Red Flags: Player Concerns Entering 2016 Drafts

Red flags are any concerns I have with a player entering 2016. This article is not a complete list of concerns for each player. Just because a player has red flags does not mean I would not draft the player.

* If you don’t see a player listed and want to know my red flags on that player, tweet your request to me @fantasybeast15

Quarterbacks
Aaron Rodgers – Rodgers had a difficult 2015 with a limited group of receivers around him. If Jordy Nelson isn’t effective coming back from injury, Rodgers may not return to the top 3 QB status he’s used to.

Running Backs

Ezekiel Elliot – The rookie has never played a snap and enters the year with a minor hamstring injury.

David Johnson – Johnson could see some touchdown regression and a volume decrease (per game). There are other capable running backs on the team and plenty of mouths to feed on the Cardinals offense.

Todd Gurley – The Rams probably won’t be a good offense this season and the team may often play from behind. With no real passing threats on the team, Gurley will see a lot of stacked boxes.

Adrian Peterson – Peterson enters the season at 31 years of age. Teddy Bridgewater does not create a significant passing threat so Peterson will see a lot of stacked boxes.

Le’Veon Bell – Bell is coming off of a knee injury and starts the year on a four-game suspension. Additionally, the offensive quality could suffer slightly without Martavis Bryant.

Lamar Miller – Miller has never been given significant rushing volume in his career. He’s now with a new team and a new offense.

Mark Ingram – The Saints are a pass-first team. Ingram has never rushed for 1000 yards and only has one season over 200 carries. Ingram also carries some injury risk.

Jamaal Charles – Charles is coming back from his second ACL injury. Spencer Ware and Charcandrick West are capable running backs and may factor into the offense more this season.

Devonta Freeman – Freeman will likely see TD regression. He finished 47th in yards per carry last season and 58th in yards after contact.

Eddie Lacy – Lacy had a poor 2015 season beginning with fitness concerns. He is a RB who needs volume or touchdowns to be valuable, but he had a low volume in 2015.

LeSean McCoy – McCoy only had 3 rushing TDs last season. Rex Ryan typically doesn’t like to run his RBs into the ground, and the Bills could carry up to 3 other capable running backs on their roster.

Doug Martin – Charles Sims may take a larger role in 2016. Martin also finished with the same number of rushing TDs as his quarterback leading me to believe he isn’t the clear option near the goal line.

C.J. Anderson – Even after a great end to the 2014 season, Anderson was not given the volume needed to be a top fantasy RB in 2015.

Thomas Rawls – Rawls enters the season with injury concerns and the Seahawks drafted 3 running backs in 2016.

Dion Lewis – Lewis is coming off of an ACL injury. He had 49 rushes and 50 targets last season, so he doesn’t have the rushing numbers of RBs around his average draft position (ADP).

Wide Receivers

Antonio Brown – The passing offense could take a small hit with Martavis Bryant out of the lineup for the season.

Julio Jones – The biggest passing threat outside of Julio is likely Devonta Freeman allowing defenses the ability to give some extra attention to Julio.

Odell Beckham Jr. – 13 TDs is a lot to reproduce.

DeAndre Hopkins – New quarterback. Additions of Lamar Miller, Will Fuller, and a second year of Jaelen Strong could lead to fewer targets for Hopkins.

Allen Robinson – 14 TDs is a lot to reproduce and we could see a drop in the Jaguars overall passing volume.

A.J. Green – The Bengals lost some offensive weapons and coaches which could lead to more defensive attention on Green and a worse overall offense.

Dez Bryant – Bryant carries some injury risk. Also, if Romo misses time, Dez struggles significantly.

Keenan Allen – Allen has slight injury concerns. He is a possession receiver with low yards per reception throughout his career.

Brandon Marshall – Marshall enters the year at the age of 32 and likely will see some TD regression.

Jordy Nelson –  Nelson enters the year at the age of 31 and is coming off of an ACL injury.

Sammy Watkins – Watkins enters the year with injury concerns and with no other strong receiving talent on the team, he could see some extra attention from the defense.

Mike Evans – Evans finished with a poor sophomore season with 15 drops and only 3 TDs. With no other strong receiving talent on the team, he’ll likely see extra defensive attention.

Alshon Jeffery – Jeffery enters the season with more injury concerns than most. Jeffery also struggled in the red-zone last season with only a 33% catch percentage and only 2 red-zone TDs.

Brandin Cooks –Cooks is a limited red-zone receiver lowering his TD upside. The Saints are also a team that likes to spread the ball around.

Demaryius Thomas – Thomas has to adjust to a new QB. He also had an issue with drops (12) last season. Without Peyton Manning running the offense, I expect the Broncos to run a lot more in 2016.

T.Y. Hilton – Hilton is a classic boom/bust WR due to his breakaway speed, but a lack of red-zone presence.

Randall Cobb – Cobb had a poor 2015 season and is a possession receiver with low yards per reception.

Donte Moncrief – Moncrief has no real track record of success in the NFL.

Amari Cooper – Cooper led the league in drops in 2015 with 18. The Raiders’ improved team will likely lead to a decrease in passing volume. Although Cooper played all 16 games last season, he was only targeted 7 times in the red-zone and did not receive a target inside the 10-yard line.

Jeremy Maclin – The Chiefs have a low-volume passing offense. Chiefs receivers had 1 receiving TD with Jamaal Charles active (20 games) compared to 11 TDs without Charles (12 games) over the last 2 seasons. Charles should be back to start the year so I’m expecting TD regression for Maclin.

Julian Edelman – Edelman is coming off of an injury and has low yards per reception in his career.

Eric Decker – Decker only had one game last season with 100+ receiving yards in 2015. It will be hard to produce 12 TDs again.

Tight Ends
Rob Gronkowski – Gronkowski’s style of play and how defense attempt to tackle him lead to injury concerns.

Jordan Reed – Reed has yet to play a complete NFL season, missing 14 games over the past three years.

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