Prepping for the upcoming season (QBs that changed teams)

    Alright, it's early August. Summer is winding down and NFL training camps are open. Every year there is a new draft class and a handful of player/coaching changes that occur around the league. Familiarizing yourself with these changes and what they mean for fantasy separates the good/active fantasy players from the lazy ones. Almost everyone that plays fantasy knows Brady and Gronk are on the Bucs now and Rivers is the new signal caller in Indy but most players will overlook things like Kevin Stefanski (who was the OC in Minnesota) is now the HC in Cleveland and will most likely bring in his run heavy scheme. Being competitive in your leagues involves using these changes some might overlook to give you an edge during the draft and help you more properly value players.

    I'm going to jump into some changes this year and what they might mean in relation to fantasy. Starting with the QBs that had a change of scenery.

Brady and Gronk take on Tampa: Brady replaces Winston in Tampa and while he's a more efficient QB than Jameis I don't actually view this as a boost for the pass catchers in Tampa. That coupled with the possibility Arians' downfield attacking scheme might not fit well with Brady's skillset. That's is a big "if". Arians will most likely cater his scheme to Brady and I'm sure Brady will bring some of his favorite plays over from NE.

You can't deny the fact that Brady likes to throw to his RB and that seems to be Ronald Jones so I think a PPR boost for Jones is most likely. With that I think I'm slightly downgrading Evans and Godwin. I believe the offense will be more methodical and efficient under Brady. Better in real life but not so much in fantasy. More efficient + Playing with a lead = less passing game opportunities for Evans and Godwin. As for Gronk I'm out on him all together. Arians just dosent feature TEs in his scheme and even if Brady insisted on getting his buddy the TDs the volume just won't be there for reliable production week to week. Then on top of that there's his back and the reason he retired. Let other people draft him for his name. Brady himself is draftable late but when we get to my blog about draft philosophies you'll see how unimportant the QB position is.

Cam QB in NE?: Cam moving to NE is fairly polarizing yet there's not many fantasy relevant pass catchers in NE. Outside of James White who receiveves a downgrade due to less chemistry with Cam I might upgrade the starting RB due to Cam opening running lanes with his threat to run. Who that starting RB might be is the bigger question. There's some people that seem to think it might end up being Damien Harris but as of right now I believe it's still Sony Michel. Cam himself I actually like because I think Bill Belichick will have Cam get back to what he does best. Running the football

Rivers under center in Indy: This is the 3rd QB on this list that left the team they played their entire career with for new surroundings. Rivers goes from having one of the worst OLs in football to arguably the best although I don't think it will help him with his sidearm catapulting style he's developed into. Some anyalists are predicting a Ekeler style role for Hines but Hines isn't close to Ekeler in skillset. I think Reich will lean more on the run to hide Rivers' weaknesses. As for TY I'd give a slight boost due to Phillip's penchant for the deepball and TYs ability to run under them. Rivers also tends to find a favorite target and get locked in but without a preseason that's anyone's guess as to who. TY is the safest bet but also comes with the highest cost. Pittman & Moe Allie Cox offer some nice upside and can be had in the end of drafts. The clear winners here are the RBs. With Rivers threatening downfield Mack and Taylor should see few stacked boxes. Now it's just a question of which of them will dominate touches 

Teddy B in Carolina: I'm def not the biggest Bridgewater truther but he proved in NO last season he recognizes his most talented pass catchers and can get the ball into their hands. So as long as he can do the same in Carolina he should be fine. Kyle Allen was dreadful at times and still managed to get DJ Moore and CMC the ball enough for them to have elite fantasy seasons so I think Teddy's presence is an upgrade for them both. They added Robby Anderson as well and I think he will cut into Curtis Samuel's role in that offense but I'm downgrading both of them. Their games don't line up with Teddy's. Teddy thrives in the short and intermediate throws with accuracy. They are both field strechers that would probably see less volume this year. Keep in mind they also are going through a defensive rebuild and complete turnover of their coaching staff so lots of unknowns here but I'm still buying in on CMC and DJ Moore maybe even Ian Thomas as well 😉.

Tyrod Taylor charges up: Tyrod Taylor takes over for the Phillip riversless Chargers. They also drafted Justin Herbert but I believe Tyrod is the starter at least for the first few games. Tryod takes much less risk with throws down the field and takes what the defense gives him. I believe this will be a much lower volume passing attack so I'm downgrading all of Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and Hunter Henry. Ekeler got a huge upgrade when Melvin Gordon was let go but lost a tad without Rivers peppering him with targets especially near the redzone. Overall it's a downgrade for the entire offense. They might be more efficient with Tyrod but the offensive fantasy production will most definitely see a dip in production. 

Bonus! 

Ben back in the saddle for Pittsburgh: Big Ben returns as QB and brings big arm back with him. Mason Rudolph was how do you say.....? Not good. Juju probably gets the biggest upgrade here if they can regain the chemistry they had in 2018. Dionte Johnson can also take the next step in development with Ben throwing him the football. I'd say James Washington as well but he'll need to hold off Chase Claypool to see close to the snaps he saw last year. James Connor should also see a boost with Ben back and more opportunities in the redzone. He's one of the best values at the RB position this season. 

TL:DR version

• Use overlooked changes every season to gain advantages 

• Decide weather those changes help or hurt those players and the players around them

• Tom Brady+Gronk in TB = Evans,Godwin👎Ronald Jones 👍

• Cam to NE = Cam👍🤞

• Rivers in Indy = + for whole offense 

• Teddy on Panthers = CMC,DJM,Ian Thomas ⬆️. Curtis Samuel, Robby Anderson ⬇️

• Tyrod in LA = lower offensive production as a whole 👎

• Big Ben is back = Juju+++ Dionte Johnson++ James Connor++ TEs+

The next few blogs will cover the other player changes relative to fantasy and the new draft class. Hope you enjoyed and follow me on Twitter @chris_cianci