A New Hype Train is Born Each Day
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Welcome back!
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Now let’s get to the headlines!
News & Notes:
The Jets and Jamison Crowder have renegotiated a contract which keeps him on the team for the 2021 season.
Analysis & Hype:
“Jackson still finds his most consistent success throwing to tight end Mark Andrews. It almost seems unfair how strong their connection is.”
Austin Ekeler has played 16 games without Melvin Gordon since 2018 (PPR):
7 games as a fantasy football RB1
13 games as a fantasy football RB2
Absolute worst performance: RB31
With Herbert: RB14, RB3, RB8, RB21, RB8, RB26, RB16, RB15
“What is now notable is seeing just how comfortable [Travis] Etienne looks as the Jaguars' "slash" player, a skill player who will be asked to make plays both out of the backfield and split out wide.”
Antonio Gibson gained positive yardage on 96.2% of his carries last season, the highest rate since 2012 .
D'Andre Swift last season tallied the 6th most catches per game (3.5) and the 12th most receiving yards per game (27.5) by a rookie RB over the last 10 years.
“Zeke Elliott led the league in pass snaps. Tony Pollard graded out RB80 in pass blocking. 24% of Pollard's runs went for 0 or negative yards. Only Benny Snell was worse. Zeke got 32 carries inside the 10, Pollard had 4. Which snaps are we concerned about Pollard taking again?”
Running backs with the most yards created per attempt in 2020:
Nick Chubb 3.15
Derrick Henry 2.51
JK Dobbins 2.18
Dalvin Cook 1.85
Kareem Hunt 1.71
Ronald Jones 1.71
Zack Moss 1.71
Bengals OC Brian Callahan notes that WR Tee Higgins has gotten "markedly more explosive." Said he now knows what to take to get to the next level of his game.
“Elijah Moore is catching touchdowns in the red zone again. Guy near unstoppable down here by goal line.”
“TEs that lead their team in targets in 2020: Travis Kelce, Darren Waller, aaaannnnddd Evan Engram maybe we shouldn't bury him just yet”
Evan Engram “was the best offensive player on the field this spring (think Michael Jordan in shorts and shoulder pads), looking quicker than ever and catching everything thrown in his direction after a season filled with dropped passes.”
“It all adds up to the potential for Swift and Williams to each catch a lot of passes in Anthony Lynn’s offense. It’s premature for bold proclamations, but it wouldn’t surprise me if each caught more passes in the regular season than any wideout currently in Detroit does.”
Top WRs in Fantasy Points Per Snap in 2020 with their ADPs (min 100 targets)
1. Davante Adams - 12.7
2. Tyreek Hill - 9.9
3. Stefon Diggs - 14.2
4. Calvin Ridley - 21.8
5. A.J. Brown - 20.1
6. Chase Claypool - 64.2
Here’s 74 seconds of Chase Claypool looking unstoppable to go with that.
Brandon Aiyuk posted the 12th highest rookie target share since ‘06 which puts him in some pretty good company.
A pretty good case for taking a hard look at Adam Thielen’s value.
Broncos beat writer believes Javonte Williams will be the Broncos Week 1 starter. Says you don’t trade up for a RB to not give him big work right away.
Interesting thread on Twitter: “Anatomy of a #1 Overall RB”
/r/DynastyFF Thread: “It's Time to Buy the HOCKness Monster - Why He Will Be A Top 3 TE This Year”
On Patriots rookie RB: “Rhamondre Stevenson has showed a bit more pass-catching ability that expected in the early days of this offseason. The 230-pound back caught passes in 7-on-7 and team periods and doesn’t look one-dimensional.”
“four alpha receivers were able to put up 100+ targets AND 1000+ yards on JUST <35 team pass attempts p/g
who were they ? (KTC Value)
Jefferson (WR1)
AJ Brown (WR2)
Adams (WR6)
DJ Moore (WR16)
can you reason DJ Moore’s value w/o mentioning TDs?”
The Falcons are reportedly “force-feeding” Kyle Pitts in practices.
Tyrell Williams “Appears to be Jared Goff’s No. 1 receiver.”
Drew Brees visited Chargers’ practice. Said Justin Herbert's physical tools "are as good as anybody I've ever seen"
Jaguars beat writer: "I asked somebody in the #Jaguars building: Who is the player that the coaches are buzzing about? The answer was Laviska Shenault"
Article: 57 things Mike Clay learned while doing 2021 fantasy football projections.
This chart shows what the NFL and NFLPA have reportedly agreed to for COVID-19 protocols for 2021 training camp and preseason.
Deep (Mostly Dynasty) Sleepers:
A new deep stash rookie TE hype train appears: The Chiefs are reportedly using more multiple-TE sets this summer, and fifth-round rookie TE Noah Gray has been a standout at minicamp. Travis Kelce says Noah Gray is ‘years ahead of being a rookie’
On Patriots sophomore TE: “Devin Asiasi is quietly having a nice spring. Coaches have been applauding his route detail throughout these practices. Getting open in team as well. Looks like an ascending player.”
Washington beat writer: "My biggest impression [from minicamp] is that Taylor Heinicke might not be the one-hit wonder we all thought he was... Fitzpatrick is still the starter as of now, but the guy can play, and it's not just because Tampa Bay had no idea who he was"
"The teammate who Mahomes targeted the most was Byron Pringle, the fourth-year receiver."
‘Sean McVay didn’t blink in providing his rationale when I asked about TE Jacob Harris taking ones reps all week since Tyler Higbee is not practicing - rare air for a rookie fourth-rounder even with a starter’s absence. Of Harris, he says, “He’s earned it.”’
Cold Water:
Tua Tagovailoa threw five interceptions on the first day of Dolphins minicamp. Tua fans can take some comfort in this tweet.
N’Keal Harry is reportedly fighting for a roster spot in New England. Also, this is art.
Giants 1st round rookie WR Kadarius Toney worked "exclusively" with the Giants' second-team offense during minicamp.
Podcasts I Enjoyed This Week:
Footballguys Podcast: On the Couch with Ian Hartitz - Is Urban Meyer Crazy and 2021 Offensive Outlooks
Fantasy Football Hustle: News vs Nonsense - Fantasy Football OTA's
FantasyPros Football Podcast: Running Back + Quarterback Fades
The Fun Stuff:
Dr. Ian Malcom weighs in.
Everything the light touches.
“I Want That Deep Play”
Najee Harris: still a one-handed catching machine
Jerry Jeudy & Devonta Smith playingf rock-paper-scissors to see who got to run the deep route.
👋 That’s it for now. Join our community on Patreon and get all our rankings and access to our Discord chat! You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram where I browse over 1,000 analysts and beat writers and retweet/post all the good stuff.