(The Fantasy 5 is a quick-hit wrap-up of some of the biggest news topics of the day for fantasy football players, giving you advice you need to improve your team.)
Pro tip: You know it’s late June when the three top stories on the NFL’s home page are Tom Brady chilling with sumo wrestlers, Tim Tebow being promoted in minor-league baseball, and Adrian Peterson’s love for seafood. Alas, the slow news will shift gears and soon become so fast that it’s difficult to keep up. But slow news doesn’t mean no news. Below we break down the five biggest stories from the weekend from a fantasy perspective to bring you up to speed.
1. The Paxton Lynch show in Denver?
The Denver Broncos still have one of the best defenses in the NFL, but their offense is severely handicapped by subpar quarterback options. Trevor Siemian is the No. 1 quarterback with training camp on the horizon, but Mike Klis reported on 9news.com that a switch flipped for Paxton Lynch over the final two weeks of OTAs.
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With Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders at their command, either Siemian or Lynch will have some fantasy appeal (primarily in DFS) if they can win the starting job in Denver. They would need to be substantially better than they were in 2016 to have any value in redraft leagues, but these reports indicate that it might not just be Siemian’s job without question.
2. Marshawn Lynch to be fed on the goal line
The newly rich Derek Carr told reporters on Friday that he’ll be happy to hand the ball off to Lynch on the 1-yard line. While this was probably primarily a jab at Seattle’s infamous misuse of Lynch in Super Bowl XLIX, it’s noteworthy in the sense that Lynch being fed on the goal line in Oakland would be a huge boon for his fantasy stock.
Lynch is joining the Raiders’ dynamic offense, which scored 416 points last year, good for sixth-most in the NFL. Lynch is one of the premiere backs (ever) when it comes to “falling forward” or gaining yards after contact. He routinely ranked at or near the top of PFF’s average yards-after-contact stat prior to his first retirement. In 2015, Lynch was rated as the most elusive running back in the entire league.
Oakland also had a penchant for throwing short-yardage fades at the goal line last year. If some of those plays are removed from the book in favor of Lynch carries, his fantasy stock could rise well into the RB1 stratosphere.
3. A two-headed rushing attack in Washington?
The Redskins spent draft capital on running back Samaje Perine this season, but it doesn’t look like they’ll instantly hand him the job over incumbent Rob Kelley. Perine, who at one point was penciled in as the starter, might only be splitting time with Kelley, who slimmed down this offseason and apparently began paying more attention to his craft.
So Perine might not get the job outright — which could lead to a two-headed rushing attack in Washington. This is rarely ideal from a fantasy perspective, but it does leave plenty of upside for both Perine and Kelley, should one of them win the job outright. Both players are being drafted in the eighth round right now, although Perine’s stock is steadily rising while Kelley’s falls. Per Fantasy Football Calculator, over the last month they've gone from several rounds apart to now, when they are being selected virtually back-to-back in drafts.
If Kelley continues to fall at this pace, he’ll certainly be worth a pickup. Perine certainly appears to have more upside, but Kelley isn’t out of the picture quite yet.
4. Chiefs extend Andy Reid but fire John Dorsey: What does it mean for Mahomes?
The Chiefs have had one strange offseason. They lost Jamaal Charles and traded Jeremy Maclin, who were the faces of the offense not too long ago. They also traded up for a quarterback (Patrick Mahomes) that they don’t need right now, and extended their head coach while firing their GM.
That’s a lot of change for a team that was a legitimate Super Bowl contender last year. Does it signal trouble in Kansas City behind the scenes? Not necessarily. There’s no reason to dump a player like Mahomes from your dynasty squad because of any of this upheaval.
The removal of a GM who drafted you just weeks after drafting you wouldn’t seem to bode well for your long-term future with the team, but Reid is the quarterback whisperer in Kansas City — not former GM John Dorsey — so Mahomes’ lifeline to a strong career down the road is still afloat.
5. The Antonio Brown effect: Pryor looking for big season after working out with AB
Does working out with (arguably) the best player at your position make you better by default? That’s undoubtedly what the Redskins are hoping for with Terrelle Pryor, as their new wideout is spending time on the field training with Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown.
Pryor turned 132 targets into 77 receptions, 1,007 yards and four scores last year. This season, he joins the fantasy-friendly passing attack in Washington, which supported two 1,000-yard receiving seasons last year. Pryor is reportedly trying new AB-inspired drills (like wearing sunglasses to make catching the ball harder) in a bid to improve his own game.
Does something like this help? It’s difficult to say, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. Pryor is in a good situation in Washington, and he appears eager to take advantage.
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