Well, everyone, pat yourself on the back. We have made it through another preseason. In nine days, we will be live. All the time you put into the offseason making trades, draft picks, and waiver claims will come to fruition. Enjoy these next few months of the football season. Before you know it, we will watch the Super Bowl and begin another offseason. The game of football and Dynasty fantasy football has had a massive impact on my life, and if you are reading this, it probably has on you as well. We sometimes get too lost in the weeds and forget to enjoy it. Remember that it is a game, and games are meant to be fun.
All that being said, all preseason, I have given you the hot overreactions each week and broken down when it is or is not an overreaction. For the final week, I decided we should take a bigger-picture point of view of some of the biggest storylines as we close out the preseason.
Collapsing for Caleb
A few teams have caused the Sleeper App to blow up a lot lately. One of those teams is the Arizona Cardinals. Trading Isaiah Simmons away, who our IDP friends can tell you is a special talent. That trade was followed by a trade for Joshua Dobbs and the release of Colt McCoy. It becomes quite clear what the Cardinals’ plan is for this season. They got ahead of it early in the offseason by trading back in the draft and acquiring an extra 1st round pick for next year’s draft. It isn’t just any 1st round pick either; it belongs to the Houston Texans, a team with a win total line at 6.5 on DraftKings Sportsbook.
The immediate thought is that the Cardinals will be first in line for Caleb Williams when he declares for the NFL Draft. The first player we must consider here for both long-term and short-term implications is Kyler Murray. In the short term, it’s now more likely that we will not see him play a snap in 2023. There have been rumors about the Cardinals having that same thought. As someone who drafted Murray in the Scott Fish Bowl, I am a bit disheartened by this. The long-term question is more tricky. The new regime could have tried to find a trade partner for Murray if their intention was indeed to blow it up and acquire Caleb Williams (or Drake Maye). They did not entertain offers, though. They stood firm in holding their asset. Does this mean they intend to trade him in the future or perhaps use him next year? I cannot answer that. If you roster Murray, you may need to mentally prepare for the possibility that he is not a member of the Cardinals in 2024.
As for the pass catchers, they fall into two groups. The young guys like Rondale Moore and Michael Wilson, then the veterans like Zach Ertz and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown. Let’s go age before beauty. These guys could be trade targets for teams going through injuries early in this season. Hollywood to the Broncos makes a ton of sense, for example. If they are not traded, I am worried about their production on a team that is not likely to be very good. For the younger guys, I have a similar worry about a bad offense. Those guys could get a lot of volume, though, for a team trying to look ahead into the future. The team can then try to see who will be part of their future. (Note: James Conner is also another potential trade candidate.)
Jim Irsay and Jonathan Taylor
We can expect Jonathan Taylor to be a Colt for now, but he will be out for at least the first four games. This situation is massively uncomfortable for all parties involved, but we must address it for fantasy football purposes. Evan Hull and Deon Jackson appear to have the most immediate opportunity. I do not consider either of these guys to be “buys”, though. I suspect we may see the Colts add someone via waivers or trades now that more guys have become available post-roster cuts. There have also been rumors of the potential for the Colts to add Kareem Hunt. I might even try to trade Hull or Jackson before anyone else is on the team.
If you have Taylor on your roster, it is much more tricky. You can’t trade him right now, but you also will not have your RB1 for the first four weeks of the season, and there’s no telling how the Colts will handle this after those weeks. The Colts seem to be sending a message that they do not care about running backs. The possibility remains they could even tag him again next year, and unfortunately for Taylor, there isn’t much he can do about it.
Not having Jonathan Taylor in the backfield for the early weeks could make things more difficult for Anthony Richardson in the early part of this season. It is nice to have a guy you could hand the ball to who can rip off a big run at any moment. I will still be starting him regardless, though. There is some upside in his rushing near the goalline, as he is likely the best option to run the ball there while Taylor is on the PUP list.
Trey Lance to the Cowboys
It is easy to come on here and bash Trey Lance. I’m not going to do that. The poor kid has had an extremely poor set of circumstances his entire football life. I 100% believe there is talent there, but it has never had the time to develop on the field. I am not sure he will get that chance with the Cowboys, but at least he will be on an NFL roster that wants to bring him in. The 49ers wanted him at one point; that is obvious just from the cost of what it took them to get him. I said last week that I feel he will become a roster clogger, which is precisely how it feels with him in Dallas. While everyone loves to dump on Dak Prescott for the interceptions last year, it seems highly unlikely that Lance will take the job from Dak without some sort of injury. I don’t normally advocate for holding 3rd string quarterbacks, but I’m not sure what else you can do with him. Nobody is going to trade you for him. They don’t want him holding a roster spot, either. If you need the roster spot for something, then I suppose you can drop him, but it is tough for me to drop a guy with that much upside.
Philly’s Running Back Room
I have concluded that Philly’s RBs are a Best Ball play until either Rashaad Penny or D’Andre Swift are out. I can see them riding the hot hand week-to-week and it being impossible to pick out which player to start every week. That, coupled with the mobility of Jalen Hurts taking away goalline work and check-down opportunities, makes it difficult to say I can confidently start any Eagles RB. If either Penny or Swift misses time, the other becomes a great play for the week. That is likely since both are guys who have difficulty staying healthy. I don’t hate the idea of reaching out to the manager of either of those guys to see if they are scared off by the situation, but I am looking for a discounted price. Perhaps go for whoever underperforms in Week 1 and find a panicked seller. I do not think I could start either in Week 1 with any confidence, though.
Broncos Country, Let’s Ride
All offseason, we thought the Broncos would have one of the better wide receiver rooms in football. After a season-ending Achilles tear to Tim Patrick and now the issues with Jerry Jeudy‘s hamstring, we will see the Broncos rolling out Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims Jr., and either Brandon Johnson or Lil’Jordan Humphrey. Not exactly a murderer’s row of top-end talent. The good news is the dynasty community will get to see rookie Marvin Mims right away.
The other big question we have is the tight-end usage. Greg Dulcich was presumed to be TE1 all offseason, but Adam Trautman ran with the first team in the Broncos preseason games. Sean Payton has explained that he wants to use Dulcich in the “Joker” role that he has used for guys like Taysom Hill. Dulcich is still talented and should be involved, but the odd role has me more concerned than if he just lined up at tight end from day one. With all the injuries to pass catchers, the Broncos should try to get the ball to one of their better ones.
Thanks so much for reading. If you want to discuss more, reach out to me on Twitter @DougHarrelson. Thanks also for your membership to DFF! For those signed up for an annual membership, you can always reach the rest of the DFF team and me on our Discord server! Exclusively for annual memberships only. Sign up today!
