Tag: David Montgomery fantasy football

Fantasy football expectations for Detroit’s revamped backfield

How will the Lions divvy up the backfield touches?

You could make a decent case that the Detroit Lions’ offensive success was one of last season’s most surprising stories as they jumped from 22nd in 2021 to fourth, averaging 380 yards per game. While their gains on the ground were more modest, going from 19th (110.9 YPG) to 11th (128.2), their 23 rushing touchdowns trailed only the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys.

Despite that success, the Lions completely overhauled the position. RB Jamaal Williams, who led the NFL with 17 rushing touchdowns (and finished second to Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler in total scores), wasn’t re-signed and eventually landed with the New Orleans Saints. The team also moved on from talented but oft-injured running back D’Andre Swift, trading him to Philadelphia during the draft.

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In their stead, Detroit signed former Chicago Bears RB David Montgomery to a three-year deal, and then raised eyebrows across the league by using the 12th overall pick on running back Jahmyr Gibbs. On paper, the new duo looks like an upgrade over Williams and Swift, particularly given the latter’s issues staying healthy, but how will they deliver for fantasy owners? Let’s look.

Lions land RB David Montgomery, spelling the end of Jamaal Williams’ stay

The Lions replaced one free-agent rusher with another, and fantasy football owners may not even notice.

Free-agent running back David Montgomery agreed to terms on a three-year, $18 million deal with the Detroit Lions that will keep him in the NFC North. The move puts an end to Jamaal Williams‘ stint with the Lions as he’s also a free agent and will not be retained.

Montgomery is versatile enough to chip in on third downs as a receiving outlet when called upon, but he should defer to D’Andre Swift in those situations more often than not. His bread will be buttered on early downs as a grinder who will be run into the dirt if head coach Dan Campbell has his way. His role is clearly defined, modeled after the Sean Payton-era one-two punch in New Orleans between Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara. Hint: He’s no AK41.

The Lions sport one of the best run-blocking lines in football, and Detroit’s defense is on the rise, which allows them to lean more on the ground game. Quarterback Jared Goff is a competent passer who is at his best when he can rely on convincing play-action passing.

The man Montgomery is replacing scored a team-record and NFL-best 17 touchdowns a season ago. Such a lofty target shouldn’t be in sight this year, though sneaking into the end zone in the neighborhood of a dozen times isn’t out of the question.

Fantasy Football Market Report: Week 2

The most important risers and fallers entering Week 2.

It is amazing how an injury to one player can impact numerous fantasy football rosters. On Sunday night of Week 1, one such injury changed the landscape of the NFC East in general and the Dallas Cowboys in particular.

It has become common practice in the NFL for a team to save money by having a journeyman backup and pray their starter doesn’t get injured. For the Cowboys and QB Dak Prescott, that prayer went unanswered.

Prescott had surgery Monday to repair his throwing thumb with a six- to eight-week timetable for his return.

There were questions surrounding the fantasy stock of Cowboys players before Prescott went down after the team traded Amari Cooper and lost Michael Gallup and James Washington to injury.

Now, everyone’s value on the team comes into question. If the organization decides to go with backup Cooper Rush, who is a backup for a reason, what is CeeDee Lamb’s value? If defenses don’t have to respect the pass, what does that do to the value of Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard in the run game?

Even the Cowboys kicker is rendered moot.

It’s difficult to believe that one player can make that much of a difference to so many others, but the Cowboys may be dead in the water one game into the season – much to the delight of fans who don’t like the self-proclaimed America’s Team. For fantasy owners, the loss could have devastating implications.

Here is the Week 2 Fantasy Football Market Report.

Fantasy football team previews: NFC North

It’s time to catch up on all of the NFC North’s fantasy-based changes.

The 2022 fantasy football draft season is starting to heat up now that we’ve gone through the height of free agency and all of the chosen rookies have been assigned to their professional home cities.

The landscape has changed a great deal for many franchises after a whirlwind offseason, and our divisional preview series will help you stay on top of all of the changes to date.

AFC divisional previews

East | North | South | West

NFC divisional previews

East | North | South | West