The Dolphins Should Not Trade Laremy Tunsil For Jadeveon Clowney
While most of this article will be dedicated to your fantasy football drafts this weekend. But there appears to be more traction regarding a Jadeveon Clowney trade happening and while Clowney might prefer the Seahawks or Eagles, it sounds like the Dolphins are a better trade partner for the Texans. And to be honest, Clowney likely won’t have any complaints about playing in South Beach and not having to pay state income taxes in Florida. But the Texans have a huge need at left tackle. If you’ve watched the Texans this preseason or if you follow Colby Conway on Twitter (@colbyrconway) you’ll know that Matt Kalil has been atrocious at left tackle. So Tunsil seems like a logical target for the Texans, but the Dolphins wouldn’t be doing themselves any favors by dealing Tunsil. Miami, like Houston, is weak at offensive line. Dealing Tunsil only makes them more weak at an already vulnerable position. How these two teams can’t work out a deal that sends some decent picks to Houston is beyond me. Kenyan Drake ’s name has been associated in these trade talks and Houston clearly has a need for a running back after Lamar Miller tore his ACL. Miami just acquired Josh Rosen in the offseason and they’d be making a concentrated effort to protect him less by dealing Tunsil.
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Dede Westbrook Will Finish as a Top 24 Wide Receiver This Season
That means he would be a viable WR2 in 12-team team leagues. In 2018, Adam Humphries finished as the 24th-ranked receiver with 76 catches for 816 yards and five touchdowns. Last year Westbrook finished with 66 receptions for 717 yards and five touchdowns. So he was ten catches and 99 yards away from tying Humphries’ production. Exit Blake Bortles , enter Nick Foles . Foles is a much better quarterback than Bortles and Westbrook is primed for his third-year breakout. In last week’s third preseason game there was an effort to get Westbrook the ball going deep and Westbrook and Foles did connect for a touchdown in the first quarter. An improvement in catches, yardage, and touchdowns is in order. Westbrook is going as the 30th wide receiver off the board in PPR formats with a current ADP around round seven. So if you maybe miss out on Chris Godwin , Calvin Ridley , A.J. Green , or the Rams receivers then make sure you get shares of Westbrook who could provide a nice return in value if he stays healthy.
Studs That Will Mildly Bust… Starting With David Johnson
“Mildly” and “Hot Takes” aren’t normally mutually exclusive. This section comes with a lot of trepidation. However, one cannot simply remain silent anymore. There are some concerns amongst some players going in the elite rounds. Let’s start with David Johnson . Johnson’s ADP has him going in the middle of the first round, which you like to see. He hasn’t been the dominant force he was three years ago, but that’s because of a wrist injury in 2017 followed by a poorly coordinated offense in 2018 where he still totaled almost 1,400 all-purpose yards. In comes a new head coach and another rookie quarterback. Kyler Murray should immediately be an upgrade over Josh Rosen , but Murray has been less than impressive so far in the preseason. Add in the fact that the offensive line is awful and there are concerns for Johnson. Johnson should still get over 1,200 all-purpose yards but with his first-round ADP and after what we’ve seen in the preseason he may not return first-round value. Rather he may be more of a second or third round value. And that’s still fine. But I find myself avoiding Johnson in drafts more than I was a month ago. I’m not excited about how this offense has looked to start with a rookie quarterback. Now if you’ll allow me to play devil’s advocate to an extent: Cam Newton looked pretty bad in his rookie preseason debut and everyone remember the historic year he had en route to being the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2011. The Cardinals will find themselves in garbage more often than not so that present opportunity for Murray, Johnson, and Co. to exceed my expectations.
Michael Thomas is Another Mild Bust
This one, I actually hope I’m wrong about. It feels dirty just typing it, it really does and I feel bad. He’s never had fewer than 92 catches in a season. He’s never had fewer than 1,100 receiving yards in a season. He has 23 touchdowns in his first three seasons. I get it. But he had 125 catches last season for over 1,400 yards and nine touchdowns. That’s awesome. But it seems almost like an anomaly though. Drew Brees threw it significantly less than ever before in his career. With less than 500 pass attempts he finished just shy of 4,000 passing yards in 2018. He was fortunate to at least finish with 32 touchdowns and a very high 6.5% touchdown rate. Drew Brees is now 40 and can’t sling it around like he used to. While Thomas will remain his top target (especially after getting a fat contract extension), maybe we shouldn’t expect a repeat performance of Thomas. Even if Brees throws the ball as much as he did, Thomas should still see 140 targets, but the touchdowns could regress as could the receiving yardage. Similar to Johnson, I think Thomas performs more like a Top 10 or Top 12 wideout rather than a Top 3 receiver. It still puts him in the realm of WR1, but there could be frustrating weeks with Thomas especially when the Saints are on the road.
Matt Ryan is Next to Bust
As an Atlanta native (of three years), this won’t exactly endear me to the good people of Northern Georgia. In the three previous years with Dirk Koetter as his offensive coordinator, Ryan never threw for fewer than 4,500 yards and 26 touchdowns. 26 touchdowns still aren’t great, but Ryan has come a long way since then. After all he was named league MVP in 2016. But in two of the last four years, his touchdown percentage has been under 4.0%. In the other two years, it’s been over 5.5%. Depending on how much he’s throwing the ball that’s what separates a guy from throwing 26 touchdowns or 35 touchdowns. Currently, Ryan is the fifth quarterback off the board behind Mahomes, Rodgers, Watson, and Mayfield. The quarterbacks going after him? Carson Wentz , Jared Goff , Cam Newton , Jameis Winston , Drew Brees , Russell Wilson , and Tom Brady . Basically, if he’s going fifth there are a ton of big-name quarterbacks being drafted after him. You can still build on running back and wide receiver depth while waiting to take a quarterback later on. Whether it’s his inconsistent touchdown numbers or his ADP, you should be passing on Matt Ryan .
Is Demaryius Thomas Back?
Technically, yes. But don’t go overboard. Honestly, a majority of guys that play in the fourth preseason game are in danger of getting cut. This was a big step forward for Thomas who didn’t appear in any of the first three preseason games for New England. Thomas caught seven of his eight targets for 87 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Thomas likely makes the Patriots final 53-man roster, but keep in mind he’s behind Julian Edelman , Josh Gordon , Phillip Dorsett , and maybe even N’Keal Harry on the wide receivers’ depth chart. Additionally, James White is still employed by New England so as of right now Thomas has minimal fantasy value, but he’s worth flagging for updates and notifications on your waiver wire. Not too much of a hot take here, but some people are freaking out over Thomas’ performance. It’s time to calm some folks down.
Nyheim Hines Stock Should Be Rising
This is one that’s weighed on me ever since Andrew Luck surprisingly retired last weekend. If you think about game flow/game script then it should be in Hines’ favor. The Colts are without a doubt worse with Luck’s retirement. This hurts the values of Marlon Mack and T.Y. Hilton , but not as much as most are predicting. Hines averaged almost four receptions per game last year and if the Colts are trailing more in the third and fourth quarters then the game script calls for Hines over Mack. You shouldn’t expect big numbers for Hines in this case, but Hines can be had in rounds 12 and 13. And an injury to Mack, which we saw last year, opens the door for Hines. So it is a little bit baffling that Hines’ ADP is still so low. If you’ve got a draft this weekend, put Hines on your radar. If you’ve already drafted, maybe you drop your worst wide receiver and take a shot on Hines in a deeper league.
Dalvin Cook is a Top 5 Running Back in Fantasy in 2019
This, of course, requires him to stay healthy, but I’m finally drinking the company Kool-Aid or at least ingesting whatever Howard’s been hooked on for two years. But the number support the claim. The claim just assumes that Cook stays healthy for 16 games because even if he misses a couple of games he may not finish in the Top 5. And there’s elite company at the top with Barkley, McCaffrey, Kamara, Elliott, Bell, Johnson, Chubb, and Conner. But keep in mind, Elliott and Gordon are both still holding out. I’m actually getting a little nervous about Elliott because it’s mind-blowing he didn’t accept the Cowboys offer. But on 207 career rushes in two seasons, Cook has 969 yards. He could easily top 1,000 rushing yards and after the big run he broke in the third preseason game there’s plenty of talk regarding Cook. And to be honest, it’s not the hottest take to say he’s top five. And it would obviously take a crystal ball to foresee him staying healthy the whole season. But the offensive line has looked good enough so far and Cook looks healthy.
Player News
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the Cowboys are finalizing a trade for Steelers WR George Pickens.
The move, which includes a 2026 third round pick and a 2027 fifth round pick sent to the Steelers, comes after another ESPN report saying Pickens, 24, wanted to remain in Pittsburgh. Acquiring Pickens — who has 2,841 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns over three NFL seasons — addresses an area of acute need for the Cowboys, who have one of the league’s weakest wideout room behind CeeDee Lamb. Pickens and Lamb will make for one of the NFL’s best receiver duos, with Pickens functioning as a viable downfield threat for Dak Prescott, who last season ranked 15th out of 40 qualifying quarterbacks in deep ball accuracy. Pickens in 2024 was third in deep targets and second only to Alec Pierce in receiving yards on downfield receptions. Pickens will have far more upside in the Dallas offense than he did in Pittsburgh. DK Metcalf, meanwhile, will enter the 2025 season as the unquestioned No. 1 wideout for the run-heavy Steelers. His fantasy prospects look much brighter with Pickens in Dallas.
NFL Network’s Jane Slater reports Saints QB Derek Carr wants to “see if he can play through with this shoulder injury.”
Slater reports that Carr believes he injured his throwing shoulder in the same Week 14 game against the Giants that he injured his left wrist last season. The shoulder issue was apparently discovered as he ramped up throwing in the spring, not as the season wound down in 2024. Carr has already had surgery on that arm and wants to see if he can play through the injury. Slater adds that Carr made two trips to New Orleans to meet with the team doctor and a decision will be made “sooner rather than later” as the 34-year-old tries to make the best decision for his shoulder and the Saints aim to make the best decision for their franchise. It would be a surprise to see Carr return to start for the Saints, especially without having surgery. New Orleans has signaled an attempt to move on by selecting Tyler Shough in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Carr has two seasons left on his four-year, $150 million contract with the Saints and a decision on his future is looming.
9News’ Mike Klis reports free agent QB Desmond Ridder will get a veteran tryout at the Broncos’ rookie minicamp.
Ridder is a former third-round pick of the Falcons in 2022 and started 13 games for them in 2023. Atlanta moved on from Ridder after his 12-touchdown, 12-interception season; he joined the Raiders to play six games and start one in 2024. The 25-year-old is searching for backup jobs around the NFL after throwing for 5.4 yards per attempt and earning a 45.7 PFF grade last season, good for No. 69 out of 75 quarterbacks. The Broncos will bring him into rookie minicamp on a tryout basis, where Ridder looks to earn the chance to compete with Sam Ehlinger for the third-string quarterback spot in Denver.
Bengals DT B.J. Hill was seen in a protective boot at Tuesday’s voluntary workout.
Hill was seen in a protective walking boot for his left foot at the Bengals’ voluntary workout session on Tuesday. It seems to be a new injury for the veteran, though it is not yet clear what the injury is. The Bengals just signed Hill to a three-year, $33 million contract in the offseason and will be hoping one of the investments into their defense gets healthy for the start of the regular season.
The Athletic’s Saad Yousuf reports Brian Schottenheimer was “non-commital” on whether the Cowboys would have a lead back or take a committee approach.
“Schottenheimer wants to see how things unfold during offseason workouts and training camp,” Yousuf continues. It certainly seems to be a situation where Jaydon Blue could carve out a role in a hurry. “If Blue proves himself, he’ll have the chance to carve out a significant role,” Yousuf writes. Certainly nothing we saw from Javonte Williams or Miles Sanders in recent years would lead us to believe that they’ll be blocking Blue if he shows out in training camp.
Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said he’s “expecting Kyle [Pitts] to take a big jump.”
“Year 2 of the system. Year 2 of understanding what we’re trying to do offensively. All those things that come with it, so expecting a lot of good things from Kyle,” Robinson continued, presumably while trying to sell the people who asked him this question a bridge. The good news for those who would want to buy in on Pitts is, like the Spanish Inquisition, nobody is expecting a Pitts breakout year in his fifth season. He’s now a freeroll. But it’s hard to believe he’ll do any better than low-end TE1 duty this year.