other reason than the media packaged his ass and sold him to you.
Patterson couldn't run routes. His value was over-inflated by what Percy Harvin did in the "X factor" role similar to what Tavon Austin is now. I think Shepard is more of a traditional possession receiver which means he will have more value in a PPR. It used to be you wouldn't touch a rookie receiver fantasy-wise because they usually don't achieve full potential until year 3, but these days it is just all pass all the time, damn the run game to hell.
Any advice? 12 team PPR auction draft, I came out with this: QB: Tyrod Taylor Philip Rivers RB: Jamaal Charles Mark Ingram Frank Gore Deandre Washington Jay Ajayi WR: Mike Evans Torrey Smith Allen Hurns Will Fuller TE: Rob Gronkowski Zach Miller D/ST: Seattle K: Mason Crosby 1 QB 2 RB 2 WR 1 Flex
Ah Preston my old chum. You definitely reached on Charles since you love the Chiefs so much. I assume you picked Washington because of his alumni status too. Tsk tsk. Your QBs seem weak but it won't hurt you as much as your **** WRs. Torrey Smith has almost no value and even less in a PPR and he's your WR2. Drop him and pick up Quinton Patton instead. He'll probably be just as bad but at least you'll look smarter. Allen Hurns had something like 10 TDs off 64 receptions last year. Have to expect negative regression on that. Adjusted expectation places him as a low-level WR4. A very poor draft. You cannot be WR weak in a PPR.
Thanks for the advice DFin. It was an auction draft and I got charles on the cheap. Deandre was my second to last pick and it is looking like he will get some good PT during the season. Taylor/Rivers have a good combined schedule, and people were paying like crazy for QBs. Patton was actually picked up in the draft, unfortunately.
Out of those, I think Matthews and Sanu could have PPR value since they are at least on the field for most snaps. Dorsett will be behind Hilton and Moncrief but the Colts are running a base 3 WR offense so he will be getting looks. Ginn is basically a crapshoot.
What's up with Fleener's inflated value? Seems like a cute/reach/media manufactured pick that isn't actually that good at football and seems to be struggling to learn the offense in real life. I know Brees loves his TE's but this smells like James Casey in Philly to me.
Investing in a TE before later rounds who isn't Gronk, Reed or Olsen is ludicrous to me. I'm Zero TE most of the time. Last year I got Tyler Eifert in the latter rounds. In other leagues I just picked up Antonio Gates. A couple years ago I snatch up Greg Olsen in the 9th round. Consistency at the TE position is a unicorn. Gronk is the outlier. Reed and Olsen are the only other guys I did manage to find Jordan Reed in a couple leagues this year because I think he is worth a pick in the 33-40 range. The narrative on Fleener was that Brees can manufacture a TE1 no matter who it is. Now that Jimmy Graham is trash in Seattle the group consensus is that Jimmy Graham was made by Brees. Fleener's stats are already not very good for playing in an inflated passing offense with a QB capable of putting up massive numbers. He's way overvalued right now as the 4th or 5th TE off the board.