Dynasty Veteran Buys this Offseason

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The offseason is here but in fantasy football, there is no off-season. In this piece I will look at some veteran players I am targeting in dynasty leagues and why. It only takes one of these guys to make or break a season and for their price tag, you may just get the bargain that puts your team over the top.

 

Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers

Newton comes into this season with a great deal of intrigue. He is recovering from surgery on his left foot but is expected to be full-go by the time the season starts. Many have written off Newton as a viable starter on their fantasy teams and in the NFL. 

Looking back at Newton’s numbers you would see a quarterback that was coming off one of his best seasons as a pro in 2018 where he completed 67.9% of his passes and had 28 combined touchdowns, 24 through the air and 4 on the ground. Of course, that is not how we remember 2018 Cam Newton, as most owners remember him being hurt and only playing in 14 games that season. The foot injury sustained in the 2019 preseason deeply affected Newton and he was shut down after just two dismal starts last season. 

Despite the tag of being injury prone which simply is not the case, Cam Newton’s prospects for 2020 just got brighter as it would seem he gets to stay in the home that he built for the meantime, with the new regime moving in. Matt Rhule has become the new head coach of the Panthers and he comes in as a builder of programs with a no-nonsense type attitude. It looks like with the signing of Joe Brady that Rhule will continue to run a lot of RPOs in his new offense in Carolina and this is nothing new if you watched Baylor or LSU on offense. With Cam Newton at quarterback, it maximizes what they can get from their skill position players. In 2018, according to Football Outsiders, Carolina only used RPOs 14.2% of the time and were one of only two teams that benefitted more from RPOs than standard play-action, the other was Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. 

What does this all mean for Cam? I think this puts him in the best possible spot to comeback from last year’s injury and to be a top 12 quarterback once again. Newton is almost 31 years old and at an age that most QBs are reaching their prime. This seems like a great spot to buy Newton now and get another 3-5 years of QB1 production from a guy that a lot have given up on but still has immense talent.

 

Jared Cook, New Orleans Saints

Cook will be 33 years old at the beginning of next season and is coming off production that didn’t quite equal his last season in a Raiders uniform. So why is he a buy? Jared Cook has all the talent you could ask for from a TE. He started his Saints tenure in a very mediocre way as seen in the table below.

In the second half of the season, you will notice that Cook’s catch rate started to go up and so did his production. Including the playoffs, Cook averaged 69 yards a game in the last seven games. He also caught 80.6% of his targets over that same span. With the rapport that he built with the quarterback last season, he has a chance to have a huge 2020. Many dynasty owners could be disgruntled with the aging TE as some may have not been able to benefit from his end of season production. Also, his decline in production from the Raiders to the Saints could help with your negotiations for him.

 

Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings

Arguably the most expensive buy on my list Adam Thielen, who will turn 30 years old this August and is coming off an injury-riddled season where he only had 30 receptions for 418 yards and 6 touchdowns. Thielen has all the pedigree you want in a fantasy WR however, as he has finished as a top 12 WR twice since 2017.

Thielen’s owners may be looking to cut the cord here on this late bloomer and look at getting some value for him. He crushed owners last season as he played in the first seven games of the season, took a week off, came back Week 9 and only played 7 snaps. He didn’t play again until Week 15 where he had 3 receptions for 27 yards, and zero catches on 4 targets in Week 16.

Thielen did manage to come back and show what he was capable of in the Wild Card weekend when he posted a 7 catch, 129-yard performance. Thielen has been relatively healthy throughout his professional career. His rapport with Cousins is apparent and this upcoming season, Thielen could be the missing WR1 your team needs. Who wouldn’t like to add a player capable of this?

There are a lot of veterans that may be available in your leagues feel free to comment and let me know what veterans you will be targeting this off-season. You can find me @Cmoney52 on Twitter, drop me a line anytime. See you guys soon!!!

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