Emmanuel Sanders' offseason surgeries, Damien Harris fading & more Fantasy hot-takes!
Injuries, holdouts and coach-speak, oh my! It must be the NFL preseason. Follow me on Twitter @mattkdelima
E. Sanders had offseason ankle surgery
NEWS: Emmanuel Sanders had surgery to repair his Achilles' injury that ended his 2018 season. In addition, he had an ankle surgery to alleviate the pain from his Achilles' surgery. It was reported he is well enough to play in Denver's upcoming preseason game.
ANALYSIS: The "news" here is that Sanders had that additional surgery. However, I'm not high on him this year. Sanders has been a player heavily reliant on his burst and tight route-running. Achilles injuries affect the strength of your push-off and it's hard for me to imagine Sanders playing up to his speed from years past. I don't think he's an outright bust because Joe Flacco should be a little better than Case Keenum was last year for the Broncos.
Sanders fits as a flex play but I can't foresee exceeding those expectations. His Advanced ADP over at FullTime Fantasy is 105.9 and is the 50th WR drafted. I prefer a little higher upside for my bench players and I feel like a player like Sanders is good if you take a lot of "upside" WRs like James Washington, Dante Pettis, Christian Kirk, etc.
Patriots rookie RB seeing few first-team reps
NEWS: A local newspaper reports that Damien Harris hasn't seen many reps with the first-team during training camp.
ANALYSIS: Sony Michel, James White, Rex Burkhead are all firmly ahead of Harris on the depth chart. Will Harris be in the mix this season? Sure, of course. The Patriots love to mix it up and maybe Harris will be the right fit to see the bulk of carries but good luck predicting when that will be. You need to accept that Michel's 2018 season is the anomaly, not the rule in New England. Their RBs have always been matchup-specific so I wouldn't be shocked at all to see a return to that and Michel's in-season production dipping slightly. I love Harris in dynasty but redrafters shouldn't scratch this itch.
Quick Fantasy Hot-Takes
Antonio Brown to return to training camp: Over it. You either have the stomach for the drama or you don't. I don't. Let me put it like this: if it was reported AB shot himself out of a cannon, would you be surprised? I rest my case.
Trent Williams drama continues: The Redskins OT has been holding out and he requested a trade. The Redskins have said they will not trade him. This doesn't seem like it will end well. Washington has a pretty good OL but losing Williams would be a huge loss.
Tom Brady plans to play to 45: When asked if he would play until he was 45, Brady said, "Yes, I do. I certainly hope so." I feel like if you asked Brady if he planned to live forever, he'd say, "Yes, I do. I certainly hope so." That's not a knock but you have to dream big. JUST DO IT! DON'T LET YOUR DREAMS BE DREAMS! YESTERDAY YOU SAID TOMORROW!
N'Keal Harry healing from multiple small injuries: I like Harry a lot because the Patriots have a lot of undersized WRs or thin WRs over the years. Josh Gordon is tall but he's been in and out of the starting lineup. Harry is huge at 6'4" and 255 lbs. Let's not forget Rob Gronkowski won't be around to eat up red zone targets. Food for thought.....
