The saga is finally over
Deshaun Watson and the NFL settled in on him serving an 11-game suspension with a $5 million fine. This would ironically (and seemingly strategically) make his return to action in Week 13 against his former team the Houston Texans. In my opinion, this all but makes Watson undraftable in redraft fantasy formats. The reason being, unless you’ve streamed your way at quarterback all the way to the fantasy playoffs, it wouldn’t make sense to add a guy playing his first game (on a new team). Drafting him and letting him rot on your bench until Week 13 is not ideal and a waste of a roster spot quite frankly. Had the six-game suspension held up (or maybe even eight games), then drafting him as a late-round flier would’ve been worth it. The “slick move” would be, if you’re in a late-round keeper league, to draft him for 2023. While he may not impact your roster much this season, Watson is set to be a long-term staple for this laughable franchise. The last time Watson played was 2020 when he threw for 4,823 yards, 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions, all career-highs. That year finished as QB5 in fantasy, but in limited time this preseason, he and the Browns offense were slow out of the blocks.
The bigger question now becomes, how will this affect the Browns’ other players on offense? They’ll be led on offense by Jacoby Brissett. In two years as a starter in 2017 and 2019, he finished as QB20 and QB24 respectively. That’s about what you’re going to get out of Brissett. He does, however, get to play behind PFF’s eighth-best offensive line from a season ago. Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb will be heavily relied upon this season and should be the only Browns you’re excited about drafting. Amari Cooper is a good player in the NFL but a very up-and-down player. Having Brissett at quarterback will not help that. This will also limit the upside of younger receivers like David Bell, Donovan Peoples-Jones and Anthony Schwartz. The best value on the offense could come from David Njoku since he’s basically free in drafts. The Browns decided to wash their hands of Austin Hooper after he fleeced them for a $10 million signing bonus and didn’t bring in any significant tight ends. Harrison Bryant has shown flashes, but this should be Njoku’s time to shine. There are grumblings now of a potential Jimmy Garoppolo trade, but nothing is imminent. Right now the team looks to go with Brissett and see how it goes.
Where’s Tom?
Tom Brady is on a break from the team in the middle of training camp. I personally don’t care, but it is very big news. Coach Todd Bowles said it was planned and that TB12 had been excused. He also said that he doesn’t have a definite date for his return. This is very weird, but if there’s any player in sports history where this should be ok, wouldn’t it be Brady? We don’t have to go through all of the accolades because if you didn’t know them you probably wouldn’t be reading this article. Whenever he does return, I don’t expect him to miss a beat. He will be locked, loaded and ready to go. Kyle Trask could use the extra reps. Industry friend, Kendall Valenzuela of Fantasy Life has a good theory about where Brady could be and it makes perfect sense. In the tweet below, she connects the dots and explains how TB12 could possibly be recording for The Masked Singer. His former teammates Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Brown have both been on the show. It sounds crazy until it starts to make sense.
Where in the world is Tom Brady? We have a theory 🔍 pic.twitter.com/zUvopoaCwM
— Fantasy Life (@MBFantasyLife) August 19, 2022
Carolina Mayfield taking the lead
It’s been reported Baker Mayfield is expected to be the Panthers’ Week 1 starter at quarterback. This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise as we’ve seen what Sam Darnold has been able to do in Carolina. Neither will play in the Week 2 preseason game. P.J Walker will get the start and alternate quarters with Matt Corral. Mayfield and Darnold took most of the reps this week in a joint practice with the Patriots. On the surface, coach Matt Rhule says that it’s still an open competition. That part we don’t know for sure, but what we do know is that Mayfield will probably be the best option for fantasy purposes. Robbie Anderson has always praised Mayfield for his leadership abilities. D.J. Moore, who consistently gives us 1,110 plus-yard seasons, should see a small bump in production. Christian McCaffrey will be extremely productive no matter who’s at quarterback. Look forward to Mayfield facing his old squad in Week 1.
Backup running backs on the rise
Some unexpected players have been moving up running back depth charts this season, and it’s sure to shake up the fantasy landscape. When Isaiah Spiller was drafted we immediately made him the complementary back to Austin Ekeler in our minds because it made sense. Third-year running back Joshua Kelley who’s underwhelmed so far in his career, has reportedly had an amazing camp and is the clear-cut backup to Ekeler at this point. In Pittsburgh, the battle to be Najee Harris’ backup is heating up. Jaylen Warren is on the cusp of supplanting Benny Snell as the RB2 after an impressive camp so far. Although Darrel Williams was brought into Arizona to fill the void left by Chase Edmonds, Eno Benjamin has made his case and is getting great praise from coach Kliff Kingsbury. In a shocker, Zack Moss is making a push for some touches in the Bills’ backfield. James Cook and Devin Singletary were thought to be a two-man committee, but reports have been that this could be a three-man rotation which should completely scare you away in fantasy. Ken Walker, who was having a good camp, is out for the rest of the preseason, but coach Pete Carroll is hoping for a Week 1 return.
