Bloggin Hood’s 2018 Fantasy Football Preview – Dallas and Denver Depth Charts

Every 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 12^th 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 12^th place, no refunds.

Without further ado, let’s dissect two team’s depth charts, as per rotoworld.com.

Dallas Cowboys

“I’ve had men killed for less, Ginger”

Two years ago, the cowboys were a surprising fantasy building block, mostly thanks to Dak Prescott’s impressive play. Last year, this team gave us next to nothing, thanks to Elliott suspensions, Dez Bryant’s decline and Dak’s sophomore slump/regression. There’s no question this team lacks the vertical firepower we assumed it had in year’s past, but the viability of this team depends on your opinion on Dak’s struggles last season. If he rebounds, the running game should help him excel. But if he doesn’t, it could be a tough season. But hey, they have a sure fire top 5 pick, so everything isn’t bad.

The biggest change is the loss of Dez Bryant. Say what you will about Bryant’s play the past few years, he was an integral part of the offense for years and a top 20 pick for the majority’s of them. His athleticm was sapped from him fairly quickly, so it’s no surprise that Dez was cut. What is surprisingly is that no team has even take a flier on Dez as a 2nd option on their roster. Maybe he’s significantly worse physically than we think. I expect he’ll sign eventually, but it makes me feel better about the Cowboys offense. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a murderous row of receivers, but Dez might have been more of a distraction than anything.

Oh, and the team now employs Tavon Austin. You’ll soon see this is the only paragraph in about 4,000 I’m writing where Austin will be mentioned.

QB

Dak Prescott – Looking at the numbers, Prescott dropped a full yard per attempt, and his accuracy dipped, but I think that some of this can be explained to missing Ezekiel Elliot. Prescott needs the running game to be effective. This isn’t a knock on him – most QBs need help to succeed. Without the threat of a bruising running attack, Prescott doesn’t have the raw tools to win games on his own, nor does he have the weapons. It’s really a hodgepodge this season. I think Prescott is a streaming candidate most weeks, but not somebody I’d want to roster for the full season. Perhaps his own rushing ability will help boost his value and bring him back to QB1 status.

RBs

Ezekiel Elliott – He lost nearly a full yard per carry last year and he’ll face 8 man fronts all season unless Dak shows he can beat defenses. It’s a legit concern that he won’t get the giant holes the offensive line gave him in his rookie season. But you don’t have to worry about volume. Elliot had 242 carries and 26 catches in 10 games. Few players will come close to that. For his usage alone, you need to take Elliott in the first round. Now when you factor in his talent and the likelihood he has to get more receptions, he’s a top 5 pick. Granted he’s probably the 5^th pick but that’s awfully good. Don’t be scared off of him. I can see him getting more receiving work when the team is down to help give Elliott a safe floor no matter what happens here.

Rod Smith – You need somebody to rely on if you’re #1 back goes down. The Cowboys don’t have that, but the closest thing here is Smith. In limited carries, Smith made a few big plays and looked decent, so the role is his I mean, who else is getting the ball? Tavon Austin?

Wow, he got mentioned twice. This team must be struggling for offense.

WRs

Allen Hurns – By default, Hurns will have value this year as the #1 option on an NFL offense. I wI’ll add that the role of #1 option is more by default than talent. Hurns’ first two years in the NFL were good, but since, he’s been hurt and disappointing. I don’t think the passing offense will lead to any elite numbers and honestly, I’m not sure how good Hurns actually is. Depending on his draft position, he might be a steal and a target monster, or he could be over drafted and get 4 targets a game. The range of outcomes is incredibly high. I see him as a WR 4 for most formats. If he’s going in that range, I like the upside, but higher than that would be aggressive.

Terrance Williams – I don’t have any confidence in Williams even before his weird arrest story. As it stands, he’s the only guy with experience playing the outside in the offense, and what has that gotten him? His best season, 2015, was an 840, 3 TD snooze fest. You can do better than this. I don’t think much ticks up for Williams. He’s not a volume player and his one skill, stretching the defense, doesn’t mesh well with Dak. Somebody is going to hype Williams as the potential breakout player in Dallas, but it won’t be me.

Cole Beasley – Call me crazy, but I think Cole Beasley might be the best play in the Dallas Receiving Core. Firstly, nobody takes him seriously, probably because he’s under 4 feet tall and has the hair of a Hanson brother. This lack of respect can only help lower his draft cost. Secondly, keep in mind Beasley’s best year came with significant time missed from Dez Bryant, which is our current reality. There’s no one for defenses to shift their coverage too, but it’s not like they’ll target Beasley. They might not even see him in the huddle. I don’t expect Beasley to be anything but a 10 yard per catch slot receiver, but in some formats, that’s extremely valuable.

Michael Gallup – First off all, I need to hit the low hanging fruit. The name Gallup on the Cowboys? Amazing. I’ll move him up ten spots on this alone.

Gallup probably won’t produce much this year but as you can see, there’s not a lot of electricity ahead of him. There’s an outside chance he’s the #1 receiver this year. I don’t expect this in 2018. Gallup is a well named flier, and no more.

TE

It’s weird not seeing Jason Witten on the depth chart. It would be weirder if you rostered any of the TEs on the roster.

Denver Broncos

Nothing is ok John. Give the people Tebow like they deserve!

If I were to tell you at this time last year the Broncos would be overjoyed to sign Case Keenum, I’d have assumed that John Elway finally snapped. I’d have blamed the Tebow year. However, have you seen the QBs the team has employed in recent memory, including the last season of Peyton Manning? Now, with a defense that’s starting to crumble after years of dominance, Denver might need to rely on its offense.

That sounds like a mediocre play but I think there’s potential on this team. The duel threat on the outside is viewed as “old busted” but I see talent available on a discount. Potentially, either of these players may be drafted as a WR3 and exceed their draft status. One of their running backs could blow up and each goes late enough that you can take the risk. This isn’t a Paxton Lynch led tean America, and thank God for that. Case Keenum is surprisingly effective, at least for fantasy. And if you think he only played well due to the offensive talent around him in Minnesota, here’s a secret – I don’t think the Denver Receivers are that much of a downgrade. This is a sneaky fantasy value team. Don’t miss out on a discount.

QBs

Case Keenum – Despite constantly dealing with Mike Zimmer threatening to bench him, Keenum had a very productive season. He completed more than two-thirds of his passes, and had a good 22 to 7 TD/INT ratio. Keenum is a game manager, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing and in all seriousness, he’s an upgrade at the QB spot. You could argue Denver should have drafted one with the 5^th overall pick, but the Browns gift wrapped the best pass rusher in the class to them.

The argument against Keenam is the talent downgrade. Minnesota is one of the most talented teams in the NFL, and they were stacked with high end offensive options. Denver offers a similar duo. I see Keenam is a high end streamer in the right matchups. I don’t think you want to hold him, but he’ll provide plus points in a good week.

RBs

Devontae Booker – Early reports are the Booker should receive a majority of the work. And who could blame the Broncos for relying on Booker? He’s averaged under 4 Yards per carry in his career, and has managed 6 total touchdowns on 314 career touches. Don’t those numbers scream featured back?

What is working on Booker’s favor is that he is the incumbent and has caught at least 30 passes a season. That should carve out some role, however tenuous his grip might be on it. The rhetoric is that Royce Freeman hasn’t even been labeled the backup yet and might be a third stringer. Well see what happens, but with a very cost efficient ADP, I think Booker is worth a shot despite his poor start to his career.

Royce Freeman – Let me start off by saying I expect Royce Freeman to be the most valuable running back on the Broncos. Now, I want to point out that one of the few ADP things I’ve seen thus far is that as of Late June, Freeman was going in the 5^th round. How is that a thing? I get that people like new toys, but he’s not even the starter yet, and at best will begin in a time share. You got to be crazy to jump in at that price. If it comes down, sure, I’d be interested, but this is a two down back that will need to share work to be effective. If I can get Booker later than Freeman, why would I bother reaching. Freeman’s talented, but it’s not like he’s a world breaker. In fact, I’d recommend just waiting and picking him up after he’s cut by the overzealous, frustrates owner.

WR

Demaryius Thomas – The death of Demaryius Thomas’ fantasy value has been overstated. Sure, the past three seasons haven’t been electric, but remember who he’s been playing with at QB. Keemum is a sizable upgrade who, if nothing else, should get the ball to the two main targets on the team. Thomas usually gets a lion share of looks with Emmanuel Sanders, and I don’t see that changing. The biggest decline in Thomas’ production is he’s no longer an elite TD scorer. But if he can get that total up to 8, I could see another 85 catch, 1,100 yard season. He’s a back end WR 2 with a great floor, and there is some room for growth, even if it’s on pure TD luck.

Emmanuel Sanders – Much like Thomas, Sanders is still a productive receiver, and though I have more confidence in Thomas, Sanders might be the better value. Throw out his 2017, which was full of injuries and ground balls “intended” for him. Sanders is 1,000 yards in the bank with about 6TDs. I’d expect you can get him as a WR3, which is great value. Assuming health, he should produce similarly to his 2015 and 2016 seasons. Again, a low-ish ceiling, but the extremely high floor is great. Guys like this that nobody want is how you win leagues. Everybody will trip over themselves for Royce Freeman in the 5^th; you can probably get Sanders later and get more points out of it.

Courtland Sutton – The Bronco’s haven’t had a third pass catcher be relevant since the days of good Peyton slinging it to Julius Thomas and only semi concussed Wes Welker. Sutton, a second round pick a few people thought could go in the first should buck this trend soon, but probably not this year. Sutton is a good value play in dynasty leagues because there’s no way both Sanders and Thomas remain Broncos for much longer. Unfortunately for one year leagues, Sutton isn’t a name you need to know until 2019.

TEs

The only player on their TE depth chart I’ve heard of is Jake Butt, and that’s for obvious reasons. Go on and skip this team for TEs as well.