Biggest Fantasy Football Winners and Losers After Final 2019 NFL Roster Cuts

With NFL rosters mostly set at this point after cuts were made around the NFL—and with a few major trades and signings that shook things up as well—fantasy players are scrambling to make adjustments as well.

Below, we'll break down two winners and two losers around fantasy football after a wild few days in the NFL.

Winner: Deshaun Watson

It's been a good summer for Deshaun Watson. 

The Houston Texans star quarterback finally received a huge upgrade at left tackle when the team traded for Laremy Tunsil, who should protect his blindside for years to come. 

Watson was sacked an incredible 62 times last season, six more than any other player. You simply don't want your franchise quarterback taking that type of beating, and in spite of facing unrelenting pressure, Watson still threw for 4,165 yards, 26 touchdowns and nine interceptions, adding 551 rushing yards and five more scores on the ground. 

But Watson didn't just get a premier left tackle in Tunsil. The Texans also added wideout Kenny Stills in the deal, a downfield threat who should settle in nicely as Houston's third wide receiver behind superstar DeAndre Hopkins and the promising Will Fuller.

Oh, and earlier this summer he got another dynamic weapon in Duke Johnson Jr., an excellent receiving running back who was underutilized in Cleveland but should flourish if allowed to operate as a feature back in Houston.

And in case he can't handle a fuller workload, the Texans also added Carlos Hyde, who ideally will serve as Johnson's backup but could give the team a decent option between the tackles in a platoon situation. A healthy Lamar Miller would have been preferable to Hyde, but if Johnson pops, that will be a moot point too.

Regardless, the offense heading the season around Watson is far better than the one he had at his disposal heading into training camp. The Texans paid a major price to bring in Tunsil, but if he solidifies Watson's blindside, it will be worth the cost.

Oh, and the Texans also got worse defensively this offseason, which should mean more shootouts for the Texans and Watson. That may not be the greatest formula for winning games, but it means big statistical outputs for fantasy players.

So Watson should be primed for an enormous fantasy season. Outside of Patrick Mahomes, he has arguably the biggest ceiling in fantasy football at quarterback and should be the second player at the position off the board.

Loser: Kansas City's Running Backs

The Kansas City Chiefs signing LeSean McCoy after he was cut by the Buffalo Bills probably isn't particularly great news, from a fantasy perspective, for Shady, Damien Williams or Darwin Thompson. 

Williams is going to remain the starter. He's better than McCoy at this point in their respective careers. Between Weeks 14-17 last season, he posted 352 yards and six touchdowns. That's fantastic production, and he hasn't done anything to lose his starting job this summer. 

McCoy, meanwhile, rushed for just 514 yards and three scores in 14 games last year, posting just 3.2 yards per carry. He was replaced by the 36-year-old Frank Gore and rookie Devin Singletary in Buffalo. These aren't promising signs, even if he's headed to a way more dynamic offense.

There were, however, flashes from Thompson this summer, and the possibility that he could eat into some of Williams' workload. And it's hard to imagine the Chiefs gave McCoy a $4 million contract—with $3 million guaranteed—to simply let him rot on the bench.

The point is, this situation isn't great for any of these players. A platoon seems very likely. Williams still has the highest upside, but considering him anything more than a low-end RB2 at this point is far too optimistic. McCoy, meanwhile, may have some flex upside, but it's more likely he'll end up being an RB4 and a handcuff at most.

And Thompson is a deep sleeper still and a player who could play his way into a role. But his fantasy relevance is probably in the future, not this season. Don't waste major draft resources on this backfield.

Winner: Devin Singletary

McCoy's release was a major vote of confidence in Devin Singletary. General manager Brandon Beane said as much, per Chris Brown of BuffaloBills.com:

"This allows Devin more opportunities to show what he can do for the team. We believe in LeSean and still believe he can play, but you can't look at every decision in a vacuum. After the draft Devin was a guy we were excited about, but some guys transition faster and some guys transition slower. That's one of the decisions. Who is ready in that running back group to contribute right away? And we just felt right now that Devin would be able to help us along with the other guys that we're keeping."

Remember, Gore is 36. He's one injury away from Singletary being a feature back. And he's a player you should absolutely be targeting if you've yet to draft:

Singletary is primed for a solid season. Gore will get his touches, but Singletary is the future of the running back position in Buffalo.

Loser: Ryan Fitzpatrick

Poor Ryan Fitzpatrick. 

His best offensive lineman and one of his only legitimate weapons in the passing game are now gone. DeVante Parker is his top wideout, and Kalen Ballage and Kenyan Drake are his options at running back.

This offense is going to be dreadful, and Fitzpatrick has gone from a QB2 worth having on your roster in deeper leagues or for bye weeks to a player who shouldn't be rostered at all. Fitzpatrick has never been great, but he's enough of a gunslinger to provide a few big weeks here or there with decent players around him.

On this offense, that seems highly unlikely. The Dolphins are very bad, are obviously rebuilding and shouldn't even start Fitzpatrick at this point. Josh Rosen should be given a season to prove whether he can become a franchise player, a switch that likely will happen at some point.

Stay away from Fitzpatrick, in other words.

---

Matt Camp answers your fantasy football questions live on B/R Gridiron's new show, Your Fantasy Fire Drill. Submit your questions and tune in every Sunday at 11:30 a.m. ET.