Bloggin Hood’s 2018 Fantasy Football Preview – Arizona and Atlanta Depth Charts
July 10, 2018Every year, thousands of fantasy players win their leagues. Not only do they receive a giant trophy, they also receive a champion’s pay check and the right to mock the rest of their league mates until next season. Few things in life are more rewarding than winning, but even fewer top winning when you’ve done nothing but start virtual players. Truly, it’s the reason many of us get out of bed in the morning.
However, for every winner, there are hundreds of thousands of losers. Some of these poor unfortunate souls finish in second place. Others just miss the playoffs. But a select few come in dead last. These outcasts are mocked by even the next to last place finisher, forced to suffer through unending punishments and shamed to the point of severe confidence loss. There’s a reason you see a bunch of Viagra commercials during the NFL season. That will put those images of people sitting in adjacent tubs outside in a whole new light.
The 2018 Bloggin Hood Fantasy guide doesn’t look to help the first place winner. No, that’s not the Bloggin Hood way. Instead, we intend to give to the poor(poorly informed) by taking knowledge through tons of research(the rich). Now, who actually did this research? Why me, Bloggin Hood of course. If you don’t trust my work, go ahead suck a rock, or kick lemons. Do it in reverse and see if I care.
The Blogging Hood Fantasy guide is not for the faint of heart. The word count would make George RR Martin blush, mostly because he’s forgotten how to write. This year, we’re not even stopping at one preview. Welcome to Part 1 of the 2018 fantasy guide – Team Previews.
Over the next 16 weekdays, right until the last day in July, we’ll be looking at two NFL depth charts for potential breakouts, busts, and deep names to consider. What we will not be doing in part one is addresses ADP, or any actual rankings. I haven’t looked at any of that stuff yet. At this point in the year, it’s irrelevant. If you’re drafting in July, it means you’re baseball team has probably tanked to 12th place. It’s way too early to hone in on ADP. We’ll save that for part two.
If you followed the Bloggin Hood Fantasy Baseball guide and find yourself in 12th place, no refunds.
Without further ado, let’s dissect two team’s depth charts, as per rotoworld.com.
Arizona Cardinals
This injury is my fault. I had the first pick in multiple leagues
Once a team full of fantasy goodness, these days Arizona is a scary place to go for any sort of fantasy value. Sure, you have upside, but you’re also betting on clean health for key contributors. I mean, you’re actually betting on Sam Bradford by taking an offensive player. Is that what you want? This could be a team with players in the top ten at both RB and WR, but it could also be very ugly.
And I don’t mean ugly like a Bruce Arenas hat. I mean, look at that thing.
He looks like a cocky street poet
I think the biggest issue for fantasy players is who will actually be the starting QB this season. Bradford isn’t the best QB in the league, but he is accurate for any passes about 10 yards out. This is great news for the team’s best weapons, David Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald. However, for the team’s long term prospects, they definitely want to see if Josh Rosen is the chosen one. If you ask Rosen, he certainly is. Rosen definitely has a better arm than Bradford, but arm talent alone doesn’t make a star. Remember JaMarcus Russell once threw a ball 80 yards on his knees. Now, he’s probably eating 80 donuts somewhere in a European Football League.
That’s the first time you’ve thought of NFL Europe in 15 years, right?
Ok, let’s get to the team before I run out of references in the first preview.
QBs
Sam Bradford – Whenever people talk about Sam Bradford, it’s that he’s one of the most accurate passers of all time. That’s a great honor until you realize Bradford can’t throw the ball more than 15 yards. He’s had nearly as many shoulder surgeries as Chad Pennington, and we all remember what a threat he was. I don’t think Bradford is that bad of QB, but he’s too brittle to rely on. I also think if you’re drafting a Cardinal high, you want Bradford playing close to 16 games. I think this goes without saying, but you do not draft Sam Bradford in any league size that isn’t two QBs.
Josh Rosen – Rosen might be the cockiest player we’ve seen since Johnny Manziel did the money sign on draft night with cocaine on each finger tip. Hell, he might rival Ricky Henderson. I don’t know how good Rosen is, but if you like Bravado, here’s your guy. He should see action this year, whether it’s planned, or due to the inevitable broken bone Bradford suffers in September. He has a stronger arm for sure, but I think Fitzgerald’s strengths actually play more to Bradford. However, Fitzgerald and Johnson could offer the safety valves for a young QB to give him some value. But I can’t root for this guy. I mean come on. He’s a huge dick. If there is a useable QB on the Cardinals roster, it’ll be Rosen.
RBs
David Johnson – I blame myself for the injury to David Johnson last season. I had the first overall pick in not 1 but 2 leagues, which was great, until he third quarter of the opening Sunday games. Then there was the reports where Johnson was out for the year, only missing a few weeks, or even probable for week two. We all know how that turned out. Boy did that suck.
Fortunately, there’s nothing about Johnson’s injury that should slow down his production. It was a wrist injury, so as long as it’s healed up, and all reports say it is, the numbers should be there. Naturally, Johnson is holding out for a contract extension, and is already 27. That’s not exactly young, but he’s only taken 2 years of NFL hits. I think the gamble label on Johnson is misrepresented and if he’s on the field for preseason snaps, I don’t think any issue using a top 5 pick on him. Really, what’s changed? Carson Palmer? Stop it.
Chase Edmonds – Because all star running backs need a handcuff and he was drafted this year. I mean, that’s it. You take him in the 3rd to last round if you draft Johnson, and you move on. This is the easy stuff.
WRs
Larry Fitzgerald – Do you realize just how good Larry Fitzgerald still is? Well, he hasn’t had less than 107 catching in the last three seasons. That’s incredible. The down the field aspect is gone, but nobody has surer hands. Fitzgerald plays the role of a TE these day – moving the chains, catching everything, and getting as much separatation from a DB as cars gets from each other in LA traffic. Fitzgerald will slip in drafts for his age, and to be fair, he usually starts out hot and slows down as the season goes, but remember, fantasy football is a weekly game. Take the players who help you win now, and worry about week 9 later. Fitzgerald is a top 15 receiver who will probably go as a WR 3 in some drafts. Be the smart one this year and start respecting your elders.
JJ Nelson – Is it bad to confess I still kind of like Nelson as a sleeper? He’s never shown a lick of consistency, but he’s the big play threat on the receiving core. For Nelson to have a prayer of relevancy, he needs Rosen to win the QB job. If Bradford is the starter, cross Nelson off your cheat sheets. However, if Rosen can win the job, Nelson’s somebody to watch, but not draft, early. He could be a quality add down the line.
Christian Kirk – Kirk steps into a pretty good situation for a rookie, as there’s not much talent ahead of him. It’s likely he’ll be the second most valuable receiver on the team, and if all goes according to plan, should be third in receptions and catches. With Fitzgerald operating in the slot, Kirk should start out wide. He should be one of the first rookie WRs off the board, but as I’ll repeat constantly in this series, go easy on rookie receivers. Especially with iffy QB situations.
TEs
If the name Ricky Seals-Jones excite you, you either play in a 24 team league, or used to be a marine biologist. To be fair, there’s deep sleeper appeal here, but I don’t think Seals-Jones needs to be drafted in 12 team leagues or smaller.
Atlanta Falcons
He only dropped it because the ball had been in the end zone earlier.
Considering the absolute collapse that the Falcons had in the Super bowl, their 2017 wasn’t so bad. In fact, the offense has been re-tooled a bit that they should remain one of the elite units in the NFL. They may have 7 players worthy of starting in fantasy this year (though a few of them are definitely a stretch) and I can’t really see the offense slowing down much.
One of Atlanta’s benefits is playing nine games a year in a dome. Indoor football doesn’t guarantee points, but with no weather conditions to worry about, it doesn’t hurt. The NFC South is longer built for shootouts as much, but the Falcons are, on paper, the strongest offensive team in the division.
Also, I looked at the list of teams. There’s a lot of bad teams early on in alphabetical order. Tomorrow’s post is going to be excruciating to write. You might not be so high on Atlanta. Perhaps you’re still bitter about the collapse to the evil empire. But let’s agree to enjoy what we have for now and not worry about what comes next. Seriously, you won’t come back if you see who’s up next.
QBs
Matt Ryan – Ryan went out and proved what everybody already knew – he’s not an elite QB. Sure, his 4,100 yards were fine, but he only threw for 20 TDs. His season of 38 TDs are now sandwiched by 21 and 20 campaigns. That’s some awfully moldy bread. I think Ryan is fine, especially since the offense around him is so high powered, but you’re not likely to get 30 TDs even with the wapondry. This makes Ryan closer to a streamer than an every week QB for me. Ryan’s draft price will matter. If he’s going in a double digit round, I think he worth a shot, especially if his schedule is easy in September. But if he’s like the 8th QB drafted on average, there’s no point considering him.
RBs
DeVonta Freeman – Other than his injury, Freeman pretty much met his averages since becoming the starter in Atlanta. He averaged roughly 12 yards per game lower than 2016, but when you factor in he was likely playing at less than 100% for a game or two, this makes sense. The most concerning part of Freeman’s potential is his involvement in the passing game. Not only has it trended down the past few seasons, there’s a new mouth to feed. Still, even with a continued down tick in receptions, I think Freeman is a good back-end RB 1 that will likely go at the end of the second round. Nobody likes Freeman anymore because he’s a veteran, but he’s currently just 26, and still has juice left. Draft with confidence.
Tevin Coleman – I’ve always loved Coleman’s breakaway potential and talent, but he’s been little more than a premium handcuff thus far in his career. He’s been fairly inefficient, and really hasn’t been used in the passing game. Unless Freeman goes down, Coleman will continue to be somewhere in the RB3 range – good for a flier and to shore up the Falcons RB situation, and not much else. You want to shoot higher for your starter. When Coleman is on another roster, atop the depth chart, I’ll be more interested.
WRs
Julio Jones – I really don’t know where to rank Julio this year. Of course he’s one of the elite WRs, and as long as he plays 16 games, he’ll be a top 5-7 option. But he just can’t get it done around the red zone. Some years, he receives minimal targets, but last year, he had no excuses. He was force-fed the ball at the goal line and came away with three touchdowns. Kareem Hunt scored three touchdowns in his debut game, after fumbling on his first carry. He also was extremely inconsistent, putting up a few giant games and disappointing most other weeks. It’s tough to pass on Julio, but honestly in drafts, I think I’m going to look elsewhere. While 88 receptions is nothing to scoff at, he’s only topped 8 TDs twice in his career. For a second round pick, it’s a steep price unless you’re getting 100+ catches with his yardage. He‘s skilled enough to get there, but it’s not a safe bet even with health.
Mohamad Sanu – Sanu is in the weird role where he’s slightly better than just a guy, but not by much. He’s the type of guy always sitting on your waiver wire if you need a spot start on Sunday, but not somebody you want on your team beyond that. He’s certainly an asset to Matt Ryan, but he’s honestly an obstacle to the true fantasy pieces on the team. Sanu might also offer a road block to the next discussed player, though I can’t see it being for long.
Calvin Ridley – There’s a Smash Brothers joke about Ridley finally being free here, but I couldn’t figure out a way to phrase. Just know I thought of it.
There’s few teams that could have been a better landing spot that Atlanta for Ridley. He gets to be the second receiving option behind a bona fide #1 target, easing his transition to the league. He plays on a run and gun offense, increasing his opportunities. And his quarterback is decent enough where he won’t be hindered by a rebuilding team. But like Julio, Ridley had a history of drops that could plague him. There’s too much to like here not to be intrigued. I don’t like reaching on rookie receivers, but Ridley might be one I consider reaching a little bit for. Somebody has to catch TDs at the goal line, and it sure won’t be Julio. I think he’s the first rookie WR that should be taken.
TEs
Austin Hooper – Hooper was considered a bust last year, but how many young TEs actually produce? He had 500 yards, but only 3 touchdowns, the real issue. Like Ridley, there’s no reason Hopper couldn’t see an influx of red zone targets. Also, it’s the third year TEs usually begin to develop as it’s one of the hardest positions to learn. I see no reason a late flier on Hooper can’t work out. Plus, you should be cutting your TEs often anyway when they fail to score. You have to set the tone of your fantasy team one way or another. I prefer pointless add drops of mediocre players like Hooper to look like I know what I’m doing
