Fantasy Focus
Despite a 3-13 season in 2014, the Oakland Raiders have young talent and seem to be on the rise. While no one should expect the “Silver and Black” to smell the playoffs, don’t be surprised if one or more offensive players breakout this season. Players like QB Derek Carr and RB Latavius Murray will look to build off successful 2014 campaigns and cement themselves as future stars of the NFL. Guys like WR Michael Crabtree, RB Roy Helu, and RB Trent Richardson will look to benefit from a change of scenery while fourth overall pick Amari Cooper will begin what he hopes to be a long successful career.
Fantasy Focus
The Indianapolis Colts made it to the AFC Conference Championship last season before falling to the New England Patriots. While the “Deflategate” scandal took over the headlines for the game, the Colts’ defense and poor running contributed to the blowout loss to the Patriots. The inability to defend and rush plagued the Colts throughout the season. However, this offseason the Indianapolis coaching staff made changes in the running game and was able to give Andrew Luck a stronger receiving corps. With these new tools, the Colts are hoping to advance to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2006.
Fantasy Focus
Rookie wide receivers often struggle during their first season NFL season. At least that's the standard assumption -- and one shattered by the 2014 class. The likes of Odell Beckham Jr., Mike Evans and Kelvin Benjamin rocked as rookies and they were't alone. Here's a look at where those three plus Sammy Watkins, Brandin Cooks and others ranks among the top 10 second year wide-outs drafted in the first two rounds in last year's draft.
Fantasy Focus
When drafting tight ends, beware of the incredibly fickle nature of the position. Sure, you can go for one of the top-tier tight ends like Rob Gronkowski or Jimmy Graham, but players like those are often overvalued because they significantly outscore most tight ends. After the first few tight ends, however, the position offers many players who are very closely separated in value. It's not too hard to find a good value pick later in your draft or even off the waiver wire. Here are a few names you may want to look for that offer either steady value or good upside from the tight end position.
- Ajallades Hennis
Fantasy Focus: Sophomore RBs
Some 2014 rookie running backs did not live up to their expectations. Others zoomed past them. Here are the top five sophomore running backs that could make the fantasy updates by carrying the workload on the field and for your fantasy team.
It’s more important than ever to be aware of the trends in Points Per Reception (PPR) leagues, as more and more owners are making the switch to such scoring formats. We broke down fantasy WRs may be overvalued in PPR leagues because other owners overlook the impact of PPR scoring. Make sure to wait on these guys come draft day.
Fantasy Focus: New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints were a colossal disappointment in 2014, and things are still looking bleak for a team with a talented but worrisome roster. GM Mickey Loomis spent the offseason trying to manage bad contracts while still adding players to try and put a playoff-caliber team on the field. This offense may take a step back after losing Jimmy Graham, Ben Grubbs and Kenny Stills, but the combo of Sean Payton and Drew Brees are always a threat to win games.
Fantasy Focus: Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars had a 3-13 record last season. Yikes. So, they sought help in the offseason while hoping their young core develops. The pieces are interesting, but has Jacksonville solved the winning football puzzle or at least improved enough to make believers out of fantasy football players?
Lately we’ve broken down the importance of understanding how to effectively draft in Points Per Reception (PPR) leagues at the wide receiver and running back positions. Next up are the fantasy football TEs. PPR can add a particularly interesting dimension to fantasy TE’s because their scoring outputs become less important, allowing high volume targets who don’t score a lot to blossom.
Fantasy Focus: Cleveland Browns
For the purposes of web traffic it might make sense just to type JOHNNY MANZIEL over and over again in this space. The thing is, the rising second-year player simply might not be more than divisive talking point until further notice. Then again, considering the rather blah fantasy options elsewhere on the Cleveland Browns roster other perhaps at running back, maybe discussing Manziel is the way to go. Nah, let's get going with thoughts on Josh McCown, Dwayne Bowe, Isaiah Crowell and others.
