While many people have already drafted this past weekend, the fantasy world is being shaken up by various news. I wanted to go over some of the top news points and give my thoughts on each.
Leonard Fournette Cut by the Jaguars
This is by far the most important news coming out of this weekend. Fournette was being drafted as a low end RB1 due to the fact he was going to get a workhorse role. At this point, Fournette has not been claimed off of waivers, and it may be a bit until we see him sign. There are very few opportunities out there in the NFL that will give Fournette a workhorse role, so even if he signs with a team, he will be falling in rankings. Until he signs, you should not be drafting Fournette until the last round of your draft.
In Jacksonville, we are left with an interesting situation. Ryquell Armstead appears to be set up to take the early-down work with the possibility of Devine Ozigbo getting some touches as well. Unfortunately for these two, the Jaguars will be down in basically every game this year, so there is not much value in those early down touches. Armstead should be drafted as an RB3, and Ozigbo is a late-round filer now. Chris Thompson figures to see a big jump in value. Thompson was always going to take some of the passing down work, but now he has no competition. If you are in a full PPR league, this is the Jaguars running back you want to own. He could put up James White or Tarik Cohen types of numbers. The real beneficiary of this mover is Gardner Minshew. He will have even more opportunities to throw the ball now and is most likely to handle a bulk of the team's goal-line carries. Minshew can easily finish as a top ten QB this year, and if you are waiting at QB, he should be on your radar as a late-round QB option.
Jalen Reagor Injured
If you read my sleeper WR article last week, you will have seen I was high on Raegor as a fantasy option this year. Unfortunately, over the weekend, he suffered a separated shoulder while making a tackle after an interception. The timeline for him coming back is in 4 weeks, putting him back around week 3. This should lower his value in drafts and should allow you to grab him in the later rounds. I still believe Raegor will come back and be a fantasy asset this year. If you have the bench space to hang onto him through the beginning of the year, you could have a breakout WR after the first quarter of the season.
Other Top Running Backs
We have seen many news articles coming out about some of the top RBS in fantasy. Joe Mixon missed a few practices due to migraines. It does not seem significant, seeing as Cincinnati just gave him a contract extension. Mixon can still be drafted as a late 1st round early 2nd round RB1. Alvin Kamara has also missed some practices, and rumors came out that he might be upset with his contract. Since then, Kamara has said he is not threatening a holdout. I expect that Kamara will be the starting RB for the Saints come week one and still should be drafted as a top 4 pick in drafts. Kenyan Drake was seen in a walking boot this past week. Drake has used a walking boot before to help with some foot pain and has stated that this is just another case of that. Once again, I am not panicking about Drake and will still draft him in the late 1st early 2nd round of drafts. However, I am putting some more value on Chase Edmunds later in drafts treating him more as a high-value handcuff like Tony Pollard and Alexander Mattison.
Going into the final weekend before football starts, we need to keep our eyes close to the news desk to make sure we are informed before going into a draft. These situations are all very fluid, and I will update my thoughts as we get more news on these various players.
Comments