Five Biggest Questions
1. Can Daniel Jones be a QB1?
2. Is Saquon Barkley an early first-rounder?
3. Will Darius Slayton take another step forward?
4. Will Sterling Shepard outperform Golden Tate?
5. Can Evan Engram stay healthy enough to be a near-elite TE?
Eli Manning could have retired in early 2019--a win-win for everyone. But when he returned for a 16th season, the writing was on the wall. By Week 3, the Daniel Jones era had begun. Last year's #6 overall pick, Jones didn't have it easy: Saquon Barkley missed three games and didn't look close to 100% several other weeks. Darius Slayton, Sterling Shepard and Golden Tate all missed time, while Evan Engram sat half the season. Despite that, besides his atrociously lofty turnover total, the rookie looked NFL ready. I'm cautiously optimistic that he can at least match his QB-15 ADP. The problem is, his second-half schedule looks far more favorable in his first-half, which consists of the Steelers, @Bears, Niners, @Rams, and @Cowboys. Also, Week 16 (most leagues' championship week) he'll be in Baltimore. In other words, while his overall numbers should be fine, I wouldn't want to lean on him as my #1 QB in deep leagues.
Barkley (RB-3) probably deserves to be top-2. Forget last year. If I can get him with the fourth or fifth pick, I'm thrilled. He racked up around 2,000 total yards and 15 scores in 2018. That's entirely doable in 2020 despite the relatively tough schedule. But again, Week 16 looms large. While he's a weekly must-start, it will be interested to see how many hearts he breaks when it matters most--or if he's as defense-proof as he was in 2018.
Darius Slayton was quite a find. A fifth-round rookie out of Auburn, he stepped up big while some of the bigger receiver names were sidelined. This year his WR-42 ADP suggests his production will scale back with the healthy return of Shepard, Tate, and Engram. Right now I'm torn. What do you all think? I want to see what August brings. Meanwhile, Shepard was actually headed for his best campaign before going down. But he's probably one more concussion away from missing several games--and maybe more. Sporting a WR-51 ADP, if he breaks out early, he'll be one of my top sell-high guys. And after warning Golden Tate's best days were behind him, he proved me wrong with a nice bounce-back effort. That said, his value hinges largely on the health of the other two. His WR-56 ranking makes sense: some solid outings, and some clunkers.
Finally, how are we feeling about Evan Engram? Talk about a roll of the dice. He's probably a top-4 TE when healthy, meaning his TE-6 ADP is a bit aggressive for me. His injury history is hard to overlook.