Tag: Miles Sanders Fantasy Football

Fantasy football: Carolina Panthers running backs preview

Here’s how you should address this backfield in fantasy drafts.

No offense was more putrid than the Carolina Panthers last season. They finished last in yards (265.3 per game), last in points (13.9), and last in passing (161.2). The lone bright spot, if you can call it that, was the running game, which ranked 20th in yards per game (104.1) and tied for 21st in yards per carry (4.0), though they were one of three clubs to rush for a league-low seven touchdowns.

Part of the problem was that running back Miles Sanders, who signed a four-year, $25 million deal, to come over from the Philadelphia Eagles, struggled mightily and lost his starting job to Chuba Hubbard, which is not what the team had in mind. Rather than dip back into free agency to try and upgrade the backfield, Carolina instead traded up in the second round to select Jonathon Brooks, the first running back taken in this year’s draft.

Development from quarterback Bryce Young will help loosen things up for the backs, and reports from Panthers camp have been positive on that front. While we’ll have to wait and see how the offense looks in Week 1, let’s check out Carolina’s options at running back.

Fantasy football preview: Philadelphia Eagles running backs

Durability concerns cloud Philly’s talented backfield.

The Philadelphia Eagles have been one of the most prolific rushing teams in the NFL – finishing first in rushing yards in 2021 and fifth in 2022. But the organization never seems fully satisfied with its running game and made some big moves in the offseason.

Miles Sanders was coming off the best season of his career with 1,269 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns, but he was allowed to leave via free agency. He was replaced in free agency with the signing of Rashaad Penny, and then the Eagles cut a trade with Detroit to acquire D’Andre Swift.

Both of the new acquisitions have significant injury histories, but the talent runs deep in Philly with holdovers Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott proving to be reliable role players.

Fantasy football: 2023 NFL free agency roundup

NFL free agency will drastically help reshape the fantasy football landscape as the new league year begins.

Now that NFL free agency is upon us, we’ll run through the fantasy football outlooks for trades, re-signings, midrange players, and tag recipients.

This analysis will be updated as players sign/re-sign in free agency, so be sure to check back regularly.

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Fantasy football reaction: Miles Sanders opts to join the Carolina Panthers

Fresh off a career year, Sanders takes his talents southbound to join Carolina’s backfield.

The Carolina Panthers hit the reset button on the Matt Rhule experiment and completely cleaned house after the season, hiring Frank Reich to steer the ship.

Following a trade to the wide receiver DJ Moore and a load of picks to Chicago for the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, Carolina’s command the board and will select their preferred quarterback of the future. In the short term, veteran Andy Dalton was added to help mentor and/or fill the gap.

That alone points to a strong emphasis on the ground game, as if Reich’s track record wasn’t a good enough source. Insert Sanders as the primary ball carrier, whereas third-year back Chuba Hubbard could see time as a spell but hasn’t shown enough to believe he will massively cut into Sanders’ share.

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Prior to a 2022 breakout that saw the Penn State alum score the 15th-most PPR points on the strength of 1,269 rushing yards and 11 scores, Sanders had not topped 870 yards or six TDs in any season of his pro career. Since his 2019 rookie season, when he caught 50 passes, Sanders has not been targeted much the last three seasons. Securing no more than 28 grabs in any of those years is not indicative of his actual skills in this area of the game.

The system familiarity will be a strength for Sanders as the expected design is awfully close to what he knows from his first four years. The variations are nuanced, but the general themes will remain with Reich opting to call plays over coordinator Thomas Brown.

Fantasy football preview: RB Miles Sanders, Eagles

After 163 scoreless touches in 2021, what can we expect from the once-promising Sanders?

The Philadelphia Eagles have been looking to install Miles Sanders their long-term featured running back, but the biggest issue since his rookie season in 2019 has been keeping him on the field.

Sanders set a solid standard in his rookie year when he was in a timeshare with Jordan Howard, leading the team with 179 carries for 818 yards, catching 50 passes for 509 yards and scoring six touchdowns. The team thought enough of Sanders to allow Howard to leave via free agency in 2020, but Sanders hasn’t held up in the two seasons since. He missed four games due to injury in 2020 and missed five games last year, which opened the door to the returning Howard, Boston Scott and Kenneth Gainwell to get more reps – and steal touchdowns. Those three backs and quarterback Jalen Hurts combined to score 25 rushing touchdowns, while Sanders ended up with none.

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni didn’t mince words at the start of training camp when asked about Sanders taking reps with the second team in practice, saying, “Miles is our guy. There’s no secret here.”

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As he enters the final year of his rookie contract, Sanders has millions of reasons why he wants to put his stamp on the offense despite seeing a decline in rushing attempts (179-164-137), receptions (50-28-26) and scrimmage yards (1,327-1,064-912), respectively, in his first three seasons.

The Eagles struggled out of the gate last season before committing much more to the run in the second half of the year. With Hurts leading the way in rushing (793 yards), the Eagles vaulted themselves to the No. 1-ranked rushing offense in the league. However, that coincided with Sanders missing five games and Howard, Scott and Gainwell taking turns in the backfield.

If he can stay healthy, Sanders has the potential to be elite. His 5.1-yard career rushing average ranks third in the league among running backs with 400 or more carries, behind only Nick Chubb and Jonathan Taylor. His 5.66 yards per touch is fourth among running backs, behind Austin Ekeler, Christian McCaffrey and Taylor.

Anyone who has seen Sanders on a regular basis knows that he can make highlight film plays – he had a rush of 23 or more yards in seven of the games he played last season and, in 2020, had touchdown runs of 82 and 74 yards.

There is a concern in Philadelphia that the offense is going to employ a three-back system, because Scott and Gainwell proved themselves worthy of getting more playing time by their performances last year, but Sanders led the team in rushing attempts in 10 of the 12 games he played. The emergence of 2021 rookie DeVonta Smith and the arrival of game-changing wide receiver A.J. Brown gives the Eagles the opportunity to be much more productive in the passing game, which, in turn, could open things up for Sanders in the run game without eight defenders in the box most plays. Even with more passing expected, Sanders’ explosiveness lends to a high per-touch efficiency rating.

Fantasy football takeaway

When it comes to assessing the fantasy value of Sanders, zero touchdowns in 2021 is a cause for concern, which drops him to the lower portion of RB2 status. A risk-reward gamble with the ability to be a RB1, his injury history and the potential of a shared backfield group taps the brakes on any real enthusiasm.

Fantasy football players on the rebound for 2022

Which fantasy football weapons are poised to rebound in 2022?

Every season, several proven players regress and even fall off of the fantasy football map due to injury, demotion, a poor system fit, or another unforeseen calamity. Players of the fake game understandably tend to be of the, “What has he done for me lately?” mindset and may underrate some proven options coming off a bad year.

Heading into the 2022 season, we’ll explore which players are most likely to bounce back from a down year in 2021. The players are ordered from least to most important in relation to their potential fantasy returns.

Be sure to sign up for The Huddle to gain the needed edge on your competition. In this space last year, we correctly called bounce-back performances from the likes of Dak Prescott, Austin Ekeler, Deebo Samuel, and Matthew Stafford to help create winning rosters.

Fantasy football players on the rebound for 2022

Fantasy football mock draft series: July takeaways

Recapping a recent fantasy football industry draft to look for trends and more.

Fantasy football drafts are heating up as we enjoy summer weather and cold beverages. A recently hosted industry mock draft is the source for this recap. Out of respect for the hosts of this draft, no reference will be made to its identity so the content remains fresh on their end, nor will the entire draft results be published here.

The draft results will appear in a magazine as part of a larger evaluation of the draft. Before getting into my individual picks, here are a few observations from a 12-team, PPR draft.

  • In last June’s iteration, Round 1 saw seven running backs and five receivers, including Cooper Kupp going at No. 2 and Justin Jefferson as the third selection. This version saw Kupp drafted fourth and Jefferson seventh with nine RBs making up the rest of the round.
  • Six RBs came off the board in Round 2 in 2021’s June draft, followed by one fewer receiver and solo tight end. This year’s June draft was no different. In the July edition, five backs, one tight end, and six wideouts were chosen.
  • The first QB, Josh Allen, was taken with the opening pick of Round 5 in June. Justin Herbert went just two picks later, and only a pair of passers came off the board in the next 31 selections (Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes). This time around, Allen was Pick 5:05, and Mahomes went with the very next spot. Herbert went with the eighth pick in the fifth round. Seven quarterbacks went in the first 75 choices this time. Quarterback remains quite deep with a viable starter often being available into the 13th round.
  • Tight end remains a little top-heavy, just like last year. Following the consensus top-six TEs — all of whom went in the first five rounds — the position gets really dicey. If you’re not comfortable playing the matchups, make sure to secure one of Mark Andrews, Travis Kelce, Kyle Pitts, George Kittle, Darren Waller or Dalton Schultz.
  • In the first 100 picks, nine QBs, 40 RBs, 43 WRs and eight TEs — no significant changes from the June version when eight quarterbacks, 38 RBs, 45 WRs and nine tight ends were chosen.
  • Pick 10 is an interesting spot this year. In the FSGA draft, which was a 14-teamer, it was brutal compared to a 12-squad setup. This draft having a dozen teams made me appreciate the slotting more than expected.

Here’s a snapshot of the first 10 rounds broken down by number of positional picks:

1st: 9 RBs, 3 WRs
2nd: 5 RBs, 6 WRs, 1 TE
3rd: 5 RBs, 5 WRs, 2 TEs
4th: 4 RBs, 6 WRs, 2 TEs
5th: 3 QBs, 3 RBs, 5 WRs, 1 TE
6th: 3 QBs, 3 RB, 6 WRs
7th: 1 QB, 4 RBs, 5 WRs, 2 TEs
8th: 1 QB, 4 RBs, 7 WRs
9th: 2 QBs, 5 RBs, 3 WRs, 2 TEs
10th: 3 QBs, 3 RBs, 6 WRs

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My roster

Pos Player Team Bye
QB Aaron Rodgers GB 14
RB James Conner ARI 13
RB JK Dobbins BAL 10
RB Rashaad Penny SEA 11
RB Miles Sanders PHI 7
RB Hassan Haskins TEN 6
WR Ja’Marr Chase CIN 10
WR Stefon Diggs BUF 7
WR Jerry Jeudy DEN 9
WR Allen Lazard GB 14
WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling KC 8
WR Jalen Tolbert DAL 9
TE Dalton Schultz DAL 9
TE Austin Hooper TEN 6
PK Matt Prater ARI 13
DT Los Angeles Chargers LAC 8

By round

Pick Rnd Player Tm Pos
10 1.1 Ja’Marr Chase CIN WR
15 2.3 Stefon Diggs BUF WR
34 3.1 James Conner ARI RB
39 4.3 J.K. Dobbins BAL RB
58 5.1 Dalton Schultz DAL TE
63 6.3 Jerry Jeudy DEN WR
82 7.1 Rashaad Penny SEA RB
87 8.3 Miles Sanders PHI RB
106 9.1 Allen Lazard GB WR
111 10.3 Aaron Rodgers GB QB
130 11.1 Marquez Valdes-Scantling KC WR
135 12.3 Hassan Haskins TEN RB
154 13.1 Austin Hooper TEN TE
159 14.3 Jalen Tolbert DAL WR
178 15.1 Los Angeles Chargers LAC Def/ST
183 16.3 Matt Prater ARI K

Keeping the previous iterations’ format alive, each pick gets a brief explanation of my draft thoughts:

Fantasy football: Philadelphia Eagles running back breakdown

Will any of Philly’s running backs fly high in 2022?

One would be hard-pressed to come up with a team that went through more of a philosophical about-face in 2021 than the Philadelphia Eagles. Through the first seven games, Philly’s game plan seemed to be to put as much on Jalen Hurts’ right arm as possible. To that end, Hurts averaged 35 passing attempts per game over the first seven as the Eagles opened the year 2-5.

After that, the focus shifted 180 degrees to the ground game as Hurts averaged just 24 passes per outing across his final eight with Philadelphia posting a 6-2 mark — Gardner Minshew made two starts down the stretch as well, including a meaningless Week 18 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. When the dust settled, the Eagles had rushed for an NFL-leading 2,715 yards despite not having anyone reach 800 yards on the ground (Hurts led the club with 784 yards and 10 TDs).

Three of the top four backs from last year return; Jordan Howard (86-406-1 in seven games) remains a free agent and appears unlikely to be re-signed, though obviously preseason injuries could change that math in a hurry.

Miles Sanders

In terms of talent, Sanders is the standard-bearer. He has good speed and is a quality receiver out of the backfield, making him one of the focal points of the offense … when healthy. Durability has been a real issue in his young career, however, missing nine games combined over the past two years. In 2020 he suffered a pair of knee sprains, and last season he dealt with a sprained ankle for months and then broke his hand.

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Sanders’ struggles to remain on the field are doubtless a big part of the reason that Philly’s most talented back has rarely been used like a featured player. In 24 games over the last two seasons, Sanders has reached the 20-touch plateau just four times. He’s a little like Green Bay Packers RB Aaron Jones in that way, though Jones consistently reaches the high teens while Sanders had six games with fewer than a dozen opportunities last year. It’s hard to consistently produce when you’re not getting the ball.

Kenneth Gainwell

As a rookie last season, Gainwell logged 101 combined touches for 544 yards and six touchdowns, though his role really dried up over the season’s final two-plus months — only twice during that stretch did he log more than five touches in a game, and one of those was that glorified exhibition in Week 18.

The thinking here is that a full year in the system, combined with his strong receiving skills, should allow him to function as the top passing-down back. Whether he has the size (5-foot-9, 200 pounds) to see an expanded role in case of injury is Sanders is debatable.

Boston Scott

Scott is a stocky back (5-foot-6, 203 pounds) who has shown the ability to find the end zone in his career (13 career TDs on 228 carries) due to his athleticism and deceptive power. He’s a solid receiver as well, though perhaps not on the same level as Sanders or Gainwell.

Scott saw double-digit carries in six of his final seven games last year and projects as the more likely backup in case Sanders gets hurt. He should battle it out with Gainwell for the No. 2 job during training camp.

Fantasy football takeaway

When factoring in an intended increase in passing volume following the addition of wide receiver A.J. Brown, along with potential to lose ground scores to Hurts, this backfield may be more detrimental than beneficial to fantasy lineups many weeks.

Having three backs with similar skill sets makes them interchangeable, which in turn makes it tough to determine the roles they’ll fill — there is currently no one of Howard’s bruising disposition on the depth chart, but someone is like to pick up his nearly 90 touches.

Sanders has RB2 upside, but his low usage and injury history make him better suited as an RB3. Gainwell seems to have a higher weekly ceiling than Scott, but neither player is worth more than late-round consideration as roster depth.

Fantasy football team previews: NFC East

A fantasy football snapshot of each team in the NFC East.

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

Fantasy Football Market Report: Week 5

Fantasy football risers and fallers entering Week 5.

There is a fantasy football trend becoming more popular all the time – complementing every-week stars in your lineups with players going against teams fielding high-powered offenses and shaky defenses that look worse when they’re in “prevent” mode to close out a win.

Opposing quarterbacks facing the Kansas City Chiefs have thrown for more yards than Patrick Mahomes. Opposing quarterbacks of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have thrown for more yards and thrown more touchdowns than Tom Brady. Opposing quarterbacks facing the Dallas Cowboys have thrown for almost 300 more yards than Dak Prescott. Opposing quarterbacks facing the Baltimore Ravens are averaging 293 yards a game. Opposing quarterbacks facing the Green Bay Packers have thrown more touchdown passes (10) than Aaron Rodgers has (8). The Rams are allowing more yards a game (397) than they’re producing (391).

The only exception to this has been the Buffalo Bills. After losing in Week 1 at home to Pittsburgh, they’ve outscored their opponents 118-21. They still beat up people the old-fashioned way, but for a lot of the teams getting the tout as being Super Bowl contenders thanks to their offenses, their own prowess is coming back to roost on their defenses.

The longstanding tradition of stacking your lineup against the dregs of the league will likely never go away. But with the aggressive offenses that are reaching the top, more people should be looking at when are the Chiefs, Bucs or Cowboys coming to town.

Here is the Week 5 Fantasy Market Report.

Fantasy Football Risers

RB/WR Cordarrelle Patterson, Atlanta Falcons

Patterson has never lived up to being a regular in fantasy lineups (at least those who aspire to win), because he’s never deserved to be. He’s bounced around the league and may have finally found his spot. Known more as the most dangerous kick returner in the game, he’s become the main scoring threat in Atlanta. He’s second on the team in receptions (18). But, Matt Ryan has thrown eight touchdown passes and four have been to Patterson. He also is second on the team in rushing (27-119) and has their only rushing touchdown. And he can still return kicks 109 yards to get you needle-in-the-haystack points. When one offense has nine touchdowns and one guy has five of them, you should want that guy.

TE Dawson Knox, Buffalo Bills

Is Knox the Robert Tonyan of 2021? When evaluating the talent of the Buffalo pass game, Knox doesn’t come to mind, because he has just 15 catches for 144 yards. But, in his last three games, he has scored four touchdowns. When Josh Allen gets to the red zone, Knox is clearly his first choice, because he has scored one more touchdown than Stefon Diggs, Cole Beasley and Emmanuel Sanders combined.

WR D.J. Moore, Carolina Panthers

He doesn’t get mentioned a lot among the discussion of the league’s elite wide receivers, but few have been the sole focus of their QB. Sam Darnold is cocked and locked on Moore. He has double the targets of any other Panthers receiver, has caught 30 passes, including eight each in the last three games. His low-water mark for receptions and yards is six and 79, respectively. He’s been a fantasy scoring machine and still seems to be slightly flying under the radar for what he has accomplished.

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TE Dalton Schultz, Dallas Cowboys

The thing about tight ends in TE-mandatory leagues is that you have your handful of guys who are deemed to be elite, and then you have guys that get taken because they’re viewed as “red zone guys.” The Tonyan experience. Every few years, a pedestrian tight end catches lightning in a bottle with his quarterback and breaks out. Andrew Luck was really good at finding those guys. Schultz emerged last season when the ordained heir to the Jason Witten throne (Blake Jarwin) went down with injury. Jarwin is back but still an afterthought. He has been targeted just 12 times, catching nine of them. Schultz has been targeted 23 times and has caught 20 of them for 201 yards and three touchdowns. He’s gaining steam as the season goes on. In his last two games, he has caught 12 passes for 138 yards and three TDs – numbers that would surpass many of the big-name tight ends. He has Dak Prescott’s confidence. That’s worth something in fantasy football.

WR Diontae Johnson, Pittsburgh Steelers

I think everyone is in agreement that it may be time for Ben Roethlisberger to throw in the Terrible Towel and limp off into the sunset. But, aside from being a difficult “Wheel of Fortune” answer because of having every vowel in his first name, Johnson is tearing it up. He’s played only three games but has nine receptions of two them — 92- and 105-yard outings — and a touchdown in the other one. He has consistently brought fantasy owners to the pay window while JuJu Smith-Schuster and Chase Claypool lag well behind. It’s time to be jump off the Steelers bandwagon, but Johnson may be the exception to the rule.

Fantasy Football Fallers

TE George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers

Kittle has never been known as a huge touchdown scorer. His fantasy value has always been tied to receptions and yardage. He has neither this season. He hasn’t scored a touchdown – not a huge surprise given his career penchant for droughts – but he has four receptions in three of his four games and 40 yards or less in two of those. Those who have Kittle on their roster came into with the knowledge he won’t score 10 TDs, but there was a legitimate expectation for 100 receptions. You don’t get there when you’re collecting them four at a time.

QB Jameis Winston, New Orleans Saints

In Week 1, Winston seemed to pound a stake into the heart of Drew Brees with a five-touchdown beatdown of the Packers. Since then? Not much. Through four games, he has thrown for 613 yards and provided little in the run game. It’s time to jump off any hope the Winston train will roll again.

RB Miles Sanders, Philadelphia Eagles

Sanders was brought onto rosters to be an every-week starter. He has yet to score a touchdown, and his rushing numbers gave gone down quickly and steadily (74-55-27-13). He has fewer rushing yards than his quarterback and fewer receptions than his backup. These are hard times for Sanders, and it doesn’t look to be getting any better, barring a significant change of course offensively.

WR Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos

The fantasy football world has been waiting to see what Denver could have in the receiver tandem of Sutton and Jerry Jeudy. Last year, they were denied because Sutton was injured. This year, they’ve been denied because Jeudy is hurt. Sutton has yet to score a touchdown and, with the exception of roasting Jacksonville (who doesn’t?) in his other three games, he has nine catches for 98 yards and no touchdowns. That gets old in a hurry.

TE Robert Tonyan, Green Bay Packers

He was the golden boy last year and has just eight catches for 74 yards and a touchdown through four games – a standard daily stat line for guys like Kelce. He is one-trick pony. Last year, it was a great trick. This year? Not so much. If you aren’t supplying the bread, there’s no need for butter.