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Free agency has arrived and with it every year comes new faces, departures, and opportunities for players to make their mark on their respective teams. Below are of 4 positional categories on offense with headlines that should impact your fantasy team’s roster heading into the 2018 Fantasy Football season.
Quarterbacks
“Captain Kirk” Beams Into Minnesota
Averaging over four thousand yards over the past three seasons and 17.4 fantasy points per game in 2017 Kirk Cousins is now taking his steady productivity to a Minnesota Vikings offense that ranked 10th in points per game and 11th in passing yards in 2017. While many in the fantasy community believe there will be a slight dip in his production due to the lack of necessity of a high powered offense on a team that boasts the league’s number one defense just a season ago, I believe otherwise because of the improvements other teams in the division have already made on offense this offseason.
Green Bay is getting the return of a healthy Aaron Rodgers and new tight end Jimmy Graham, Detroit’s developing a balanced offense with new power running back LeGarrette Blount in the backfield, and with the Chicago Bears acquisition of talent at the wide receiver and tight end positions coupled with their already established rushing attack Minnesota will have no choice but to improve upon their offensive output from 2017.
Armed with a talented dual-threat running back in Dalvin Cook, two stud wide receivers in Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs, and pass-catching tight end Kyle Rudolph, Kirk Cousins has arguably the best weapons he’s ever had, and I expect him to make full use of them in 2018!
Running Back
Detroit Rock City Is About To Experience Blount Force Trauma
4.4 yards per carry. That was LeGarrette Blount’s rushing average in 2017. The next best rushing averages on the Lions roster from 2017 are 3.3 & 3.4 yards per carry by Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick. Despite his higher rushing average Blount only averaged 6.2 fantasy points per game in standard scoring leagues and scored a total of 2 touchdowns in the regular season. While Blount’s fantasy points per game in 2017 might not be something to gawk over let’s remember Blount was part of a three-way running back by committee (RBBC) meant to keep opposing defenses confused while game planning for Philadelphia’s rushing attack. Let’s also remember that just two short years ago Blount led the league in touchdown’s scored by a running back with a total of 18 in New England. While his production dipped last year due to a different offensive philosophy than he had in New England, one thing is clear and that is Blount is now the best running back on the Lions’ roster. Look for him to bring his violent rushing style to a Detroit backfield that hasn’t had that caliber of running back in years as well as for his TD numbers bounce back up closer to double digits in 2018!
Wide Receiver
Marquise Goodwin Will Continue To Revitalize The 49ers Passing Attack
Nearing 1,000 yards in his first season in San Francisco, Goodwin took advantage of his opportunities in Kyle Shanahan’s offense averaging 60.1 yards per game and 17.2 yards per catch. By being rewarded with a new contract this offseason and with the lack of wide receiver acquisitions in free agency it’s apparent that the 49ers will continue to heavily rely upon Goodwin in the passing game with him having already built a rapport with Jimmy Garoppolo. Goodwin came up big for his fantasy managers once “Jimmy G” took the reigns in San Fran and if last season is any indication Goodwin will carry that momentum into and throughout 2018!
Tight End
Trey Burton Will Be A Top 10 Or Better Tight End Playing In Chicago
Trey Burton hauled in 5 TD’s for the Philadelphia Eagles as a BACKUP in 2017. Now this athletic tight end is headed to the Windy City where his new head coach employs a similar west coast/RPO style of offense he was used to in Philadelphia. In Kansas City, Matt Nagy coached Travis Kelce who averaged 9.5 fantasy points per game in standard scoring leagues in 2017. Now in Chicago, Nagy will look to use Burton as a release valve for second-year quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and maximize the productivity of the tight end position which I believe will make Burton, at a minimum, a top 10 tight end in 2018!
Eric Ebron Will Catch More Than A Break In Indianapolis
Signing a 2-year $15 million dollar deal earlier this week, Ebron will look to rejuvenate his reputation around the league by joining Jack Doyle as Andrew Luck’s second pass-catching tight end. The numbers for both tight ends over the past few years look fairly similar:
One thing is for sure and that is when you give Andrew Luck weapons in the passing game he makes sure to utilize all of them. The last time Andrew Luck had a pair of pass-catching tight ends, Dwayne Allen hauled in 6 TD’s to match Jack Doyle’s 5 TD’s in 2016. Combine that with Head Coach Frank Reich coming in from Philadelphia where he utilized both of his tight end weapons with excellent efficiency, look for Ebron to immediately earn some redemption on this team and on your fantasy roster for the 2018 season!
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