Fantasy Football Mailbag: Rams, Titans shake up NFL Draft
The Rams traded with the Titans to get the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. It's a risky move for Los Angeles, but Jamey Eisenberg hopes it will help Todd Gurley in the long run.
Well, so much for that Case Keenum hype. Was there any hype? If so, I missed it. And so did the Rams.
The Rams wanted to make a splash with their move to Los Angeles, and they did just that with a blockbuster trade Thursday morning with the Titans to acquire the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. Los Angeles traded the No. 15 overall pick in this draft, two second-round picks (No. 43 overall and No. 45 overall) and a third-round pick (No. 76 overall). The Rams also gave up their first- and third-round picks in 2017. In return, the Rams also receive a fourth-round pick (No. 113 overall) and sixth-round pick (No. 177 overall) in 2016.
The move was made to draft a franchise quarterback, and the Los Angeles Times reported that North Dakota State's Carson Wentz will be the selection. Cal quarterback Jared Goff is also in the mix for the No. 1 overall pick, and this is clearly bad news for Keenum, who was being talked up by coach Jeff Fisher as the starter this year. If anything, Keenum will be a placeholder until the rookie is ready, and Nick Foles should expect to be traded soon.
For Fantasy owners, we hope this move helps Rams running back Todd Gurley, who will still be the focal point on offense. No opposing defense was going to fear Keenum, so Gurley was expected to see plenty of defenders at the line of scrimmage. Now, if Wentz or Goff turns out to be a solid quarterback right away, that should help Gurley.
It's still important for the Rams to address their receiving corps because Tavon Austin, Kenny Britt and Brian Quick are their top three receivers, but long-term this should work out for Los Angeles if the quarterback drafted is a star. It's hard to win without a franchise quarterback, and the Rams hopefully will get the right guy, which would also help Gurley in the future as well.
As for the Titans, this trade was awesome. They get three picks in the Top 50 this season, as well a great haul in 2017, to build around their franchise quarterback in Marcus Mariota, and Tennessee is the real winner in this deal.
Now, on to your questions in this week's #fantasymail. Please continue to send your offseason Fantasy Football questions to me on Twitter @jameyeisenberg or on my Facebook page. Just use that hashtag, and we'll answer as many questions as we can on video (see above) or here.
This week, we'll address the following topics:
- Aaron Rodgers vs. LeSean McCoy as a keeper
- Is it worth holding onto Martavis Bryant in keeper leagues?
- Guys to target outside the Top 40 picks
- Lamar Miller vs. Doug Martin as a keeper
- Jamaal Charles vs. Devonta Freeman as a keeper
- Is Thomas Rawls a good keeper option?
From Twitter ...
@JameyEisenberg 3 player keeper league. I'm keeping D.Hopkins and A.Rodgers. Should I take L. McCoy or A. Robinson as my third? #fantasymail
— Nathan Thayer (@Nthayer1408) April 11, 2016
I wonder if I could steer you in a different direction so that you end up keeping DeAndre Hopkins, McCoy and Allen Robinson and throwing back Rodgers. I love Rodgers this year, and I've said on our podcast -- to his brother Luke Rodgers as well -- that he could be the NFL MVP this season. But if this was a draft, I would take the three other players ahead of him. You can find great Fantasy quarterbacks, maybe not as good as Rodgers, but it's hard to get stud receivers like Hopkins and Robinson and a standout runner like McCoy. Maybe you can still draft Rodgers in the first round as well. But if you're set on keeping Rodgers then go with Robinson as the other keeper and load up at running back with your first few picks. Also, @amjacobs86 wanted to know about Robinson vs. David Johnson as a keeper, and you should keep Johnson there.
@JameyEisenberg#fantasymail 10-Tm idp keeper league keep suspended martavis Bryant or devante Parker?
— Brandon Lundie (@BMLundie) April 11, 2016
There's no way you can keep Bryant now because it's hard to know what his future is in the NFL. We hope he can fix his off-field issues, but not having him for a full season because of the suspension could derail his career. As for Parker, he should be a player on the rise after what we saw from him as a rookie. You can read more on Parker in my breakouts column here, but he scored double digits in Fantasy points in a standard league three times in his final six outings and scored less than eight points once over that span. He's going to be the No. 1 receiver for Adam Gase, and that's a good spot to be in based on his track record.
@JameyEisenberg#fantasymail any sneaky players you have outside your current top 40 that are good cadidates to finish top 40 or better??
— cmuAuD (@cmuAuD) April 12, 2016
Like breakouts, you can also read my sleepers column here for some guys to target with mid- to late-round picks. But if you're just looking for players outside of the Top 40 who I like, here's a quick look at running back and receiver based on my rankings. And @KCCO_MT had a question about top-five PPR running backs, and you can use the rankings for that as well. The five running backs I would target outside of the top 40 are Jeremy Langford, Ryan Mathews, Melvin Gordon, Jay Ajayi and Matt Jones. All have the chance to start this season and finish as Top 20 running backs. At receiver, five guys I would target in that range are Michael Floyd, Golden Tate, Parker, Jeremy Maclin and Dorial Green-Beckham. These guys should be the No. 1 receivers on their respective teams.
@JameyEisenberg#fantasymail Keeper league without any penalties. Pick two RB from Charles, Martin, Miller and Ingram.
— Kevin (@cgygiantsfan) April 13, 2016
You have four running backs listed here in my Top 10 with Charles, Martin, Miller and Mark Ingram. And I have Charles and Miller ranked the highest, so those are the two I would keep. Charles should be the best of the bunch even though he's coming off last year's torn ACL, and I expect Miller to be a star with the Texans since that offense will lean on him compared to his tenure with the Dolphins. Martin and Ingram are great, but I worry slightly about Martin getting a new contract and Ingram staying healthy. We're nitpicking here, but Charles and Miller should finish with better production than Martin and Ingram.
From Facebook ...
Ryan Kross wants to know: #fantasymail. Ten team half ppr keeper league, Jamaal Charles or Devonta Freeman?
Similar to the previous question, I'm going to stick with Charles here. Even though the Chiefs could give more work to Spencer Ware or Charcandrick West to help Charles coming off the knee injury, we should see Freeman in more of a timeshare this season with Tevin Coleman. Remember, the Falcons drafted Coleman last year to be their featured back, and coach Dan Quinn is still optimistic for Coleman this season. Quinn recently told me at the NFL annual meeting that you'll see more of a tandem backfield in 2016 because Coleman deserves the chance for an increased workload.
Erik Carvalho wants to know: #fantasymail Have a 2 keeper league and not sure who to keep. It's pretty much a touchdown league and only other points would be from 100 yards rushing or receiving not combined. I have Antonio Brown, Todd Gurley and Thomas Rawls ... Who do I keep?
I like Rawls, and he could be awesome this year if he starts for the Seahawks as expected. If you take the six starts he was able to finish last season and project those stats over 16 games then he would have finished with 336 carries for 1,899 yards and 11 touchdowns and 16 catches for 181 yards. That's impressive, but it will be hard for him to reach those lofty stats. I wish you could keep three guys here, but Brown is the No. 1 overall player in all Fantasy leagues this season, and Gurley is the No. 2 running back in all formats behind Le'Veon Bell. Unfortunately you can't keep Rawls over those two guys.
















