Fantasy Football: Free-Agent Wide Receiver Team Changes
Usually Wide Receivers who change teams do not perform as well in their first season as they are learning a new offensive system and a new quarterback and timing. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule like Alshon Jeffery who played for the Eagles after a few seasons with the Bears. Jeffery was a great pass-catcher who helped the Eagles win their first Super Bowl and a great fantasy asset along the way.
Today I am going to highlight some of the big name WRs who have changed teams this offseason
Allen “ARob” Robinson signs a $42 million contract with the Chicago Bears ($25 guaranteed)
Chicago Bears Logo [CC BY 3.0]
Robinson is only one of 7 WRs to have over 1400 yards in a season before turning 23 years old. Other names in this list include Randy Moss, Isaac Bruce, and Larry Fitzgerald. ARob’s previous seasons could have been hindered by Blake Bortles as quarterback, who no one is giving accolades to him for accuracy or overall quarterback play.
Still, ARob probably was released because the Jags nearly made it to the Super Bowl this past season while he missed the whole season. The Jags have re-signed Marqise Lee to a big contract ($18 million guaranteed) and also signed Donte Moncrief from the Colts.
Robinson will join a revamped Bears passing squad including free agent signings WR Taylor Gabriel from the Atlanta Falcons and Tre Burton from the Eagles. THey join existing Bears receivers Cameron Meredith, Kevin White, and Dontrelle Inman. ARob will be the top target if he stays healthy.
The passes will come from a 2nd year QB Mitchell Trubisky. The offense will be reworked with a new offensive-minded head coach Matt Nagy (new HC). Many are expecting to see Nagy get the same success in his first season with a young QB, similar to Sean McVay in 2017 with the Rams and their young QB Jared Goff
Sammy “SWAT” Watkins signs a $48 million contract with the Kansas City Chiefs ($30 million guaranteed)
Sammy Watkins by Kevin Coleman [CC BY 3.0]
Has had trouble with injuries, but last season was good. Originally with Bills but traded to Rams last season. He was good for fantasy last season, but did split a lot of time with other great receiving options including Robert Woods (a former Bills teammate). Sammy finished as WR33 in fantasy last season. He only had 70 targets in 12 games with a low catch rate of under 56%.
The Chiefs still thought he was wortha big long term deal.
SWatkins role will be speed to pair with Patrick Mahomes (2nd year QB)
SWat joins Tyreek Hill and both are downfield sprinters, should be seeing some deep balls out of KC
Both of these WRs could be week to week due to these long-bombs. If they don’t catch one, it's a “bust” week
Jarvis Landry was traded from the Dolphins to the Browns
Jarvis Landry by Jeffrey Beall [CC BY 3.0]
In his first four seasons with the Dolphins, Jarvis Landry broke the NFL record for most receptions in first 4 seasons.
He was seen as a short to mid route runner, slot receiver who doesn’t score a lot of TDs (not a red zone threat). This is seen as a decent but not top end WR in fantasy. Landry did score 9 TDs in 2017, but this is likely an outlier after only scoring 13 in the 3 previous seasons.
The trade to the Browns came after he was franchised tagged by the Dolphins. The Dolphins probably should have tried to keep him, but it appears they did not value his talent.
On the Browns, Landry will be an upgrade at slot receiver where they used Andrew Hawkins and Mohamed Sanu previously in this role. Landry is probably the best slot WR in the NFL right now. Only avg 8.5 ypc which is low for WR but normal for slot WRs. He will be splitting targets with other pass catchers including Josh Gordon, Corey Coleman, and David Njoku.
Michael Crabtree signs a 3-year deal with the Baltimore Ravens after being released by the Raiders
Michael Crabtree by Keith Allison [CC BY 3.0]
The Ravens WR signing comes at a sketchy time.They signed WR Ryan Grant to a big deal. But when Crabtree became available, the Ravens announced that Grant did not pass a team physical.
Crabtree has been one of the best supplemental roles in football. He thrives taking the second best corner coverage, but in Baltimore he is going to have to be the top WR. He is very capable at red-zone scoring.
He joins John Brown as another Free agent in Baltimore. These two join a fantasy lacking offsend of QB Joe Flacco and RB Alex Collins each who might have surprise fantasy value.
Other WR Moves
Donte Moncrief / Jacksonville Jaguars / 1-year / $10 million
John Brown / Baltimore Ravens / 1-year
Danny Amendola / Miami Dolphins
Paul Richardson / Washington Redskins / 5-year / $40 million
Should be deep threat
Knee problems, but still really fast
Jordy Nelson / Oakland Raiders / 2-year / $13 million
Patriots traded for Cordarrelle Patterson from Raiders
Punt / Kickoff Returner
Tomorrow, I will review the fantasy relevant Free Agent Tight End moves. Also check out my blog post about Free Agent Quarterbacks and Running Backs
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