Tag: 2024 fantasy football

Fantasy response: Kirk Cousins agrees to huge deal with Atlanta Falcons

Captain Kirk heads to the Dirty South on a mega deal that reshapes the NFC quarterback landscape.

Will he or won’t he? That was the lingering question surrounding whether Kirk Cousins would return to the Minnesota Vikings. All doubts were erased once he agreed to a lucrative contract with the Atlanta Falcons on Monday.

There’s the obvious concern gamers will have about whether Cousins’ torn Achilles tendon is healthy, and one can safely believe there’s no way the Falcons would guarantee that kind of money without being confident in his recovery. He will officially sign as soon as Wednesday after passing a physical.

Cousins has one of the better offensive lines in his new confines, and the Falcons boast three of the most talented young players across the league in running back Bijan Robinson, wideout Drake London, and TE Kyle Pitts. Expect Atlanta to add more pieces at wide receiver, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if the brass brings in a veteran presence to pair with Pitts at tight end. Getting London to take the next step to becoming a true WR1 and seeing Pitts finally live up to his potential seems well within reach due to Cousins’ penchant to get the most out of his playmakers.

Fantasy football outlook

The Achilles injury will be fully healed in time for Cousins to build chemistry with his new teams and shouldn’t factor into his fantasy stock. Atlanta offensive coordinator Zac Robinson will implement a system that is awfully familiar to Cousins. Both Robinson and former Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell come from the Sean McVay tree.

The veteran has earned the right to be a low-end QB1 on draft day, and there will be weeks in which Cousins resides among the strongest performers at the position.

Fantasy football: Philadelphia Eagles to sign Saquon Barkley in free agency

Barkley jumps from one AFC East roster to another in free agency.

The New York Giants were not expected to be able to retain Saquon Barkley‘s services. While the deal cannot be official until Wednesday afternoon, we now know he’ll play his first professional game as a member of a new team after agreeing to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles.

This comes shortly after Philly lost last year’s leading rusher, D’Andre Swift, to the Chicago Bears in free agency. The running back carousel continues to spin, and the Eagles are a great landing spot for Barkley to shine. Much like Swift, he’s a dual-threat option as a capable rusher and elite receiving outlet from the backfield.

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Swift produced RB19 fantasy results last season in PPR scoring, tallying 1,263 total yards and six offensive scores on 278 utilizations over 16 contests. Provided Barkley — whose well-documented injury history is a factor to consider — can play 16-plus games, that same output is easily within his reach. The biggest concern for a healthy Barkley will be Jalen Hurts stealing carries inside of the 5-yard line and rubbing him of scoring opportunities.

Fantasy football outlook

As with any season in which Barkley is in your draft sights, accepting an elevated risk of injury absence is required. Once that is out of the way, the price of admission will be somewhere between the 10th to 20th overall picks in most PPR settings. Barkley should have no problem generating RB1 results over a full slate.

Fantasy football: Green Bay agrees to terms with Josh Jacobs

One of the top backs in free agency finds a new home.

The Green Bay Packers opted to let running back AJ Dillon walk into free agency without an extension, and the team held contract negotiations with veteran Aaron Jones. In what is a mildly surprising move, former Las Vegas Raiders back Josh Jacobs has agreed to join the Packers during the early stages of the “open tampering” period.

Update: Jones was entering the final year of his contract, set to count more than $17 million against the cap, which opened the door for his release.

Fantasy football outlook

Now that Jones is out of the way, Jacobs will be a workhorse in Green Bay, and his overall fantasy value won’t deviate from RB1 draft status. Don’t be alarmed when the Packers draft or sign another back to spell him. As long as the former Raider is upright, he’s poised for a strong fantasy season, especially in PPR.

Memphis product Tony Pollard returns to the state of Tennessee

Pollard joins the Titans, presuming ending the reign of King Henry.

In 2023, Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard replaced Ezekiel Elliott in a short-lived, underwhelming stint as the franchise back. He now replaces Derrick Henry as the face of the Tennessee Titans‘ backfield.

Last year, Pollard produced respectable stats that resulted in an RB14 finish. While that seems like a fine showing on the surface, the expectations coming off Pollard’s strong 2022 campaign makes this placement less palatable. He was less efficient, scored half as many touchdowns, and averaged only the 23rd-most fantasy points among all backs with at least 10 appearances. More work didn’t equate to Pollard keeping up his highly efficient ways of pre-2023 play.

Fantasy football outlook

In Tennessee, Pollard will be tasked with replacing one of the most popular players in franchise history. The Titans are a team in rebuild mode and will have a new starting quarterback and first-year head coach.

Pollard’s versatility helps keep him in the No. 2 conversation for PPR formats. The offensive line needs some help, quarterback Will Levis will endure his growing pains, and the aerial targets leave much to be desired. Unless Levis steps up in a significant way, Pollard may face tremendous defensive attention and replicate another low-efficiency season.

Fantasy football reaction: D’Andre Swift heading to the Windy City

Swift head back to the NFC North after a one-year stint in Philly.

Following the Detroit Lions drafting Jahmyr Gibbs in the 2023 NFL Draft’s first round, D’Andre Swift was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles with one year left on his deal. He entered the 2024 free agency period with the opportunity to pick his next destination, ultimately returning to the NFC North to play for the Chicago Bears.

Fresh off his first 1,000-yard rushing season and a career-high 229 carries, Swift scored five times on the ground for the third straight season. He did, however, experience a dramatic downturn in the aerial element of his game, logging personal lows in targets (49), receptions (39), yards (214), and touchdowns (1).

Despite the mixed bag of results, Swift’s per-game average of 12.6 points in reception-rewarding scoring is the lowest of his four-year career, down from a 16.2-point showing in 2021. The larger workload produced fewer yards per touch, so we may have seen his efficiency rating maxed out.

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In Chicago, he should be the primary back in a tandem approach, presumably with Khalil Herbert as D’Onta Foreman is a free agent. Will Justin Fields be the team’s starting quarterback? If so, his presence drastically impacts the fantasy value of Swift. Should Fields be traded, it likely means rookie Caleb Williams will be the starter … not all that different of a fantasy outlook for Swift.

Fantasy football outlook

The fifth-year pro is a much better asset in PPR formats. He’s a solid but potentially erratic RB2, regardless of the unsettled quarterback situation. Factors of a notable injury history, outdoor weather, and a two-back approach makes him an inconsistent consideration. We’ll dig deeper once the post-draft dust settles.

2024 NFL Scouting Combine: fantasy football recap

Recapping the noteworthy combine performances from a fantasy football perspective.

Historically, this article would have been deemed “winners and losers” of the NFL Scouting Combine, because teams placed more emphasis on whether players participated in workouts and the like. In recent years, none of that has made any significant impact on draft placement nor a team’s willingness to throw a rookie into the fire.

Case in point: Last year, reports about C.J. Stroud scoring poorly on an intellectual evaluation created raucous reactions among the pundit class that didn’t translate to his placement or ability to dominate in his inaugural season.

Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to accurately gauge a prospect’s rookie fantasy football value without knowing where he will land. Nevertheless, we’ll recap the key performances from this year’s scouting combine to see what we can learn.

Fantasy football reaction: 2024 NFL coaching changes recap

A fantasy football response to all of the coaching changes around the NFL.

Six of the eight new NFL head coaches are from the defensive side of the ball, which makes their choices at offensive coordinator that much more important. The two head men with a background coaching the offense — Dave Canales and Brian Callahan — both intend to call plays in addition to being their respective team’s final decision maker.

We’ll focus mostly on offensive changes for two primary factors: Fantasy defenses typically are interchangeable week to week and aren’t nearly as consequential, and defensive fantasy production tends to be far more personnel-driven than schematic success, outside of a few proven systems.