It was a wild Friday transactions-wise in the NFL, so let’s get right down to what that means for your fantasy drafts:
Ezekiel Elliott 6 game suspension.
Now, let’s not forget that he is appealing this so it could be 3-to-4 games instead. That being said, his ADP of No. 4 overall (per fantasyfootballcalculator.com) will most certainly drop. We know Elliott is elite and will come back as an asset for your team. But this appeal could go into the middle of the season and into your fantasy playoffs. So what could happen is you could have Elliott for the first 12 games but not have him when it matters most — the fantasy playoffs. Elliott will drop into the late second round of drafts, which is still a risk. But if you want to take that risk, you need to pick up Darren McFadden two rounds earlier than you normally would.
The smarter play is to avoid this situation at all cost and just draft someone you can count on for the whole season.
Sammy Watkins traded to the Los Angeles Rams.
Most see the Rams as a huge downgrade for Watkins’ fantasy and dynasty outlook due to recency bias. The first thing people have to remember is Jeff Fisher isn’t the coach anymore. Secondly, Sean McVay is the new head coach and didn’t have a weapon like Watkins on the Redskins last season. McVay had DeSean Jackson, Pierre Garcon and Jamison Crowder last season and you may wonder which one of those will Watkins be. Watkins is all of these players rolled into one. He has the speed of Jackson, the sure hands of Garcon and the route running of Crowder. McVay knows what to do with talent and he will feed Watkins the ball.
In dynasty, the quarterback situation got a lot brighter. Now, we all get the season Jared Goff had as a rookie. Once again this was with Fisher. Goff was taken first overall in the 2016 draft for a reason and is still only 22 years old. He has the arm talent to go with the frame and Goff and Watkins can grow nicely together in the foreseeable future.
Jordan Matthews traded to the Buffalo Bills.
Matthews was one of the big talents in the huge 2014 draft that had the aforementioned Watkins go fourth overall to the Bills. Jordan Matthews is a big slot receiver and per PFF was the seventh-ranked wide receiver in target percentage when in the slot with 22.2 percent — right behind Larry Fitzgerald (22.8 percent).
Matthews fits what new head coach Sean McDermott wants in his offense. This is a strong running game with a West Coast passing game. This includes more short to intermediate routes from the wide receivers to keep the chains moving. Matthews can do all these things to an above-average level and with his 11th round price tag (fantasyfootballcalculator.com) is a guy everyone should be drafting with confidence.
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