Fantasy Football Question of the Day 8/12
Starting July 25 until August 26 my friends Uly Velez, Josh Bede, and I will ask each other one fantasy football related question a day and give our individual answers to it. Feel free to check out my other fantasy football related posts on my blog, including questions from previous days. And if you have a question you would like us to answer just leave a comment below.
What are the fantasy implications of yesterday's trades involving the Buffalo Bills, LA Rams, and Philadelphia Eagles?
Charles:
So to sum up, Buffalo not only traded away Ronald Darby to the Eagles in exchange for Jordan Matthews and a 2018 3rd round pick, but they then traded away Sammy Watkins and their 2018 6th round pick to the Rams for EJ Gaines and a 2018 2nd round pick. In essence they got rid of 2 young, talented players for high picks, an above average slot receiver, and a decent CB. I guess they've decided to rebuild in Buffalo. If you look at their WR corps now it consists of newly acquired Jordan Matthews, newly signed Anquan Boldin, and newly drafted Zay Jones. Not only is there a bit of a logjam in the slot position, but a few draft analysts I follow compared Zay Jones as a prospect to... Jordan Matthews! So now the Bills, who have a good deep ball passed in Tyrod Taylor, no longer have a legit deep threat WR but a couple of guys who are quite similar in skillset. In terms of fantasy, I believe this does bring Zay Jones back into the conversation of a cheap or late round selection with upside this season. Unlike Matthews, he's got some potential to play on the outside. Right now I have a difficult time determining what this means exactly for Matthews. Of the WR group, I'd probably say he's the most reliable at the moment since Boldin is an aged veteran and Zay Jones is a rookie. So is he going to be the Bills' top target? Matthews is most effective in the slot, but will he or Boldin be the primary slot guy? I'd probably have to say that he'll be a solid Flex option in fantasy just because of sheer volume. We saw the numbers he put up in Philly as the top target for the past 2 seasons. Nothing great, but decent enough to be fantasy relevant. I don't expect him to exceed that though.
As for Sammy Watkins, his value now rides on the arm of Jared Goff. I won't go as far as saying Watkins shouldn't be a starter on your team, that's a bit of an overreaction. He still has elite talent and will help Goff develop by giving him a great weapon to throw to. But whereas I saw him having legit WR1 potential when he was in Buffalo, his ceiling now has to be lowered to maybe a mid WR2. That could change for sure, but again, that depends on Jared Goff and how well he plays this season. Goff's got a good group of weapons there now with Watkins, Woods, and Kupp, so it's on him to perform.
And if we're talking straight football and not just fantasy, I believe both the Eagles and Rams came out of this trade as winners. Rams acquired a #1 WR for Goff and the Eagles filled a huge need by acquiring a potential stud CB in Darby. Giving up only Matthews, who wasn't going to be re-signed beyond this season anyways, and a 3rd round pick is definitely worth it if Darby plays up to his potential.
Josh:
I see the biggest winner and loser in the trades from yesterday being the running backs for the Rams and the Bills, respectively. With Watkins a true deep threat on the outside that means less stacked boxes for Todd Gurley, and with Matthews not being an outside guy and more of a slot guy that means more stacked boxes for McCoy.
Uly:
I think the trade benefits the Rams the most. They now have elite talent at WR and RB. If Goff doesn't make strides getting better this year then they know that he isn't the QB for them and can start to get the right people in place. Lots of money goes into QBs and it's better to know what you have before you have to pay the big bucks. Fantasy wise I think Gurley is now primed to have a bounce back year and be the running back he flashed his rookie year. As long as Watkins remains healthy the up arrow remains for Gurley.
What are the fantasy implications of yesterday's trades involving the Buffalo Bills, LA Rams, and Philadelphia Eagles?
Charles:
So to sum up, Buffalo not only traded away Ronald Darby to the Eagles in exchange for Jordan Matthews and a 2018 3rd round pick, but they then traded away Sammy Watkins and their 2018 6th round pick to the Rams for EJ Gaines and a 2018 2nd round pick. In essence they got rid of 2 young, talented players for high picks, an above average slot receiver, and a decent CB. I guess they've decided to rebuild in Buffalo. If you look at their WR corps now it consists of newly acquired Jordan Matthews, newly signed Anquan Boldin, and newly drafted Zay Jones. Not only is there a bit of a logjam in the slot position, but a few draft analysts I follow compared Zay Jones as a prospect to... Jordan Matthews! So now the Bills, who have a good deep ball passed in Tyrod Taylor, no longer have a legit deep threat WR but a couple of guys who are quite similar in skillset. In terms of fantasy, I believe this does bring Zay Jones back into the conversation of a cheap or late round selection with upside this season. Unlike Matthews, he's got some potential to play on the outside. Right now I have a difficult time determining what this means exactly for Matthews. Of the WR group, I'd probably say he's the most reliable at the moment since Boldin is an aged veteran and Zay Jones is a rookie. So is he going to be the Bills' top target? Matthews is most effective in the slot, but will he or Boldin be the primary slot guy? I'd probably have to say that he'll be a solid Flex option in fantasy just because of sheer volume. We saw the numbers he put up in Philly as the top target for the past 2 seasons. Nothing great, but decent enough to be fantasy relevant. I don't expect him to exceed that though.
As for Sammy Watkins, his value now rides on the arm of Jared Goff. I won't go as far as saying Watkins shouldn't be a starter on your team, that's a bit of an overreaction. He still has elite talent and will help Goff develop by giving him a great weapon to throw to. But whereas I saw him having legit WR1 potential when he was in Buffalo, his ceiling now has to be lowered to maybe a mid WR2. That could change for sure, but again, that depends on Jared Goff and how well he plays this season. Goff's got a good group of weapons there now with Watkins, Woods, and Kupp, so it's on him to perform.
And if we're talking straight football and not just fantasy, I believe both the Eagles and Rams came out of this trade as winners. Rams acquired a #1 WR for Goff and the Eagles filled a huge need by acquiring a potential stud CB in Darby. Giving up only Matthews, who wasn't going to be re-signed beyond this season anyways, and a 3rd round pick is definitely worth it if Darby plays up to his potential.
Josh:
I see the biggest winner and loser in the trades from yesterday being the running backs for the Rams and the Bills, respectively. With Watkins a true deep threat on the outside that means less stacked boxes for Todd Gurley, and with Matthews not being an outside guy and more of a slot guy that means more stacked boxes for McCoy.
Uly:
I think the trade benefits the Rams the most. They now have elite talent at WR and RB. If Goff doesn't make strides getting better this year then they know that he isn't the QB for them and can start to get the right people in place. Lots of money goes into QBs and it's better to know what you have before you have to pay the big bucks. Fantasy wise I think Gurley is now primed to have a bounce back year and be the running back he flashed his rookie year. As long as Watkins remains healthy the up arrow remains for Gurley.
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