NFL Season Preview

 2016 NFC East Fantasy Football Season Preview

With the NFL season kicking off in 4 weeks, the excitement is electrifying for this upcoming campaign and FanPicks will be previewing all eight divisions these upcoming days, continuing by the NFL’s NFC East. Take advantage of our MLB and NFL Cross Sports contests, unique in the fantasy industry but first enjoy this 2016 NFC East Fantasy Football Season Preview article brought you by Fanpicks.

Washington Redskins

Kirk Cousins will finally move in as the teams’ starting QB without having to deal with any doubts and controversy. This position was long under question until RGIII’s departure and Cousins will definitely be playing for a new contract. By setting the all-time franchise passing yards mark last year, as well as other Redskins’ records, the young passer will try to secure and stabilize his place further in the organization.

DeSean Jackson will remain his main target and has become an even bigger star since arriving to the skins.

Josh Norman’s addition to this squad during the offseason will certainly help their defense as they were frankly struggling last year.

There are still some questions with their running game as well as the offensive line, but if Cousins can repeat what he did last season, the Redskins should have a problem solved that hurt them for decades.

Key Additions: TE Vernon Davis, CB Josh Norman, DE Kendall Reyes

Key Losses: Robert Griffin III, RB Alfred Morris, SS Dashon Goldson, CB Chris Culliver, DE Jason Hatcher (Retired)

Philadelphia Eagles

For the Eagles, the Chip Kelly experiment ended in flames and this year will most likely be a bumpy and hard road for them. With their defense being one of the worst in the league, they’re actually looking like the most stable unit in their team. Their future of this organization relies on youngster Carson Wentz to become a franchise quarterback.

If they can make steady play from their defense and make plays to put up points, they may be able to have a  .500 season.

Key Additions: WR Rueben Randle, LB Nigel Bradham, C Stefen Wisniewski, WR Chris Givens, QB Chase Daniels

Key Losses:  LB KiKo Alsonso, CB Byron Maxwell, RB DeMarco Murray, DE Cedric Thornton, CB E.J. Biggers

Dallas Cowboys

Last season was a nightmare for the Cowboys, as injuries destroyed everything the team had planned and ended the season before it ever really got started.

This time, the big move and risk was to draft Ezekiel Elliott as the 4th overall pick, an insanely high selection for a running back in this day and age.

The Cowboys are putting everything  into their offensive strength in order to get back  on the proper lane. In fact, this may be one of the toughest roads this organization has known in Jerry Jones’ era. With their star QB, Tony Romo being held back by injuries the last couple of seasons, this should be his last run with the Cowboys and he will need all the help from his receivers including Dez Bryant, who’ll try to put last season behind him.

Their defense lacks experience which could make it hard for them to gel as a unit.

Key Additions: RB Alfred Morris, DE Cedric Thornton, G Joe Looney

Key Losses: QB Matt Cassel, DE Greg Hardy, RB Robert Turbin 

New York Giants

The G-Men are looking to regain control in the East as they have revamped their defense and put some key pieces in on offense as well. Eli Manning is coming towards the end with the Giants so it’s win now or bust, so with new coach Be McAdoo it’s all about winning.

The Giants are healthy for the first time in a long time and that could spell trouble for the rest of the division. Olivier Vernon, Jenoris Jenkins and Damon Harrison bring much needed fire power along with rookies Eli Apple and Darian Thompson, they should be heavily revamped and ready to go.

Sterling Shepard could step in right away and fill the shoes of Victor Cruz who is yet to show traces of his former self.

Key Additions:  NT Damon Harrison, CB Janoris Jenkins, DE Olivier Vernon

Key Losses: CB Prince Amukamara, WR Rueben Randle, DE Robert Ayers, LB Jon Beason (Retired), LT Will Beatty, G Geoff Schwartz

NFL Wild Card Value Picks

Quarterback

With a small slate of games this weekend you’re quarterback choices are limited. So let’s run through the matchups. Houston and Kansas City has all the makings of a low scoring game. These are two defensive dominated teams and this matchup should be low scoring and slow paced, not places of high value for Fantasy NFL contests. Same can be said about Minnesota and Seattle. While Seattle’s offense is explosive, we saw what they did against the strong defensive front of the Cardinals last weekend, I’m saving my quarterback pick for an easier matchup.

The weakest pass defense of the weekend is by far the Steelers, but with the Bengals current quarterback situation, its hard to say anything for sure. In all likelihood AJ McCarron will be taking the field, but there is the small chance Andy Dalton will return for the game. Either way, they both should be able to provide great value with this matchup, just make sure you keep your eye on the injury report and you get the right one in.

Although the Bengals have a strong pass defense, it seems like nobody is able to stop Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown this year. I expect them to have a big game, but I also expect ownership to be very high on these two, so I’m playing the contrarian strategy and avoiding the Steelers stack.

Last we have Washington and Green Bay. This has all the makings for a classic shootout and I think there will be value on both sides of the ball. Aaron Rodgers has been very subpar this entire season, but he has been to the playoffs before and I think he will perform. Kirk Cousins on the other hand has been red hot and putting up big numbers, and that does not look to be stopping anytime soon. You’re probably going to find lower ownership with Rodgers so I’ll give him the edge in a tournament, but based on his performance this year, that may be a risky play.

Running Back

Our premium running backs for the week are Adrian Peterson, Deangelo Williams, Marshawn Lynch, Jeremy Hill, Characandrick West, and Eddie Lacy. As of now Williams looks to be out for this weekend so lets rule him out now (even if he were playing I don’t love the matchup). Marshawn Lynch will be returning but with the offensive efficiency of the Seahawks lately, its hard to say they will need to make much use of him so I am staying away from Beast mode as well. The Vikings may find it hard to pass against the dominating defense and will certainly run the ball a lot to Peterson, but he has not been as dominant this year as in years past and the Seahawks may shut him down. West as well is facing a tough defense, especially recently, so my recommendation is stay away from any Chiefs back.

So we are left with Hill and Lacy, both on the cheap end as far as premium running backs go. The way the Bengals use Hill and Bernard is very dependent on the matchup. They utilize Hill to run the ball up the middle while Bernard is valued more highly for his speed in screen passes and short drops. This matchup may be better for Bernard than Hill, and Bernard comes at a much cheaper price. Not a bad pick for this week. Lacy is the only premium back I like for this week. Like Hill, he could take a backseat position to Starks but I think Lacy has asserted himself as the primary back after early struggles in the season.

If you are looking for value at Running back however, there is a lot to be found. Starks and Bernard, as previously mentioned, will both only cost you less that $4000 on Fanpicks. Alfred Morris and Pierre Thomas both are a threat to accumulate fantasy value with their run and pass threat. The real value pick of the week is Jonathan Grimes, who put together a big game last weekend and comes at only $2700.

Wide Receiver

The same analysis on Quarterbacks applies to receivers as well. We want to stick with the good matchups: Steelers/Bengals and Packers/Redskins. Skipping out on Antonio Brown may just cost you a win, but I think there is more upside potential on fading Brown, especially for NFL Daily Fantasy Tournaments type contests. AJ Green should be able to put up some big numbers this week regardless of who gets the starting position at Quarterback.

I also like Desean Jackson or Pierre Garcon if you are looking to save a little money at the position. We know Cousins is going to throw the ball and we know he is going to throw it a lot. He may throw a couple interceptions but that doesn’t hurt his fantasy value too bad. It all just depends on which receiver can manage to get open between these two and Reed.

A good contrarian stack is Rodgers and either Cobb or Jones. They haven’t done much this year and are not on many people radar, but like I said before, the Packers know the playoffs. Cobb should get more targets but Jones is more of a long threat. The choice is up to you, I’m going Cobb.

Tight End

For me, the viable tight ends for this week are Jordan Reed and Tyler Eifert. While you can make the argument for Heath Miller and Richard Rodgers, I think you will find much more value with Eifert and Reed. Reed is an obvious pick as he has had some very big games lately and is arguably the top tight end in the league. However, that also means he is going to come with a high ownership level, bad news for a tournament play.

That’s why I’m going with Eifert. I can’t stress enough how weak Pittsburgh is against the pass as all of their games end up turning into a shootout. Eifert will especially benefit if Dalton returns this weekend as there is usually great synergy between the two.

Week 16 Value Picks

Quarterback

The shootout of the weekend should be between Jacksonville and New Orleans, assuming Drew Brees is healthy enough to take the field after tearing his plantar last week (the same injury Peyton Manning is struggling with). These two quarterbacks love to throw the ball and their defenses love to let the ball be thrown. I give Bortles the fantasy edge though since the Saints defense is more flawed fundamentally and Bortles just loves to throw the ball way down the field.

Kirk Cousins could be a great value pick this weekend as well. He has been on fire lately and we see the weapons he has in Jordan Reed and DeSean Jackson (even Alfred Morris as well). Thats not even considering the fact that the Eagles secondary is great at making any quarterback look like Tom Brady out there.

Running Back

As you can see from the above, there are not many great options at running back this week with the highest projected running back as Doug Martin (CHI @ TB) with only 20.6 projected points. You can spend the money at Running back if you wish and go with the likes of Doug Martin (CHI @ TB) and Matt Forte (CHI @ TB) in what should be a run off, or you can save your money for the higher value at the Receiver position and go for the bargain picks of Darren Sproles (WAS @ PHI), Tim Hightower (JAX @ NO), Christine Michael (STL @ SEA), or Ameer Abdullah (SF @ DET).

Wide Receiver

The stack of the week should be Allen Robinson and Blake Bortles against the Saints. There is no denying that the Big Ben and Antonio Brown connection has been unstoppable this year, no matter what the matchup. He is going to cost you a pretty penny but fading Antonio Brown may just kill your chances of winning big, as it has plenty of weekends this year already.

Or you can go with Doug Baldwin who has scored over 10 touchdowns in the past 4 weeks. Can he keep this streak going against the Rams? I’m saying yes, not that he will score another 3 touchdowns, but he should be able to haul in 1 or 2 providing some good fantasy value. Seattle doesn’t seem to be stopping this charge until the season ends.

If you are trying to find a cheap value receiver to fill that last spot in your lineup with limited funds, you can look to Jeremy Maclin (CLE @ KC), John Brown (GB @ ARI), Michael Floyd (GB @ ARI), Willie Snead (JAX @ NO), Bradon Cooks (JAX @ NO), or Golden Tate (SF @ DET).

Tight End

The tight end decision has been made easier in the previous couple weeks with Gronk out. Up until then the decision was go for Gronk, accept the 50+% ownership and $7000+ price tag and hope its his week, or choose from the list of alternative tight ends. The Gronk versus the field decision is back. This week it is easy though.

Gronk has not shown his dominance of previous years this season and is only projected about 1 point higher than the Saints‘ Benjamin Watson. The value picks here are Ebron and Kelce. Kelce has been stagnated slightly since his explosive start to the season and his salary reflects that decline. However, he has high end potential against the Browns, which is what you are going to need to win any big NFL Daily Fantasy Tournament. Ebron as well has shown brilliance at times this year and is getting more action lately with Calvin Johnson all of the sudden becoming obsolete in their offense. Ebron comes much cheaper than the other highly projected options and allows you to spend the cash where you want this week, with the receivers.

Week 16 Start or Sit Advice

By: Aldo Panessidi

All I Want for Christmas Is a Fantasy Football Championship

This week Fanpicks.com provides you with our winning fantasy football lineup advice.  We have designed the RotoPicker a powerful lineup optimizer tool… to help you create the winning lineups.

Quarterback

Start ‘Em

Blake Bortles, Jacksonville Jaguars at New Orleans Saints

Consider yourself gifted this week if you were lucky enough to pick up and ride Bortles to your championship. Well this gift just keeps on giving as the Jags take on the Saints and their NFL worst defense. Bortles is now over 3,800 yards on the season to go with 31 TDs. He has firmly put himself into the top tier of QBs in his second year. The young Jags QB has now pushed himself up to the 4^th ranked QB in fantasy points on the season and should add significantly to that in week 16.

Sit ‘Em

Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers at Arizona Cardinals

If he helped get you to the finals you need to stick with Rodgers, but there are concerns here. He’s thrown less than 220 yards in four of his last five games and hasn’t thrown more than two TDs since week nine. Rodgers is in the midst of a down year so relying on him for elite performance is not a good idea in your final. Arizona’s defense is very good overall and top 10 against QBs in fantasy points allowed. The loss of Tyrann Mathieu will hurt, but the Cardinals are still a quality unit and have the ability to shut an offense down. This looks like another difficult week for the Packers. Still, I’d hate to bench him then watch the old Rodgers emerge for a shootout in Arizona. I almost feel like recommending a sit for Rodgers could trigger him to break out of this slump.

Honorable Mention

I think it’s safe to say that you should bench Matt Ryan against Carolina if possible. His 224 yard performance that included a fumble and a pick against the same team two weeks ago suggests this is not going to end well for Atlanta. Don’t think about getting cute in daily games with the likes of A.J. McCarron, Case Keenum, or Brock Osweiler. Each one faces one of the top three defenses in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks.

Running Back

Start ‘Em

Denard Robinson, Jacksonville Jaguars at New Orleans Saints

It looks like Robinson is in line for another start this weekend against the Saints with T.J. Yeldon missing practice while wearing a knee brace. Throw away last week’s 28 yard performance and rest easy in the fact that he gets an even worse defense to exploit this week. Robinson is a speed back so you are somewhat reliant on him breaking runs for long chunks of yardage. Last week he didn’t get away from the defense, but I would expect him to have multiple shots at ripping a long TD run in week 16.

Karlos Williams, Buffalo Bills vs. Dallas Cowboys

Williams will continue to add to his impressive rookie campaign this week with LeSean McCoy again missing time. Williams has a juicy matchup against Dallas, now allowing over 118 rushing yards a game. With the Cowboys offense unable to put points on the board expect the Bills to control this game on both sides of the ball leading to positive game flow for the Bills and Williams. Mike Gillislee has some role, but anything more than spot duty would be unexpected as long as Williams is healthy.

Sit ‘Em

Todd Gurley, St. Louis Rams at Seattle Seahawks

Traveling to CenturyLink Field to face the Seahawks during a hot streak is not something any running back wants to do. They have allowed less than 50 yards to RBs in each of their last five games and get to play with the 12^th man at home. Gurley has been a dichotomous enigma of a back this year. He’s looked like the next Adrian Peterson at times and then the next week averages two yards a carry. Take his last four game’s rushing totals for example; 19, 41, 140, 48 yards. Rather than this being Gurley’s fault it’s likely that the Rams lack of flexibility on offense has allowed teams to key on Gurley to shut him down. Unless he gets lucky and breaks one, this looks more like one of those 48 yard games for the talented young running back.

Honorable Mention

Could Ameer Abdullah possibly put up two good games in a row? He’s facing the 49ers at home and might be an intriguing dart throw in a tournament. This week projects as another James White week over Brandon Bolden/Joey Iosefa against the Jets. DeAngelo Williams has another tough day ahead traveling to Baltimore.

Wide Receiver

Start ‘Em

DeSean Jackson, Washington Redskins at Philadelphia Eagles

After missing much of the season Jackson has brought fresh legs to the ‘Skins along with four scores in the last five games. The Eagles are nowhere close to decent against the pass and look very susceptible to a couple big plays against Washington. While Jackson has a history of being hit or miss, he’s the big play guy that could dial up a couple long TDs in this one. He’s a tournament option due to volatility, but has a huge ceiling based on the matchup.

DeVante Parker, Miami Dolphins vs. Indianapolis Colts

Parker showed up again last weekend after disappearing in week 14. He’s now had totals of 80, 63, 16, and 87 yards with two TDs in the last four games. Parker is getting himself targets and has flashed some of the potential that led to him being a first round draft pick. This week if Vontae Davis is asked to shadow Jarvis Landry it could mean Parker is in line for a bunch of targets. I could possibly even see a “breakout” game if he is able to pull in a high percentage of the throws that go his way.

Sit ‘Em

Doug Baldwin, Seattle Seahawks vs. St. Louis Rams

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. Baldwin has put up a whopping ten TDs over the last four games, an impressive feat for a season! Sooner or later though this streak will stall out and I am worried your Fantasy Bowl is the week he throws up a dud. The Rams have an above average secondary for one. Doug’s yardage totals have also decreased each week during this journey leading to just 45 yards on four catches last week. While I think he still gathers a few catches I’m concerned this will be 4-50 sort of game and without the TDs that’s not going to do it for you.

Honorable Mention

Cincinnati receivers have an uphill battle against the Broncos with A.J. McCarron set to lead them once again. How does Ted Ginn keeping scoring when he drops half the passes thrown his way? Sammy Watkins gets a tough matchup against Dallas, but he’s scored six times in the last four games and shown dynamic skills. I’d still roll him out with some confidence.

After shredding the excellent Broncos D last week, Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant get a dream matchup in your Fantasy Bowl against the Ravens.

Tight End

Start ‘Em

Zack Ertz, Philadelphia Eagles vs. Washington Redskins

Well hello Mr. Ertz. It took most of the season but the Eagle’s tight end has finally emerged as a weekly starter over the last three games. He had 13 targets last week and has scored in two of the last three games. It still befuddles me as to why the Eagles didn’t use him like this all year, but better late than never. Even though the Redskins have done well against the position if Ertz can get another eight-plus targets he should have ample opportunity to put up a nice stat line.

Sit ‘Em

Delanie Walker, Tennessee Titans vs. Houston Texans

It might finally be time to jump off the Delanie bandwagon. He’s been a beast this season and one of the best in fantasy football. However, he’ll have to play without Marcus Mariota this week and faces a difficult foe in the Texans. Their defense has been very solid and allows the 8^th fewest points to tight ends on the season. Walker will have voluminous targets on his side, but 80 yards and a touchdown is asking too much.

Honorable Mention

The Chiefs allow the fewest points to tight ends in football and will face Gary Barnidge for your final. Philadelphia hasn’t let tight ends gather points either, but don’t let that discourage you from starting Jordan Reed. After staying healthy for most of the season he has a firm grasp on TE1 numbers including for this week. Even with missing the first four games Julius Thomas has put up the 16^th most points for all TEs this year. Start him against the Saints in your final week. Antonio Gates is a top TE for the week facing the Raiders who have allowed the most TDs to the position.

Defense

Start ‘Em

Kansas City Chiefs vs. Cleveland Browns

The Chiefs have become the surprise defense of the year. They have a league leading six defensive touchdowns are ranked third in most scoring formats after Denver and Carolina. Over their last eight games this squad has a plus 17 turnover ratio and gets to face the Browns who have the seventh most turnovers on the season. This looks like another good week for the Chiefs so if you’ve ridden them to the championship you can happily throw them out there again one last time.

Sit ‘Em

New York Jets vs. New England Patriots

The Jets have been a top ten defense this year and many expected big things from a blitz happy scheme. While they’ve been good, they haven’t been the great defense many expected. With the Patriots coming to town this is a squad to avoid in your final. New England ran over them in their first meeting and could very well put up another 30 this week. In the most important game of your season you can find something better on your waiver wire and should look at your options.

Best of luck with your fantasy football teams this week! Hopefully advice  helps guide you to victory. Make sure you check out our new Lineup Optimizer tool – RotoPicker

NFL Week 16 Stacks to look out for

Blake Bortles and Allen Robinson

In terms of how he generates fantasy value, Bortles focuses on Quality over Quantity. By this I mean, he tends to only throw passes of 10 yards or more, and often far more. Looking at Jacksonville’s last game against the Falcons, he threw at least one 20+ yard pass to each of 5 different receivers. Robinson had a rare off game, only catching 3 passes for 57 yards, but he remains Bortles favorite target down the field. Jacksonville is facing the Saints, who although their pass defense has improved as of late, they still rank 3rd on the list of passing yards allowed with 278 passing yards per game.

Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown

If the Broncos can’t stop this dynamic duo, its hard to imagine anyone will be able to. Even against arguably the strongest defense in the NFL, Roethlisberger was able to total 380 passing yards, with Brown catching 16 passes for 189 yards and 2 touchdowns, leading the charts in week 15. Baltimore ranks 12th on the list of most passing yards allowed with 248 passing yards per game, compared to Denver who only allowed 188 passing yards per game (leading the NFL) going into week 15 where they were dominated by the Steelers.

Jimmy Clausen and Kamar Aiken

However, as strong as the Steelers’ offense is, they still are not a dominant team due to the weakness on the defensive side. They rank second in most passing yards allowed with 279 per game and if you are looking for a lower ownership, high risk stack, the Clausen and Aiken may be the stack for you. If you overlook the 2 interceptions Clausen threw last weekend, he put up some quality numbers (281 passing yards and 2 passing touchdowns) against a strong Chiefs defense. Aiken had 8 receptions for 73 receiving yards and a touchdown last week as well.

Kirk Cousins and DeSean Jackson

I probably don’t need to tell you how weak the Eagles secondary is and how disadvantaged they are to the long ball. Kirk Cousins should have a big game against the Eagles, my only debate here was which receiver to stack him with. Looking at the season as a whole, Jordan Reed is his favorite target but the Eagles’ weakness lies more in the secondary, which is where DeSean Jackson seems to dominate. Against the Bills last week he racked up 153 receiving yards on only 6 catches, averaging 25.5 yards per catch.

NFL Week 15 Recap

Cam Newton Continues to Win

The word on the street going into this week was that the Giants may be the team to stop the Panthers dominance, with Eli having a history of upsetting undefeated teams. It did not seem that way early on with Odell being so off his game, but they turned things around in the second half, putting the Panther’s undefeated season in Jeopardy.

The Panthers were able to winning the end though. Cam Newton showed he can win with any personnel, spreading the ball out to 4 different receivers (Ginn (2), Olsen, Funchess, and Brown) for receiving touchdowns. On top of those 5 passing touchdowns he racked up 340 passing yards and 100 rushing yards for his usual, massive fantasy value.

Redskins find their passing game

Kirk Cousins showed he meant business as Washington dominated the Bills. Cousins went 22 for 28 on passes for 319 passing yards, 4 passing touchdowns and a 13 yard rushing touchdown. Additionally, he ran one in himself. As far as receivers went, Cousins picked his favorites, connecting with Jordan Reed for 2 touchdown passes, DeSean Jackson for 153 receiving yards and 1 receiving touchdown, and Pierre Garcon for a receiving touchdown.

Bears can’t stop the pass

Teddy Bridgewater had an uncharacteristically good passing game throwing 17 for 20 with 4 passing touchdowns for 231 passing yards against Chicago. On top of that, he showed his athleticism with 17 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. After Peterson was limited early to an ankle injury, they were forced to rely on the passing game, which the Bears were not able stifle. Bridgewater connected with Diggs for 55 receiving yards and 2 receiving touchdowns and with Jerick McKinnon for 76 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown.

Denver’s Defense can’t hold back the Steelers

Antonio Brown and Ben Roethlisberger continue to dominate, even against what may be the best defense in the NFL. Big Ben threw for 380 passing yards and 3 passing touchdowns while Brown caught 16 passes for 189 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns. Brown’s numbers was beat early on by the Broncos‘ Emmanuel Sanders catching 10 passes for 181 receiving yards and a touchdown, but the Steelers rally late in the game pushed Brown ahead.

Danny Woodhead single handedly beats the Dolphins

Well maybe he needed the rest of his team out there… but it seems like Woodhead can do it all as he scored 4 total touchdowns, 3 receiving and 1 rushing. He ended the day with a total of 38 fantasy points combining those touchdowns with receptions, receiving yards, and rushing yards.

Hard to find value at Running Back

Not much value could be found at running back this week. Those who did provide value did so by combining rushing stats with receiving stats. The Patriots‘ James White did so with only 1 rush for 6 yards but 7 receptions for 71 receiving yards and 1 receiving touchdown. Similarly, Devonta Freeman had 56 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown for decent value, but he added on top of that 7 receptions for 45 receiving yards.

The same could be said for Matt Forte as he rushed for only 47 yards but had 6 receptions for 57 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown. The Chiefs‘ Charcandrick West logged 76 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown as well to be among the weekends leaders at running back. Rashad Jennings provided some fantasy value in a high scoring loss against the Panthers with 107 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.

Daily Fantasy Football News – 09-03-2015

The Buffalo Bills Running Back LeSean McCoy Injury

LeSean McCoy: The Bills running back had a hamstring problem this preseason and the fear is he may miss week one of the regular season. He had a major injury during the 2012 season when a concussion forced him to miss four games. The injury occurred in practice on August 18th. This came on the heels of Buffalo releasing veteran running back Fred Jackson. With not much depth in the wide receiver position the Bills were counting on their running game entering the 2015 campaign.

Tyrod Taylor: The Bills mobile quarterback was announced recently as the teams starter in week one.

Fred Jackson. He is no longer an option for Bills as following his release he is getting a physical with the Seattle Seahawks.

Boobie Dixon: The backup to McCoy has been nursing a calf injury. He has been listed as probable for the final preseason game on Thursday. Dixon is listed on the Bills depth chart as the backup to McCoy. He was a workhorse in his time with the Mississippi St Bulldogs. In his four years with the San Francisco 49ers he had very limited carries behind Frank Gore. What kept Dixon in the NFL were his abilities in special teams. He was outstanding in the punt and kickoff teams with an outstanding ability to fight blockers and the speed to reach the returner very quickly. In his one season in Buffalo in 2014 Dixon rushed for 432 yards on 105 carries and two touchdowns. That averaged out to 4.1 yards a carry. He hasn’t provided much production in the passing game during his career.

Karlos Williams: Another Bills option at running back is nursing an undisclosed injury. He is questionable for Thursday’s game. He is a rookie fifth rounder out of Florida St.

Bryce Brown: The fourth year back out of Kansas St was a seventh round pick of Philadelphia in 2012. He played in seven games for Buffalo in 2014 and ran 36 times for 126 yards with a poor 3.5 yards per carry average. He is a career 4.4 yards per carry runner with one productive year in 2012 with the Eagles.

Washington Redskins Veteran Wide Receiver Supports Kirk Cousins

Now that Washington has announced that Kirk Cousins will start in week one let’s take a close look at the fantasy value for his top passing targets.

Pierre Garcon: The sixth year wide receiver gave his full support for Kirk Cousins in his comments to the media on Wednesday. Garcon called Cousins a natural born leader. The talented wide out saw his production drop considerably in 2014 as he had just 68 receptions for 752 yards with five touchdowns. That was a drop of 37 receptions, 594 yards and two touchdowns from his numbers during the 2013 campaign. His 113 receptions and 1346 passing yards in 2013 was a career best.

DeSean Jackson: Pairing outside opposite of Garcon is eight year wide out DeSean Jackson. In his first season with Washington in 2014 Jackson saw his numbers decline considerably from his 2013 numbers he put up with Philadelphia. He caught 56 balls in 2014 for 1169 yards and six touchdowns. His receptions were down by 26 the yardage down by 263 yards and he had three fewer touchdowns than in 2013. But the biggest drop from 2013 was the number of first down catches. In 2013 Jackson had 60 first down plays to just 35 a season ago.

Andre Roberts: The six year veteran spent most of his year with Arizona as a third and fourth option. He is about the same in Washington. Last year with the Redskins he caught 36 balls for 453 yards and two touchdowns. The receptions and yardage were down a bit from his 2013 numbers in Arizona.