Third-year tight ends taking over the NFL

Six new starting tight ends that were all in the 2018 draft class

The role of an NFL tight end is one of the more complicated in any offense. They are responsible for blocking like a lineman and also run patterns and catch passes like a wide receiver. This dual responsibility usually results in the position requiring two years of experience before realizing their full potential. And this season welcomes an astounding six starting tight ends from that class of 2018.

Mark Andrews (Baltimore Ravens) – He wasn’t even the first tight end drafted by his team that year, but Andrews emerged as a starter. He caught 64 passes for 852 yards and ten touchdowns during the Raven’s perch atop the regular-season standings. His ten receiving scores tied for second-most in the league last season.

Hayden Hurst (Atlanta Falcons) – He was the first-round pick for the Ravens in 2018 but he fell behind Andrews and was just traded to the Falcons to replace Austin Hooper. He gets to resume his career on a team that ranked Top-5 in receptions and yards by their starting tight end last year.

Dallas Goedert (Philadelphia Eagles) – Goedert was drafted by a team that already had an elite starting tight end, but he’s been far more than just a depth player. The Eagles lead the league with 155 catches for 1,610 yards by their tight ends last year. His 607 yards ranked No. 10 in the position for 2019.

Mike Gesicki (Miami Dolphins) – He notched 51 catches for 570 yards last season and can mature along with his new rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Gesicki was the second tight end drafted in 2018 and is in a great situation for another leap in production. Rookie quarterbacks often love their tight ends and the 6’6″ product from Penn State offers a huge target closest to the pocket.

Ian Thomas (Carolina Panthers) – After two seasons with Greg Olsen as the starter, the Panthers allowed him to leave. That gives Thomas his shot as the primary receiving tight end in the offense installed by new head coach Matt Rhule. No longer in Olsen’s shadow, Thomas becomes the unquestioned starter in a scheme that is expected to be pass-heavy.

Christopher Herndon IV (New York Jets) – After a promising rookie season with 39 receptions for 502 yards, Herndon missed last year due to a suspension and injuries. He’s back as the starter and already receiving rave reviews from coaches as a possible breakout player this year.

It is rare that more than three or four starting tight ends are produced by any draft class, let alone six in only their third seasons. The 2018 draft class gets its shot at being one of the strongest sets of tight ends in NFL history.

Fantasy football preseason preview: Receivers

Reviewing team receivers before the preseason

The NFL is a passing league, mostly, and the bulk of your fantasy roster is made up from those pass catchers. Since there are so many of them on the field on any given play, they tend to slowly change over the years.

But they do change.

Wide receiver totals by year

As offenses become more complicated and sophisticated, how receivers are used will differ. The total usage of wide receivers is almost static in the number of catches and yards. There was an odd spike in receiving touchdowns in 2018 but then it regressed last year. On the upswing, wide receivers are turning in more rushing attempts and touchdowns but not so high as to merit consideration in valuing a player.

Top ten wide receiver totals by year

Surprisingly, the number of touchdown receptions by a wideout went down last year for those top-ten fantasy players. It tends to rise and fall each year at least incrementally, but the most interesting outcome was the average length of catches for the elite players. At 12.9-yards per catch, it wasn’t that much higher than tight ends. The deep game has taken a step backward for the elite receivers.

Tight end totals by year

No real change in the last few years for tight ends overall. There was a nice jump up from 2013 to 2015 in yards and touchdowns, but overall their usage remains closely aligned.

Top ten tight end totals by year

No major changes here as well, though interesting that the average yard per catch rose while wide receivers had theirs decline. There may not be a ton of fantasy-relevant tight ends, but there is always about ten that matter.

Arizona Cardinals

WR Larry Fitzgerald – 75-804-4
WR Christian Kirk – 68-709-3
WR Damiere Byrd – 32-359-2

The Arizona wideouts collectively improved nicely from 2018 when the team imploded. But, they have ranked poorly in tight ends for literally decades and the top two receivers ranked just No. 34 (Larry Fitzgerald) and No. 37 (Christian Kirk). It was the first year for HC Kliff Kingsbury and rookie quarterback Kyler Murray.

It would already be promising to have the team enter their second season in the new scheme and with a more experienced quarterback. But the Cardinals acquired DeAndre Hopkins. And they should see a better payoff from their 2019 rookies Andy Isabella (2.30), Hakeem Butler (4.01), and Keesan Johnson (6.01). This is a team loaded at wide receiver.

While the scheme did connect with eight different wideouts last year, over half of the wide receiver targets were shared by Kirk (29%) and Fitzgerald (30%). No one else received more than 12%. Those two were thrown over 100 passes while Damiere Byrd was third with just 46 targets.

Now Hopkins has to fit into that distribution and will obviously take the lead. It actually works out better for fantasy since the Cards will throw to a lot of different receivers but the top three are significantly busier than the rest.

Hopkins share could leave Kirk and Fitzgerald with only mediocre fantasy value. And Fitzgerald has been incredibly productive for a 36-year-old player. He’ll no doubt see a decline and the biggest loser here are those rookies drafted last year that have no path to significant playing time. Fitzgerald should end up in the slot from now on.

One caveat here – the offense looks explosive and is loaded with talent. The schedule is not a friend, and it wasn’t last year either.

Training Camp Needs: Just getting Hopkins integrated into the offense. There are no other new players or schemes to worry about, so the Cards are in a better spot than some other teams that have new elements to consider. Other than the top three receivers, all the rest can do is hope to get a shot at a starting gig next year when Fitzgerald retires (right? right?).

Atlanta Falcons

WR Julio Jones – 99-1394-6
WR Calvin Ridley – 63-866-7
TE Austin Hooper – 75-787-6

The Falcons ranked No. 1 with 683 pass attempts last year and only the Bengals threw a higher percentage of their passes to wideouts than the 78% in Atlanta. This was a standard offense only with a lot of passes to distribute. The tight ends usage improved markedly under OC Dirk Koetter’s first season just as he had used the position in Tampa Bay in his four seasons there.

Julio Jones was the No. 2 fantasy wideout and is perennially in the top five. Austin Hooper was the No. 6 fantasy tight end but has since left and was replaced by Hayden Hurst. Calvin Ridley missed three games at the end of the year with an abdomen injury. He fell behind his rookie year but was on a pace to break 1,000 yards.

The Falcons used their slot receiver often with Mohamed Sanu and eventually Russell Gage combining for 82 receptions. Gage gets the job for the full year but he averaged 9.1 yards per catch and scored only once. Both Jones and Ridley will again be the featured part of the passing game with Gage likey remaining below fantasy relevance.  Also relevant was the No. 8 best passing schedule that the Falcons enjoyed in 2019. It drops back to only No. 28 this year.

The most interesting receiver remains Hayden Hurst who was never a big factor for the Ravens. Though he was their 1.25 pick in 2018, Mark Andrews took over despite his 3.22 selection that year. Hurst was the first tight end drafted in 2018 and already drew positive raves from the Falcons. They completed 93 passes for 989 yards and seven scores to tight ends with Hooper accounting for 75 receptions.

Training Camp Needs: Integrate Hurst into the offense and see if he can match what Hooper did last year. This offensive scheme likes tight ends and there’s no other real competition in the position.

Baltimore Ravens

TE Mark Andrews – 64-852-10
WR Marquise Brown – 46-584-7
WR Willie Snead IV – 31-339-5

This is a very odd situation. The wideouts combined for 17 touchdowns which were eighth-best in the NFL. But their 115 catches were not only the least of any team but 22 fewer than the second-worst Vikings. With 1,419 yards by the position, all combined they were about 300 yards less than Michael Thomas had by himself.

Marquise Brown was best of the bunch and scored seven times but no other wideout produced more than 31 receptions or 339 yards. Lamar Jackson could find them in the endzone, just not that often on the way to get there. They drafted Devin Duvernay (3.28) but there’s been no fantasy value from the wide receivers outside of the highly inconsistent Brown.

Their passing schedule was about average and maybe slightly worse this year, but the Ravens move the ball by rushing, not passing. Brown’s second season holds promise but there’s a cap on what he can do with so few passes thrown.

Mark Andrews was the leading receiver with 64 catches and ten touchdowns. The Ravens threw to their tight ends 41% of the time – highest in the NFL. The departure of Hayden Hurst leaves Andrews with very little competition and he remains the best receiver of the bunch.

Training Camp Needs: There are no new receivers aside from the rookie Duvernay and not much reason to worry about anyone other than Brown.  OC Greg Roman did a great job with the offense in his first year and the need to throw more to the wideouts has been spoken but until Jackson stops taking off on a run so much, there’s no reason to follow much here. Brown knows the system now and if he can stay healthy, he could surprise. But no other wideout carries any upside.

Buffalo Bills

WR John Brown – 72-1060-6
WR Cole Beasley – 67-778-6
TE Dawson Knox – 28-388-3

The Bills passing improved significantly last year, though still ranks below average. John Brown topped 1,000 yards as the first Bill wideout since 2015. Cole Beasley was limited to 778 yards but that’s pretty impressive for this low-end passing team. Dawson Knox was not only the most productive tight end, but he was also the third-best receiver overall.

The offense enters the third year under OC Brian Daboll and the team relies mostly on their defense and rushing effort to win games. This year holds more promise with the addition of Stefon Diggs as the instant No. 1 wideout but the Bills own below-average marks on every passing category. Their schedule also remains just below average as well.

Quarterback Josh Allen played all 16 games but only ended with 3,089 passing yards and he’s used his wide receivers on only 54% of his passes so far. That should increase with the addition of Diggs, but it remains to be seen if adding a new talent increases the totals or just lowers the production of others. Allen enters his third season with his best set of receivers to date. There is hope for at least an incremental increase.

The Bills only threw to their tight ends on 16% of their passes and completed only 46 in total. Knox remains the primary tight end but with no reason to expect any notable increase.

Training Camp Needs: Allen and Diggs need to establish their connection early and often in camp. There is the promise of the Bills wideouts finally reaching average or better versus the league, but Diggs has lowered the outlook for Brown.

Carolina Panthers

WR DJ Moore – 87-1175-4
WR Curtis Samuel – 54-627-6
TE Greg Olsen – 52-597-2

There is plenty of change and the impact of the COVID-19 virus limitations will be felt more on this team than most. The coaching staff is a clean slate with HC Matt Rhule and OC Joe Brady both trying to bring their collegiate success to the NFL. Add in a new quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater who impressed while leading the high-powered offense of the Saints last year.

Notable is that Bridgewater hasn’t played a 16 game season since 2015 before he blew out his knee. And he won’t have pass-sponge Michael Thomas to use this time.

There is talent here. DJ Moore broke out in his second season with 1,175 yards on 87 catches for 2019.  Curtis Samuel enters the final year of his rookie contract still looking to break 650 pass yards in a season but offering up a handful of rushes and otherwise gimmick plays that still keeps him dangerous, if only on the rare occasion.

Robby Anderson was added to the roster and he’ll step into the flanker role. He’s an upgrade to be sure and offers Bridgewater a reliable option along with Moore on every play.

The Panthers finally cut ties with Greg Olsen and will rely on third-year Ian Thomas who only managed 16 catches last season. This is a new scheme so the usage of the tight end isn’t yet certain, but allowing Olsen to leave and not replacing him doesn’t bode well for the position to do much more than block.

Training Camp Needs: Ian Thomas would be a very cheap draft pick so camp will help determine if there is any reason for the Panthers to start using their tight ends as receivers. Adding Anderson to Moore and Samuel upgrades the starters and could surprise. The Panthers have one of the lighter schedules, so they should have some advantage at least until opposing defenses can know how to prepare to face the wideouts. Anderson was a tactical add since Bridgewater has two reliable wide receivers along with Samuel who cannot be ignored.

Chicago Bears

WR Allen Robinson II – 98-1147-7
WR Anthony Miller – 52-656-2
WR Taylor Gabriel – 29-353-4

The questions here are more about who the quarterback will be than anything about the wide receivers.  Allen Robinson stayed healthy and made good in his second year in Chicago.  He ended with 98 receptions for 1,147 yards for the second-best year in his career (2015 – 1,400 yards, 14 TD).  He was still almost twice as productive as any other receiver.

Anthony Miller turned in 52 catches for 656 yards but only scored twice as the other starter. Taylor Gabriel played the slot but is gone and wasn’t effective last year anyway. The offense relies heavily on the two starting wideouts and there just isn’t enough left over to yield a third player with fantasy value. The No. 3 wideout will be either Cordarrelle Patterson, Tedd Ginn, or Javon Wims. In the end, it doesn’t really matter.

The Bears added Jimmy Graham after tight ends only accounted for 46 catches and two scores last year. It was a curious hire since the 33-year-old Grahamcomes off his worst season since he was a rookie and he’s going on four years since his last significant fantasy year (two teams ago).

The Bears only threw 12% of their passes at a tight end last year. While the quarterback may change, the scheme will not, and Graham has lost a step since he was a reliable target.

Training Camp Needs:  Either Mitchell Trubisky needs to clearly outplay Nick Foles in training camp and the preseason, or the receivers will be harder to rely on. There is an opportunity though, given that switching to Foles could improve the passing and the Bears enjoy the most advantageous passing schedule in the NFL.

Cincinnati Bengals

WR Tyler Boyd – 90-1046-5
TE Tyler Eifert – 43-436-3
WR Auden Tate – 40-575-1

The Bengals enter their second season under HC Zac Taylor with an offense that was without A.J. Green who is healthy, again, for now. They did end up at No. 5 in the league with 615 passing attempts last year but that’s to be expected from a  2-14 season. At least that netted the No. 1 overall draft pick and a new quarterback in Joe Burrow.

The receivers could be much better this year but much will depend on what Burrow does as a rookie and team health. Green returns to pair with Tyler Boyd and that gives them two bonafide 1,000-yard receivers. John Ross has never met the expectations of his first-round selection and was limited to just 28 catches last year while missing eight games.  Boyd reeled off 1,000-yard seasons the last two years while Green has been injured. Green topped 1,000 yards in any year that he played at least ten games.

The Bengals also drafted Tee Higgins (2.01) and the 6-4, 216 Clemson star brings yet another talented set of hands to the team. He’ll have a chance to grow along with Burrow. Green is a franchise player working for $17 million this year. If Higgins meets expectations, the Bengals could move on from the 31-year-old Green next season.

Tyler Eifert left for the Jaguars and the Bengals did nothing to replace him. C.J. Uzomah and Drew Sample will both play and Sample was a second-round pick in 2019 that will get a chance to climb the depth chart. But neither projects to be a fantasy starter.

Training Camp Needs: This is all about getting Burrow up to speed as the quarterback and Higgins needs the work as well. The rookie wideout isn’t needed to do much early in the season and is really just trying to learn the system and prepare for what should be a busier 2021. Sample is worth following in camp and preseason to see if he can take the next step up in his second season, but a rookie quarterback, the limitations of the COVID-19 situation, and an offense that hasn’t done much with the position under Taylor all work against him.

Cleveland Browns

WR Jarvis Landry – 83-1174-6
WR Odell Beckham Jr. – 74-1035-4
TE Ricky Seals-Jones – 14-229-4

There is a lot of promise here. 2018 had the then-rookie Baker Mayfield posting record stats despite having little beyond Jarvis Landry as a weapon. Then last year, the Browns brought in Odell Beckham for what appeared to be the start of an even better offensive showing. That did not happen.

What did happen was that Beckham would play the year while suffering from a groin injury. Overall, the offense dropped in the face of the No. 31 passing schedule and No. 27 rushing schedule. The Browns looked as bad in 2019 as they looked good the previous season.  The pendulum swings in their favor this year by facing the No. 9 passing schedule and No. 19 rushing schedule. That alone should be a major boost to the offensive effort.

Having a healthy Beckham will pay obvious dividends. The Browns are onto yet another coaching change with HC Kevin Stefanski leaving the Vikings offense to go to Cleveland. He had great success with Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen. The No. 3 wideout will be a mixture of either Rashard Higgins or Taywan Taylor but only the two starting wide receivers matter for Stefanski in Minnesota.

The Browns also added Austin Hooper fresh from his 75-catch, 787-yard season last year for the Falcons. He is added to David Njoku who was a first-round pick in 2017 but hasn’t met expectations and spent most of 2019 on injured reserve. Hooper is now the highest-paid tight end so he’ll be integrated into the offense. Last year, Stefanski had 23% of the passes thrown go to the tight end.

Training Camp Needs: Mayfield and company need to shake off a bad 2019 and get to work installing the new offense. Hooper needs to mesh with his new quarterback and Beckham just needs to stay healthy.  Bad year to install something new, but the quality of the receivers appear on the upturn.

Dallas Cowboys

WR Amari Cooper – 79-1189-8
WR Michael Gallup – 66-1107-6
WR Randall Cobb – 55-828-3

For only the third time ever and the first time since 2006, the Cowboys featured two wideouts with more than 1,000 yards in 2019. Both Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup hit the mark and Randall Cobb even ended with 828 yards as well. No other wideouts mattered and now Cobb is gone to the Texans. Both Cooper and Gallup fielded over 110 passes each and that was with Gallup missing two games.

The Cowboys turned to the draft to acquire CeeDee Lamb (1.17) in a surprise thanks mostly to the Raiders grabbing Henry Ruggs as the first wideout selected.  Forget about Cobb’s magic year, Lamb was a beast the last two years at Oklahoma and now give the Cowboys three talented options. The Cowboys already had one of the top passing offenses last year. Now, they get even better and the No. 10 best passing schedule last year becomes the No. 8 for 2020.

Jason Witten has moved on, again, and he still accounted for 63 catches for 529 yards and four scores in 2019. Blake Jarwin moves up the depth chart to start as a third-year player. He ended with 31 catches for 365 yards and three scores last year, and the Cowboys totaled 95 receptions for 900 yards and seven scores to tight ends.

Jarwin has upside despite being an undrafted player from Oklahoma State where he only totaled 41 catches over three seasons. The addition of Lamb should turn the offense into a lot of three-wide but the tight end still was involved heavily last year. Jarwin is a lock to improve, the only question is how much?

Training Camp Needs: CeeDee Lamb gets the advantage of learning more slowly as the No. 3 wideout but any first-round pick is expected to contribute and Cobb already had success here last season. Jarwin is a known commodity after two years, but he needs to get comfortable as the primary tight end.

Denver Broncos

WR Courtland Sutton – 72-1112-6
TE Noah Fant – 40-562-3
WR Emmanuel Sanders – 30-367-2

The Broncos were into tear-down mode last year when HC Vic Fangio took over and he changes to OC Pat Shurmur this year so there is another new offense to learn. Drew Lock took over as the starting quarterback in Week 13 with predictably marginal results. Emmanuel Sanders was traded away at midseason and the state of the receivers was terrible outside of Courtland Sutton who ended with 1,112 yards on 72 catches and six touchdowns in his second year. He was the lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal season.

The Broncos used Fangio’s second season to reload the offense. Melvin Gordon was added to the backfield and then they used the draft to get more receivers. Jerry Jeudy (1.15) and KJ Hamler (2.14) are both projected to start along with the returning Sutton. Jeudy was the top receiver on many draft boards (just not the Raiders). Hamler will take the slot where his sub 4.4 speed can do some damage.

The Broncos drafted Noah Fant with their 1.20 pick last year and the 6-4, 249 pounder ran a 4.5/40 at the NFL combine last year. The rookie was held to a respectable 40 catches for 562 yards and three scores and twice turned in games with over 100 yards thanks to that speed.

There is a lot of talent here. And there is a lot of youth and inexperience trying to install a new offense with many new parts and players. The core of a potent offense is in place, now it’s just about getting it all to work together and meet the potential.

Training Camp Needs: Other than Sutton, all the receivers need work and better mesh with the second-year Lock as the quarterback. The schedule isn’t great like last year, and the offense will likely take time to get up to speed. Lock just needs to get in as much work as possible with Jeudy, Hamler and Fant.

Detroit Lions

WR Kenny Golladay – 65-1190-11
WR Marvin Jones Jr. – 62-779-9
WR Danny Amendola – 62-678-1

There are no new starters at receiver and OC Darrell Bevell enters his second season after the offense struggled once Matthew Stafford went to injured reserve at midseason. Stafford was on a pace for a 5,000-yard season and even with Jeff Driskel and David Blough used for the final eight games, the Lions still threw for 4,158 total yards and 27 touchdowns.

Injuries also slowed Marvin Jones and Danny Amendola but Kenny Golladay turned in his second-straight 1,000-yard season and scored 11 touchdowns. Jones turned in 1,101 yards and nine scores back in 2017 but spent the last two years missing time because of injury. Danny Amendola came over last season and managed a very standard 62 catches for 678 yards from the slot.

The Lions spent their 1.08 pick last year on T.J. Hockenson who missed four games and played injured in a few as a rookie. He ended with 32 catches for 367 yards and two scores and opened his career with a six-catch, 131-yard effort at the Cardinals in Week 1. Entering his second season, Hockenson will benefit greatly from a healthy Stafford. Hockenson was the highest-drafted tight end since Vernon Davis (1.06) in 2006.

2020 is looking up for the receivers. Stafford was already red-hot before he was hurt last year and the offense is fully installed by now. The Lions not only had the No. 9 best passing schedule in 2019, but they go up to No. 3 for this season. Hockenson should take the normal second-year leap while Jones and Golladay just have to stay healthy.

Training Camp Needs: This offense should be in good shape with a great schedule, a maturing offense and a healthy complement of receivers. Hockenson could use the most work and can boost his fantasy stock if he draws positive reviews in camp.

Green Bay Packers

WR Davante Adams – 83-997-5
WR Allen Lazard – 35-477-3
TE Jimmy Graham – 38-447-3

How the mighty have fallen. The Packers under Aaron Rodgers have long been a pass-heavy offense with good to spectacular results. Not so much under HC Matt LaFleur last year when they ranked no better than average in every passing category and Davante Adams fell to the No. 23 fantasy wideout in part due to injury. Despite his absence for four games, no other Packers wideout ended better than No. 68 (Allen Lazard).

Geronimo Allison flopped and now is on the Lions. Marquez Valdes-Scantling ended up benched. Jake Kumerow never got on track. Allen Lazard was an undrafted free agent that became the best remaining receiver because he caught 35 passes for 477 yards and three touchdowns. The only reason that the overall passing stats were average was thanks to 101 completions to the running backs.

The Packers amazingly ignored the richest wider receiver draft in over a decade. The only add was Devin Funchess who flopped in Carolina and Indianapolis and he projects to backup Lazard. The slot receiver doesn’t matter in this scheme.

The Packers parted ways with Jimmy Graham who never recaptured his previously productive ways. Now Marcedes Lewis and Jace Sternberger will sort out which one will be the primary receiver. The Packers under LaFleur only completed 63 passes to the position last year and Graham finished as just the No. 21 best fantasy tight end.

Training Camp Needs: Keep Davante Adams healthy because he’s the only Packer receiver that will carry enough fantasy value to merit a starting nod. Sternberger was a third-round pick last year and should end up as the better receiver at tight end. He worth watching to see if he will make any second-year leap into relevance.

Houston Texans

WR DeAndre Hopkins – 104-1165-7
WR Will Fuller V – 49-670-3
WR Kenny Stills – 40-561-4

This perennially strong set of wideouts was mostly about one player – DeAndre Hopkins. Now that he’s gone, the outlook is far less clear or as certain to excel. The Texans brought in Brandin Cooks as the replacement and the 27-year-old veteran not only has six seasons of experience, he is onto his fourth NFL team. He served up four straight 1,000-yard seasons but then fell off in 2019 with the Rams.

Cooks is only 5-9 and 189 pounds. Hopkins is 6-1 and 212 pounds.  Cooks doesn’t provide nearly as big of a target downfield as Hopkins did. Deshaun Watson has been a top-five quarterback the last two years and his passing schedule is roughly average for 2020 after facing one of the worst last season. So there is certainly hope that the receiver group can still deliver as well, if only by including other players and less reliance on just one.

The Texans also added Randal Cobb for the slot role. The 29-year-old ex-Cowboy had one of his career-best seasons in Dallas with 55 catches for 828 yards and three scores last year. Will Fuller will remain as the flanker as should provide at least three or four spectacular games before suffering his fifth-straight season-ending injury.

Kenny Stills is also in the mix but this is his third NFL team and has yet to break out of being just an average receiver with the occasional decent game.

The tight end role was shared by Darren Fells and Jordan Akins last year. Akins ended with 36 catches for 418 yards and two scores while Fells delivered 34 receptions for 341 yards and a team-high seven touchdowns. Chances are that both will see at least slightly increases as the Texans figure out how to replace Hopkins, but they share almost evenly each week and that holds down their individual potential.

Training Camp Needs: Camp is critical this year. Cooks and Cobb are the likely starters along with Fuller and will be the top wideouts after Fuller lands on injured reserve again. The scheme remains the same and the schedule is slightly better. But figuring out how to maintain a productive offense has to start in camp and then preseason games.

Indianapolis Colts

WR Zach Pascal – 41-607-5
WR T.Y. Hilton – 45-501-5
TE Jack Doyle – 43-448-4

Introducing Philip Rivers to the huddle is bound to help turn around a bad 2019 season that started with Andrew Luck retiring. Both the wideouts and tight ends fell in production and overall, the 3,357 passing yards by the Colts ranked just No. 30 in the NFL.

HC Frank Reich and OC Nick Sirianni enter their third season. Their first season (with Luck) resulted in 4,593 pass yards and 39 touchdowns. Rivers should interject some much-needed talent into the passing game and bring T.Y. Hilton back to the same form that saw him turn in five 1,000-yard seasons over his career. Hilton has struggled to remain on the field for the last two years but was durable for the first six seasons.

Parris Campbell was their 2.27 pick in 2019 but he had a very bad year to debut and he suffered hand and foot injuries that limited him to only seven games. He’s healthy again and looking for a do-over from the slot. Zach Pascal was an undrafted, second-year player who became a starter and led the Colts with 607 receiving yards. The expectations are that he’ll give up the flanker role to the rookie Michael Pittman (2.02) which gives much more promise to the receivers, if only by next year.

When this scheme started in 2018, Eric Ebron blew up for 750 yards and 13 touchdowns but he played with Luck and last year only managed 375 yards and three scores as he struggled to stay healthy. Ebron left for the Steelers and leaves Jack Doyle and the newly acquired Trey Burton as the starters.

Doyle has his own injury history but he’s been average even when healthy. Burton had one decent season with the Bears but otherwise has been marginal in his six-year career. The Colts threw 28% of their passes to tight ends last year to rank No. 4 but that reflected the quarterback situation and injuries to wide receivers. There will be fantasy value here, but no difference-makers.

Training Camp Needs: Rivers has to learn the new offense and get used to all his new teammates. There is a lot of promise here given that the Colts enjoy the No. 2 passing schedule and play half their games against the worst dozen defenses from last year. Campbell ran a 4.31 at the NFL combine in 2019. Pittman is a 6-4, 223 pound monster with 4.5 speed. This is a bad year to introduce new people to an offense, but the situation is ripe for these receivers to bounce back from 2019. And maybe with a vengeance.

Jacksonville Jaguars

WR DJ Chark Jr. – 73-1008-8
WR Chris Conley – 47-775-5
WR Dede Westbrook – 66-660-3

The Jaguars made up their mind about Gardner Minshew and while HC Doug Marrone enters his third season, OC Jay Gruden brings in his offense from the Redskins. They had a formidable passing game back when Kirk Cousins was there but it all fell apart without him.

DJ Chark broke out in his second season with 1,008 yards on 73 receptions to easily lead the team. Chris Conley comes off a career-best with 775 yards but he has five years that say he’s just an average receiver. Dede Westbrook remains in the slot so the same cast of starters returns from 2019. The Jags spent their 2.10 pick on Laviska Shenault. He may be at a disadvantage for this year with a lack of team time, but the Colorado product should end up with the flanker spot once he beats out Conway. That could easily happen during this season.

The Jaguars don’t rely much on their tight ends and last year, they only totaled 459 yards and three scores from the position. James O’Shaughnessy was the best with just 14 catches for 153 yards. The Jaguars acquired 29-year-old Tyler Eifert but aside from a freakish 2015 season, he’s been average at best and more often out injured.

The Jaguars had the No. 4 best passing schedule and drop to No. 15 this year. But Minshew and the wideouts are already experienced in the scheme and Shenault doesn’t have to produce immediately.

Training Camp Needs: Mostly just tuning up and getting ready for the season. Shenault should be watched to see if he can overtake Conway by Week 1, but chances are he’ll just end up as a lottery ticket you hope pays off later in the season.

Kansas City Chiefs

TE Travis Kelce – 97-1229-5
WR Tyreek Hill – 58-860-7
WR Sammy Watkins – 52-673-3

The overall stats were down last year but mostly from Patrick Mahomes missing a few games and a calming down from his astronomic first season as a starter. The Chiefs had one of the better passing schedules in 2019 but face a below-average one for 2020. If any team is better than their schedule, it would probably be the Chiefs.

Travis Kelce fell a bit but still remained the top fantasy tight end. He comes off his fourth-straight 1,000-yard season but he dropped from ten to only five touchdowns. Kelce fell only three receptions short of reaching 100 catches for the second straight season.

Tyreek Hill turned in a monster 1,479-yard, 12-touchdown effort in 2018 but then was limited to only 860 yards and seven scores but missed four games due to a shoulder injury and later pulled a hamstring. His nine catches for 105 yards were a big factor in the Super Bowl win.

Sammy Watkins only managed 52 catches for 673 yards and three scores over his 14 games played. His two seasons in Kansas City both produced only around 13 yards per catch – lowest of his career. He’s five years removed from his last significant season back in Buffalo.

Mecole Hardman was the 2.24 pick of 2019 who ended with 26 catches for 538 yards and six scores.  He averaged 20.7 yards per catch thanks in part to his 4.33/40 speed. The Chiefs offense relies heavily on Kelce and Hill, so the best that Hardman can hope for is to cut into Watkins’ workload. Long touchdowns make Hardman an interesting best-ball pick but his final 13 games as a rookie never contained more than two catches.

Training Camp Needs:  Hardman is the only receiver with a role that might grow, but it would do so at the expense of likely Watkins who has been only average in Kansas City. This is a mature offense, the same set of coaches and players and Hardman represents the only possible variation from last year.

Las Vegas Raiders

TE Darren Waller – 90-1145-3
WR Tyrell Williams – 42-651-6
WR Hunter Renfrow – 49-605-4

The Raiders 2019 plans were immediately dashed once Antonio Brown hopped on the crazy train and became a media obsession for everything other than actual football. That left Tyrell Williams as the No. 1 wideout but he still only managed his third straight season with almost exactly 650 yards and five scores. Hunter Renfrow was their 5.11 pick and the rookie finished the year with back-to-back 100-yard games and he averaged around five catches for his final six games.

Not unlike 2018 when Jared Cook became the No. 1 receiver, the Raiders again turned to their tight end when the wideouts were less effective. Darren Waller went from 18 receptions total in his three-year career to catching 90 passes for 1,145 yards and three scores. He ended as the No. 4 fantasy tight end. Jared Cook was No. 5 in 2018. This offense wasn’t meant to feature a tight end over the wideouts. But it happened – twice.

With a big hole to fill for the wide receivers, the Raiders elected to use their 1.12 pick on the position which was more than reasonable. The surprise was that they didn’t take a wideout with plenty of experience as a top receiver like Jerry Jeudy or CeeDee Lamb. They opted for Henry Ruggs who turned in a scorching 4.27/40 at the combine. At Alabama, Ruggs caught 96 passes over three years. Jeudy turned in 159 catches over the same time span while topping 1,000 yards twice.  Ruggs never managed more than 746 yards. But he did so at a very, very high rate of speed.

Ruggs will start from Day 1 and is intended to be the No. 1 wideout. The Raiders have long been enamored with speed from their receivers and Ruggs will be their fastest.  The Raiders faced one of the worst schedules in 2019 and while it remains below average, it will be better than last season. Changing to a new stadium in this COVID-challenged season is another obstacle.

The Raiders also drafted Lynn Bowden (3.16) and Bryan Edwards (3.17) so the effort to restock the shelves has the wideouts with far more talent, if only inexperienced.

Training Camp Needs: Ruggs is the central focus here and he’ll be the only part of the receivers that can separate them from the mediocre results last year.  Bowden and Edwards and earn playing time with a good camp and preseason, but Ruggs will be the highest potential addition.

Los Angeles Chargers

WR Keenan Allen – 104-1199-6
WR Mike Williams – 49-1001-2
TE Hunter Henry – 55-652-5

Moving on from Philip Rivers for the first time in 14 years makes this season a big unknown. Tyrod Taylor is the likely starter but the Chargers spent their 1.06 pick on Justin Herbert who is a lock to show up eventually if not by Week 1. And that makes for yet more risk and uncertainty.

The Chargers made no changes to any of the receivers. Keenan Allen and Mike Williams remain the two starting wideouts and Hunter Henry starts at tight end after signing his franchise tag for $10 million. The Chargers were the No. 1 team for throwing to running backs, so there’s only enough passes leftover for those three starters. No other receiver totaled more than nine catches on the year.

Under Rivers, both Allen and Williams topped 1,000 yards in 2019. The Chargers also enjoyed a stellar schedule in 2019 but swing to below average for 2020.

Training Camp Needs: There are no changes to receivers, so camp is all about getting both quarterbacks integrated into the system and hopefully give a better idea of when/if Herbert becomes the starter.

Los Angeles Rams

WR Cooper Kupp – 94-1161-10
WR Robert Woods – 90-1134-2
TE Tyler Higbee – 69-734-3

The Rams let Brandin Cooks leave and didn’t add to the receivers other than drafting Van Jefferson (2.25). The rookie will remain as depth for at least this year and Josh Reynolds steps up to take the vacated slot role. That’s a big opportunity for the fourth-year Reynolds who has yet to catch more than 29 passes in any season. He should see a jump in production since Cooks turned in up to 80 catches for 1,204 yards. That’s unlikely, but Reynolds could end up as a deep fantasy start if only filling for bye weeks.

Cooper Kupp bounced back from his knee injury of 2018 and ended with 94 receptions for 1,161 yards and ten scores. He was the No. 4 fantasy wideout last year though he oddly gained over 100 yards in five of his first eight games and then not again for the rest of the year.

Robert Woods comes off his second-straight 1,000-yard season though he was held to only three touchdowns. He’s caught over 85 passes for the last two years. Other than covering for the departed Cooks, the wideouts remain the same and Sean McVay enters his fourth year running the show.

The Rams turned to their tight ends for 111 receptions for 1,154 yards. Most of that came in the final five games. After three and a half years as a mediocre option, Tyler Higbee blew up with four straight games over 100 yards. Over his last five weeks, he averaged 104 yards per game. He caught 43 passes over just his final five games. He only had 18 total by midseason.

Training Camp Needs: Reynolds starts this year but he’s been with the team for three years and already filled in for Cooks last year. Higbee’s head-scratching end to 2019 may continue or just be a Cinderella-ish footnote to 2019. Any signs that Higbee will remain even remotely as busy will help his outlook.

Miami Dolphins


WR DeVante Parker – 72-1202-9
TE Mike Gesicki – 51-570-5
WR Preston Williams – 32-428-3

The Dolphins passing offense produced more than expected but needing to throw 611 passes was not surprising in a 5-11 season. The biggest impact on the passing game won’t come from the receivers – there are no new tight ends or wideouts. But drafting Tua Tagovailoa means he’ll take the reins sooner than later. Ryan Fitzpatrick is a capable starter but spending a 1.05 pick on a quarterback isn’t about sitting him for next year.

Devante Parker finally had a breakout season only five years into his career and produced 72 catches for 1,202 yards and nine touchdowns. By comparison, he only managed 309 yards and one score in 2018. Preston Williams was an undrafted rookie from Colorado State who earned a starting role and was making progress with around four or five catches per game until he blew out an ACL in Week 9 when he had two touchdowns and five catches for 72 yards on the Jets. He’s due back and could be ready by the season opener.

Allen Hurns remains the starting flanker but he’s been mediocre for his six-year career other than 2015 with the Jaguars. He could lose his job to Williams by the end of camp. Albert Wilson mans the slot but he’s even less productive than Hurns and also open to losing his job.

The offense will be new with OC Chan Gailey coming out of retirement and for the second straight season, the Dolphins project to have the worst passing schedule. That’s No. 32 for two years and this unit cannot overcome that sort of opposition.

Third-year tight end Mike Gesicki was the No. 2 receiver for the Fins last year and ended up at the No. 12 fantasy tight end last year. After midseason, he drew at least six targets in all but one game. Since there are no new wideouts in the mix, a 6-5, 247-pound tight end may end up as Tagovailoa’s best friend for 2020.

Training Camp Needs: New offense and a rookie quarterback that will become the starter at some point – maybe Week 1. Terrible schedule and mostly mediocre receivers mean expectations are low for this season. The two notable players are Williams if he proves healthy and Gesicki who could surprise as a safe outlet for a rookie quarterback. Parker is the only safe fantasy play here.

Minnesota Vikings

WR Stefon Diggs – 63-1130-6
WR Adam Thielen – 30-418-6
TE Kyle Rudolph – 39-367-6

The Vikings featured Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen to great effect in 2018 but Thielen slumped terribly last year, gaining only 418 yards and missing six games due to a hamstring injury. Diggs held up his end with 1,130 yards but left for the Bills. This hasn’t been a scheme that involves more than two wideouts.

HC Mike Zimmer enters his sixth season with the Vikings but OC Gary Kubiak joins the team for an offensive overhaul. The Vikes had great success relying more on their backfield than their receivers last year and there is no reason to expect that to change – unless Dalvin Cook is not on the field for whatever reason.

The Viking spent their 1.22 pick on LSU’s Justin Jefferson as the replacement for Diggs. That gives the rookie an immediate start and chance to be a leading receiver from the class of 2020.  The offense may not throw as much, but when it does, it always looks to the two starting wideouts first.

Kyle Rudolph led the tight ends with 39 catches last year but Irv Smith handled 36 as a rookie and could see a second-year increase that places him above Rudolph on the depth chart. Smith was the second-round pick last year and was more of a receiver at Alabama. Both players are most likely to just water down what the other does.

Notable too is that the Vikings have a great rushing schedule – no reason to slow down Cook – and yet go from the No. 14 passing schedule strength to only the No. 27. That makes expecting any return to their 2018 form more unlikely.

Training Camp Needs: Jefferson has a chance to challenge as the best rookie wideout. He needs to mesh with Kirk Cousins and the entire offense is learning a new scheme. This team is going to run as much as they can, but both Thielen and Jefferson have a shot at having a solid to great fantasy year.

New England Patriots

WR Julian Edelman – 100-1117-6
WR Phillip Dorsett II – 29-397-5
WR Jakobi Meyers – 26-359-0

There is change. And then there is swapping out a quarterback with 9,988 pass attempts for a guy with four career throws (two completions). Tom Brady kept the offense going despite a lackluster set of receivers and a tight end group that ended as the least productive in the NFL. Jarrett Stidham was their 4.31 pick in 2019, so he should prove two rounds better than the sixth-round Brady.

Amazingly, the Pats stood pat on their wideouts. Julian Edelman is 34 years old and in his 11th season (the first without Brady). Beyond him, the Patriots hope that their 1.32 pick last year of N’Keal Harry will net more than 12 receptions in his second season as the other starter. Mohamed Sanu should see work when they go three-wide though that’s not expected to be often. They added Marquise Lee and Damiere Byrd as depth but whatever happens with the wideouts will be all about Edelman and, hopefully, Harry.

That NFL-worst set of tight ends was upgraded – if only for the future – with draft picks of Devin Asiasi (3.27) and Dalton Keene (3.37). Matt LaCosse should start though the sixth-year player totals just 40 catches in his career.

This is a youthful team – far more than any Pats team in recent memory. 2020 training camp is crucial to get Stidham to work with the receivers, get both tight ends on board at least with blocking if not some receiving work. The Patriots passing schedule is also worse than last year.

Training Camp Needs: This is a bad year for the Pats to incur so much change to absorb and process. Merely switching from Brady to Stidham is already a monumental difference and the tight ends are starting from scratch after a terrible showing last year. The best news that can come from camp is that Stidham and Harry appear to be ready for much more work this year.

New Orleans Saints

WR Michael Thomas – 149-1725-9
TE Jared Cook – 43-705-9
WR Ted Ginn Jr. – 30-421-2

This is the most mature offense in the league with OC Pete Carmichael entering his eleventh season with the Saints. Drew Brees returns for at least one more assault on the NFL record book. Even with Brees out for five games, the Saints still ended No. 7 in pass yards (4,435) and No. 2 in pass touchdowns (36) in 2019.

Michael Thomas comes off the definition of a domination season – 149 catches for 1,725 yards and nine scores. His 185 targets were 29 more than any other player. Second-best wideout Ted Ginn only managed 30 receptions. Thomas ended with almost three times the catches of all other Saints’ wideouts combined.

The Saints brought on Emmanuel Sanders to help keep from throwing to Thomas on every play. The 33-year-old Sanders Is still productive with around 870 yards in each of the last two seasons and now he joins the best offense of his career.  Tre’Quan Smith and Deonte Harris will be involved, but there is little chance that any wideout other than Thomas or Sanders has any fantasy relevance.

Jared Cook joined the Saints last season and ended with 43 catches for 705 yards and a career-high nine touchdowns. Cook also averaged 16.4 yards per catch – over three yards better than all other years. He was far more productive when playing with Brees than with Teddy Bridgewater. His pace over the final ten games with Brees would have been 944 yards over a 16 game season.

Training Camp Needs: The only new part of this offense is bringing in Sanders to help the wideouts. He is a veteran and should have no problems fitting in and meshing with Brees.

New York Giants

WR Darius Slayton – 48-740-8
WR Golden Tate – 49-676-6
WR Sterling Shepard – 57-576-3

The Giants are turning the soil again, hiring HC Joe Judge and OC Jason Garrett to import what worked in Dallas. The G-Men ended with just a 4-12 record but it was a rebuilding year that benched future HOF’er Eli Manning and gave Daniel Jones his first career starts. With Saquon Barkley hobbled, the passing effort was needed more than expected and even with a rookie quarterback, the results overall were not bad. It’s just that no one individual had a big year.

Both Sterling Shepard and Golden Tate missed about a third of their games. Darius Slayton was just a 5.33 pick from Auburn in 2019 but he led the team with 48 receptions for 740 yards and eight scores. There’s plenty of potential in the wideouts if they could just stay healthy. Slayton’s 4.39 speed can do some damage and he’ll figure in despite Tate and Shepard considered the starting two.

Evan Engram enters the final year of his rookie deal unless the Giants want to use the $6 million fifth-year option. After a promising rookie season when the Giants literally ran out of healthy receivers, Engram produces less every year while missing more games. He needs a healthy and productive season or the Giants could rethink their investment in him.

Training Camp Needs: New offense to install but it won’t be dramatically different under Jason Garrett. The most interesting part of the receivers is how much play Slayton gets after an impressive rookie season. Tate and Shepard start and Garrett’s offense doesn’t rely too heavily on a No. 3 wideout. But Slayton has earned playing time.

New York Jets

WR Jamison Crowder – 78-833-6
WR Robby Anderson – 52-779-5
TE Ryan Griffin – 34-320-5

The first year under HC Adam Gase produced mediocre results and even Le’Veon Bell wasn’t enough to energize the offense. Sam Darnold missed three games but didn’t so all that much when he was there.

Jamison Crowder and Robby Anderson were the starters with Demaryius Thomas helping with only 36 catches. The wide receivers are revamped with Anderson and Thomas gone. Crowder is joined by Breshad Perriman and Josh Doctson. They also drafted Denzel Mims (2.27) to add to the mix. Quincy Enunwa has already landed on injured reserve.

Chris Herndon enters his third season after missing almost all of 2019 because of a suspension, rib injury, and hamstring strain. The former fourth-round pick of 2018 has received hype about how ready he looks to play and that he can break out this season.

The problem here is that the Jets languished last year with the No. 23 passing schedule and now faces the No. 31. There are a lot of new parts to get up to speed and Darnold hasn’t yet taken the next step up or played more than 13 games in a season.

Training Camp Needs: This is the same offensive scheme, but almost all the wideouts are new and need work. A bad schedule is no help and the Jets look like they will again rely on their defense to keep them in games.

Philadelphia Eagles

TE Zach Ertz – 88-916-6
TE Dallas Goedert – 58-607-5
WR Alshon Jeffery – 43-490-4

Zach Ertz has been a top fantasy tight end for the last five years. Selecting Dallas Goedert in 2018 seemed like overkill but Goedert just added to the tight end stats with no drop by Ertz. The Eagles have featured the No. 1 set of fantasy tight ends for the last two years. This is the only team with their top two receivers as tight ends.

Of course, the continued decline in wideout production has forced that issue. The Eagles fell to only the No. 31 set of wide receivers and shockingly, Alshon Jeffery’s worst year since he was a rookie was still good enough to be the top wideout on the team. He missed six games with a Lis Franc injury that needed surgery. Jeffery is expected to be healthy for camp and the season, but he’s lasted all 16 games just once in the last five years.

DeSean Jackson is back after missing all of 2019 with a core injury that also needed surgery. Jackson opened his first season in Philadelphia with a 154-yard, two-touchdown effort against the Redskins but then was lost for the year. Jackson is 33 years old, but still has the speed that makes him dangerous.

The Eagles brought in Marquise Goodwin and drafted Jalen Reagor (1.21) to add to the offense. Reagor already projects to play the slot and could also offer special teams returns as well. Jeffery could be released next year and Reagor will see his role expand. He’s the only new element in the passing game that holds promise. Just keeping Jackson and Jeffery healthy will be a major upgrade from 2019, so anything that Reagor can add will make a difference in this unit.

Training Camp Needs: Both Jeffery and Jackson need to prove they are healthy and back to form. Reagor is the one to watch but chances are good that he’ll play a more limited role from the slot in an offense that loves to use two tight ends. Reagor could see more work if there is an injury to either Jackson or Jeffery, and recently that’s been an even-money bet.

Pittsburgh Steelers

WR Diontae Johnson – 59-680-5
WR James Washington – 44-735-3
WR JuJu Smith-Schuster – 42-552-3

In 2018, the Steelers new OC Randy Fichtner oversaw and offense that featured two 100-catch wideouts. Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster combined for 215 catches for 2,723 yards and 22 touchdowns. Last year, Ben Roethlisberger only lasted one full game, and Brown was gone. Smith-Schuster missed four games and played injured in several others with a knee problem. The Steelers amazingly had 3.02 draft pick of Diontae Johnson as the top receiver with only 59 catches for 680 yards. It was a lost year.

The good news is that all receivers and Roethlisberger are back and healthy again.  The schedule improved if only slightly. They enter the year with Smith-Schuster and Washington on the outside and Johnson manning the slot.

Smith-Schuster caught 111 passes for 1,426 yards and seven scores in 2018 with Roethlisberger. Granted – Brown is gone and with that, the secondary mostly turns to Smith-Schuster. But he’s had a strong connection with Big Ben. Washington hasn’t had a chance to play with Roethlisberger as a starter either. The unit should see a dramatic upturn from 2019 so long as they remain healthy.

The Steelers also upgraded the tight ends with Eric Ebron and he’ll pair with Vance McDonald who caught 50 passes for 610 yards and four scores in 2018 with Roethlisberger. There is lots of potential for the receivers this year, but it all depends on their health and that of Roethlisberger.

Training Camp Needs: Ebron is the only new element in the passing game but Big Ben laid out a year. He needs to shake off the rust and try to erase the disaster of 2019.

San Francisco 49ers

TE George Kittle – 85-1053-5
WR Deebo Samuel – 57-802-3
WR Emmanuel Sanders – 36-502-3

George Kittle led all 49er receivers last season and he’s finished as a top-three fantasy tight end for the last two years. He is likely to make three straight seasons as the top receiver.

Deebo Samuel was the 2.04 pick last year that may challenge Kittle. The rookie caught 57 passes for 802 yards and three scores and his best games were all against NFC West opponents. Emmanuel Sanders is gone and the 49ers used their 1.25 pick to grab Brandon Aiyuk from Arizona State. He’s already projected as the starting flanker but this offense is very diverse and likes to throw to the running backs as well. Aiyuk and Samuel could make a formidable duo but no other wideouts carry nearly as much fantasy potential. Outside of Samuel, no other wideout managed more than 36 receptions.

Jalen Hurd is a wildcard. The ex-Baylor quarterback converted to a wideout but was out all of 2019 with a back injury. He doesn’t project as a starter but there’s talk of using the multi-talented player in many ways. He ran for as much as 1,285 yards in college. He’ll either be a dangerous weapon the defense can’t prepare to face or yet another talented player that a team never quite figures out how to use.

Training Camp Needs: Getting Aiyuk up to speed is critical since he’s expected to be starting flanker. Kittle will always be a pass-sponge and Samuel is a promising starter who could break out big in his second season. This is still a young team and needs to get all the receivers on the same page for the complicated offense to work right. Aiyuk holds the most interest in training camp and the preseason, but Kittle is the only one with zero questions about his role for 2020.

Seattle Seahawks

WR Tyler Lockett – 82-1057-8
WR DK Metcalf – 58-900-7
TE Jacob Hollister – 41-349-3

The Seahawks bounced back from a down 2018 when Tyler Lockett turned in a career-best with his first 1,000-yard season. The Seahawks also had an immediate return on drafting DK Metcalf (2.32) who gained 900 yards on 58 catches. The rookie even caught seven passes for 160 yards and a score in the wildcard win at the Eagles.

David Moore remains and Phillip Dorsett was added but the passing scheme only used the two starting wideouts to any effect. Lockett (82) and Metcalf (58) were the only wideouts with more than 17 receptions last year. Russell Wilson is always a top-ten quarterback and he does that mostly through his two starting wideouts that are already set and familiar with the offense.

Will Dissly teased with 105 yards and a score in the opener but for the second year in a row landed on injured reserve by October. The Seahawks addressed the issue by bringing in 35-year-old Greg Olsen who hasn’t lasted 16 games for the last three years. His last healthy season was back in 2016.  Jacob Hollister came over from the Patriots last year and the 26-year-old caught 41 passes as the top tight end but only gained 349 yards (8.5 YPC) and three scores.

There’s always a chance that Dissly plays more than the first month. But it isn’t a very good chance.

Training Camp Needs: Not much other than just getting into playing shape. Metcalf already impressed and could pair with Lockett for a dual 1,000-yard set. The passing schedule is one of the best in the league this year, so the receivers should at least improve incrementally.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

WR Chris Godwin – 86-1333-9
WR Mike Evans – 67-1157-8
WR Breshad Perriman – 36-645-6

The No. 1 wide receiver unit for the last two seasons and their starting quarterback gets released. It was only 30 interceptions. No matter that Jameis Winston threw for over 5,000 yards, the Buccaneers opted for future HOF’er Tom Brady at the spry age of only 43. He’ll inherit the two most productive receiving duo from 2019 with almost nowhere to go but down. At least Brady’s last 30 interceptions took over four years to accomplish.

Chris Godwin and Mike Evans ended up at the No. 3 and No. 16 fantasy wideouts last year and that was with Godwin missing two games and Evans missed three. Breshad Perriman finally came to life after four seasons and three different teams when he ended last year with three straight 100-yard games. He’s a Jet now, so it was fun while it lasted.

Scotty Miller and Justin Watson will compete for the No. 3 role but it won’t account for much in OC Byron Leftwich’s offense. This is easily the best set of wide receivers that Brady has maybe ever played with unless you count Randy Moss as two players (and you could in 2007).

Beefing this all up, even more, was the addition of Rob Gronkowski fresh from a year of emceeing everything on television. His obvious connection with Brady should resume quickly but the Bucs did not use the position much in 2019. O.J. Howard fell off the map in this offense last year, catching only 34 passes for 459 yards and one score. Now he and Cameron Brate take an unproductive step backward to allow Gronk to serve as the primary tight end.

Training Camp Needs: Godwin and Evans are well-established veterans. Gronk needs to get back into playing form after the year off but the offense is going to be designed around Brady and what he does – like throwing to Gronk. This has been a top-three offense for the last two years but was filled with turnovers. Brady will reduce the mistakes, but how much he can bring to this unit will be worth watching. If all concerned can remain healthy, this will be a top offense again.

Tennessee Titans

WR A.J. Brown – 52-1051-8
WR Corey Davis – 43-601-2
TE Jonnu Smith – 35-437-3

Switching over to Ryan Tannehill made a major difference last season. Marcus Mariota rarely did more than throw to his tight end or just take off on a run. Tannehill breathed all new life into the wide receivers and sent Mariota packing in the offseason. This is a rush-first team but Tannehill only needed a little more than half a year to bring the wideouts from worst to almost average.

The difference-maker was the rookie A.J. Brown (2.19) who had the rare break out as a rookie with 1,051 yards and eight scores on just 52 catches (an eye-popping 20.2 YPC). He finished the regular season with 100-yard efforts in four of his final six games. His biggest impediment to having a big game is that Derrick Henry will take over a contest and reduce the need to throw.

Corey Davis was the 1.05 pick from 2017 that has never met expectations. With Brown so successful,  there is no reason to expect Davis to produce more than the roughly 600 yards he gains each year. Over three years, he only scored six times.

Adam Humphries takes the slot but the position only gets two or three passes in most games. The Titans don’t often go to three-wide because they prefer to run or throw to the two outside wide receivers.

Jonnu Smith was incrementally better in each of his three seasons and ended with 35 catches for 439 yards and three touchdowns in 2019. Delanie Walker is finally gone so Smith can be more featured this season. The Titans still throw about 25% of their passes to the position. The tight ends accounted for 76 catches for 946 yards and seven scores last year.

Training Camp Needs:  This will be the first training camp that has Tannehill as the starter but he played 12 games last year. There are no real changes to any position to absorb, so the Titans just need a tune-up. More daunting will be swapping the No. 7 passing schedule to the No. 29 schedule this year.

Washington Redskins

WR Terry McLaurin – 58-919-7
WR Steven Sims Jr. – 34-310-4
WR Kelvin Harmon – 30-365-0

There is no part of this offense that isn’t a headache to figure out. The backfield will likely rely on four different running backs. Dwayne Haskins returns at quarterback after averaging 152 passing yards per game. There is no Case Keenum, so the Redskins won’t be tempted to turn to another quarterback until the 2021 draft.

The wide receivers were a mess going into the 2019 season and are no better for this year. Terry McLaurin was the 3.13 pick last year and offered a rare bright spot in the offense. The rookie caught 58 passes for 919 yards and seven scores while missing two games. He topped 100 yards three times. No other wideout gained more than 365 yards or caught more than 34 passes.

Trey Quinn enters his third year and took over the slot role. He suffered a concussion last year and missed the final four games. But he rarely had more than two catches in any week and never when Haskins was the starter.

Kelvin Harmon will start as the flanker but the sixth-round rookie from last year only caught 30 passes for 365 yards and never scored. And he is still the starter. Steven Sims was an undrafted rookie free agent in 2019 and actually ended with 34 catches for 310 yards and four scores. He’ll be in the mix but only McLaurin has been able to produce any fantasy value, even when Haskins played.

Antonio Gandy-Golden was the 4.36 pick this year and even he could show up since this unit is so young, inexperienced, and apparently short of talent after McLaurin.

Jeremy Sprinkle projects as the starting tight end but his third season only netted 26 catches for 241 yards for a career-best.

Training Camp Needs: Training camp is much needed to get Haskins off to a better start than when he was thrown into the fire. But this is an entirely new offense being installed by first-year OC Scott Turner so the significant amount of youthful players will be an issue again this year. The Skins have a good passing schedule this year (No. 5) so there are expectations of improvement. But this entire offense is very undefined and may change constantly this year as they determine who and what works best.

Fantasy football preseason preview: Running backs

Rundown of each team’s running back situation and training camp needs

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL running back has declined as a rusher for the last decade and 2019 saw one of the lowest totals for rushing attempts (in a 32-team league). But there is no denying the impact a stud running back has on a fantasy team with consistently high fantasy points.  Add in their increases as a receiver and the position will always dominate the first round of fantasy drafts every year.

Running Back Totals by Year

There was a minor uptick last year from the historically low number of carries in 2018 but the touchdowns remained higher than most years. It says running backs may not be as involved in moving the ball down the field as they once were, but at least they still get those goal-line carries.

2018 was a high-water mark for running backs as receivers but the trend is clear for the last six seasons. The bigger problem for fantasy team owners is that fewer teams employ a 300-carry running back anymore and the pie is divided among more players.

Top Ten Running Back Totals by Year

The top ten running backs from last season held their own and while they dipped slightly in scoring, at least there were more rushing yards from the group. These last three seasons clearly show the change from 2012 when the top ten backs averaged 297 carries and only 38 catches on the season while 2019 saw the same grouping with only 246 carries and yet 63 catches.

The team listings below show the top two fantasy running backs of 2019 for that team, along with their stats.

Arizona Cardinals

Kenyan Drake – Rush: 123-643-8, Receive: 28-171-0
David Johnson – Rush: 94-345-2, Receive: 36-370-4

There were two notables being carried forward from last year. First, Kenyan Drake finally broke out after spending three and a half years in Miami. He was sent to the Cardinals where he finished the year on a tear with three 100-yard rushing efforts. Granted – he was far less effective against good defenses, but at least he tore up the Browns and Seahawks. He replaced David Johnson as the starter and sent him away to Houston (AKA The Deal of the Century).

Secondly, these Cardinals do not run the ball that much under HC Kliff Kingsbury. They were dead last with only 280 total carries. Their 77 completions to the position ranked No. 15 so there no heavy-use back here so far. Chase Edmonds is the primary backup but was only allowed a handful of carries per game if the starter was healthy.

The Cardinals had the easiest rushing schedule in 2019 of any NFL team. Not to worry, they are still No. 3 this year. Drake was new to the team but his results varied significantly week to week.

Training Camp Needs:  Second-year for the offense means no more installation and more focus on execution. Drake gets his first camp as the starter and there is no real competition for him.

Atlanta Falcons

Devonta Freeman – Rush: 184-656-2, Receive: 59-410-4
Brian Hill – Rush: 78-323-2, Receive: 10-69-1

This will be a camp worth watching. Last year,  Teven Coleman left but Devonta Freeman got even worse, only managed 184 carries with a 3.6 YPC and was released so that the entire league could ignore him.

The holdovers of Qadree Ollison, Brian Hill, and Ito Smith have done nothing to suggest that they are more than mediocre depth. But the Falcons brought in Todd Gurley as the new starter and that should change everything. Or nothing, all depending on which Gurley they got.

His chronic knee situation saw him with only 3.8 YPC and 857 rushing yards last year. He did score 14 touchdowns to salvage his fantasy value. Gurley was a very capable receiver as well but was down to only 31 receptions last season and a career-low 6.7 yards per catch. His 223 rushes also were his lowest ever.

Training Camp Needs:  This is all about getting Gurley up to speed (whatever that is anymore) and able to stay on the field. Chances are that we won’t see a lot of him in preseason games, but it would be far more reassuring to hear that he looks good and fits in before pulling the trigger on him with a draft pick.

Baltimore Ravens

Mark Ingram II – Rush: 202-1018-10, Receive: 26-247-5
Gus Edwards – Rush: 133-711-2, Receive: 7-45-0

The Ravens ended with the most rushing yards – by a big margin – than any other team in NFL history last year but Lamar Jackson’s 1,206 yards was a major contributor. The running backs accounted for 393 carries and 1,954 rushing yards for the No. 7 and No. 3 ranked marks, respectively. There were only three backs that ran the ball – Mark Ingram (202), Gus Edwards (133), and Justice Hill (58).

A great offensive line helped as did a quarterback that prevented anyone from focusing on just the running backs as rushers.

Ingram remains the starter but the Ravens drafted J.K. Dobbins (2.23) to add to the mix. His contribution will come out of Edwards and Hill’s totals. There is room for the rookie to step up into a bigger role but he’ll have the challenge of much less time with the team than a normal rookie because of the COVID-19 situation. That likely means that Edwards will get more work earlier in the year.

Hill was a disappointment but he hits his second season and still has a chance to improve. This offense hasn’t produced more than one back with fantasy value, but Ingram has a history of missing a few games in most seasons.

Training Camp Needs: J.K. Dobbins should see plenty of work in the preseason to make up for his lack of team time before camp. He’s the one to watch. Ingram is signed through 2021 but the Ravens could get out of his contract next year for almost no cost if they want. Dobbins has a chance to do something special on this team, but it may take time.

Buffalo Bills

Devin Singletary – Rush: 151-775-2, Receive: 29-194-2
Frank Gore – Rush: 166-599-2, Receive: 14-100-0

Not a lot of fantasy points from this backfield last year even though almost all production came from either Devin Singletary or Frank Gore. Only producing six total touchdowns was a major reason but all categories were below league averages. Gore is gone but that doesn’t necessarily mean that  Singletary gets any major boost in carries or catches.

Gore’s workload went down as the season progressed and Singletary handled more carries over the final six weeks, but his catch totals went down over that period. And Singletary lost four fumbles over two games when he handled more than 15 rushes. He’s only 5-9 and 199 pounds and there is a concern that he might not hold up to a heavier load.

The Bills drafted Zack Moss (3.22) and he’s a much beefier 223 pounds on a 5-9 frame as well. T.J. Yeldon is still the No. 3 back with minimal use. 2020 will see how well Singletary holds up and also holds on to the ball.

Training Camp Needs: The rookie Moss is the one to watch. Singletary will be the primary back and could improve upon his 29 receptions last year as well. The success (or lack of it) by Moss will influence Singletary’s workload.

Carolina Panthers

Christian McCaffrey – Rush: 287-1387-15, Receive: 116-1005-4
Reggie Bonnafon – Rush: 16-116-1, Receive: 6-57-0

Not much to talk about here. McCaffrey was a fantasy league winner in 2019 and the Panthers added no one to limit his carries or catches. They have moved on to HC Matt Rhule fresh from running Baylor but that won’t impact McCaffrey’s role.

Installing a new offense is likely to rely just as heavily on McCaffrey as the best receiver on the team. They paid him $64M for the next four years – he’s safe to remain the focus of the offense.

Training Camp Needs: Keep McCaffrey healthy. That’s plenty enough.

Chicago Bears

David Montgomery – Rush: 242-889-6, Receive: 25-185-1
Tarik Cohen – Rush: 64-213-0, Receive: 79-456-3

The Bears are onto their third offensive coordinator in the last three years with Bill Lazor (ex-CIN OC) joining third-year head coach Matt Nagy. This is a backfield that has surprised most fantasy leaguers and not for positive reasons. The Bears parted ways with Jordan Howard and moved up to select David Montgomery (3.09) as the primary rusher. Tarik Cohen remains the third-down back.

The Bears had one of the best rushing schedules in the NFL last year but Montgomery was used inconsistently and often ineffectively. He ended with only 889 rushing yards on 242 carries and as a team recorded below-average marks in all rushing categories. Not only did the Bears only rush for six touchdowns, they only managed one over the final eight games.

There are no changes to personnel this year and once again, the Bears have one of the best rushing schedules in the league. A second season for Montgomery may see improvement, but there is yet another new offensive scheme to learn. A potential improvement to the passing game could in turn help the backfield.

Training Camp Needs: Learn the new offense. It would be very nice to hear that Montgomery looks “like he is getting it” but that may be hard to see in this unusual offseason and preseason. Most of the focus will be about the quarterbacks.

Cincinnati Bengals

Joe Mixon – Rush: 278-1137-5, Receive: 35-287-3
Giovani Bernard – Rush: 53-167-0, Receive: 30-234-0

The Bengals head into their second season under HC Zac Taylor and the rebuilding year didn’t go so well. Joe Mixon had a very slow start to the season but finally caught fire in the final month or so when his fantasy owners had already fallen back in their league. But it was a plus to see him with three of his final four games gaining over 100 rushing yards.

Giovani Bernard hangs on as the third-down back but his stats have declined in each of the last four seasons and he never scored a touchdown in 2019. Mixon ends up with around three catches in most games, Bernard has lost all fantasy value in this offense.

Training Camp Needs: No changes in personnel, coaches, or scheme means shaking off the rust. Just stay healthy.

Cleveland Browns

Nick Chubb – Rush: 298-1494-8, Receive: 36-278-0
Kareem Hunt – Rush: 43-179-2, Receive: 37-285-1

The same crew starts this year with Nick Chubb as the primary and Kareem Hunt as the third-down back. For Hunt, he’ll play a full season this time but he was used sparingly as a rusher and did more damage as a receiver. This backfield can support two fantasy starter though Chubb ended with four or five fewer rushes per game and his role as a receiver all but disappeared.

This is yet another offense to learn for the backfield with HC Kevin Stefanski importing the West Coast variant that he used as the offensive coordinator with the Vikings. The backfield gets to use both backs for the full season and that will help diversify their attack, even if it comes at the expense of what Chubb could be.

Training Camp Needs: Installing a new offense usually favors the safer ground game and the Browns were already one of the better rushing teams from 2019.

Dallas Cowboys

Ezekiel Elliott – Rush: 301-1357-12, Receive: 54-420-2
Tony Pollard – Rush: 86-455-2, Receive: 15-107-1

If any player is unlikely to see much change, it would be Ezekiel Elliott. While new HC Mike McCarthy will certainly take an interest in the offense, OC Kellen Moore was retained and enters his second season. Elliott faces one of the better rushing schedules just to ensure that he’ll be productive again.

Elliott carried 301 times last year, second to only Derrick Henry (303). The Cowboys relied entirely on the rookie Tony Pollard as the relief back and he ended with 86 carries. Pollard was little used as a receiver, so Elliott’s share of the workload has not been decreased in any way.

Training Camp Needs: Keep Elliott healthy, install whatever new minor nuances into the offense.

Denver Broncos

Phillip Lindsay – Rush: 224-1011-7, Receive: 35-196-0
Royce Freeman – Rush: 132-496-3, Receive: 43-256-1

HC Vic Fango enters his second season but OC Pat Shurmur (ex-NYG HC) takes his first year there.  The Broncos typically produce upper-half in the league rushing stats and brought in Melvin Gordon to top their depth chart. Though he’s been in the league for five years, Gordon managed a 1,000-yard season (2017) only once and that because it was his only year without missing at least a couple of games. He missed 13 games over that time period but never more than four per year.

Gordon assumes the primary role there and Phillip Lindsay slides back to the third-down back. Royce Freeman’s two seasons haven’t produced much though he managed 43 catches last year. He slides back to the bench for the most part.

A new offense is being installed and Gordon has to acclimate to his new team. Rushing the ball is the activity that needs the least precision, so Gordon still carries plenty of fantasy promise. One of his potential limitations will be the schedule. The Broncos enjoyed one of the lightest slate of games in 2019 but face one of the most dramatic swings now facing the No. 26 rushing schedule.

Training Camp Needs: Keeping Gordon healthy is key and he’s been less than durable so far. The new offense will rely heavily on him and Shurmur wasn’t shy about loading up Saquon Barkley in New York. Freeman has already lost almost all fantasy value and Lindsay needs to show signs that he can remain a weekly consideration if only as a deep, flex play in a reception points league.

Lindsay has been more of the rusher, so any sign that he’s stepping up as a receiver will be a plus for him. But Gordon has caught as many as 57 passes in a season, so he is the only safe play from this backfield.

Detroit Lions

Kerryon Johnson – Rush: 113-403-3, Receive: 10-127-1
J.D. McKissic – Rush: 38-205-0, Receive: 34-233-1

The good news: The Lions used their 2.03 pick on D’Andre Swift our of Georgia. The guy many considered the best back in the draft.

The bad news: When has a Detroit back matter since Barry Sanders left in 1998?

Oh yes, and 2.11 pick from 2018 of Kerryon Johnson is still there as the latest “this is the one” that wasn’t. OC Darrell Bevell is back for his second season and he always used two backs in 2019. But the primary guy would account for around 15 to 20 touches per game, Both Ty Johnson and J.D. McKissic would also end up with four to six touches as well.

The Lions completed just 76 passes to running backs, but seven of them caught at least one and three had ten or more receptions. McKissic was best with 34 catches. Bevell did rely on a single back occasional at Seattle but mostly relied on two backs – or more.

The Lions had one of the worst schedules in 2019 and while it is better for 2020, it still isn’t quite average, let alone anything beneficial. Needing Swift to learn a new offense will start him out slowly, particularly having missed so much potential time from the COVID-19 situation.

Training Camp Needs: Get Swift up to speed. Unless he can clearly show as superior to Johnson, then they will both be used (if not others as well). This is the second season for the offense, so all eyes should be on Swift as the newest element. McKissic is also gone, so the third-down back has to be determined and is likely to be shared between Swift and Johnson.

Green Bay Packers

Aaron Jones – Rush: 236-1084-16, Receive: 49-474-3
Jamaal Williams – Rush: 107-462-1, Receive: 39-253-5

The Packers had long been a pass-first team with Aaron Rodgers but HC Matt LaFleur and OC Nathaniel Hackett changed that as of last year when they went to a more balanced offense, ranking around average in all passing and rushing categories. The one spot of biggest change – running backs catching the ball. The Packers completed 101 passes to their running backs and that boosted the backfield’s fantasy value up to No. 6 in the NFL.

The Packers went to a 1-2 punch with Aaron Jons taking roughly two-thirds of the work and Jamaal Williams ended up with a third. Jones ran for 1,084 yards on 236 carries to lead the team and he added 49 receptions for 474 yards and a total of 19 touchdowns. That left Jones as the No. 2 fantasy back in most leagues for last year.

This is the final contract year for Jones, so he has plenty of incentive to remain productive and the offense came to rely on him more down the stretch. Three of his final four games contained over 21 rushes each, including the playoffs. Conversely, Williams went from double-digit touches to only a handful over his final month.

The Packers also drafted AJ Dillon (2.30) instead of a receiver as a sign that they want the backfield to continue to lead the offense. Dillon is a bruiser at 6-0, 247 pounds and could be a nice complement to smaller yet faster Jones. Williams is likely the odd man out here, especially after declining use last year and the Packers taking Dillon so early.

Training Camp Needs: Figure out how much Dillon can do and how much he displaces Williams. Jones’ role as the primary is a given but how much Dillon is involved will start to be answered in camp.

Houston Texans

Carlos Hyde – Rush: 245-1070-6, Receive: 10-42-0
Duke Johnson Jr. – Rush: 83-410-2, Receive: 44-410-3

Well, that was unexpected. The Texans haven’t featured even an average rushing attack for many years, and their solution was to trade away DeAndre Hopkins and acquire David Johnson.

Lamar Miller was lost for 2019 and has not been kept. Carlos Hyde stepped in and ran for 1.070 yards and six touchdowns but has also been sent packing. The Texans have Duke Johnson but his first season in Houston only resulted in 410 rush yards, 410 receiving yards, and five scores. In a year where they needed help.  Johnson remains the third-down/relief back but that falls outside of reliable fantasy stats every week.

David Johnson had a monster year in 2016 but missed 2017 due to a torn ACL. He’s been unable to return to the same form when he had his only notable year. Still, HC Bill O’Brien is excited to have him and believes he is a three-down back. O’Brien’s decision-making skills have been called into question with the trade as it is.

The Texans are likely to not throw as well without Hopkins and that could force them to rely more on backs as receivers. The Texans schedule is worse this year and that won’t help Johnson run behind what has been a problematic offensive line that is still under work.

Training Camp Needs: Get David Johnson up to speed and hopefully a part of the passing game even if that comes out of Duke Johnson’s workload. The situation is a second chance for David Johnson, but he has to prove that he is healthy.

Indianapolis Colts

Marlon Mack – Rush: 247-1091-8, Receive: 14-82-0
Nyheim Hines – Rush: 52-199-2, Receive: 44-320-0

The Colts have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL and that bears out with their rushing averages. Marlon Mack was finally allowed the primary role and responded with his first 1,000-yard season. Still, he only produced two 100-yard games after Week 1 and he had nearly no role as a receiver.

To help the backfield, the Colts spent their 2.09 pick on Jonathan Taylor. The rookie is a prototypical workhorse back at 5-10, 223 pounds, and runs a 4.39/40. He turned in around 2,000 rushing yards in each of his three seasons at Wisconsin. He won the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best running back twice.

His only concern is longevity. He left college with 926 carries over three years. Compare that to Clyde Edwards-Helaire (370), D.Andre Swift (440), or Cam Akers (586). With all those miles on the tires, he may be the next Ron Dayne (7,125) or Donnel Pumphrey (6,405). Or the next Tony Dorsett (6,526) or Ricky Williams (6,279). It is a concern but he lands in a very nice spot.

Nyheim Hines will retain his role as the third-down back but likely won’t see much more work now that there are two other viable options with Mack and Taylor. Since Taylor hasn’t been much of a receiver, he’s unlikely to do much on passing plays but should take at least the bigger share of the rushing load from Mack, assuming he gets up to speed on the offense in camp. That should not be a problem for an experienced runner with a great resume’.

The only aspect that is negative is that the Colts enjoyed one of the easiest rushing schedules in the NFL for 2019. For this season, they have one of the worst.

Training Camp Needs: This is all about Taylor and how quickly he can assume a primary role. And if Mack’s workload declines well below fantasy relevance. With a great offensive line, they could be better than their tough rushing schedule anyway. If Taylor draws raves in camp and turns in a few good preseason games, expect him to become a very hot commodity in your drafts.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Leonard Fournette – Rush: 265-1152-3, Receive: 76-522-0
Ryquell Armstead – Rush: 35-108-0, Receive: 14-144-2

Despite rumors aplenty, Leonard Fournette was not traded and remains the primary back for the Jaguars. He’s in the final year of his rookie contract with a lot to win by having a good season. He comes off a career-best 1,152 rushing yards and an impressive 76 receptions for 522 yards. That helped him back into the top ten fantasy backs last year. Fournette has been hampered by nagging injuries and managed to miss just one game in 2019.

The Jags drafted Ryquell Armstead (5.02) last year as the backup but he was held to only 35 carries for 108 yards. Fournette was the workhorse back and enjoyed one of the lighter rushing schedules. That changes back to just an average one for 2020 but Fournette’s role as a receiver kept him relevant last year.

The Jaguars are in HC Doug Marrone’s third season but he hired Jay Gruden (ex-WAS HC) to run the offense for the third offensive coordinator in the last three years.

Training Camp Needs: No depth chart changes here. Fournette has to learn a new offense but gets Gardner Minshew back and that pairing resulted in Fournette placing No. 5 in running back receptions last season. He just needs to remain healthy and have a big year for his 2020 payoff with a new contract.

Kansas City Chiefs

Damien Williams – Rush: 112-497-5, Receive: 30-213-2
LeSean McCoy – Rush: 101-465-4, Receive: 28-189-1

With the high-powered offense scaring every defense, the backfield was one of the most productive until last year. The question as to who would be better – LeSean McCoy or Damien Williams – didn’t have an answer since no Chief’s back ranked better than No. 40 last year. None of them played more than 12 games. Darwin Thompson was their sixth-round pick but did nothing.

Now McCoy is gone and Williams would be the clear primary back. But – the Chiefs spent their 1.32 pick on Clyde Edwards-Helaire fresh from LSU’s National Championship. He caught 55 passes last year which bodes even better for him to take over the backfield in all aspects. This is an obviously dangerous passing team, and if Edwards-Helaire can step up as a receiver, he’ll be a fantasy boon.

There is an opportunity for the rookie to step up and leave all the marginal talent in the backfield on the bench. Kareem Hunt’s first season ended with 272 carries for 1,327 yards and 53 catches for 455 yards. If Edwards-Helaire can do even half as much, he’ll be a fantasy starter. And while Hunt was a third-round pick, the Chiefs grabbed this rookie with their first pick and made him the first back selected in the draft.

Training Camp Needs: It’s all a question of how quickly Edwards-Helaire can get up to speed in this complicated offense. He’s already much more talented and the Chiefs have every intention on making him a big part of the offense. Best case – he blows up in a couple of preseason games and draws good reviews in camp.

Las Vegas Raiders

Josh Jacobs – Rush: 242-1150-7, Receive: 20-166-0
DeAndre Washington – Rush: 108-387-3, Receive: 36-291-0

The Raiders used their 1.24 pick last year to land Josh Jacobs as the first running back drafted. The rookie ran for 1,150 yards over 13 games played and overall, the Raiders ranked No. 4 in the number of rushes. He turned in six games with over 100-rushing yards and was fed over 20 carries in half of his games. His role as a receiver was held to never more than three catches per game.

The Raiders had one of the worst rushing schedules last year and while it remains a bit below average, it is still much better than 2019. The offensive line isn’t the advantage it once was, but at least it isn’t a liability. Playing in a new stadium usually has a negative impact for the first year but the offense is mature under Jon Gruden and they like relying on Jacobs to move the ball.

Training Camp Needs: Josh Johnson remains the only real fantasy play for the Raiders backfield and should improve upon a fine rookie season. Johnson could use more work as a receiver and while they have lots of new receivers to incorporate, that doesn’t mean that Johnson couldn’t see more targets for 2020.

Los Angeles Chargers

Austin Ekeler – Rush: 132-557-3, Receive: 92-993-8
Melvin Gordon III – Rush: 162-612-8, Receive: 42-296-1

The Chargers entered 2019 without Melvin Gordon but it did not really matter. Austin Ekeler stepped up in and added an astounding 92 receptions. Gordon eventually showed up in Week 5 and went on to have a standard season. He’s left for the Broncos now and behind are Ekeler, Justin Jackson, and the rookie Joshua Kelley (4.06).

HC Anthony Lynn enters his third season and has moved on from OC Ken Whisenhunt. Ex-quarterbacks coach Shane Steichen takes over and the offense is not expected to change much.

Germane is the absence of Philip Rivers after 14 seasons and that alone will have a certain impact on the offense. Tyrod Taylor takes over and while he was a starter in Buffalo, he was usually good for around 500 yards and five touchdowns as a runner. That will, at least partially, impact the rushing totals here.

The fantasy production from the backfield was surprising last year given that the Chargers went against one of the worst rushing schedules but they only ranked No. 18 in both carries and rushing yards. Their 148 catches for 1,357 yards led NFL running backs by a sizable margin and most of that was from the Ekeler.

With Gordon gone, the expectation is that the Chargers will rely on a committee of  Ekeler, Jackson, and the rookie Kelley in some yet unknown mixture. Ekeler hasn’t rushed more than 132 times in any season and at 5-10, 198 pounds he may not hold up for much more. Plus he has an obvious role as a receiver. Justin was a 2018 seventh-rounder that hasn’t run more than 50 times and only weighs 193 pounds.

Kelley is bigger at 5-11, 212 pounds and he handled around 230 carries in each of his two seasons at UCLA. He’s no speedster with a 4.49/40 from the combine and he was only the eleventh back selected this year. But he is in the mix with for the big void left behind by Gordon.

Training Camp Needs: It will be interesting to see how much Taylor runs the ball but that won’t be evident until the season. There’s no reason to expect him to throw too much less to Ekeler. The interesting part of camp will be if Kelley shows anything to suggest that he can take a larger role as a rusher or this backfield will be a big committee with Ekeler’s receptions as the only reliably productive part.

Los Angeles Rams

Todd Gurley II – Rush: 223-857-12, Receive: 31-207-2
Malcolm Brown – Rush: 69-255-5, Receive: 2-16-0

This should be one of the most interesting training camps from a fantasy perspective since the departure of Todd Gurley leaves behind a major hole to fill.  His rushing totals waned in 2019 but he still delivered 14 total touchdowns after turning in 21 and 19 over the previous two seasons. As a backfield, they scored 19 times in 2019.

Malcolm Brown and Darrell Henderson return. Brown is an undrafted pick up back in 2015 who just turned in a career-best 69 runs for 255 yards (3.7 YPC). Henderson was the 3.06 pick in 2019 who was limited to 39 carries for 147 yards (3.8 YPC) as a rookie. The Rams spent their 2.20 pick on Cam Akers as the fourth-overall running back drafted this year.

HC Sean McVay expressed confidence in his group of three rushers though two of them haven’t proven to be anything more than mediocre. Henderson was particularly underwhelming and Brown is just a career backup. The hope that anyone emerges into a significant role resides solely with the rookie Akers. The ex-Florida State back was adept at both rushing and receiving.

There is a chance that there is just a maddening committee approach that would erase a major fantasy opportunity. It’s all up to Akers to step up and become a fantasy-relevant primary back and keep the other two in their best-suited roles as backups.

Training Camp Needs: Akers has to get up to speed quickly. He is expected to become the main starter and brings in enough talent to be a big fantasy factor. It’s more of a question as to how long he will take to reach his potential.

Miami Dolphins

Patrick Laird – Rush: 62-168-1, Receive: 23-204-0
Kenyan Drake – Rush: 47-174-0, Receive: 22-174-0

Overall, last year could have gone better. It could not have gone much worse. The  Dolphins used nine different running backs as a sign that they were unsuccessful. Kenyan Drake was sent to the Cardinals at midseason and no back was better than Kalen Bllage with 74 carries on the season. It was a disaster and as a team gained only 834 rushing yards – worst in the NFL.

It was a teardown and set on fire rebuilding year for new HC Brian Flores and no direction to go now but up (actually, or remain bad). The Fins are onto their next offensive coordinator with Chan Gailey being lured out of retirement. The backfield has been remade over in the offseason by adding Jordan Howard and Matt Brieda while the remaining disappointments fall down the depth chart.

Howard was unable to stick with the Eagles and for his fourth straight season, fell in every category. He was limited to only 525 rushing yards, just ten catches and a total of 594 yards.  He missed six games with a shoulder injury but is expected to be healthy again. At 6-0 and 224 pounds, he’s a two-down runner with the size for short yardage.

Matt Brieda joined up after three seasons with the 49ers. He always produced when called on and even ran 153 times for 814 yards in 2018. He brings a better resume as a receiver and at 5-11, 190 pounds, he is more suited for third-down work.

The Fins once again have a terrible schedule. They fall from the No. 23 rushing schedule down to the No. 30 this year.

Training Camp Needs: The prospect of a rookie quarterback going against a terrible schedule is bad enough, but the Fins have to face even worse when they run. Howard and Brieda need to learn the offense and are worth watching, but expectations cannot be too high with this crew so far.

Minnesota Vikings

Dalvin Cook – Rush: 250-1135-13, Receive: 53-519-0
Alexander Mattison – Rush: 100-462-1, Receive: 10-82-0

No questions here, other than when Dalvin Cook shows up. The Vikings are on to yet another offensive coordinator with Gary Kubiak taking over this year. But the turn to a rush-heavy attack paid off with Dalvin Cook enjoying a career year. He also lasted 14 games. Cook missed five games in 2018 and 12 games as a rookie in 2017. Cook was electric last year and averaged 18 carries per game and scoring 13 touchdowns.

Cook also caught 53 passes for 519 yards as a true double threat that kept the passing game alive as well.

The Vikings added Alexander Mattison with their 3.38 pick last year which was prudent given the number of games that Cook has missed so far. He ran 100 times for 462 yards and averaged 4.6 yards.  Mattison only caught ten passes and is not a third-down option. Cook stayed on the field nearly every play and Mattison only offered a few relief carries in most games.

Cook enters the fourth and final year of his rookie contract and has said that he won’t show up at all until he signs a new deal. He is due just $2 million this year and played for only $1.4 million in 2019. Mattison will be a hot commodity if Cook doesn’t sign this summer.

Training Camp Needs: Sign Cook. Earlier than later since the offense will have new nuances to learn. If not, get Mattison practicing with the first-team offense.

New England Patriots

James White – Rush: 67-264-1, Receive: 72-645-5
Sony Michel – Rush: 247-912-7, Receive: 12-94-0

The Patriots are perennially at the top of the NFL for overall running back production even though they rarely feature any runner. 2019 was no different since they ranked No. 2 in fantasy points and yet the best running backs were James White (No. 18) and Sony Michel (No. 30). Rex Burkhead and Brandon Bolden were also involved and yet their rookie back Damien Harris (3.23) ended up as a rare scouting whiff with only four carries.

There are no changes to the backfield, but losing Tom Brady throws the entire offense into an unknown state. Jarrett Stidham is expected to be the new quarterback and he has really no track record to consider. The Patriots offense is wildly mature after OC Josh Daniels’ eight straight seasons so the scheme won’t change. White should remain just as valuable if not more should Stidham end up dumping the ball off even more than Brady did.

The Patriots always have a good offensive line and the schedule is about average like 2019.

Training Camp Needs: From a fantasy perspective, 2020 is all about playing without Tom Brady and what that means. The backfield should be no less important and likely even more. But they’ll always rely on a committee and White carries the most fantasy promise. Stidham should work on his passes to White before he worries about downfield.

New Orleans Saints

Alvin Kamara – Rush: 171-797-5, Receive: 81-533-1
Latavius Murray – Rush: 146-637-5, Receive: 34-235-1

Oddly, the Saints enjoyed one of the easiest rushing schedules in 2019 but dropped in nearly every running back category. There a few mitigating factors like the injury to Drew Brees and Alvin Kamara struggled with a leg injury almost all year and missed a few games. Notable also was the departure of Mark Ingram.

This is the most mature offense in the NFL with OC Pete Carmichael entering his twelfth season with the Saints. There are no changes to the offense in personnel but the team needs to have a healthier 2020 from their top players.

Murray was a capable addition and produced two 100-yard games when he helped replace the injured Kamara. His fantasy output fell just below starting consideration in common games with Kamara, but he was a great start with Kamara out.

The Saints will be even better with a healthy Kamara on the field. His final stats from 2019 were only marginally down in yardage but he fell from 18 touchdowns to only six last year.

Training Camp Needs: Keep Kamara healthy. There is nothing new here and that’s probably a big advantage this season with reduced time for teams to install schemes and introduce new players.

New York Giants

Saquon Barkley – Rush: 217-1003-6, Receive: 52-438-2
Wayne Gallman Jr. – Rush: 29-110-2, Receive: 11-102-1

There’s a new offense for the Giants with the hire of OC Jason Garrett but it will mirror what he ran in Dallas which already takes into account using an elite running back. It may not work out as well for the receivers, given the jump in passing last year with OC Kellen Moore at the help in Dallas. But, Barkley should be very safe in remaining one of the busiest backs in the league.

Barkley suffered a high ankle sprain and missed two games but was hampered by it for much of the year. He still managed to gain 4.6 yards per carry but his touchdown totals fell from 15 to eight and he dropped from 2,028 total yards with 91 catches as a rookie to only 1,441 yards and 52 receptions.

He was the No. 2 best fantasy back as a rookie and looks to reassert himself this year. The Giants had to also fight against the No. 28 rushing schedule last year but get a nice boost to the No. 12 best slate of games.

Training Camp Needs: The new offense should rely heavily on Barkley and there are no new offensive skill players. Camp is all about installing the new offense that should favor the running back.

New York Jets

Le’Veon Bell – Rush: 245-789-3, Receive: 66-461-1
Bilal Powell – Rush: 59-229-0, Receive: 7-33-0

You don’t net the No. 32 ranking in backfield fantasy production without a lot of bad luck. That involved paying a fortune for a rusty running back running behind a bad offensive line in the first rebuilding year with all new coaches. Whew. It was really bad.

The entire backfield combined for only four total touchdowns. Bell played for 15 games and yet only gained 789 rushing yards thanks to a 3.2-yard average on his 245 rushes. He added 66 catches to help but only gained 461 yards from them.

Bell was the heavy-use, primary back (such as it was) and Bilal Powell was next best with only about 300 total yards and no scores. Powell is gone and Frank Gore was added at the age of 37 because he evidently has nothing else to do and nowhere else to go. The Jets also drafted La’Michel Perine (4.14).

HC Adam Gase still calls the plays and the second year has to be better than 2019. The rushing schedule is better and at some point, the offensive line is bound to improve. The Jets were so bad last year that Bell was held below ten carries in most of his games after midseason. He only once ran for more than 35 yards after Week 7.

Training Camp Needs: Gore is not expected to be more than a rarely used relief player though he might figure in at the goal line. Perine is just considered depth for now. Bell has his second year with the offense and just needs to stay healthy and hope the rest of the offense improves around him.

Philadelphia Eagles

Miles Sanders – Rush: 179-818-3, Receive: 50-509-3
Jordan Howard – Rush: 119-525-6, Receive: 10-69-1

The Eagles had long relied on a committee approach to their backfield and likely still will – at least to a degree. The addition of Jordan Howard didn’t do much and he missed six games due to injury. He was allowed to leave for the Dolphins. Boston Scott played well in his brief showings while Darren Sproles finally just got too old and was never a factor. Jay Ajayi tore his ACL in 2019 and returned only briefly last year. He too has been released.

The story of the backfield revolved around rookie Miles Sanders (2.21). He ended with 818 rushing yards and a 4.6-yard average. Sanders became a bigger part of the passing game down the stretch with 23 of his 50 catches over his final five games. Sanders enters the year as the clear primary back who should enjoy an even better year thanks to a workload that will increase – and potentially by a large margin.

The Eagles have Boston Scott as their second back but are expected to end up with a veteran No. 2 at some point, even if it waits until after final cuts before the season starts. The offense is mature with four years of HC Doug Pederson controlling the plays. The offensive line is an advantage and the schedule is roughly average as it was last year.

Training Camp Needs: Same offense but Sanders works out as the primary back. He needs to stay healthy and just prepare for a bigger workload. The offense will likely need to incorporate a No. 2 back if they follow through on plans to acquire a veteran. If they don’t, then Sanders is in for a very busy year.

Pittsburgh Steelers

James Conner – Rush: 116-464-4, Receive: 34-251-3
Jaylen Samuels – Rush: 66-175-1, Receive: 47-305-1

Last year, the offense was running on fumes after Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell were gone and Ben Roethlisberger was quickly lost for the season. James Conner was impressive in 2018 when he ran for 973 yards, caught 55 passes for 487 yards, and scored a total of 13 touchdowns. Last season, he missed six games due to thigh, quadriceps and shoulder injuries and was far less effective even when healthy.

All of 2019 stats should be questioned and taken with a grain of salt since the loss of Roethlisberger started the spiral. The Steelers remain committed to Conner as the primary back. Benny Snell was the 4.20 pick last year and ran 108 times for 426 yards though he had no role as a receiver. Jaylen Samuels was limited to 66 runs but his 47 catches were second-highest on the team.

There was speculation that the Steelers would grab an early back in the draft t compete with Conner but they only selected Anthony McFarland with their 4.18 pick. The rookie is more of a third-down player at 5-8 and 193 pounds. Conner is a bulky 6-1, 233 pounds.

Training CampNeeds: The intention is that Conner returns to being the primary back and he’ll run behind one of the better offensive lines. So long as Roethlisberger looks back to form this summer, the entire offense will get a lift. Unless McFarland surprises, the Steelers will move forward with Conner and Samuels as the starters again.

San Francisco 49ers

Raheem Mostert – Rush: 137-772-8, Receive: 14-180-2
Tevin Coleman – Rush: 137-544-6, Receive: 21-180-1

This is a busy backfield. Last year, the 49ers ranked No. 29 with only 476 passes and yet were No. 2 with 428 rushes. They were two carries short of being No. 1 in running back carries. And yet the highest-ranked running back was Raheem Mostert at only No. 25 for fantasy points. This was a committee approach and both Mostert and Tevin Coleman ran exactly 137 times.  Matt Brieda turned in 123 runs as well. All combined the backfield produced well but individually, none of them ended as a top back.

Coleman came over from Atlanta to reunite with Mike Shanahan but was very average and while he started out as the primary rusher, he ended on a much quieter note. He rushed over ten times in seven of his first nine games. His final eight games contained only one with more than five runs. That was mostly due to Mostert.

After four very quiet seasons in the NFL, Mostert blew up at the end of last year. He was allowed double-digit carries in each of his last eight games and ended with a 5.6-yard average. He scored ten times and all but one came after Week 11. He also rushed for 220 yards on 29 runs in the win over the Packers in the Conference Championship while scoring four times. Mostert was rarely used as a receiver.

Brieda is gone but he had already fallen to No. 3 on the depth chart anyway. Coleman remains though he hasn’t been nearly as productive as hoped. He is still their goal line guy. Mostert is the one that draws the most interest this summer. He ended 2019 on a very high note and is in line for the busiest season of his six-year career.

Training Camp Needs: Coleman and Mostert should command a big chunk of the workload and Mostert has the most potential. The 49ers have new receivers to bring up to speed, so the backfield should remain busy. With Brieda gone, it would be good to see Mostert working on his receiving skills.

Seattle Seahawks

Chris Carson – Rush: 278-1230-7, Receive: 37-266-2
Rashaad Penny – Rush: 65-370-3, Receive: 8-83-1

This was a top backfield in 2018 but injuries became an issue last year. Chris Carson ended the year with a hip injury that fortunately avoided the need for surgery. He’s expected to be ready for camp and the season. Rashaad Penny blew an ACL and is not expected to be back until after the season starts. They even lost C.J. Prosise to a broken arm.

To help out, the Seahawks tabbed free agent  Carlos Hyde who himself was recovering from shoulder surgery. He is expected to be ready for camp and will be the No. 2 back at least until Penny is healthy but could just remain the primary backup. Carson accounted for a career-high 278 runs for 1,230 yards and a total of nine touchdowns last year.

The Seahawks have a very tough rushing schedule this year but the same was true in 2019. Hyde could see even more work if Hyde is slower to pick up the offense than expected, but Hyde could also cut into Carson’s workload potentially. Penny only played in eight games so Carson’s role was bigger in most games.

Training Camp Needs:  The health of all three runners needs to be established. Carson and Hyde are both expected to be good to go, and if so, a committee approach is more likely. Hyde could be a great addition if he learns the offense and gets enough volume of touches to be a contributor.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Ronald Jones II – Rush: 172-724-6, Receive: 31-309-0
Peyton Barber – Rush: 154-470-6, Receive: 16-115-1

The Buccaneers had the worst backfield in the NFL for 2018 and they improved last season if only marginally. HC Bruce Arians and OC Byron Leftwich brought new life to the offense in all phases even if they ended up releasing a 5,000-yard quarterback and acquired Tom Brady.

Ronald Jones was the 2.06 pick by the Bucs in 2018 but he had a very underwhelming rookie campaign that ended with only 23 rushes for 44 yards and one score. He upped that dramatically under Arians and Leftwich when he ran for 724 yards on 172 rushes (4.2 YPC), caught 31 passes, and scored six times. He even notched his first NFL 100-yard game in Week 17 against the Falcons.

Peyton Barber fell to the No. 2 back last year and ended up with the Redskins this year. That led the Bucs to draft Ke’Shawn Vaughn (3.12) who would fill the No. 2 role. Dare Ogunbowale filled in as the third-down back last year but was usually limited to no more than three receptions. Vaughn is the newcomer here and has already drawn fantasy attention in early drafts.

Vaughn has potential. He played four years between Illinois and Vanderbilt and is as good of a receiver as he is rusher. Jones is expected to retain his role as the primary back and should take the bulk of all carries, but Vaughn will also contribute both as a relief back and as a receiver.

The Buccaneers have an average schedule after one of the easiest ones in 2019. The offensive line is still below average and Tom Brady brings in a new element to the team.

Training Camp Needs: Getting Vaughn acclimated to the offense is a priority but Brady and the passing game will command the most focus. Vaughn can help his case with a good showing in preseason games and the Bucs may end up rushing more this year with Brady under center. Arians had a positive effect on the offense and helped bring the backfield into the game plan.

Tennessee Titans

Derrick Henry – Rush: 303-1540-16, Receive: 18-206-2
Dion Lewis – Rush: 54-209-0, Receive: 25-164-1

To his credit, Derrick Henry increased his production in all four years and now is slapped with the franchise tag at least until a long-term deal is done. Under the first year of OC Arthur Smith, he picked up where he left off at the end of 2018 and became the same workhorse beast that he was at Alabama. Henry ran a league-leading 303 times for 1,540 yards and scored 18 touchdowns. Dion Lewis only managed 86 touches and is gone.

Henry will reprise his role as the central focus of the offense and he’ll enjoy a jump from facing the No. 22 rushing schedule strength to the No. 7 best. The switch to Ryan  Tannehill helped open up the offense and finally give the defense something other than Henry to worry about. That helps Henry  – a lot.

To help replace Lewis, the Titans spent their 3.29 pick on Darrynton Evans who was a two-year starter at Appalachian State. He only caught 25 passes in college so he’ll need to work on that aspect of his game. As it stands, he’ll be no better than the relief back behind Henry. The Titans like to run the ball, so Evans could see enough of a role to merit a fantasy roster spot.

Training Camp Needs: Evans only started for two seasons at a small college, so he needs all the camp time he can get if he is to become the No. 2 back. There’s a dearth of any talent behind him, so if he falters the Titans likely will go looking for a free agent. This is Henry’s team and he’s not going to leave much work for anyone else anyway.

Washington Redskins

Adrian Peterson – Rush: 211-898-5, Receive: 17-142-0
Chris Thompson – Rush: 37-138-0, Receive: 42-378-0

This backfield has been below average for a while and cannot seem to get anyone to step up other than the aged Adrian Peterson who surprised in 2018 when Derrius Guice was injured before the season started. Peterson was unable to do as well in 2019 even though Guice disappeared yet again by Week 5.

The Redskins are onto a new head coach with Ron Rivera and he brought OC Scott Turner with him from Carolina to run this offense. The Redskins rank below average in virtually every offensive category for the last two seasons, so any improvement isn’t that hard to make.

This is the fourth new offensive coordinator over the last four years. The system will be new but it imports from Carolina where Christian McCaffrey was the No. 1 fantasy running back for 2019. There is no McCaffrey here, to be sure, and the Skins only change was to bring in Peyton Barber and J.D. McKissic to add to the aged Peterson and always-injured Guice. This offense assumedly goes after a top back next year.

To make this even more confusing, they drafted Antonio Gibson with their 3.02 pick. The 6-0, 228 pound Memphis product was a wideout and listed as such for the NFL draft. He only had 44 carries and 33 catches over his two-year collegiate career but impressed HC Ron Rivera enough to prompt him to say that Gibson had many of the same qualities of McCaffery. More importantly, Turner says they want to be unpredictable on every play which is another way of saying they don’t have anyone worthy of relying on as a primary back.

Training camp has to sort this mess out and chances are very good that by Week 1, we won’t know anything more about who does what and when. The rushing schedule isn’t bad but the offensive line hasn’t been an advantage in a long time. This is easily the most convoluted backfield in the NFL that could constantly change during the season.

Training Camp Needs: Hopefully, training camp will help define at least the top backs in the scheme that might have some fantasy value. Peterson gets a bit worse each year and likely is past any full-time role. Guice cannot stay healthy and is unreliable. Barber was cut since he couldn’t make it on one of the worst rushing teams. McKissic is a third-down type but maybe No. 4 or even No. 5 on the depth chart. Gibson? Complete wild card.

This will be one of the more interesting camps, given all the questions. But it still may not produce anyone with fantasy value.

Fantasy football preseason preview: Quarterbacks

Looking at the state of quarterbacks before the preseason

Quarterbacks run the ball much more for the last couple of seasons, even if that stems from just a few players. But they are all young and a sign of things to come.  And with that change in offensive direction, all other ball-handling positions are impacted – usually negatively.

The position is still less valued in fantasy terms since most leagues only start one and the difference between players is less with their marginal demand. But as goes the quarterback, so goes the fantasy fortunes of all their offensive players.

Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

Quarterback Totals by Year

The overall passes have gone down slightly for the last few seasons and the touchdown passes regressed from the near record-high of 2018. But the rushing attempts are at a record-high for the last two seasons along with more touchdowns scored on the ground than ever.  That’s more than just the top few rushing quarterbacks, but they still account for a huge chunk of those totals.

Top Ten Quarterback Totals by Year

The amount of passes thrown by the top quarterbacks is one of the lowest in the last decade. They also threw 63 fewer touchdowns than in 2018 – almost 20% fewer. And yet, the rushing yardage blew the record out of the water. Thanks in no small part to Lamar Jackson (1,206), Kyler Murray (544), Josh Allen (510), and Deshaun Watson (413), the top ten fantasy quarterbacks almost doubled the rushing yardage gained in the last decade.

The rushing touchdown total (38) also was nearly double that of most recent years. Those top four rushing quarterbacks mentioned above accounted for 27 ground scores by themselves – more than the entire league in most years.

In the team breakdowns below, the most common statistics and fantasy points are shown, along with the individual quarterback that led their team.

Arizona Cardinals

Kyler Murray – Pass: 542-349-3722-20, Rush: 93-544-4

Granted – 2018 was a horrible season by all accounts. The offense imploded and they tore down the coaching staff. But in HC Kliff Kingsbury’s first season, the change was dramatic and more so considering that the new offense was headed by the rookie Kyler Murray.

The position is locked up for at least the next four years and likely beyond. Murray not only threw for 20 scores but he also only tossed 12 interceptions. And he added 100 runs for 553 yards. The only negative so far is that their schedule has been much worse than most teams. Adding DeAndre Hopkins is a major boost for a team that already should see increased development for Christian Kirk, Keesan Johnson, Andy Isabella, and Hakeem Butler.

Training Camp Needs: Mainly just integrate DeAndre Hopkins into an already up-and-coming offense.

Atlanta Falcons

Matt Ryan – Pass: 616-408-4466-26, Rush: 34-148-1

The first season of OC Dirk Koetter went well enough with Matt Ryan breaking the 5,000-yard mark. His touchdown totals dropped from 35 to 29, and he doesn’t offer much as a rusher. But the addition of Todd Gurley should pay some dividends to a weak rushing offense. He could also prevent Ryan from throwing more touchdown passes as well.

The only change for Ryan is losing Austin Hooper (75-787-6) and replacing him with Hayden Hurst. Ryan has emerged as a solid fantasy start for the last two seasons and nothing here has changed that jeopardizes a repeat. The Falcons traded away Mohamed Sanu at Week 8 last year and that sparked Calvin Ridley. The offense is now much more standard with the two wideouts and a tight end accounting for almost all the passing stats.

Training Camp Needs: Working with Hayden Hurst will pay some dividends.

Baltimore Ravens

Lamar Jackson – Pass: 401-265-3127-36, Rush: 176-1206-7

Lamar Jackson’s passing stats were anemic as a rookie in 2018 though he was a strong runner. Last season, he threw less and yet somehow managed to more than double the passing touchdowns to 37 – tops in the NFL. He also rushed for over 1,000-yards and in short, led many fantasy teams to the promised land last year.

With six 100-yard rushing efforts, Jackson was a top fantasy play every week and a dominating difference maker in most. The Ravens haven’t changed anything notable for 2019 but should be at least incrementally better from Marquise Brown entering his second season, along with introducing talented rookies of running back J.K. Dobbins and wideout Devin Duvernay.

Training Camp Needs: Keep Jackson healthy. Sharpen the chemistry with the receivers just in case he cannot run all over every defense again this year.

Buffalo Bills

Josh Allen – Pass: 461-271-3089-20, Rush: 109-510-9

The rookie Allen struggled in 2018 but spent last season cranking out a surprising amount of fantasy points, even if many were related to his rushing production instead of passing. His 3,448 passing yards were only average along with the 20 touchdowns but he ran in nine scores along with 506 yards as a runner.

The Bills enter their third season with OC Brian Daboll and have added Stefon Diggs as the pricey new primary wideout. John Brown was a pleasant surprise last year when he broke 1,000 yards but only Cole Beasley managed to top 400 receiving yards. The addition of Diggs can only help.

Allen turned in over 40 rushing yards in over half of his games last year. That will continue to help his consistent fantasy scoring.

Training Camp Needs: Work on chemistry with Stefon Diggs. The team would benefit greatly from an improved passing offense.

Carolina Panthers

Kyle Allen – Pass: 489-303-3322-17, Rush: 32-106-2

This is a rebuilding year and last year’s stats bear out why. The Panther cleaned house of both coaches and quarterbacks after the implosion of 2019. HC Matt Ruhe (ex-Baylor HC) brings plenty of promise to the team but they’ve thrown their current future behind Teddy Bridgewater who looked good manning the juggernaut of the Saints’ offense. But – an entirely new scheme is being installed with a new quarterback.

Fantasy fans are reasonably cool for 2019 for the Panthers even though they have one of the better passing schedules. They’ve added Robbie Anderson as an upgrade over the disappointing Curtis Samuel but gave up Greg Olsen. That may not be material unless the offense needs a receiving tight end.

With so many unknowns, there could be an opportunity here but mostly just a lot of risk, fantasy-wise.

Training Camp Needs: A lot. The scheme is all new and Bridgewater has to adapt. New receiver in Anderson. Worth watching and again – better schedule than most. But missed time because of the COVID-19  already puts the team at a disadvantage.

Chicago Bears

Mitchell Trubisky – Pass: 516-326-3138-18, Rush: 48-193-2

There was some optimism carried over from 2018 and the Bears faced one of the best schedules last year. It did not matter. Mitchell Trubisky regressed in most areas and the Bears move into yet another offensive coordinator in Bill Lazor (ex-CIN HC). Trubisky was the 1.02 pick in 2017 and has been thoroughly outplayed by Patrick Mahomes, and Deshaun Watson who went after him.

That led Chicago to bring in Nick Foles who in eight years still has yet to play a full season in the NFL. The only other addition was  Jimmy Graham who has given every indication that his best years don’t even show up in the rearview mirror anymore. Allen Robinson has stood alone as the only receiver of any note and Chicago hasn’t done anything to change that.

Training Camp Needs: Quarterback controversy! Trubisky enters camp as the starter but Foles will be allowed every chance to take over the reins. The set of receivers here are below average to be sure and may still be little more than Robinson again. The Bears have the best passing schedule in the NFL and that helps the eventual starter. But – Trubisky had a great one last year and flopped. Probably the best fantasy outcome is for Foles to win the job since he hasn’t proven to be unable to move the offense yet.

Cincinnati Bengals

Andy Dalton – Pass: 528-314-3494-16, Rush: 32-73-4

Time for change after nine years of Andy Dalton. The Bengals invested their 1.01 pick on Joe Burrow on the premise that he can replicate the wild success of his senior year at LSU (and not the other three years he played). There’s no controversy here. Burrows will be under center in Week 1.

HC Zac Taylor’s first season did not go well (hence the first overall pick). But it will be the same offense and might even return A.J. Green from his lost 2019 season. That would prove a major upgrade along with tabbing wideout Tee Higgins with their 2.01 pick.

The future looks bright – in theory anyway – but 2019 will be a down year for the quarterback position.

Training Camp Needs: Not getting in any work up through training camp will hurt what will already be a daunting task of learning the ropes for Burrow. The best hope is that he shows progress as the season progresses.

For fantasy purposes, the expectations here have to be kept low. Burrow will offer fantasy value if he continues to run the ball as he did in college, but that’s only when the play breaks down.

Cleveland Browns

Baker Mayfield – Pass: 534-317-3827-22, Rush: 28-141-3

The Browns come off a bad year (Part XVIII) and Baker Mayfield stumbled after a very promising rookie season with 27 passing scores. Adding Odell Beckham did not have any real effect since he played the entire season with a strained groin. And Jarvis Landry was also injured. So out with the old, in with the new. Again.

HC Kevin Stefanski (ex-MIN OC) takes over and begins rebuilding. But – unlike other teams, the personnel here remains mostly the same just healthier. They all have to learn the new offensive scheme but Mayfield has a solid set of weapons. He faced the No. 31 passing schedule last year and only goes against the No. 9 for 2020. TE Austin Hooper was the only add.

Mayfield does have a new system and installing it has been slowed by the COVID-19 fallout. But there are many solid reasons to expect this offense and Mayfield, in particular, to improve and possibly significantly this year.

Training Camp Needs: Installing the new offense and getting everyone on the same page. Just having healthy players will be an improvement by itself. It would be great to hear that Beckham looks like his old self.

Dallas Cowboys

Dak Prescott – Pass: 596-388-4902-30, Rush: 52-277-3

The Cowboys may have lost a lot of cash not renewing Dak Prescott last year when it would have been far cheaper. Prescott turned in a monster year with almost 5,000 passing yards and 30 touchdowns and enough rushing production to place him around the No. 3 fantasy quarterback last year.

The head coach changes to Mike McCarthy but the offense remains mostly the same with holdover OC Kellen Moore. Both Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup broke 1,100 yards and return. Jason Witten left but wasn’t a major factor anyway. More favorably, the Cowboys used their 1.17 pick on CeeDee Lamb that should yield one of the top receiving trios in the NFL.

The schedule is slightly better and was already top ten easier last year in schedule strength.

Training Camp Needs: Learn any new nuances in the offense with Moore opening up the playbook more and McCarthy sure to have some influence. Meshing with Lamb is the most crucial need in camp, along with any sign that Blake Jarwin looks like he can step up.

Denver Broncos

Joe Flacco – Pass: 262-171-1822-6, Rush: 12-20-0

The first season for HC Vic Fangio was a struggle with Joe Flacco underperforming and then missing half the season injured. Eventually, 2.10 pick Drew Lock took over for five games, but they had already dumped Emmanuel Sanders and thrown in the towel. This training camp is big for Lock who gets his first summer as a starter.

There is still rebuilding, but at least they are at the point of adding players and not just cutting them.  Wideout Jerry Jeudy was their 1.15 pick and brings great optimism when he pairs with Courtland Sutton who was the 2.08 pick in 2018. This is still a very young team and TE Noah Fant was their first-round pick last year.

Lock is missing out on valuable time with the offense while the COVID-19 situation plays out. Adding in the addition of RB Melvin Gordon and every skill position is filled with a talented, early-round draft pick.

Training Camp Needs: New OC Pat Shurmur has plenty to use in his offense but this is a very young team that needs to mesh together as they learn the new offense. The Broncos passing schedule is below average and that also could slow development. But Lock has all the tools to succeed once he learns how to use them. Camp is critical to start that process.

Detroit Lions

Matthew Stafford – Pass: 291-187-2499-19, Rush: 20-66-0

With 11 seasons in Detroit, Matt Stafford is one of the most tenured quarterbacks in the league. HC Matt Patricia enters his third season after shaping the team. Stafford had been a lock for over 4,200 yards every year until the rebuild started. Last year, he was on a pack for 5,000 yards when he missed the final eight games due to injury.

The Lions have rebuilt their backfield with the rookie rushers  D’Andre Swift and RB Jason Huntley to join the ever-injured Kerryon Johnson. The receivers remain the same other than Geronimo Allison adding depth.

Stafford is a hot commodity this summer and rightfully so. He was already one of the top passers last year before injury and now returns to the same cast of receivers. Kenny Golladay has become elite and Marvin Jones is healthy again. Even Danny Amendola has a role here. The Lions drafted T.J. Hockenson with their 1.08 pick in 2019 so big things are expected with him in his second season.

Even better, the Lions have one of the easiest passing schedules in the league. Stafford is not going to earn his paycheck by taking off on a run.

Training Camp Needs: Just more time with the same set of healthy receivers. It would be great to hear Hockenson looks better this year.

Green Bay Packers

Aaron Rodgers – Pass: 569-353-4002-26, Rush: 46-183-1

I’m sorry – Jordan who? The Packers surprised everyone when they selected quarterback Jordan Love with their 1.26 pick and that only drove the wedge in further between what Aaron Rodgers was for so many years and what he has become under this new regime.

Rodgers is 36 years old, a youngster in Brady-ian terms, but he had always been one of the top passers in the league until the last two seasons. There are no changes here barring a mind-bending, highly unlikely trade but the offense does not throw nearly as much anymore ranking just No. 16 in pass attempts.

Worse yet, the Packers need better receivers desperately and all they did was get Devin Funchess and dumped Geronimo Allison. They never touched the position in a draft considered rich in wideouts.

Training Camp Needs: The second season for  OC Nathaniel Hackett’s offense and no reason to expect improvement.

Houston Texans

Deshaun Watson – Pass: 495-333-3852-26, Rush: 82-413-7

The camp is worth watching. Deshaun Watson is established as one of the most talented quarterbacks in the league but the Texans traded away DeAndre Hopkins for broken-down  David Johnson and some Pizza Hut coupons.

They did acquire Brandin Cooks as his fourth NFL team in the last five years and paid-up shockingly high for Randall Cobb. There is always a chance that Will Fuller can string together more than eight games without a season-ending injury.

Watson enters his fourth season and needs to remain productive for his looming and profitable Contract 2. He just won’t have perhaps the best receiver in the NFL to catch the ball anymore.

Training Camp Needs: Integrating Cooks into Hopkins’ old role has to happen quickly if the offense can remain as dangerous. The schedule is better for 2020 but Watson has to figure out how to take advantage of new, yet less talented, receivers.

Indianapolis Colts

Jacoby Brissett – Pass: 447-272-2942-18, Rush: 56-228-4

This is worth watching. Andrew Luck retired only eight minutes before the 2019 season and that took a major toll on the position and team. Jacoby Brissett tried and failed to keep the team afloat so Philip Rivers was brought in as the new starter. That’s not a bad thing.

Granted, Rivers is 38 years old, but he’s been a lock for 4,300 passing yards each season and often over 30 touchdowns. He offers almost no rushing production but is still one of the better passers in the NFL.

The cast of receivers hasn’t changed much other than drafting Michael Pittman (2.02) but Rivers has to get on the same page with a new set of players for the first time since being drafted in 2004. On the plus, T.Y. Hilton should return to his normal 1,000-yard season now that he is back to health.

Training Camp Needs: This is the third year of the offense under HC Frank Riech, so camp is just a chance to get Rivers integrated and familiar with the scheme and players. Mostly his connection with Hilton will matter the most.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Gardner Minshew II – Pass: 470-285-3271-21, Rush: 67-344-0

The Jaguars brought in Nick Foles for yet another chance to become a starter and after injury and a surprisingly effective sixth-round Gardner Minshew was done, Foles is onto his next gig. Minshew not only threw 21 scores against only six interceptions over 12 starts, but he became the most “fun” quarterback in the league.

Minshew is the Week 1 starter this time and they drafted wideout Laviska Shenault Jr. (2.10) to add to DJ Chark and Dede Westbrook.  Tyler Eifert was also added.

This was an average, middle-of-the-road passing offense last year but that still greatly exceeded expectations. Minshew has a worse passing schedule for 2020, but at least he has more weapons and enters the year knowing that he is the starter.

Training Camp Needs: Hard to count on Shenault much at least early in the season. But Eifert needs to show some chemistry and throwing off the rust has to happen.

Kansas City Chiefs

Patrick Mahomes – Pass: 484-319-4031-26, Rush: 43-218-2

Patrick Mahomes missed a few games and played injured in several, so his astronomic production dropped from 2019. All the receivers return from 2019 and the rushing effort should see an upgrade with drafting Clyde Edwards-Helaire with their 1.32 pick.

Both Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins missed time due to injury last season and the rookie Mecole Hardman played through his own ailments. A healthy returning group of wideouts will only help Mahomes from his “down” year of being the No. 7 best fantasy quarterback.

Training Camp Needs: Just stay healthy.

Las Vegas Raiders

Derek Carr – Pass: 513-361-4054-21, Rush: 27-83-2

Derek Carr made it through another NFL draft without gaining any competition, although the Raiders added Marcus Mariota as a backup. The Raiders come off another year of needing receivers and the Antonio Bryant experiment exploded and injured anyone standing in the lab.

Carr also suffered through one of the worst passing schedules as well, so he gets a boost from only facing an average slate of opponents for 2020.

Tight end Darren Waller became the default primary receiver as did Jared Cook the previous year. But this year promises to be far better, even if they have to get used to new surroundings and new players. The Raiders added Nelson Agholor and drafted Henry Ruggs (1.12) and Bryan Edwards (3.17) to add to Tyrell Williams and Hunter Renfrow.

Training Camp Needs: Carr remains the clear starter with a better schedule and just needs to work on connecting with Henry Ruggs and Nelson Agholor. This passing offense should be markedly better than 2019 but the new pieces will need time to integrate, along with just getting used to being in a new home stadium and city.

Los Angeles Chargers

Philip Rivers – Pass: 591-390-4615-23, Rush: 12-30-0

The Chargers have been average at passing for the last couple of years and 2020 shapes up for likely more of the same. Long-time starter Philip Rivers is gone and HC Anthony Lynn has yet another new offensive coordinator in Shane Steichen who was the QB coach there last year.

Tyrod Taylor enters training camp as the starter and may remain so all year. But the Chargers drafted Justin Herbert with their 1.06 pick and that wasn’t for a backup. The only question is when Herbert gets the starting nod. A lack of time with the team due to the COVID-19 situation undoubtedly puts Herbert at a disadvantage for any quick move up the depth chart.

This is still largely the same scheme and there are no new receivers of any note. The Chargers had one of the worst schedules last year so moving up to average seems like a boost.

Training Camp Needs: Taylor has to mesh with his new team and learn the offense, all the while trying to hold off Herbert. No team spends a top-ten pick on a guy they plan to ignore for a year so Herbert has a good shot at eventual playing time. But short of an inspired camp, Herbert sits on the sideline for now while Taylor runs the team.

Los Angeles Rams

Jared Goff – Pass: 626-394-4638-22, Rush: 33-43-2

The Rams had a down year for 2019 and Jared Goff fell to only the No. 11 fantasy quarterback after rising to No. 6 the previous season. Even then, he was on fire the first part of the year and cooled later including his monumental flop in the Super Bowl.

This year, the Rams still have an average sort of schedule and they let WR Brandin Cooks go. But Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, and Josh Reynolds remain the starting wideouts. And Tyler Higbee suddenly went nuclear for the final five games of the season after three and a half years of abject mediocrity. Go figure.

This is now a mature offense of three seasons under HC Sean McVay with the weapons to make Goff successful. Losing  Todd Gurley could result in more passing scores since he was a touchdown sponge. Goff threw for 28 and 32 touchdowns and then only managed 22 last year.

Training Camp Needs: With no changes to scheme, coaches, or players, the Rams are in good shape to weather the lack of time together. Camp just serves as a refresher.

Miami Dolphins

Ryan Fitzpatrick – Pass: 502-311-3529-20, Rush: 54-243-4

The Dolphins struggled during HC Brian Flores inaugural season. The first part of the equation was dropping players for draft picks and the offense ended up using both Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen. Only Devante Parker really succeeded although the rookie Preston Williams was starting to assert himself before blowing out his ACL in Week 9.

The Fins brought OC Chan Gailey out of retirement to run the offense. They did not add any new receivers of note but did beef up the backfield that they stripped bare last year. But the Fins spent their 1.05 pick on Tua Tagovailoa in the hopes he can replicate his success at Alabama while avoiding the injuries he also had there. By all available sources, Tagovailoa is healthy again and will vie for the starting spot against Fitzpatrick.

This is still a situation to avoid and somehow, the Fins not only had one of the worst passing schedules last year, but they have just as bad for this one.

Training Camp Needs: Fitzpatrick has to learn the new scheme from Gailey but has all the same receivers from last year. Camp is more about seeing where Tagovailoa is in his recovery and readiness to start to play. This should be a down year again but it will be all about preparing the rookie to lead the team in the future.

Minnesota Vikings

Kirk Cousins – Pass: 444-307-3603-26, Rush: 31-64-1

After two straight seasons in the top ten for fantasy quarterbacks, Kirk Cousins fell back to only No. 19 thanks to a renewed devotion to the rushing offense. There is a new offensive coordinator in Gary Kubiak but that is not expected to change how much the Vikings will pass.  They also go from a middle-of-the-road schedule to one of the tougher ones in the league.

The Vikings allowed Stefon Diggs to leave despite him being the only wideout with more than 420 yards last year. Adam Thielen is healthy again after missing six games but his production already waned after an impressive 2018. The Vikings also drafted Justin Jefferson (1.22) to replace Diggs but that will take some time, especially with the lack of practice because of the COVID-19 problem.

Once again, the Vikings do have one of the easiest rushing schedules and there is no doubt that the backfield will once again account for a big chunk of the offense.

Training Camp Needs: Jefferson needs to mesh with Cousins, but camp is unlikely to be enough to change the mediocre expectations from this passing game.

New England Patriots

Tom Brady – Pass: 613-373-4057-24, Rush: 26-34-3

Why hello, Mr. Change.  This is the first time in 20 years that the Patriots change their quarterback and it couldn’t happen in a messier, more complicated season. Brian Hoyer shows up to offer a veteran fallback but second-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham takes over. For now, at least. He was the 4.31 pick by the Pats in 2019 but only had two completion as a rookie. This is an entirely unknown situation.

The Pats were only average in passing categories last year with Brady. There was a lack of credible receivers, it seemed, and yet they did nothing to address it. The Patriots drafted two tight ends for the future and brought in Jags castoff Marqise Lee, but otherwise, go to war with the same set of receivers that struggled with Brady last year.

This is one of the more interesting camps to watch given that Stidham has almost no track record to consider and what appears to be marginal receivers.

Training Camp Needs: Stidham needs as much time as possible to work with all the starters. He’ll be facing a slightly tougher schedule than Brady did last year, and have to use mostly the same players. Training camp is critical to get the Patriots off to a good start but the passing production is sure to take a hit. But the quarterback position hasn’t had questions in two decades.

New Orleans Saints

Drew Brees – Pass: 378-281-2979-27, Rush: 9-(-2)-1

One more time. The Saints are still a perennial contender and Drew Brees wants one more ring, along with all the passing records as well. The only change to this very mature offense is that Emmanuel Sanders offers hope that there could be a second wideout that matters here. Michael Thomas ended with historic production in 2019 from a lack of other targets. And the fact that no one could cover him.

The Saints want one more championship and could be the team that needs the least amount of preparation this summer.

Training Camp Needs: Stay healthy. Get Sanders involved.

New York Giants

Daniel Jones – Pass: 459-284-3027-24, Rush: 45-279-2

The Eli Manning era came to a close after only two games last year and Daniel Jones stepped in as a 1.06 pick should. Jones faced an average strength schedule and played well on a team that lost every starting receiver for at least a few games if not half a season.

Jones helped 5.33 pick, Darius Slayton, to lead the team in receiving yards which bodes well for 2020 with Golden Tate, Sterling Shepard, and Evan Engram healthy at least for now. And a healthy Saquon Barkley just furthers the optimism that the Giants can turn around from their 4-12 debacle last year.

The Giants are onto a new set of coaches with HC Joe Judge relying on OC Jason Garrett to install the new scheme. It shouldn’t be dramatically different from what they played under last year.

Training Camp Needs: Installing the new-ish offense will take time but the same set of players return. Just being healthy will be new after last year’s continual drain of players heading for the sideline.  Jones needs to re-establish his chemistry while learning a new offense.

New York Jets

Sam Darnold – Pass: 441-273-3024-19, Rush: 33-62-2

Sam Darnold still hasn’t justified that 1.03 pick from 2018. These last two seasons have seen the quarterback position remain one of the worst fantasy producers and the Jets’ answer has been to let Robbie Anderson leave while replacing him with only Breshad Perriman and drafting Denzel Mims ((2.27). That doesn’t appear to be a game-changer.

Worse yet, the Jets go from a relatively bad schedule last year to one of the worst for 2020. And Darnold adds almost nothing as a rusher, so he needs the receivers to be upgraded to help the pocket passer. That just hasn’t happened.

Training Camp Needs: Beyond Jamison Crowder, there are nothing but question marks for the wideouts. Training camp will help to set the depth chart entering the season but that doesn’t mean any will produce fantasy value. Chris Herndon is being talked up, so Darnold would help himself out by including his tight end more than 2019 when he rarely threw to the position.

Philadelphia Eagles

Carson Wentz – Pass: 607-388-4039-27, Rush: 62-243-1

Wentz continues to be worthy of a fantasy start and yet no difference-maker. Both Wentz and HC Doug Pederson have been together for the last four years and present a mature, complicated offense. Last year, the Eagles had their share of injuries that impacted the passing. DeSean Jackson is slated to return and will give Wentz a much-needed weapon.

Alshon Jeffery returns for his fourth season but he’s never replicated the success that he had back in Chicago. Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert combined to allow the Eagles to post an NFL-best 155 catches for 1,610 yards and 12 touchdowns from their tight ends.

Marquise Goodwin comes over from the 49ers and they drafted Jalen Reagor (1.21). That may not pay off much in 2020 but brightens the future. The schedule is kinder than most, the wideouts should be much improved with a healthy Jackson and the youngster Reagor.

Training Camp Needs: Wentz needs to work with Jackson after the year-long layoff and Reagor has plenty to learn. The Eagles are in a good shape for 2020 with the same scheme, coaches and most players. Wentz just needs to shake off the rust and stay healthy.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Mason Rudolph – Pass: 283-176-1765-13, Rush: 21-47-0

Okay, so maybe 2019 could have gone better. Ben Roethlisberger missed all but one game and the Steelers plummeted from one of the best passing offenses down to the worst (fantasy-wise). Losing Antonio Brown was also a negative, if only in production terms.

By all accounts, Roethlisberger returns healthy for the third year of OC Randy Fichtner and Big Ben did break 5,000 yards in 2018. The Steelers also had one of the worse passing schedules in 2019, so even just an average strength for 2020 is an upgrade.

JuJu Smith-Schuster should bounce back and Diontae Johnson was a third-round surprise last year. James Washington rounds out the returning starters and the Steelers added Chase Claypool with their 2.17 pick. At 6-4, 238 pounds, the rookie was one of the biggest wideouts in this year’s class and could make some noise this year if only later in the season.

Training Camp Needs: Mature offense with all starters returning plus Eric Ebron at the tight end though the position has been little used there. Roethlisberger just needs to prove himself healthy, stay that way, and get back to being one of the better pocket passers in the league. Last year was so bad that it obscured how good Roethlisberger can be, even without Antonio Brown.

San Francisco 49ers

Jimmy Garoppolo – Pass: 476-329-3978-27, Rush: 46-62-1

Nothing like consistency.  Jimmy G. finally played a 16-game season and ended up almost exactly where the 49ers were in 2018 when he only lasted for three games. The 49ers are in their fourth-year under HC Kyle Shanahan and there hasn’t been any sign that the offense intends on passing more. This is a team that plays great defense, ranked No. 1 in rushing yards by running backs and No. 2 in rushing attempts.

The 49ers ranked only No. 29 in pass attempts and look likely to just replicate the last two seasons.

Deebo Samuel impressed even as a rookie and returns as the primary wideout and they drafted Brandon Aiyuk with their 1.25 pick in the draft. George Kittle remains the busiest receiver but this team just doesn’t prefer to throw much and thanks to their defense and rushing game, they win games mostly without the need to throw much.

Training Camp Needs: The rookie Aiyuk can press for a starting role but he’ll need a strong showing in camp and gain instant chemistry with Garoppolo. This is a mature offense and very diverse. No reason to expect much more from Garoppolo than he’s already shown and camp won’t change that.

Seattle Seahawks

Russell Wilson – Pass: 516-341-4110-31, Rush: 75-342-3

Wilson has been a lock as a top-ten fantasy quarterback and he’s poised for yet another big year. The offense remains very mature and familiar with no major need to learning anything new.

The passing schedule is one of the more favorable ones of the last several years. New additions of Phillip Dorsett and Greg Olsen do need to get reps with Wilson but  Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf are already well connected to their quarterback.

Metcalf should improve in his second season to further help Wilson remain productive. Wilson’s rushing totals have slightly declined almost every year but he comes off one of his best passing years ever. Few quarterbacks are rightfully considered a lock for 30 touchdowns per season.

Training Camp Needs: The only outcome from camp, aside from just refreshing everyone, is that Greg Olsen could end up as a goal-line option like Jimmy Graham was in 2017. But they would need to show chemistry to rely on Wilson using the position more.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Jameis Winston – Pass: 626-380-5109-33, Rush: 59-250-1

In with the old and out with the… wait a minute. The Buccaneers have produced the No. 2 fantasy quarterback points for the last two years.  Jameis Winston threw for over 5,000 yards last year but his 30 interceptions were considered less than ideal and he was placed in an NFL timeout as the No. 3 quarterback in New Orleans.

In comes Tom Brady to hopefully fill the stands with fans who are curious about a 42-year-old Hall of Fame quarterback. Obviously, Brady steps into a great situation with both Chris Godwin and Mike Evans as top-ten wideouts. That’s something that Brady never had in his 22 seasons. Oh, and they added Rob Gronkowski as an endzone threat and to spice up postgame interviews.

Brady has been remarkably durable but his production levels have waned in recent years. Is that his age or the lack of credible receivers?

We get to find out.

Training Camp Needs: Brady has to learn a new system but it will be tailored to him. Bringing in Gronkowski offers a familiar safety blanket but Brady needs to get reps with Godwin and Evans because those two will define the success of the offense. If Brady can show off his deep ball, he’ll make fantasy drafters feel better.

Tennessee Titans

Ryan Tannehill – Pass: 286-201-2742-22, Rush: 43-185-4

The Marcus Mariota era finally ended and Ryan Tannehill looked like a bargain throwing for multiple touchdowns in almost every start. Mariota never replicated his collegiate success while Tannehill suggested that the Dolphins never used him correctly.

Tannehill only played 11 games but helped A.J. Brown to blossom as a rookie and become the first 1,000-yard receiver for the Titans in the last seven years. This will be the second season for OC Arthur Smith, so no changes.

The Titans do face a much tougher passing schedule and found great success last year relying on Derrick Henry as a workhorse rusher.

Training Camp Needs: The same scheme and no new players means just refreshing everyone. This is the first training camp for Tannehill as their starter, but he was playing at a high-level last year already.

Washington Redskins

Case Keenum – Pass: 247-160-1707-11, Rush: 9-12-1

Kirk Cousins was the only 4,000-yard quarterback in Washington in the last two decades and he left after 2017. Four quarterbacks combined for marginal production in 2018 when Alex Smith broke his leg. Last season, the Skins drafted Dwayne Haskins with their 1.15 pick and it all got even worse.

Haskins returns as the starter with Kyle Allen as his backup. This is a rebuilding year with HC Ron Rivera giving the offense to OC Scott Turner (available since the Panthers also cleaned house). There were no receivers added other than 4.36 round pick Antonio Gandy-Golden.

Thaddeus Moss was added as an undrafted free agent and could have a shot at playing time on this meager roster. Terry McLaurin was the lone bright spot in a dismal 2019 when he ended with 919 yards and seven touchdowns but no other wideout had more than 365 yards. And Steven Sims and Kelvin Harmon return as starters.

Training Camp Needs: This is one of the worst passing teams for the last two years and it looks strongly like it will stretch to three. Haskins needs all the work he can get with his receivers and learning the new offense. But at least there are no new players he needs to mesh with and he can focus on making someone, anyone, become a bigger part of the offense aside from McLaurin.

Inside the Stats: Tight Ends

Inside the stats for tight ends

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

It is a position where few stand out with fantasy relevance, so overall stats say about all you need to know about a tight end’s value. These are the 12 players with at least 50 catches for 2019 and are in an offensive system that will use the position enough to let them matter. Still, always good to know a bit more about the player talent level if only for the future should they change teams.

Notable Players:

George Kittle – He did not see as much work in the playoffs as the regular season, but he’s clearly one of the most talented players of the position. His only metric that wasn’t among the best was the yards before catch – the one thing he has nothing to do with. His catch percentage (79%), yards after catch (7.1), and broken tackles (8) were all best in the NFL.

Darren Waller – For the second year in a row, the Raiders produced a top fantasy tight end from a player that had never been nearly so productive in the past. Waller posted metrics very similar to Kittle and had no low marks in any category.

Mark Andrews – The Ravens don’t throw a lot and don’t limit themselves to just one tight end, but Andrews led the group with 13.3 yards per catch not unlike a wide receiver would do.

Tyler Higbee – His late-season explosion of 2019 is still hard to wrap a head around. Is he just a late-career Cinderella ready to return to pumpkin status or will he continue his head-scratching, elite performances?  His 78% catch rate was nearly the best in the league and he only dropped two passes.  One to watch to be sure.

Mike Gesicki – The other new face to fantasy tight ends actually fielded the No. 8 highest number of passing targets for the position. That alone makes the third-year former second-round pick on the watch list for 2020. He’s on a trajectory for a breakout season and never dropped a pass last year.

Inside the Stats: Wide Receivers

Inside the stats for wide receivers

Wide receivers are impacted by the offensive scheme they play in and of course, the quality of their quarterback. Their total numbers are greatly aided playing in an offense that has to (or at least wants to) throw the ball a lot. Michael Thomas on the Ravens would still be very good. But he probably would not be catching 149 passes if he played for the Ravens. These metrics are very interesting in assessing player talent and value since they measure characteristics outside of just catches and yards. Particularly when a receiver is young and still improving. Having a great quarterback is a tremendous advantage for generating stats, but that doesn’t matter much when considering yards after catch, broken tackles and drops.

Notable Wide Receivers

A.J. Brown – The rookie came on strong for the Titans with Ryan Tannehill as the starter and his measurables attest to just how good he was. His 20.1 yards per catch was tops and he ranked among the best at almost every category. Barring some unforeseen change to their offense, Brown looks like everyone’s sleeper pick for 2020.

Chris Godwin – He was a delightful surprise last year taking advantage of not being Mike Evans but he clearly did plenty on his own – not just enjoying lesser coverage. He was sure-handed with top marks in all areas and was more reliable than almost any other receiver.

Amari Cooper – He’s angling for a big payday and he had several nice showings. But compared to other wideouts, Cooper’s only top mark was how far down the field he caught the ball – not what he did with it after the catch.

Curtis Samuel – Another receiver that some expect to be a sleeper. But he did not rank highly in anything and troublesome were his drops and low yards after the catch. His 51% catch rate ranked dead last among 50-catch receivers.

Deebo Samuel – The rookie had a promising season that started slowly and his lower marks came from the short passing scheme and a higher number of dropped passes. But Samuel improved during the season and ended up with a 70% catch rate and rated great in yards after catch (8.3) and broken tackles (7).

Julian Edelman –  He contended with injuries during the season but it was still disappointing to see him with the highest drops and one of the lowest yards after the catch. Maybe Edelman is getting old. Maybe Tom Brady is not throwing the same ball.

Mohamed Sanu – Bad marks across the board. Are we sure Tom Brady still has it?

Terry McLaurin – The rookie was effective on a bad offense and even ranked highly in yards per catch.

Tyler Lockett – His 75% catch rate was second only to the pass sponge Michael Thomas. And he only dropped two passes all year.

Inside the Stats: Running Backs

Looking inside the stats from 2019 to find the running backs better posed for a bigger 2020.

Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

Running backs always have the greatest amount of volatility of all positions so getting a heads up on any back that might find a more favorable situation next year is always critical. So is knowing which backs appear best posed to do something in 2020 should his opportunities improve.

Another critical component that gets hidden in total numbers is the quality of the offensive line. And working within a top passing offense also tends to make the running lanes easier to find. There are many characteristics and factors involved with valuing a running back, so here are a few metrics that can help further define a player.

Notable Running Backs

Tevin Coleman/Latavius Murray – Both players enjoyed good blocking with their respective “yards before contact” but those were the only top marks for each player. Both had that advantage and yet were among the worst with yards after contact. Not impressive.

Devin Singletary – Appears posed for a solid sophomore campaign after posting among the highest marks in almost all rushing related metrics. He already assumed the primary rushing role and recorded one of the best marks for broken tackles in just his first season.

Josh Jacobs – He wasn’t a full-time back in Alabama which speaks volumes about what they had for talent on hand. His rookie year saw him assume a full-time role from the start and he was effective after contact and breaking tackles. He’s one of the best gambles in all of Las Vegas this year.

Kenyan Drake – He not only ranked No. 2 with yards per carry (5.2), but that was comingled with some games back in Miami. The Cardinals had one of the worst lines coming into 2019, so either the Dolphins wasted a stud running back or Drake is just a late bloomer. He’s a nice fit for their Air-Raid system.

Nick Chubb – This is what you want to see. He did not have a great offensive line as shown from his yards before contact, but he ranked among the best with what he did once he had the ball and was contacted by the defense. He’s another back with growing promise heading into 2020.

Raheem Mostert – Hard to wrap your head around this guy who was never really a running back before. He was a special teams ace and a speedster with some size. But he roared into prominence for the 49ers last season with top marks when he touched the ball.

Miles Sanders – He’s another rookie that got better down the stretch and his stats as a receiver mean that he’ll stay on the field more. The Eagles love their committee but Jordan Howard is a free agent and they have to consider at least stepping up Sanders’ role all season.

Inside the Stats: Quarterbacks

Looking inside the stats for quarterbacks for fantasy insight

(Jim Brown, USA TODAY Sports)

Reflecting back on the 2019 fantasy quarterbacks, it is easy to recall their overall numbers – the ones that generate your fantasy points. But beyond those total figures are another story that can help you for this year. This considers those quarterbacks that threw a minimum of 200 passes for last season.

Notable Quarterbacks:

Matthew Stafford/Drew Brees/Patrick Mahomes– All fell in the rankings only because of injury. They were Top-5 in several measurements.

Mitchell Trubisky – His disappointing season is even worse considering the metrics he generated. His 9.6 yards per completion was worse than any other quarterback in the dink-n-dunk Bears offense. His inability to throw for touchdowns was also problematic in an offense that wasn’t rushing for many either.

Ryan Tannehill – One to watch for 2020. He ended the year on a hot note and overall, his 13.6 yards per completion were best in the NFL. He completed 70% of his passes as well so he was not the dink-n-dunk style like Trubisky. Only Lamar Jackson was better at the number of passes thrown per touchdown.

Baker Mayfield – In fairness, Mayfield struggled against a brutal schedule and the offense of Freddie Kitchens did not measure up. That all left Mayfield with a very average year tied for an NFL low 59% completion rate and one of the highest interception rates. A healthy Odell Beckham and a new offensive direction are bound to help, but the stats show why the Browns dumped Kitchens after only one season.

Jameis Winston – His interception rate was higher than anyone – only 21 passes completed per interception. That is a drive killer to be sure and his status for 2020 will be decided in the offseason. But he ranked No. 2 in yards per completion and fell just outside the Top-5 in touchdowns per completion. Those are impressive even for the quarterback that led the league in both passing yards and passes thrown.

Six Points with David Dorey: Week 12

Six items of fantasy football interest from David Dorey

Well, you made it to Friday. You deserve to take a couple of minutes off to think about a few things. This is really more of a productivity tool to keep you sharp.

David Johnson – Every Johnson owner is wondering what happened and what to do? Keeping it brief, I’d say trade him. The reality with Johnson is that he’s never been as good as he was in 2016 before his knee injury. He lasted one game and missed 2017 with a wrist injury. He lasted 16 games in 2018 but only gained 3.6 yards-per-carry. The Cards have one of the worst O-lines. Now both Chase Edmonds (5.1 YPC) and Kenyan Drake (4.4) have looked much better. Johnson’s knock coming out of college was that he runs upright and invites injury and he had a fumbling problem. He hasn’t touched the ball since fumbling in Week 10. The Cards overpaid on his 2018 3-year contract extension for $39M. His base salary for 2020 is $10M with a $1M roster bonus and has a dead cap figure of $16.2M. No one else will want that contract so the Cards are likely stuck with him next year. This is a new coaching regime than the one that signed him to that ill-advised extension. Bottom line – Johnson looks clearly like the No. 3 running back for the Cards.

Robert Woods – His absence was deemed a “personal situation” and it later was said to be a family matter. He was a surprise inactive last week and while he hasn’t practiced or even been further explained, the good news is that he returned to the Rams on Thursday and joined their practice. The Rams play the Ravens this week and his status will be determined by Sunday. But the good news is that he’s back and at worst, we’ll be ready to play the Cardinals in Week 13.

Bo Scarbrough – The Alabama back was drafted by the Cowboys with their 7.18 pick last year but he never had a touch and was later cut. The Lions had him on their practice squad last Saturday when they opted to call him up and give him a shot. He responded with 55 yards and a score on 14 carries versus his original team. Disregarding the Lions identity as the RB Siberia of the NFL, does he have value for the rest of 2019? Well – this week for sure. Ty Johnson has proven that he is not the answer. J.D. McKissic sticks with third-down work so that leaves Scarbrough and Nick Bawden as the only options. Reality is that he did well as a surprise start at home versus his old team. But the committee approach remains in Detroit where his 14 carries last week was the third-highest by a Detriot back this year.

2020 Running Back Free Agents – Always interesting to see what teams do with their pending free agents. Are they going to re-sign them or just develop other players?  Name (age)

Lamar Miller (29)
LeSean McCoy (32)
Carlos Hyde (28)
Melvin Gordon (27)
Peyton Barber (26)
Derrick Henry (26)
Kenyan Drake (26)
Jordan Howard (25)

Gordon and Henry are the biggest two. Gordon seems likely to discover that the market may not be as strong as he desires. Henry is doing himself a huge favor with his career-best year.

2020 Wide Receiver Free Agents – Some will be signed but a few want to become a free agent and try their luck somewhere else. Unlike running backs, their second contracts are often their most productive periods. Running backs usually play best on their rookie contracts.

A.J. Green (32)
Larry Fitzgerald (37)
Emmanuel Sanders (33)
Amari Cooper (26)
Robby Anderson (27)
Demaryius Thomas (32)
Phillip Dorsett (27)

The oft-injured Green will be interesting since he is already 32 years old. Sanders is likely going to force the 49ers to pay up since he’s the only wideout that’s done anything in their otherwise great season. Cooper will cost the Cowboys a ton even if he only shows up in home games. Robby Anderson has been much better than what he’s done this year. He’ll likely be gone.

Run-Pass Ratios of all 32 NFL teams – Interesting look at which teams are throwing the most and which ones prefer to run. The NFL is a passing league, right? These are through Week 11.

Not surprising, the worst teams are the ones that throw the most. The Chiefs are an outlier but no other team has Patrick Mahomes. The bottom five teams all look likely to reach the playoffs. The success of the 49ers and Ravens may just change a few teams in the copy-cat NFL.