Fantasy Football 2015: Final Preseason Takeaways

We’ve reached the end of the preseason, and not a moment too soon. Jordy Nelson and Kelvin Benjamin were lost to torn ACLs, Alshon Jeffery is dealing with a mysterious calf injury and the Cowboys still can’t decide on a running back.

The news hasn’t been all bad. Just hours before the final preseason action got underway, Tom Brady’s four-game suspension was nullified. Whatever your thoughts on the situation, you can’t deny the fantasy impact of Brady being on the field for the opener. He provides a little more depth to the QB1 tier and provides yet another reason to wait on drafting a quarterback.

The final week of preseason action didn’t have a lot of fantasy implications, so these takeaways will focus on some of the key storylines coming out of the preseason that will shape the start of the regular season and beyond.

The Falcons Are Still Trying to Figure Out Their Backfield

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At the start of training camp, I wrote about the backfield battle between Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman as one to watch. Hamstring injuries have been a problem for both players, and this turned into a survival-of-the-fittest situation.

With the preseason coming to a close, not much has been settled. Freeman didn’t play in any games as a precaution, even though he was back at practice prior to the third week, and the team decided to play it safe for the preseason finale. According to D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Freeman had his most active day of practice on August 31. 

Meanwhile, Coleman saw action in the final two preseason games. He rushed for two yards on four carries in the third week but was able to take advantage of Freeman’s absence in the final game by racking up 56 yards on eight carries.

It’s hard to put Coleman’s performance into the proper context since the game was full of backups, but to his credit, he performed and actually played in the preseason, whereas Freeman was sidelined throughout. 

I’ll circle back to the point I made at the beginning of the month. This will likely be an ugly committee for fantasy purposes, and with a rebuilding offensive line, it won’t be easy for either player to be consistently productive, especially if they’re splitting carries.

Also, the Falcons could be playing from behind with a poor defense, so committing to the run may be difficult. It’s hard to endorse either player as the best fantasy back, so I won’t. This battle is not over yet.

Joique Bell May Have Taken Too Long to Come Back

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Another backfield battle I tabbed as one to watch was the competition between veteran Joique Bell and rookie Ameer Abdullah. If you base the competition on what’s been happening on the field, Abdullah is clearly the favorite because he’s actually been out there. Bell, meanwhile, didn’t come off the PUP list until August 31. 

If you've been tracking this battle through what’s been said by the coaching staff and media, Bell is still in line to start. But with such a long absence, the door seems to have opened a bit wider for Abdullah to play a significant role and possibly start sometime soon.

In fact, our own Jason Cole reports that Abdullah is in line to get the most touches per game with Theo Riddick working in as a third-down back. In this scenario, Bell would have a role, but not as significant as Abdullah.

After bursting on the scene with 67 yards on seven carries in the preseason opener, Abdullah had just five carries for 15 yards and a reception for 21 yards in the next two preseason games before sitting out the finale. While his numbers were down, it may simply have been a case of the Lions protecting Abdullah since he could play an important role, given Bell’s extended absence.

With Bell coming off the PUP list earlier this week, MLive.com’s Kyle Meinke said Bell remains the starter—at least for now. Bell said he worked with the first-team offense but was limited, and Abdullah continues to say Bell is “the guy.”

Abdullah is clearly this team’s most talented back and should be the player the Lions turn to the most this season if they’re committing to putting the best 11 players on the field as much as possible. Bell has done a fine job the last two years, but if the Lions are smart, they’ll feature Abdullah from the get-go in the regular season.

Can Kirk Cousins Stabilize the Redskins Offense?

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Following conflicting reports on the health and future of Robert Griffin III, the Redskins made the move away from RG3, naming Kirk Cousins the starter on August 31. Not only did head coach Jay Gruden call Cousins the starter for the opener, but for the entire 2015 season.

I’ve written plenty on the team’s inability to trust Griffin and how I planned to stay away from having Redskins on my fantasy rosters as long as he was starting, but I still don't feel a whole lot better with Cousins at the helm. The offense should have a bit more stability with Cousins, since it was clear Griffin was shell-shocked and totally lost as a quarterback. However, that doesn’t mean Cousins is the answer.

He doesn’t have any great physical traits, and I certainly don’t trust him a decision-maker. Griffin didn’t get any help from Washington’s offensive line in the little we saw of him in the preseason, and I fully expect those issues to plague Cousins, as well.

As far as players like DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon, I feel slightly better about their chances whether it’s with Cousins or another move to Colt McCoy at some point down the road. The QB situation isn’t a good one in Washington, and that won’t change with the current players on their roster. The Redskins are likely in for another rough season.

Do the Cowboys Have Too Much Faith in Their Offensive Line?

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Not even two weeks ago, I said the Cowboys should stop talking about Darren McFadden as a legitimate option to start following the team’s second preseason game. Joseph Randle looked like the better option and appeared to be in the driver’s seat for the starting job.

A week later, the Cowboys gave first-team reps to both Randle and McFadden in the third preseason game, with McFadden coming out on top.

Owner and general manager Jerry Jones went on to praise McFadden, and whether it was a motivation tactic or Jones believing his own hype on the oft-injured McFadden, the bottom line is that the team seems open to either player carrying the load, which will likely lead to a fantasy headache.

Earlier this week, our Jason Cole reported that McFadden is expected to lead the way, at least early in the season, because he has the support of Jones. It doesn’t mean Randle will be pushed aside. Rather, the team will be running the ball enough to get both players at least 200 carries.

My biggest concern about this backfield is that the situation could get even more convoluted. After final cuts are made, there should be some interesting names available at the running back position, and Stephen Jones, the Cowboys' executive vice president, said the team would have interest in those players, per Clarence Hill of the Star-Telegram.

So after seeing McFadden and Randle battle back and forth throughout the preseason, another name could be added to the mix to further complicate things. Clearly, the Cowboys believe their offensive line is the key to running the football and sticking with one back isn’t necessary. I wanted to believe Randle would stick as the primary back, but I’m having trouble trusting anything coming out of Dallas.

Cam Newton Could Be in Serious Trouble

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I was down on Cam Newton heading into the preseason, and things have only gotten worse. It could be a terrible year not just for Newton, but for the Panthers as a whole.

Losing Kelvin Benjamin to a torn ACL was a crushing blow to Newton’s fantasy stock since the team doesn’t have much in terms of established talent other than tight end Greg Olsen. It puts rookie wide receiver Devin Funchess in a tough spot, as he’ll have to play a much bigger role than expected without Benjamin to take away some of the attention.

Of course, that’s if Funchess can get over the hamstring injury that’s plagued him throughout the preseason. According to Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer, Funchess aggravated the injury earlier this week, but has since returned to practice and had a pair of catches for 22 yards in the preseason finale.

My concern is that Funchess might try to play through this injury knowing how important he is to the team and never get healthy. 

Newton can’t afford to lose Funchess or any other receiver, especially Olsen. I still have concerns about Newton’s ability to be a consistent, accurate passer, and the fact that he's playing behind an average offensive line after a 2014 season marred by injuries doesn’t make me feel any better.

Because Newton’s had strong fantasy seasons in the past, some are expecting his pure athletic ability to carry him and those who drafted him to another productive year. Too much has gone wrong for me to be so optimistic. Given the deep quarterback group, you can avoid Newton and look elsewhere for a QB.

For Better or Worse, Tyrod Taylor Is the Man in Buffalo

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Despite bringing in Matt Cassel to compete with EJ Manuel for the starting job, it appears the Bills won’t be going with either player. Instead, they let Tyrod Taylor into the quarterback competition, and he’s been the best option throughout the preseason, which is why Rex Ryan confirmed Taylor won the starting job earlier this week.

The Bills made my list of teams you’ll want to avoid this season, and I’m sticking to that, with the decision to start Taylor affirming some of my reasoning.

This is not my way of knocking Taylor because I thought he was the best of a bad group of QBs. It wasn’t a pretty competition for the most part, which is the reason Taylor entered and stayed in the competition in the first place. As a veteran, Cassel's strengths and weaknesses were known, so his ceiling was pretty low.

Taylor is a mobile QB with decent size at 6'1", but as he told Ty Dunne of the Buffalo News, he had to prove himself as a passer, which is what he did in the preseason. Ryan praised Taylor’s grasp of the offense and said it was his ability to throw in addition to his mobility that helped win him the job. That gives him some deep value at the QB position and makes him someone to consider as a value play in daily leagues.

With a strong defense and the trade for LeSean McCoy, the Bills want to run the ball, and they want to run it a lot. If their defense keeps them in games, that philosophy should work. But having an added running element like Taylor makes things that much tougher on the defense.

Obviously, Taylor can’t be all legs, so proving himself as a passer was important. But I highly doubt he’ll be asked to throw 30 times a game very often.

Ryan’s willingness to give Taylor a shot in the competition and then name him the starter shows the team believes he can work within the context of the offense. Because I don’t believe that will involve a high-volume passing attack, Sammy Watkins will likely be frustrating for fantasy owners to deal with all season.

If all goes to plan with Taylor, the Bills will likely live with that since it means they’ll be playing their brand of football. 

Ryan hasn’t had anything more than average QB options during his head coaching stints, so I applaud him for thinking outside the box with someone like Taylor. To go from Joe Flacco’s backup to the third man in what was called a two-man QB competition to the Week 1 starter is a tremendous achievement for Taylor. Let’s see if he can rise to the occasion once again.

Marcus Mariota Is Ready to Make the Titans Interesting Again

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Initially, I had Mariota buried in my 2015 quarterback rankings not because of his talent, but because of the mess that is the Tennessee Titans. Slowly, but surely, I’ve come around to the idea that Mariota could be the one to clean that mess up sooner rather than later. 

The chatter about Mariota’s streak without an interception in training camp seemed like a major reach to prove how good he was looking so early in his career. That all ended when Mariota threw an interception in his first preseason game, but that was his only incomplete pass in a game that saw him complete seven of his eight passes for 94 yards with a fumble. 

Mariota's preseason performances were solid across the board, and considering the lack of high-end, proven talent in the offense, it’s even more impressive. That lack of talent was one of the reasons I was concerned about the rookie’s chances, but he could actually end up elevating the play of his teammates. 

Mariota ended up playing just one series in the final preseason game, but he threw a 59-yard touchdown pass to Harry Douglas as part of a performance that saw him complete two of his three passes for 74 yards. He ended up going 21 of 30 for 326 yards with a touchdown and an interception over four games of preseason action.

With the bonus of his legs generating some rushing numbers, I’ve come around on Mariota’s fantasy value and believe he’s worth grabbing as a late-round flier. Your expectations shouldn’t be high for the rookie leading a rebuilding effort in Tennessee, but I’m definitely feeling better about him being the right man for the job.