The Game Plan To Bounce Back (#FantasyFootball)

Fine readers of the Going For 2 fanbase my name is @TheBLeagueSays and I am 100% just about cooked from all this COVID business. So to take your mind from it, this week I will present to you on behalf of @GoingFor_2 ‘The Game Plan to Bounce Back’ which I will give you some plays to make in regards to your Fantasy teams, Best-Ball selections, trade advice, and Dynasty evaluations. 

So before we get started – Thank you, and enjoy!

Slant Route

It’s time to get a move on for: 

Le’Veon Bell.

The Jets had a pretty solid offseason through free agency and the draft and Joe Douglas lived up to his hype as he steers the Adam Gase circus in the right direction. They beefed up the offensive line to protect Sam Darnold with George Fant, Connor McGovern, and Greg Van Roten as well as investing in Mekhi Beckton with the 11th pick overall. They also added speed with Breshad Perriman and the talented rookie Denzel Mims too.

So more protection and weapons for Darnold can only mean even better things for Bell also, right?

In what was quite possibly the worst statistical season of his career, the turnaround of personnel for the Jets can only help unlock Bell moving forward. Bell has fallen outside of the Top 20 running backs in Dynasty, and again, can be had from the 3rd round on in Best-Ball if you don’t jump on position straight from the get-go.

It’s worth the consideration at least, and maybe he’s someone you can get a little cheaper than normal if the owner believes that Frank Gore and Lamical Perine could poach work in if the ‘trade’ rumors start swirling one more time.

Flat Route

Where’s the defibrillator:

…for all the Corey Davis truthers out there?

No, really, I feel sorry for the guy I sincerely do.

First of all, he gets the inconsistent and erratic Marcus Mariota. Then Ryan Tannehill who clung to A.J. Brown for dear life to help retain a massive new deal to stay a Titan for the foreseeable future. And finally, the Titans opted to not pick up his fifth-year option unless he gets tagged by them at the end of the season, Davis will test out Free Agency in 2021 unless they happen to trade him.

Still, they haven’t added any more competition for the wide receiver position in free agency and they let Tajae Sharpe and Delanie Walker leave so the assumption is that maybe Adam Humphries and Jonnu Smith are there to step up instead. As for the adding talent through the draft, really only running back Darrynton Evans who has solid receiving abilities was added, along with a handful of UDFA guys who probably won’t make the cut.

So no recruits in free agency, less talent on the squad, and no extra threats through the draft? It’s more than likely that this is the last time you can say it with Davis as a Titan…but if there ever was a time to break out, it’s gotta be now.

Comeback Route

The comeback is on for:

Funnily enough, Tom Brady!

In a world where his former team gave away a 2nd round pick for Mohamed Sanu, and who was lining up next to Phillip Dorsett and Josh Gordon, Brady now gets to use Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, O.J. Howard and former buddy Rob Gronkowski. And while the run game in Tampa hasn’t been great, the hype around what Ke’Shawn Vaughn can do in the receiving game has been. So if we think that because of his age or the lack of ‘zip’ is going to be holding him back that’s fine; but the volume I believe will be there to make up for the big plays that he doesn’t have.

Although we know that this isn’t the 2007 Tom Brady (hi, Geoff!), I’d say that this is the best opportunity for Brady to put up some impressive numbers. And considering guys like Daniel Jones are going ahead of him in Best-Ball formatting, I’d say that Brady is a smart play if you wait at the position, or if you need a one-year rental for your Dynasty squads.

Screen Route

Going unnoticed is:

Good old Jack Doyle, who was drafted as the TE20 last year and finished as the TE15 with 111.8 points in PPR scoring. It felt like a down year for Doyle, who finished 16 games with an ok 72-43-338-4 TD season. But considering the Colts ranked 25th for passing attempts in 2019 (where Doyle accounted for 14% of his team targets) then maybe that could be a reason for what felt like an underwhelming season.

But on the plus side, he gets a new Quarterback in Philip Rivers, who just so happens to love his tight ends (see Antonio Gates, and Hunter Henry). Per sharpfootballstats.com, Doyle was tied for 6th most Red Zone targets amongst tight ends (14 targets) although he was somewhat wasteful with his opportunities having the 7th worst successful play rate (5 receptions / 35.71%), the encouraging sign would be that three of those catches went for scores.

If he and Rivers can connect early, he could be a best-ball boom player you’re looking for because I’m not sure if the numbers will be as consistent as you might like and the tight end position is generally garbage, but still, he is currently going off as the TE18 in ADP and at that rate, he is well worth the look – you could do worse.

Out Route

The love has come to a screeching halt on:

John Ross. Poor guy. Not only (like Corey Davis) did the Bengals not pick up his 5th-year option, but A.J. Green is back (well, he should be back, right?) and the Bengals drafted Tee Higgins to go along with new Quarterback Joe Burrow.

That seems like a lot of change for Ross, who seemed to live up to his 2017 9th overall selection in the first month for fantasy football last year. And the glimmer of hope is that Zac Taylor sees more use for the guy that has the one trait that the others on his team lack – undeniable speed.

If John Ross can stay healthy (a big IF, I know), then the window for Ross to be a buy-low candidate is now, and a 2021st 4th round pick could be what gets it done for you.

The 9 Route

The chalk play:

This will be short and sweet: JuJu Smith-Schuster is the chalk to rebound in 2020. So…

No. Chase Claypool is not a threat. No, neither is James Washington. Yes, Diontae Johnson was great as a rookie and they will complement each other. Yes, Antonio Brown not being around probably hurt too. Yes, Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges were brutal for him, and yes, having ‘Big Ben Roethlisberger‘ back is a big deal too and should get him back on track also.

Can we expect a return to his 2018 form where he plugged a 166-111-1426-11 TD season?

Maybe. That’s a tall order. But I know that when he is back to full health he is certainly capable to do so, and we won’t see whatever that was that we saw last season.

But I know that he is slipping in drafts right now and is a screaming value, considering he was pushing early 2nd round ADP last season. Across multiple sites ‘JJSS’ is many people’s consensus WR7 in Dynasty formats, which clearly doesn’t match the 4th round ADP he’s currently landing in.

Hail Mary

Hey…you could do worse than:

One of the best dart-throws in Best-Ball value I have seen in a while is Jordan Howard who has been spoken about even less lately, seeing as the Dolphins traded for Matt Breida out of San Francisco during the draft. They both now land in Miami where Ryan Fitzpatrick leads the team in 2019 for rushing yards (253 yards) and rushing touchdowns where he hit paydirt four times. Prior to Breida’s arrival, Howard could have been had in around the 6th Round and being seen in and around the RB30 range. Post-Breida’s arrival, I have seen Howard slip into the late 11th rounds into the RB45 range – that’s a pretty big drop if you ask me.

Breida I don’t think will ice out Howard from work – I think they each will get plenty of opportunities. Howard was on track for over 210 carries in Philadelphia before he got injured, but he is a guy that would normally average a healthy 259 carries and 36 targets a year. Howard, who is still only 25, and was rolling around with a healthy 12.4ppg in PPR scoring and was the RB16 overall before his season cut short.

If the ‘wait on running back’ method is something you roll with then I’d think that Jordan Howard is your guy.

I want to thank you for getting this far and taking in everything I have presented. You can as always follow and find me at @TheBLeagueSays and to subscribe, rate, review, and share and listen to The Back Row Giants podcast I host every week; which you can follow on Twitter @BackRowGiants also. Don’t forget to check out the #GF2 weekly rankings which you can find https://goingfor2.com/2019-fantasy-football-redraft-rankings-gf2-consensus/, and to subscribe, rate, review, and share and listen to The Armchair Fantasy Show podcast which airs every Tuesday night.

Let’s all get better together!

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