Which AFC team has three rookies who could lead the team in passing yards, rushing yards, and receiving yards? If you said “the Titans,” I’ll send you a Fantasy Football for Winners calendar (full disclosure: no such calendar exists, though if it did, I’d have a garage full of them).
Highly touted rookie Marcus Mariota has generated a lot of buzz at OTAs due to his arm strength, accuracy, and confidence. I’m often hesitant to label any rookie QB as a QB1. His #15 QB ADP seems ambitious. I can think of at least 20 QBs who should score more fantasy points. Maybe I’m missing something. Maybe in August I’ll see things differently. But I’m envisioning more growing pains than many people realize.
David Cobb (#51 RB ADP) is another Titan rookie. His value hinges on whether Tennessee loses faith in the 2014 NFL draft’s first selected RB, Bishop Sankey (#41 RB ADP). At last year’s pace, Sankey would have needed 493 rushing attempts to exceed DeMarco Murray’s rushing yards. Not so good. While I think Tennessee will play it safe and start Sankey Week 1, Cobb should outproduce him this season.
The third notable rookie is Dorial Green-Beckham (#57 WR ADP), who’s expected to start opposite Kendall Wright. Green-Beckham is a hit-or-miss option. I think we’ll know in the first two or three weeks of the season whether he and Mariota will enjoy playing together for the next decade, or if they’re having trouble getting onto the same page.
A while ago I saw a Football Outsiders analysis that Wright (#55 WR ADP) and Justin Hunter (74th ranked WR by Fantasy Pros’ composite of experts) were among the 12 WRs who saw the highest rates of uncatchable targets. They can thank QBs Jake Locker, Zach Mettenberger, and Charlie Whitehurst. Clearly Mariota should bolster his receivers’ numbers over last year’s debacle. But I’d temper expectations. Wright should be a WR4/5 most weeks, and the perennially underperforming Hunter might be no better than the fourth or fifth receiving option.
Harry Douglas (Fantasy Pros’ experts’ 93rd ranked WR) is temptingly undervalued. He’ll enter the season as Mariota’s sole WR veteran, and should get more looks than most people expect. I like Douglas as a once-every-three-weeks WR4—500+ yards and 4+ TDs; if you’re in an uber-deep league, there are worse risks to take in the last round of your draft.
Finally, there’s Delanie Walker, whose #14 TE ADP is misguided. The veteran is coming off a career year in which he scored the ninth most TE fantasy points. He was a safety valve for a trio of backup-worthy QBs. Walker won’t come close to the 108 targets he amassed in 2014. He’ll finish 2015 as the 20th-to-22nd best fantasy TE.
Highly touted rookie Marcus Mariota has generated a lot of buzz at OTAs due to his arm strength, accuracy, and confidence. I’m often hesitant to label any rookie QB as a QB1. His #15 QB ADP seems ambitious. I can think of at least 20 QBs who should score more fantasy points. Maybe I’m missing something. Maybe in August I’ll see things differently. But I’m envisioning more growing pains than many people realize.
David Cobb (#51 RB ADP) is another Titan rookie. His value hinges on whether Tennessee loses faith in the 2014 NFL draft’s first selected RB, Bishop Sankey (#41 RB ADP). At last year’s pace, Sankey would have needed 493 rushing attempts to exceed DeMarco Murray’s rushing yards. Not so good. While I think Tennessee will play it safe and start Sankey Week 1, Cobb should outproduce him this season.
The third notable rookie is Dorial Green-Beckham (#57 WR ADP), who’s expected to start opposite Kendall Wright. Green-Beckham is a hit-or-miss option. I think we’ll know in the first two or three weeks of the season whether he and Mariota will enjoy playing together for the next decade, or if they’re having trouble getting onto the same page.
A while ago I saw a Football Outsiders analysis that Wright (#55 WR ADP) and Justin Hunter (74th ranked WR by Fantasy Pros’ composite of experts) were among the 12 WRs who saw the highest rates of uncatchable targets. They can thank QBs Jake Locker, Zach Mettenberger, and Charlie Whitehurst. Clearly Mariota should bolster his receivers’ numbers over last year’s debacle. But I’d temper expectations. Wright should be a WR4/5 most weeks, and the perennially underperforming Hunter might be no better than the fourth or fifth receiving option.
Harry Douglas (Fantasy Pros’ experts’ 93rd ranked WR) is temptingly undervalued. He’ll enter the season as Mariota’s sole WR veteran, and should get more looks than most people expect. I like Douglas as a once-every-three-weeks WR4—500+ yards and 4+ TDs; if you’re in an uber-deep league, there are worse risks to take in the last round of your draft.
Finally, there’s Delanie Walker, whose #14 TE ADP is misguided. The veteran is coming off a career year in which he scored the ninth most TE fantasy points. He was a safety valve for a trio of backup-worthy QBs. Walker won’t come close to the 108 targets he amassed in 2014. He’ll finish 2015 as the 20th-to-22nd best fantasy TE.