With all the NFL free agent signings and trades going down this past week, I can't help but turn my attention to a little fantasy football,
offseason edition. These owners are stocking up on running backs the way old people buy Chef
Boyardee when a hurricane or snowstorm is about to hit. Anyway, how about we take a look at some moves that will have fantasy implications? Thinking about this stuff now will put you ahead of the game come September ...
JAMAL LEWIS TO BROWNSLewis is pretty far removed from his 2,000-yard season, and this move to Cleveland isn't going to help his cause. The Brownies were last in the league in rushing last year and have had exactly one 1,000-yard rusher (
Reuben Droughns, 2005) since 19-
freakin'-85. Lewis is an RB2 at best now, and I'd look for a slight decline in his stats next year.
WILLIS McGAHEE TO RAVENSThe Ravens essentially replaced Lewis with
McGahee, a more explosive runner who's two years younger.
McGahee does come attached to some injury risk, but he definitely deserves a fantasy upgrade after moving to a solid, ball-control offense that features a much better offensive line.
McGahee might even be a low-level fantasy No. 1 next year.
TRAVIS HENRY TO BRONCOSHenry also improved his fantasy standing by moving to an offense that has a knack for creating star tailbacks. Assuming he keeps his nose clean, Henry should take a firm hold of the starting job now that
Tatum Bell is out of the picture (see below). A 1,200- or 1,300-yard campaign is basically a lock, as long as
Mike Shanahan doesn't pull his old revolving-door trick with the backfield again.
THOMAS JONES TO JETSJones' value should hold steady after his trade to New York. Figure he'll be used much the same way as he was the past two years in Chicago, with young
Leon Washington filling the
Cedric Benson role as a change-of-pace back. The real question concerns Benson, who was supposed to have already replaced Jones as the Bears' feature back, oh, about two years ago. Can he handle the new role? I'm a little skeptical right now.
REUBEN DROUGHNS TO GIANTSDroughns was up-and-down as the primary tailback in Cleveland. Now he comes to the Giants, who will attempt to replace
Tiki Barber with some combination of himself and
Brandon Jacobs. The Giants think highly of the young, bruising Jacobs (new GM
Jerry Reese referred to
Droughns as a "complement" to Jacobs), but the two may enter some kind of competition for the starting role. Still, I expect a situation similar to the one in Indianapolis this past season, with Jacobs getting about two-thirds of the carries as he slowly adjusts to a feature role (a la
Joseph Addai) while the veteran
Droughns, like
Dominic Rhodes, gets the rest of the work. Both
Droughns and Jacobs will be worth a mid-round pick, and we'll see how the situation unfolds.
DOMINIC RHODES TO RAIDERSSpeaking of Rhodes, he goes from the world champs to the league's worst team in '06, and cashes in by doing so. It's unclear what the Silver & Black have in mind for the tandem of Rhodes and
LaMont Jordan, but it'll likely be some kind of two-headed attack (or even three-headed if you count recently signed
FB Justin Griffith). Judging by the Raiders' recent track record, Rhodes probably won't enjoy the same success he's had with the Colts, and Jordan should be downgraded a peg as well - as if he already wasn't in most of our minds already.
RANDY McMICHAEL TO RAMSLove this move for St. Louis. Athletic, pass-catching tight ends are kind of like the
iPods of the NFL,
everybody's got to have one, and
Joe Klopfenstein didn't give the Rams that dimension last season.
McMichael certainly does. He'll catch a lot of balls, and I expect him to flourish under coach
Scott Linehan, his former offensive coordinator in Miami. Mark
McMichael down as a legit No. 1 fantasy TE.
AHMAN GREEN TO TEXANSGreen was surprisingly serviceable last season as the feature back on a bad Packers team. He'll probably be serviceable again as the feature back on a bad Texans team next year, even though some younger guys (including
Dominick Williams, the Running Back Formerly Known as
Dominick Davis) will also be in the mix. Green's at that age 30 danger zone, too, so you'll have to be cautious here.
TATUM BELL, T.J. DUCKETT TO LIONSWeird situation here - it's a awfully crowded backfield, which also includes
Kevin Jones,
Shawn Bryson and
Brian Calhoun. Each of these guys are lugging big question marks around, too, concerning everything from injuries (Jones,
Bryson, Calhoun, Bell) to effort (Bell) to opportunity (
Duckett). The way I see it, Jones is probably still the guy, assuming he can stay on the field, which is a big assumption. Bell could share time with him, the way he did the past few years in Denver, but there's also talk of the Lions using him as trade bait. And
Duckett will probably sucker some owners into drafting him, but it's hard to say if he'll even get the carries to make it worth your while.
JEFF GARCIA TO BUCSCould Garcia really start for the
Bucs in 2007? I know he was fine for a stretch last year with the Eagles, but the jury's still out on whether he can be an effective starter for a full season. I'd like to think
Chris Simms is still the guy the
Bucs would LIKE to start for them - they did just give him a contract extension, after all - and bringing in Garcia is a ploy to push
Simms in camp and serve as an insurance policy in case of emergency, like, say, another ruptured spleen. Or do you only have one spleen? I dunno, I'm a fantasy expert, not a doctor. Just don't make Garcia your starter next year, OK?
