Bloggin Hood’s 2018 Fantasy Football Preview – Carolina and Chicago Depth Charts
July 12, 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.
Carolina Panthers
Was Cam going for a Monopoly Man look here?
The Panthers are a true Jekyll and Hyde franchise. Some years, they look like they’re an elite Super Bowl contender. Other times, they seem to be a candidate for relegation. Why doesn’t the NFL use relegation. I mean, let’s find a way to get the Browns some wins every couple of years, right?
Outside of Killa Cam, there’s no true star players on this roster for fantasy purposes. There’s the potential for solid, starting pieces, but I can’t see these guys winning you a title on their own. At least this year, you don’t have to feel intense shame when you draft a Panther. In fact, you might even be moderately happy about it. I mean, did you see the Bills preview? I know, right?!
The most interesting part of this team is the breakdown of targets. You don’t normally see Panther players at the top of the target lists, but with 4 viable options, the most in god knows how long for the team, Cam needs to be on point this year to get value out of these receivers.
QB
Cam Newton – If your fantasy league offers points for fashion, then, oh man… Actually, I have no idea if Cam would score points. He’s like Russell Westbrook in that he just wears whatever he wants and people assume he’s fashionable. There’s three year olds who do that too and nobody is giving them credit for it. Let’s all agree Cam just likes wearing funny hats and move on. He’d be great at the Kentucky Derby.
Cam’s value in fantasy returned, nearly exclusively from his legs. In fact, he only averaged around 205 yards passing a game, throwing below 60% completion for the 5th time in his career and only had 22 passing touchdowns, which does not pair well with 16 picks. If we’re being honest, and we should be since we’re all friends here, Newton isn’t a good QB. What he does provide is borderline RB 2 numbers to enhance his value. His 750 rushing yards is insane, and he chipped in 6 TDs on the ground. These rushing TDs seem to be automatic at this point, so long as Cam remains upright (that didn’t happen in 2016). I don’t completely trust Cam as my QB because of his passing. He scored only 188.08 points as a thrower, and 111.4 as a runner. I don’t know how long that can last, but if you get a slight discount, he’s a top 5 option for this year.
RBs
Christian McCaffrey – I think people expected too much from McCaffrey last year. Fantasy players envisioned a 300+ touch workhorse who scored points both my land and by air. You can’t possibly complain about his receiving, where he totaled 80 catches, albeit for only 650 yards. Running is where he struggled, averaging only 3.7 YPC on 117 carries. With the increased weapons, it’s going to be tough to repeat 80 catches, the area where McCaffrey shines. I actually think an increase in carries is likely, which may be surprising, but hold that thought for a few sentences. McCaffrey is a RB 2 who’s upside is capped by Cam stealing goal line TDs and his team believing he’s more of a swiss army knife than a true running back. In today’s NFL, that’s still very valuable, but he’ll always be a tick overrated in fantasy. In goes without saying, but he’s a PPR monster, even if his catch total takes a dip.
CJ Anderson – Ok, I’m just going to say it, and live with the consequences. CJ Anderson is overrated. Everybody remembers the five game stretch he had where he was a fantasy darling and all he’s done since then is disappoint, get hurt, and disappoint some more. Even last year, where he managed to play 16 games and totaled 1,000 yards, he still didn’t exactly wow, scoring a mere 3 touchdowns. Things could be different in Carolina, and he should get the majority of the carries (not touches, which is important) and I’m sure he’ll find a way to disappoint again. He’s just not my type of player. I acknowledge the role, and he’ll be ranked as an RB 3. But if I’m under the gun at a draft, I’ll probably look elsewhere.
WRs
Devin Funchess – I wouldn’t say Funchess stepped up into the upper echelon last season, but he went from absurd disappointment to decent fantasy option. Funchess doubled his career yardage in his third season and did not mind Kelvin Benjamin getting traded mid way through the year. Funchess won’t get as many targets with DJ Moore on the roster and Greg Olson presumably 100%, but he should be the team’s main goal line option at 6’4”. He’s now a touchdown dependent WR3, but there’s plenty of worse options out there. I can’t expect the cost being too high despite the breakout. People remember his first two seasons, but this is a viable receiver who has rapport with his QB.
D.J. Moore – Moore gives the Panthers what they’ve lacked since the days of Steve Smith (Mostly before he became a SR) – explosiveness. Moore is above all else a freak athlete and that should play at the NFL level. It’s actually going to be tough sledding for consistent targets in his rookie year as there are solid, if not spectacular options at every position. He should see a lot of snaps though, and I could see him climbing up the target hierarchy as the season progresses. I don’t expect a lights out season, and I would still draft Ridley over Moore for this season, but I think by this time in 2019, Moore will be a buzzy name. Don’t reach – get somebody else overpay for him this year. He’s opening up as the fourth option on a run first, run second, QB sneak third team.
Torrey Smith – Smith hasn’t been fantasy relevant in 3 seasons, and I don’t anticipate that changing in 2018. Cam has never been the most accurate QB, though he does have a strong arm, and maybe Smith reels in a few big plays. However, he’s about 5th on the pecking order and is closing in on 30. I doubt anyone was super excited about the prospects of adding Smith to their roster, but in case someone was just unfrozen from the arctic, or awoke from a 3 year coma, don’t draft Smith. He’s a glorified mannequin – nothing more than a nine route running decoy all season.
TE
Greg Olsen – Olson’s iron man streak of nine consecutive 16 game seasons ended when he broke his foot last year. It also ended an extremely productive three-year stretch of at least 1000 yards. I can’t envision Olson getting back to the 1,000 yard mark with all the targets in Carolina. He’ll still be useful, but he’ll be drafted too high. Also, age is catching up with him, and breaking your foot isn’t always the smoothest road to recovery. Remember, Dez Bryant hasn’t been a safe fantasy player since he broke his foot, and Greg Olson was never the athlete Dez was at his prime. Maybe it won’t affect G-Reg as much as Dez, but I think Olson is closer to reviving his rap career than being a top flight TE again.
Chicago Bears
If these guys put on a helmet and played some OL, we’d be in business
It must feel great just not to have John Fox as the head coach for everyone on the offensive side of the ball. Fox was a low-key Jeff Fisher, fake Jeff Fisher if you will. No, he didn’t have the mustache, but he hated young players and had the imagination of a tin can. And not one of the colorful tin cans you see in the supermarket. We’re talking a plain tin can, full of navy beans.
What? John Fox strikes me as a guy who eat navy beans out of a can. What of it?
The play calling was so conservative it’s difficult to say what Mitchell Trubisky is yet. There’s a chance he could make huge strides this year with better play calling, a la Jared Goff, but that’s a lazy comparison because of the Fox/Fisher parallels. Personally, I’m not putting too much hope in this team. Sure, they’ll be better and maybe even score multiple touchdowns in the same month now, but I need to see more from Trubisky before I’m willing to heavily invest. Even the skills players, who aren’t bad, each have flaws to them.
The real excitement this team has is whether John Fox starts crediting himself if the team had success after his firing. I mean, somebody needs credit for benching rookies and avoiding trick plays like the forward pass.
QB
Mitchell Trubisky – It wasn’t a promising rookie season for the Mitch, failing to average 7 yards per attempt and only throwing for 7 TDs all season. He did show a bit of athleticism with his legs, and I do blame the coaching and lack of weapons for a lost year. Honestly, this makes 2018 more of a rookie year from Trubisky, and I’m not sure we can fully wipe his slate clean. I mean, was he really that good in college? Most people thought he was a reach in the draft so consider me unsold. However, he can’t possibly be held back worse than 2017, where his read progression seemed lifted from Tecno Super Bowl. That’s an advanced reference right there.
I can’t envision Trubisky being any worse, so I’ll put him on the low end of the streamers for now. The potential for vast improvement must be recognized, though, again, I don’t expect it.
RBs
Jordan Howard – At this point, we know what Jordan Howard is – a between the tackle grinder who couldn’t catch toilet paper even if he got the Little Giants montage. His role is established and safe, but does depend on two huge factors. Firstly, the Bears have to be in games for him to be heavily involved. I expect improvement for this team, so I’m not as concerned about this as most people might be. The second, bigger issue is the new coaching staff. I expect more imagination, meaning the use of versatile backs. Howard, who is currently trying to discover a legal version of stick em (Gum? Duct Tape?) needs to be able to catch at least a little to stay a top 15 back. Otherwise, he might lose touches and be touchdown dependent. For now, I’ll consider him a solid RB2.
Tarik Cohen – Remember when Tarik Cohen starting 2018 on fire, became the first big waiver add of the year and looked to be the lightning to Howard’s thunder? Then remember how he never touched the ball nearly as often, and by the middle of the season was being out snapped by the likes of Benny Cunningham? Yikes.
There is hope scat back lovers. Matt Nagy, the new, excellently named head coach of the Bears continues to hype Cohen. You know when you’re super excited about a new relationship and bring it up every chance you get? This is Nagy about Cohen. He’s conducting a massive hype train and people are diving face first to get on board.
The role is there for Cohen – all the third down work paired with a young QB and some spell carries. In today’s NFL, this is a valuable role. I don’t think we’ll see 2017 week 1 Cohen, but this is a late round pick I think will pay dividends. I’m betting Nagy knows how to use weapons. When Andy Reid stopped tanking Kareem Hunt’s value in Kansas City last year, it was Nagy who was getting him and Tyreek Hill the ball in space. Cohen is 5’6”, so he’s not handling a full workload, but as a 10-15 touch player with plenty of targets, sign me up. He’s got low end RB2 potential in PPR
WRs
Allen Robinson – This is a double whammy. Not only is Allen Robinson coming off a major knee injury, he’s also switching teams. That seems like a lot to overcome and have a successful season. There’s no one really to challenge Robinson for targets, and the QB can’t be worse than it was in Jacksonville, but I can’t see a monster year from him in 2018. What I could see is a slow start and then pouncing on him for 50 cents on the dollar in the second half, where hopefully Robinson is back to full speed. I wouldn’t be spending a top draft pick on him though. Let somebody give him away to you later where you can gamble on upside.
Taylor Gabriel – Simialrly to Cohen, Taylor Gabriel is also being hyped by Coach Nagy as a key piece to the offense. I can see him being an integral player, but more as a decoy than scoring in his own right. Gabriel never has put together a big season, and while he has talent, it’s not elite WR talent. He’s the typical guy that could explode any day, but it certainly won’t happen in your active lineup. I’d pass.
Kevin White – Just a reminder that White has played 5 out of a possible 48 games in his career. That is all.
Anthony Miller – Miller was a second round pick who the Bears traded up for, so they obviously like him. I wouldn’t expect much out of him in his rookie year, but as the favorite to win the slot job, there’s the potential for something. Don’t draft Miller, but keep his name in mind. It may not be as fun to say as Cooper Kupp, but there’s always a chance. How many Rams references can be make in this preview? If you want a Beats receiver late, make it Miller time.
i forced that reference. I’m not sorry about it.
TE
Trey Burton – Burton is the trendy TE that is always hyped at this point of the year. I get the appeal. He played well for Philly, has a ton of opportunity and the team has a young QB that can use a safety valve. The issue becomes the amount of mouths to feed. There’s a lot of interesting Bears, but not all of them will be successful. Plus, there’s no sneaky play here- everyone will have Burton circled after the top-tier of TEs are gone. For Burton, it’s all about value. I think he’ll be solid, but I won’t pay up for the opportunity. He’s a mid tier TE 1, better than TE dependant slop out there, but not an offensive focal point.
