Welcome back to our division previews here at Razzball. Today we are going to dive deeper into the NFC North than Mac Miller into Ariana Grande. By the end of this article we will be more worthy to be kings of the North than Jon Snow himself. Speaking of awesome shows, I’ve been watching Oz for the first time and I’m about halfway through the 2nd season. Does the narrator in the wheelchair ever go away? Please somebody tell me I don’t have to go through 5 seasons of this.
Well anyways, this division has pretty average talent all the way around besides some outliers which we will get into. Just a heads up, if you’re looking for tight end takes, you clicked on the wrong division preview. There’s nothing to see here if you’re looking for top 10 guys. As always we will go in order of most fantasy relevant offenses…
Good news folks, Razzball has renewed my contract for a third season! While I’d love to say that I am to Razzball what Game of Thrones is to HBO, or The Walking Dead is to AMC, it simply would not be true. I’m more like Silicon Valley and Better Call Saul. But hey, that’s something right? Speaking of The Walking Dead, is it too early to start the “who does Negan kill” conversation? Just let it be Glen and let’s be done with it. Ok, back to me. As excited as I’m sure you all are to the prospect of me spending another year spewing nonsense intermingled with football advice, I’m twice as excited to be back. However, I’d like to make a minor request. Good or bad, I’d appreciate you leaving me a comment after reading my posts. If after reading something I’ve written you instantly wish you had the previous six minutes back, then please say so. If taking a dump is more enjoyable than listening to my advice, then tell me about your dump. Got it? Good.
As I write this, I am also preparing for my first fantasy draft of the season. I have been studying projections and ADPs, creating tiers and notes in the app I use to draft, and going over the different draft scenarios and strategies in my head. And there is one thing I keep coming back to when I start going over the different scenarios for quarterbacks: Ryan Tannehill is going to be a competent QB2 this year.
Before you make the gas face and move on to Googling pictures of Ryan Tannehill’s wife (no judgment here, Google knows):
Or go back to mock drafting or whatever else you do with your life with only a week left until real football, hear me out. Ryan Tannehill is not an elite Quarterback. I am not going to try and convince you that he is or that you should make him your QB1. All I am saying is that, depending on how things fall for you in your draft, you could do worse than waiting for Tannehill in the later rounds. Stats, please!
What’s up fans of American Football!? It’s your good buddy Honcho back to walk you through the AFC North. Yuck. That was my first reaction when I was assigned this division. I mean, can you think of four teams that deserve each other more than this group of franchise swapping, Super Bowl gloating, bad chili pushing tough-guy wannabees? Yeah, me either. This division is tough to love. I mean truly it is. But I’m here to give you the tour so let’s proceed.
Our first objective is to identify the participants. Let’s start with the Cleveland Browns. Okay, cool. So you’re feeling good about the NBA season, but guess what LeBron’s not under center…..And that’s probably a bad thing. They hired a baseball analytics specialist to ruin – errrrr I mean run things. The Dodgers thought so little of him they ran him out-of-town. What could possibly go wrong? So here’s the thing…I think they’re on the right track, accumulating draft picks and athletes – but this isn’t the year. Heading south, but still staying in Ohio we find the Cincinnati Bengals who have a better than average team, but just can’t win a playoff game. They’ll give it another shot this season and will probably challenge the Steelers for the top spot in the division. Speaking of the Steelers….Is there a more insufferable fan base in football? I’ve been to Pittsburgh more than a few times and you know what? Every Steelers’ fan looks the same. How is that possible? The jorts say it’s summer, the tucked in jersey says it’s football season, but the waistline says you gave up a long time ago. Ha! Just kidding Pittsburgh, I love your city! Mostly due to Primanti Brothers but hey, gotta start somewhere, right? This year you’re the team to beat in the North. Don’t mess this up. Finally we have the Ravens. Flacco’s back. That’s good. They signed Trent Richardson and then proceeded to release him shortly after. He didn’t even stick around to try Ray-Ray’s famous “Deer-Antler” spray. That was rude. Anyway, the Ravens are staring 8-8 right in the face, but if any team can luck box their way into the playoffs it’s this bunch.
So, with all that said the fantasy relevant information awaits. Per usual, I’ll list the teams in order of predicted finish. Here we go!
Compels me to write about him, that is, because he’s ranked too low. Specifically, LeSean McCoy being ranked behind Mark Ingram is something I just don’t get. Nothing against Ingram, I like him. I just like McCoy better. Here’s some last minute draft advice with #analysis, starting with the reasons why McCoy should be ranked higher than Ingram…
Welcome to one of our last strategy sessions of the preseason (I think it’s our last. Besides comparing our rankings with those of ESPN, Yahoo, and CBS… which isn’t really strategy as it is, “haha, look how funny they are at ranking things type of post”). This is probably the biggest draft week (and weekend) in Fantasy Football, and I’m sure there are plenty out there who either play in formats that either start two quarterbacks, or change their touchdown point value from four to six. And in that regard, I bring you a post that should kill two birds with one stone, because ef birds, but also look guys at my profound ability to both have amazing geometric awareness and mind-bending arm dexterity to actually kill a living animal that can fly by bouncing a stone off of both of them!
Want to take on Razzball writers and contributors in the great game of Fantasy Football? For Prizes? OH MY GOD YES. Where do you sign up? Great question! (Even though you didn’t technically ask. I mean, you might have, but I couldn’t hear you…) You can join here!
Week three is generally recognized as the most meaningful week of the preseason. NFL teams use this game as a warmup for the regular season, leaving starters in for much of the game. This makes it possible to extrapolate performance nearly to what would be seen in regular season games. Player performance still cannot be taken at face value but it goes a long way to showcase potential value.
Shake-Up In Big D.
Bryant’s value takes a slight hit with no Romo, but he is still elite.
In week three of the preseason the Cowboys offense suffered a big loss as Tony Romo was injured. Romo suffered a fractured vertebrae early in the game and stands to miss 6-10 weeks. This leaves preseason phenom Dak Prescott as the week 1 starter for the promising Cowboys offense. This change could slightly impact Dez Bryant’s value, but he remains an elite WR1 regardless of quarterback. Ezekiel Elliott may see a light uptick in value as the Cowboys will likely try to run the ball even more without Romo. As for Prescott, there is no reason that he cannot be taken as a late flier in deep leagues. Running quarterbacks always have value in fantasy football. For those that doubt Prescott can have value, remember that Tim Tebow and Terelle Pryor were usable fantasy quarterbacks at times.
For the first time in quite a while, football fans in Cleveland seem to have a reason to be excited. The Browns’ offense showcased a full complement of personnel in week 3 and did not disappoint. Robert Griffin III and Terelle Pryor had already shown big play ability earlier in the preseason. Week 3 was the coming out party for returning superstar Josh Gordon. Gordon made two catches, one of them being a 43 yard touchdown strike from RG3. The issue with Gordon has never been talent. Still this served as a reminder of what he can do when in the right mindset and eligible to play. So long as he can stay on the field following week 4, Gordon stands to be a steal for owners that gambled on him this year. RG3 and Pryor are both risky options for deeper leagues, though they could pay huge dividends.
The often-hyped Christine Michael is back in fantasy football headlines this preseason. Michael has been praised by coaches while running decisively in game action. Last season was a big disappointment for owners (and myself) when it looked like Michael would break out and he flopped instead. This year his play tells a different story and he could actually push starter Thomas Rawls for playing time. Anyone that can secure Michael in the late rounds of fantasy football drafts should certainly do so. Although it pains me to recommend this once again, Christine Michael looks like the real thing.
Parker was a popular sleeper on the heels of his big finish to the 2015 NFL season. During the preseason he has done very little and fallen behind Kenny Stills on the depth chart. The most recent news is that Kenny Stills has an injury that looked like it could be serious. If Stills misses time, Parker will have a new opportunity to shine as a starter. With sentiment turning away from Parker, this could be the perfect time to grab him at a huge discount and take advantage of the upside that he offers.
Titans’ Running Backs Look Savage.
DeMarco Murray And Derrick Henry look like they are ready to run over defenses this season. I did not buy in after they trounced a weak Chargers D in week 1. Now that they have shown some consistency it looks like time to reconsider. Given the dearth of quality wide receivers in Tennessee, the Titans could rely heavily on the ground game. This could mean that both Murray and Henry will be worth starting, not just owning, in many leagues. This has the appearance of a running back by committee situation. With the two backs involved, that may not be a death sentence for their value though. Maybe neither is a sure RB1, but both could easily support RB2 status.
There will likely not be a lot of usable intel to be gathered from week 4 of the preseason. Some rookies and other players fighting for roster spots should be out there, but that is about it. Stick around for more player news and updated positional rankings later in the week.
I thoroughly enjoyed Alex Lee’s piece about Ezekiel Elliott a couple of days ago. Personally, I don’t have any issue with Elliott in the top ten, however I agree with Alex, it isn’t an ideal position for him to be in. In order to build the most ideal starting lineup, it’s probably wise for Elliott to be your early second round pick after getting a top-end WR1, which is possible in regards to current ADP. But I’d be remiss not to point out that Alex left out a crucial element about the Cowboys backfield as a whole, so I followed up with him…
“I like Dunbar as a deep sleeper option, especially in PPR. I agree that Elliott won’t have a Murray-like workload, I’d expect them to give some whole series to Morris and have Dunbar as a 3rd-down back out of the gate, with McFadden potentially being sidelined at the beginning of the season. He could take the first few weeks of the season to carve out a nice spot for himself as a Sproles-like weapon. If he does well with it early on, that would make it tough for Garrett to force him into a reduced role when DMC comes back. The problem is that McFadden is arguable a more complete player who is a competent receiver (he caught 40 balls last season), and if Dunbar doesn’t impress early on, the team probably wouldn’t hesitate to give his opportunities to McFadden or Elliott. He’s a risky play, but worth a late round stash to see how he looks coming off his knee injury and what kind of role the team has in store for him. He could pay big dividends, or be someone you drop quickly for the waiver wire darling du jour”.
Well, I guess I don’t have to write the article then. Way to go Alex. However, there are some other things I want to say and build off of, and it involves even more Lance Dunbar. So let’s get to it…
During a football draft one year, we hit round six and I made the quote: “Here’s where it gets interesting, yet boring.” Seven years later, I still hear about it. But what those silly fools I play with don’t understand is that the statement’s not that Johnny Bananas in reality. Sure, everyone and their mom (mom’s don’t play fantasy football…they have Pinterest…) knows the names of the first few rounds, and you should all know to wait for upside, defenses and kickers for the final rounds, but what about the clusterf*ck in the middle? It can be a big pile of I don’t knows, wild guesses, and ESPN says he’s ranked 50th overall!!!’s. So let’s sort through the trash like Scrooge McDuck diving into his treasure room of gold coins and mine those players for the middle rounds to find some overrated hype, underrated targets, and the sleepiest of sleepers…
Now that the weekend has ended and we’re that much closer to the start of the NFL season, one has to ask (especially Cowboys fans and Tony Romo fantasy owners): Can I get off this wild ride? No. No you may not is probably the answer. After Tony Romo took a hit from Seattle’s Cliff Avril during a benign slide this past Thursday, the chronological order of what then took place was as follows:
“Romo talks about minor back injury, seems completely fine. No X-rays needed.” [Video.]
“Tony Romo had an MRI Friday and has a broken bone in his back.” [Source.]
Well, that certainly escalated quickly. Oh, and what’s that imaginary narrative voice used as a vehicle to add a nice flourish whilst moving to another but related point to what was just stated? There’s more…? Oh god…
“Romo to wear back brace. Garrett not ruling him out for week one.” [Source.]
LOL, Jason Garrett, never change my man. Anyhow, there are certainly some fantasy implications with such an injury, and to be completely frank, there are probably real life implications for your liver at the moment if you’ve ever found yourself residing in the Dallas area or ever being afflicted at all by Romoliciousness (it’s a real thing, trust me). But let’s all be honest with ourselves at this present time… you’re used to it by now… right? I mean, you have to be.
So, the rankings have been updated already, but here’s how it all settled, at least until they install a robotic spine into Romo’s body and I have to change everything all over again…
Ultimate Football Fantasy 