Bi-Weekly Fantasy Football Recap - Saturday 8/26
TLDR:
Don’t have time to read the entire newsletter? Check out the bullet points below for a quick recap of everything going on today.
Main Recaps:
The 49ers trade QB Trey Lance to the Dallas Cowboys
Taking the 9th best running back in the draft has proven to be better than drafting the 1st best running back in recent years
Bucs RB Sean Tucker is going to give Rachaad White a run for his money this year
Jerry Jeudy suffers hamstring injury and is expected to miss multiple weeks
Bears RB coach reiterates that Khalil Herbert will be their starting running back
Trevor Lawrence is all in on Calvin Ridley
Justin Herbert might be an underrated pick this year
Corey Davis (Jets) retires from the NFL
Colts give Jonathan Taylor 5 days to find a suitable trade partner
Cooper Kupp is back at Rams practice for the first time since 8/1
Bears TE Cole Kmet leaves practice early on a cart
Panthers WR DJ Chark sidelined with hamstring injury
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Breaking Player News:
49ers Send Former No.3 Overall Pick Trey Lance To The Cowboys
After Sam Darnold secured the 49ers backup spot, Lance was destined for a trade. Today the Niners announced that they traded Lance to the Cowboys where he will now get a fresh start behind Dak Prescott. The 49ers appear to be on the losing side of this trade since they originally traded a lot away to move up in the draft to get Lance. Although he didn’t work out of San Francisco, this is a good move for the Cowboys and they now have a solid backup QB option.
Jerry Jeudy Suffers Hamstring Injury At Practice
The Broncos' WR went down today at practice and was seen grabbing his hamstring. He was carted off the field and seemed to be in a decent amount of pain. Jeudy is expected to miss several weeks and his status is now in question for Week 1. This is not good news for the Broncos offense; some fantasy owners are even avoiding this offense altogether as they will be without their star wide receiver for some time.
Corey Davis (Jets) Retires From The NFL
Corey Davis has officially announced his retirement today at the age of 28. There is now one less mouth to feed for Aaron Rodgers. Garret Wilson, Mecole Hardman, and Allen Lazard owners rejoice.
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Breaking Team News:
Bears RB Coach Reiterates that Khalil Herbert Will Lead Their Backfield
Bears RB coach David Walker reiterated today that Herbet will be their lead back. Walker emphasized that Herbert hasn’t done anything to lose the job although there are other competitive running backs on the team. Many fantasy managers are targeting Herbert this year in the draft and view him as a great RB option to get in the middle to later rounds.
Colts Give Jonathan Taylor Until Tuesday To Find A Suitable Trade Partner
The Colts have given Jonathan Taylor less than a week to find a team willing to trade for him. This comes after the star demanded a trade away from the organization. As of right now, the Colts have been in discussion with at least six other teams (two of them already making offers). Lot of people are speculating that he will end up going to the Dolphins but nothing is confirmed yet. If Jonathan Taylor leaves the Colts, keep your eye on Deon Jackson to take over the backfield. The Colts also might explore the possibility of signing a free agent like Kareem Hunt if Taylor leaves town.
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Reddit Recap:
Each week we read every Reddit post on r/fantasyfootball and all the comments. We then summarize the most important threads and discussions below.
Is Taking The 9th Best Running Back The New Move?
One Redditor made a great post explaining that six out of the last seven seasons whoever was taken as the ninth overall running back off the board outscored the running back taken first in the draft. Some people took this as their sign to draft a WR in the first round since it is now the “safer” bet while others weren’t scared of this stat and said they are still going to take the best RB in the draft first.
Guessing Who Will Finish The Season As The Best Running Back
Redditors take their best guess at who they think will end the year as the best running back. Here is the general consensus:
Tony Pollard: This will be his first year as their starter so he is expected to get even more volume than last year.
Nick Chubb: Chubb has been Mr. Reliable over the last few years and should end up finishing as a top 5 running back once again.
Derrick Henry: No one even comes close to his volume in regards to hand off attempts. Don’t be surprised if King Henry takes his throne back this year as RB1.
Travis Etienne: Now that he is settled into the Jaguars offense and scheme, fantasy managers are predicting he will do even better than last year.
Bijan Robinson: Arguably the most hyped rookie this year. People liked what they saw at Texas and think his talent will translate right into the NFL.
One Redditor also mentions that historically the running back that finishes 1st the year before rarely repeats themself as the top running back the following year. So expect the RB1 to be someone new this year.
Watch Out Rachaad White, Sean Tucker Is Here To Steal Your Job
Sean Tucker went undrafted this year but later signed with the Buccaneers and has been impressing people in training camp . He has even started to share 1st team reps with Rachaad White and fantasy managers are now wondering if White will lose his job to Tucker. In the grand scheme of things this offense will be run by Baker Mayfield and if Christian McCaffery couldn’t produce with Baker as his QB, don’t expect much from either one of these Bucs running backs. Then again, if Tucker keeps it up he could shock a lot of people this year.
Trevor Lawrence Excited About His New WR1 Calvin Ridley
Trevor Lawrence is excited to have Calvin Ridley on the team this year. He mentioned that Ridley is constantly bugging the QB to stay after practice and do more drills with him. Hearing this is encouraging to anyone who is looking to draft Trevor Lawrence or Calvin Ridley. Both should have big years this season.
Justin Herbert Criminally Underrated This Year?
Some fantasy managers consider Chargers QB Herbert to be underrated this year. Herbert finished 2021 as a top 3 QB (fantasy wise) and also dealt with a handful of injuries last year between himself and his receiving core. Now that he and his WRs are back to full health, people are thinking he will have a better year than last. The Chargers also have a new offensive coordinator with Kellen Moore so don’t be surprised if his new playcalling boosts Herbert’s production.
With Most People Drafting This Weekend, What Advice Would You Give To Other Managers Before The Draft?
A lot of people left good tips to keep in mind while drafting this year. Here is what the fantasy community recommended:
Always add your next preferred players in ‘queue’ so that if you lose connection during the draft it still auto picks players you wanted.
Don’t just live and die following player ADP (average draft position). If you like someone, take them.
Don’t overthink it. In the first several rounds, draft the best available players, don’t overthink positions. Then in the mid-rounds, fill out your roster with positional needs. Then take high upside guys in the late rounds.
If you take RBs early and often, load the bench with WRs (and vice versa).
Fantasy football is supposed to be fun. Get your guys and also some players that will be fun to watch this year.
How Do Running Backs Who Holdout Turnout Historically
The creator of this thread points out that historically running backs who usually holdout end up underperforming that year. They give five examples of players who held out and then came back and did not perform well or got injured. It seems like the longer running backs sit out and are not actively training, the more prone to injuries they are once they come back.
This thread specifically mentions Josh Jacobs this year and warns people of drafting him in the early rounds if he is still not back by Week 1. As we’ve seen in the past, some RBs don’t end up playing at all, such as Le’Veon Bell in 2018. So you need to be careful when drafting high round RBs who are still holding out. However, there have also been examples of RBs who held out until Week 1 and then come back and finish as a top 5 running back that year (Ex. 2019 Ezekiel Elliott). Moral of the story is just be a little cautious about drafting Josh Jacobs who has still not reported to camp yet, and start watching their backup RB Zamir White in case Jacobs holds out longer.
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Injury Updates:
Cooper Kupp Is Back At Rams Practice For The First Time Since August 1st
Kupp returned to practice today after being out for a few weeks. He most likely will not play in Saturday’s preseason game but simply having Kupp on the field for practice is a positive step as he gets ready for the start of the season. His injury has made him fall a little bit in the draft rankings but fantasy managers should have no fear that as long as he plays he is going to ball out.
Bears TE Cole Kmet Leaves Practice Early On A Cart
Although he was carted off, fans should know that he walked to the cart himself so his injury might not be as serious as it looked. However we still don’t have more details as to what exactly happened. If he misses any serious time expect newest Bear’s TE Robert Tonyan to take over the starting spot.
Panthers WR DJ Chark Sidelined With Hamstring Injury
DJ Chark did not practice on Wednesday due to an issue with his hamstring. Chark was shaping up to be a great weapon for Panthers new QB Bryce Young but now this setback further complicates things. The Panthers are already dealing with multiple wide receiver injuries so don’t expect much from their offense at this time. However, these WR injuries open the door for players like Adam Thielen or rookie Jonathan Mingo to take over as the Panthers WR1.
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Community Shoutout:
Reddit User u/mlchiang Built A Totally Free Fantasypro Draft Assistant Tool
We just wanted to give a shout out to Reddit user u/mlchiang who has created a free draft assistant for the community to use. Their draft assistant can be found here. We are not affiliated with them in any way but we wanted to share their post since they have created this awesome tool.