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Julian Edelman

Fantasy Football Big Board Heading into Final Week of Preseason

Fantasy Football
August 30, 2017

The important part of the preseason games is finally behind us, and in just over a week the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots will open the 2017 regular season, although they’ll do so without Spencer Ware and Julian Edelman, respectively. Those two were casualties of meaningless preseason action, but that means their teammates have to fill the void, like Kareem Hunt and Brandin Cooks. 

If you had your draft at any point in the last three weeks and owned the No. 1 overall pick, you probably held your breath whenever David Johnson was on the field. Luckily, he escaped what little preseason action he saw without injury and can now focus on preparing for Week 1.

In addition to obvious rankings shifts related to injuries, you may notice some changes at running back and wide receiver, specifically in the RB2 and WR2 ranges. Those are the result of reassessing where players fit in and how I feel about teams going into the regular season compared to the start of preseason. Truthfully, I didn’t have a great grasp of every situation at the beginning of August but have learned more in the last few weeks.

This is the final preseason Big Board article, but I’ll continue to update rankings until the opening week of the regular season. You can bookmark this page to see the latest changes.

 

Note: All ADP data from Fantasy Football Calculator. All fantasy stats used to calculate finishes from FantasyPros. All advanced stats calculated using data from Pro Football Reference. All stats are based on points per reception (PPR) format.

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Andrew Luck

T.Y. Hilton

Brandin Cooks

Fantasy Football 2017: Updated Fantasy Football Mock Draft

Fantasy Football
August 28, 2017

One of my favorite draft tips seems like nothing more than a suggestion until disaster strikes. Every year, I tell everyone to wait to hold your draft to avoid as many preseason pitfalls as possible. You can gather more information to differentiate training camp hype and legitimate, role-solidifying performances. Most importantly, you don’t have to sweat through games and practices hoping your players stay healthy.  

Those who drafted Julian Edelman before or during last Friday night’s preseason action learned just how detrimental meaningless games can be to a fantasy roster. According to Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com, Edelman suffered a torn ACL and will miss the 2017 season. While that may boost the fantasy values of Brandin Cooks and Chris Hogan, it takes away a player firmly in the WR2 range.

On the same night, the Kansas City Chiefs saw veteran running back Spencer Ware go down with a knee injury. According to BJ Kissel of Chiefs.com, the team’s head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder said Ware has a torn PCL in addition to other damage. Ware will get a second opinion, but the injury is expected to end his season. That opens the door for rookie Kareem Hunt to lead the way, which is a huge boost to his fantasy value. 

Since this is only a mock draft, I will note it was conducted a day before the injuries to Edelman and Ware, so it’s hard to truly assess the values of any players affected by those situations. 

This is a 12-team, points-per-reception format with a starting lineup of one QB, two RB, three WR, one TE, one FLEX (RB/WR/TE), one K and one D/ST. It includes a collection of my Twitter followers, as well as myself picking out of the No. 7 spot. You can check out the full results of the draft here

In addition to analyzing each round, I’ll take you inside my head to explain the strategy and process for each of my picks.


Want more fantasy football analysis? Get the new B/R app and follow Matt Camp all season long.


 

 

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Andrew Luck

Spencer Ware

Cam Newton

Brandin Cooks, Chris Hogan Fantasy Outlook After Julian Edelman’s Injury

Fantasy Football
August 26, 2017

The defending Super Bowl champions were dealt a difficult blow when wide receiver Julian Edelman suffered a torn ACL in Friday’s preseason game against the Detroit Lions, but it could lead to even more fantasy production from Brandin Cooks and Chris Hogan.

The New England Patriots announced Edelman will miss the 2017 campaign, and Albert Breer of The MMQB noted an MRI revealed an ACL tear.

Fortunately for the Patriots, they still have Cooks and Hogan as other targets. Here is a look at how the setback will impact their fantasy value, with Hogan’s receiving more of a boost than Cook’s.

         

Brandin Cooks

Whether fantasy football players considered Edelman or Cooks the true No. 1 receiver in New England is up for debate, but Cooks was set to hold a significant role in the offense whether his counterpart was on the field or not.

New England didn’t add him this past offseason to serve as a decoy, especially after he tallied a career-high 1,173 receiving yards last season and 1,138 receiving yards in 2015 while playing for the New Orleans Saints. He also hauled in a combined 17 touchdowns the last two years as a fantasy weapon.

While the absence of Edelman could lead to more double-teams throughout a given game for Cooks, tight end Rob Gronkowski is still there to absorb much of the opposing defense’s attention.

Cooks was a must-start in fantasy circles entering the 2017 campaign as he teamed with arguably the best quarterback in league history in Tom Brady, and Edelman’s injury doesn’t change that.

          

Chris Hogan

While Cooks may face more double-teams, Hogan likely doesn’t have to worry about that even without Edelman given the other weapons around him. Edelman’s targets also have to go elsewhere, and Hogan is in prime position to be on the receiving end of many of those.

He broke through last season with a career-high 680 receiving yards and four touchdown catches, and he hauled in nine catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns in a postseason victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Hogan figured to see an increase in production in 2017 after last year’s showing, but the addition of Cooks moved him down the depth chart and made him more of a risky endeavor for fantasy players.

Edelman’s injury will move him right back up the depth chart, which means Hogan is worth an addition—especially if he is still somehow available on the waiver wire in a given league.

Read more Fantasy Football news on NerdyFootball.com

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Breaking News

ACL tear confirmed for Edelman

Fantasy Football, NFL News
August 26, 2017

InjuryWill miss entire 2017 season

New England’s worst fears have been realized. Julian Edelman is done for the season.

An MRI on Saturday revealed that Edelman indeed suffered an ACL tear in his right knee during Friday’s preseason win over the Lions, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported. The Patriots’ Super Bowl hero will miss the entire 2017 campaign. (NFL.com)

Nerdy Football Analysis: As we expected, Edelman will the season. It’s a big blow to the Patriots and for fantasy owners who’ve already drafted the Patriots slot receiver. In his absence, expect Danny Amendola and Chris Hogan to see an increased workload. Hogan is likely the biggest beneficiary and should reps both in the slot and outside.

Spencer Ware carted off with right knee injury

Fantasy Football, NFL News
August 25, 2017

InjuryChiefs lose starting RB on opening drive

Bad news for the Chiefs. RB Spencer Ware down after being tackled and holding his right knee. (Adam Teicher on Twitter)

Nerdy Football Analysis: Much like Julian Edelman, Ware was carted off the field tonight with a right knee injury. We don’t know the severity but it didn’t look good. Rookie Kareem Hunt, C.J. Spiller and Charcandrick West are next up on the depth chart.