Post by Cincinnati Bengals (Chris) on Sept 8, 2020 4:53:59 GMT -5
NFC SOUTH
The NFC South was on a mission to prove me wrong in 2019, as all four of my division picks were rendered wrong by a super secret clandestine conspiracy cahoots pact to defraud the league of its predetermined finishing order, and likely, rightful winner. Atlanta came out of nowhere last year to become a real contender, and Carolina, the perennial division winner, was done in by the worst luck: missing the playoffs by a game, despite scoring more than all but six playoff teams, and led the league in points scored against by nearly 100. This season, Justin looks to rebound, but there’s some housework to do, and it shows why not everything that went against the Panthers last year was bad luck. The Falcons look to hold onto their division crown, amid some last-minute pre-season chaos at the top of his roster. Fred faded down the stretch like many other washouts we’ve had before in this league, and so Anthony came into the fold and replaced him. Tampa fortified its roster this off-season, and has the looks of a team ready to be a playoff contender. Can he go from worst to first in the division? Can Anthony start off his stint in the CDFL with a successful first year? Was 2019 just a year off for Justin, or were his struggles emblematic of the beginning of something more serious? And can Ryan keep the division crown? Let me know what you think about my projections and post you own comments. Also, DON’T FORGET to vote in the poll, as that’s the whole point.
Atlanta Falcons (Ryan)
Last year’s finish: 9th (Division: 1st)
Outlook: Once again I was foiled by the Ryan and his Falcons, who improved upon his 2018 2nd-placed division finish, ran roughshod over the NFC South, compiling a 3-0 division record, and nearly missed (By less than a point) a trip to the Second Round of the playoffs. This year, for the first time, Ryan has real expectations. Helping to ease the burden of those expectations is one Aaron Rodgers, in the last year of his contract with the team (And maybe his last year with the real life Packers). While he has been among the best in the history of football (And fantasy football), he has been on the slow downhill slide for some time, and without the personnel upgrade he so desperately needed to extract the last little bit of prime out of his twilight years. Because of that, and what promises to be a run-heavier offense in Green Bay, his days as a truly elite fantasy quarterback may be over—or I may be back here next year eating my words again. Thankfully, there is a succession plan in line—both in real life and in this league—and Ryan followed it beautifully, nabbing a real life First Rounder in Jordan Love in the Second Round of our draft. At running back, the chaos was realized days before the season, when both Darrell Henderson injured himself, and Leonard Fournette was terminated by his employer. He’s arguably in a better situation now, RBBC considered, but for fantasy purposes, he’s going to have to be a lot more efficient than he ever has with the touches that he does get. Bennie Snell, another committee back, has supposedly looked pretty spry this year in training camp, but for a player whose game was so tied to running up the middle, I’m not certain that losing weight and changing one’s trademark running style is a wise career move. At wide receiver, Ryan also had two of the primary beneficiaries of Fournette’s being cut loose: Jaguars receivers, DJ Chark, and Chris Conley, as with Fournette’s departure, and considering what was to already be a skewed game script, turned even more-heavily towards the passing game. Beyond those two (And maybe including Conley), it’s a who’s who of ancillary pieces, including Rashard Higgins (In an offense where third WR may now be an afterthought with all the other mouths to feed), rookie Van Jefferson (Whose profile has risen in the last few days), and Nelson Agholor, who apparently performed so well in Raiders’ camp that they’re going to canonize him next week, before he ever plays a snap in Negligent Homicide Through Cutting Corners For Profit With An Imminent Plane Crash Waiting To Happen Airlines Stadium. Tight end is a sore spot (No pun intended), for now, with both Ian Thomas and Trey Burton nursing lower extremities injuries that make them questionable (At best) for Week 1. Thomas is taking over for the Carolina legend Greg Olsen, and Burton is becoming an afterthought due to repeated injuries. Average production out of those two in 2020 would be a game changer. Fletcher Cox and Olivier Vernon lead the defensive line, with the always-solid Derek Wolfe helping to form one of the most-dependable line units in football. At linebacker, Demario Davis is the only viable member of the New Orleans’ unit at present, and Dre Greenlaw looks to repeat his rookie breakout season. Behind those two, Ryan was anticipating David Mayo and Logan Wilson to pitch in, but Mayo suffered a serious injury, and Wilson got behind the 8-ball without a camp to learn the ropes in Cincinnati. That means only Harold Landry, and Atlanta’s defensive backs, have to hold down the fort until and if Wilson has a significant role. However, said defensive backfield includes Ricardo Allen, Marcus Williams, and Eddie Jackson, as well as potential late impact rookie Brandon Jones—so it’s a pretty good one.
X-factor: Linebacker. If there is one major flaw in Atlanta’s plan, it’s LB, a position he invested heavily in this offseason, but that still requires further work. With the history of my predictions backfiring when it comes to this haunted division, and this team, you’d think I’d learn my lesson. That’s why it will surprise you, when…
Projected division finish: 3rd
Carolina Panthers (Justin)
Last year’s finish: 20th (Division: 2nd)
Outlook: Justin rolled into 2019 with a two-year division win streak, and no reason to doubt that he was in line for a third. Looking at his 1584 points in a vacuum, it would be hard to fathom that he didn’t do so again, unless, like we now know the benefit of time, some fluky things happened—namely, the Panthers going up against the second-highest points against in league history (1634), behind only the 2013 New York Giants (1668). In fact, it was only the third time in league history that a team eclipsed 1600 points against. That means much—but not everything—that ailed Justin in 2019 was beyond his control. He’ll return most of the explosive offense from last year, including Carson Wentz at quarterback, whose mandate, now with some renewed weaponry, is to simply stay on the field. Running back is still in excellent shape, with top options Ezekiel Elliott and Kareem Hunt primed to lay waste to most of the league’s RB units. Behind those two is the diminutive Ito Smith, who proved his ability last year, but also flashed an inability to stay healthy, a concern that won’t soon vacate from the minds of those who rely on Napoleonic men to play one of the world’s most-violent sports. At wide receiver, Odell Beckham returns, after a season that saw him clash with coaching staffs and management, fail to show much effort on certain routes and passes, find his onto the injury report, and somehow past another 1,000-yard effort—in other words, it was a typical post-rookie season for the cult of personality. He’ll try to put 2019 behind him, I think. Robert Woods also returns, and helps to form a lethal duo, especially with no more Brandin Cooks in Los Angeles. Beyond those two, there is a dearth of receiving options, with only Equanimeous St. Brown available in reserve. At tight end, Evan Engram returns again as one of the top fantasy football options at the position, and he is joined by Blake Jarwin, slated to take over as his team’s undisputed #1 option at the position for the first time. On the other side of the ball, the line boasts two exemplary options, and a third good one, in Sam Hubbard, Grady Jarrett, and Trey Flowers. That group rivals nearly any other in the league. At linebacker, it’s the Lavonte David show, as he’s the only one with experience and production, of the group. A couple of other role players, including Eric Wilson, Micah Kiser, and Kam Gugier-Hill, constitute the spare parts and duct tape that are currently holding together this unit. Defensive back is also in a bit of a precarious position, as beyond the top-two of Tyrann Mathieu and Rodney McLeod, are a jobless Eric Reid—whose release, at least this time around, was due to his poor play, and Ugo Amadi, a guy with the most interesting name of any likely weekly inactive this season.
X-factor: Offensive depth/LB depth. This one still rings true from last year. At some point, Carolina is going to have to commit some more assets to these areas, as the patchwork bench is going to leave its mark in terms of losses if Justin doesn’t do anything to rectify it. While those positions give me a fair amount of hesitation, I trust Justin to make those fixes, prevail, and once again claim the division crown.
Projected division finish: 1st
New Orleans Saints (Anthony)
Last year’s finish: 28th (Division: 3rd)
Outlook: Despite his efforts and initial enthusiasm in joining the league, Fred turned what was at least a competitive New Orleans team from the previous years into a calamity. While Vic wasn’t paying the team an appropriate amount of love and attention in the years prior, Fred only amplified those problems, trading away some of the franchise’s key components. While the losses, particularly in the running back department, were backbreaking, they also helped to streamline the team into a functional, more-balanced roster, with the defense, long maligned, taking a slight step forward (Read: It helps to not have to roster six RBs, most of whom were rotational). This offseason, Anthony stepped in, and has given the Saints more of a flair for the fantasy darling crowd, drafting rookies Bryan Edwards, and Willie Gay (And nominally, Jeffrey Okudah and James Proche), and will have some key contributors to help cushion the blows of the holes Vic and Fred left in the roster At quarterback, New Orleans still relies on Josh Allen, a worrying statement, as the third-year pro has proven to be one of the most volatile starting options in the game, and rumors are abound that the franchise is already making 2020 an ultimatum year for the Herculean-armed QB, a la 2019 Trubisky. At running back, Latavius Murray returns, after having an uneven year in terms of playing time, as he was jerked around in the gameplan too often, irrespective of whether Alvin Kamara was present. With Kamara supposedly healthy this year, look for his role to shrink, but he should still have one for a dynamic Saints’ offense. Behind him are Jalen Richard, whose penchant for playing on downs that start with the number 3 is only matched by his unquenched thirst to murder his own children. Richard is joined by two presently unemployed backs, in Devonta Freeman and the aforementioned DeAndre Washington (Or in Washington’s case, being paid to not play on the team’s active roster), though Freeman could certainly be relevant once he finds a job, provided that he’s healthy. Out wide, the aforementioned rookie, Edwards, joins Jarvis Landry, to form one solid starting unit, though the recent release of Mohammed Sanu, the failure, so far, of Riley Ridley to do anything on a professional football field, and the rookie Proche being buried on Baltimore’s depth chart, means that it’s also not a very deep one, at present. On the flip side of the ball, it’s clearly a work in progress, but finally, at least, he’s starting to see the edge of the forest. While the defensive line is an abject mess, with Mario Addison and Denico Autry the only two options, it’s hard to care, as it’s the most fungible position in our league. At linebacker, the recent addition of Mark Barron to the Broncos’ roster, as well as offseason additions Chandler Jones and Willie Gay serve to fortify the Saints’ biggest on-paper need from previous iterations. Reggie Ragland also returns, and could work his way into a rotational role, or perhaps more given Jarrad Davis’ past injury issues. Jaylon Ferguson will also look to create havoc off of the edge on a Ravens’ defense that is still looking to replace Za’Darius Smith. Defensive back is perhaps the strongest position on the team, with post-breakout year Justin Simmons, promising sophomore Darnell Savage, veterans Tashaun Gipson and Stephon Gilmore, and the pair of former First Round corners, Eli Apple and Okudah, rounding out the group. All-in-all, it’s a solid unit in numbers and talent, and one which Anthony may use to bolster his other units via trade.
X-factor: Continued improvement. While there is a clear and visible plan for the first time in a long time in New Orleans, Anthony is still some ways away from turning around this long-mismanaged franchise. Though he does possess (And has personally added) many of the pieces necessary to do so, the South is a division on the rise, and he will likely have three teams to still look up to, at least for this year.
Projected division finish: 4th
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Caleb)
Last year’s finish: 29th (Division: 4th)
Outlook: Few teams have had the type of offseason that the Bucs did, going from a fledgling last-placed team that was less than the sum of some of its extraordinary parts, Caleb made some aggressive and calculated moves to get some help, and moved his window for contention squarely into the “now” phase. The foremost move was made to ship off the fourth overall pick to acquire megastar DeAndre Hopkins. He joins an offense that was already on the verge of contention, but has now been put over the top. Behind the center is 2019 disappointment Jared Goff, who earned a record-setting extension before slumping back down to Earth, after leading the Rams to the playoffs and Super Bowl in his first two years in Sean McVay’s scheme, respectively. For him to play better, he’ll have to play better under pressure, his biggest weakness to date, as the Rams scarcely had any assets to invest in better players this off-season. The shining jewel of this team is running back Saquon Barkley. It’s hard to overstate how much the Bucs went into the tank last year with his absence. His presence in this lineup immediately elevates it to the level of any other team on a given week. Behind him, the plan was for Damien Williams to slot in as the weekly flex starting option, but he opted out due to COVID-19. In his stead, Tampa Bay is likely to rely on practice squadee (Is that a word?) Dontrell Hilliard, noted thief of Derrick Henry touches, Dion Lewis, or a trio of wideouts, led by Hopkins. For the time being, though, the promise of those three is a bit delayed, with Deebo Samuel on the mend after a painful foot injury. Depending on whichever reports you believe, the sophomore sensation could be making his debut anywhere from weeks 1-5, and that uncertainty certainly certifies fantasy owners as certifiable. James Washington is likely to step into one of those spots, but so far, Caleb has yet to resolve that issue, as last I saw him, James Washington was not two people. Quintez Cephus is also one person, just an extraordinarily slow one for a professional wide receiver. Darren Waller proved last year that he’s one of the most-talented tight ends in the league, and provides the Ravens with long due credit for identifying the talent of a man whose tenure with the team was plagued by drug addiction. Now clean, he’s slated for another top-10 finish at the position. Behind him is Marcedes Lewis, whose parents either decided they wanted their child’s name to sound a lot like one of the Holocaust’s greatest private sector genocide profiteers, or wanted to distance him from that company by one vowel. Either way, this is likely the most and most-consequential ink he’ll receive all year. Defensively, the men up front are in solid shape, with DeMarcus Lawrence leading a unit with an aging cast of stars, including Geno Atkins, and Ndamukong Suh. The linebacking corps is improved from a year ago, but still relies on bit-part players Anthony Hitchens, Oren Burks, Kenny Young, and David Long Jr. behind Kwon Alexander and De’Vondre Campbell. In the end, it’s likely that the cast of characters may be able to provide Tampa with an above average unit in the aggregate, though the rules on how many players we can start on defense hasn’t changed, so Caleb must choose correctly. At defensive back, the Bucs sport one of the best young tandems in the league, in Jessie Bates and Minkah Fitzpatrick. Behind them, Eric Rowe turned from career backup to solid fantasy option last year, and will look to continue that for a second-straight year. Andrew Sendejo is the lone remaining DB, but is blocked by the Browns’ newest addition, Ronnie Harrison. He’s unlikely to see much time above 3rd safety unless the Browns suffer further attrition there.
X-factor: Offensive depth and linebacker. Switch the side of the ball from last year, but Tampa’s offensive bench is horrendous. It only stands out due to how good that starting unit is, and goes to show just what kind of effect Damien Williams’ opt-out has on the unit as a whole. It is integral that the Bucs try to remedy some of those issues, including acquiring another solid piece at linebacker, if he is not to get off to a slow start with such a talented group, as that would be a shame, especially with what he has given up. Frankly, nothing about his activity leads me to believe that will happen though, and it’s the only reason he’s not atop the division in these previews.
Projected division finish: 2nd
Remember to watch out for the seventh of our divisional previews, this time the NFC East, which will be out tomorrow. Thanks again guys.
The NFC South was on a mission to prove me wrong in 2019, as all four of my division picks were rendered wrong by a super secret clandestine conspiracy cahoots pact to defraud the league of its predetermined finishing order, and likely, rightful winner. Atlanta came out of nowhere last year to become a real contender, and Carolina, the perennial division winner, was done in by the worst luck: missing the playoffs by a game, despite scoring more than all but six playoff teams, and led the league in points scored against by nearly 100. This season, Justin looks to rebound, but there’s some housework to do, and it shows why not everything that went against the Panthers last year was bad luck. The Falcons look to hold onto their division crown, amid some last-minute pre-season chaos at the top of his roster. Fred faded down the stretch like many other washouts we’ve had before in this league, and so Anthony came into the fold and replaced him. Tampa fortified its roster this off-season, and has the looks of a team ready to be a playoff contender. Can he go from worst to first in the division? Can Anthony start off his stint in the CDFL with a successful first year? Was 2019 just a year off for Justin, or were his struggles emblematic of the beginning of something more serious? And can Ryan keep the division crown? Let me know what you think about my projections and post you own comments. Also, DON’T FORGET to vote in the poll, as that’s the whole point.
Atlanta Falcons (Ryan)
Last year’s finish: 9th (Division: 1st)
Outlook: Once again I was foiled by the Ryan and his Falcons, who improved upon his 2018 2nd-placed division finish, ran roughshod over the NFC South, compiling a 3-0 division record, and nearly missed (By less than a point) a trip to the Second Round of the playoffs. This year, for the first time, Ryan has real expectations. Helping to ease the burden of those expectations is one Aaron Rodgers, in the last year of his contract with the team (And maybe his last year with the real life Packers). While he has been among the best in the history of football (And fantasy football), he has been on the slow downhill slide for some time, and without the personnel upgrade he so desperately needed to extract the last little bit of prime out of his twilight years. Because of that, and what promises to be a run-heavier offense in Green Bay, his days as a truly elite fantasy quarterback may be over—or I may be back here next year eating my words again. Thankfully, there is a succession plan in line—both in real life and in this league—and Ryan followed it beautifully, nabbing a real life First Rounder in Jordan Love in the Second Round of our draft. At running back, the chaos was realized days before the season, when both Darrell Henderson injured himself, and Leonard Fournette was terminated by his employer. He’s arguably in a better situation now, RBBC considered, but for fantasy purposes, he’s going to have to be a lot more efficient than he ever has with the touches that he does get. Bennie Snell, another committee back, has supposedly looked pretty spry this year in training camp, but for a player whose game was so tied to running up the middle, I’m not certain that losing weight and changing one’s trademark running style is a wise career move. At wide receiver, Ryan also had two of the primary beneficiaries of Fournette’s being cut loose: Jaguars receivers, DJ Chark, and Chris Conley, as with Fournette’s departure, and considering what was to already be a skewed game script, turned even more-heavily towards the passing game. Beyond those two (And maybe including Conley), it’s a who’s who of ancillary pieces, including Rashard Higgins (In an offense where third WR may now be an afterthought with all the other mouths to feed), rookie Van Jefferson (Whose profile has risen in the last few days), and Nelson Agholor, who apparently performed so well in Raiders’ camp that they’re going to canonize him next week, before he ever plays a snap in Negligent Homicide Through Cutting Corners For Profit With An Imminent Plane Crash Waiting To Happen Airlines Stadium. Tight end is a sore spot (No pun intended), for now, with both Ian Thomas and Trey Burton nursing lower extremities injuries that make them questionable (At best) for Week 1. Thomas is taking over for the Carolina legend Greg Olsen, and Burton is becoming an afterthought due to repeated injuries. Average production out of those two in 2020 would be a game changer. Fletcher Cox and Olivier Vernon lead the defensive line, with the always-solid Derek Wolfe helping to form one of the most-dependable line units in football. At linebacker, Demario Davis is the only viable member of the New Orleans’ unit at present, and Dre Greenlaw looks to repeat his rookie breakout season. Behind those two, Ryan was anticipating David Mayo and Logan Wilson to pitch in, but Mayo suffered a serious injury, and Wilson got behind the 8-ball without a camp to learn the ropes in Cincinnati. That means only Harold Landry, and Atlanta’s defensive backs, have to hold down the fort until and if Wilson has a significant role. However, said defensive backfield includes Ricardo Allen, Marcus Williams, and Eddie Jackson, as well as potential late impact rookie Brandon Jones—so it’s a pretty good one.
X-factor: Linebacker. If there is one major flaw in Atlanta’s plan, it’s LB, a position he invested heavily in this offseason, but that still requires further work. With the history of my predictions backfiring when it comes to this haunted division, and this team, you’d think I’d learn my lesson. That’s why it will surprise you, when…
Projected division finish: 3rd
Carolina Panthers (Justin)
Last year’s finish: 20th (Division: 2nd)
Outlook: Justin rolled into 2019 with a two-year division win streak, and no reason to doubt that he was in line for a third. Looking at his 1584 points in a vacuum, it would be hard to fathom that he didn’t do so again, unless, like we now know the benefit of time, some fluky things happened—namely, the Panthers going up against the second-highest points against in league history (1634), behind only the 2013 New York Giants (1668). In fact, it was only the third time in league history that a team eclipsed 1600 points against. That means much—but not everything—that ailed Justin in 2019 was beyond his control. He’ll return most of the explosive offense from last year, including Carson Wentz at quarterback, whose mandate, now with some renewed weaponry, is to simply stay on the field. Running back is still in excellent shape, with top options Ezekiel Elliott and Kareem Hunt primed to lay waste to most of the league’s RB units. Behind those two is the diminutive Ito Smith, who proved his ability last year, but also flashed an inability to stay healthy, a concern that won’t soon vacate from the minds of those who rely on Napoleonic men to play one of the world’s most-violent sports. At wide receiver, Odell Beckham returns, after a season that saw him clash with coaching staffs and management, fail to show much effort on certain routes and passes, find his onto the injury report, and somehow past another 1,000-yard effort—in other words, it was a typical post-rookie season for the cult of personality. He’ll try to put 2019 behind him, I think. Robert Woods also returns, and helps to form a lethal duo, especially with no more Brandin Cooks in Los Angeles. Beyond those two, there is a dearth of receiving options, with only Equanimeous St. Brown available in reserve. At tight end, Evan Engram returns again as one of the top fantasy football options at the position, and he is joined by Blake Jarwin, slated to take over as his team’s undisputed #1 option at the position for the first time. On the other side of the ball, the line boasts two exemplary options, and a third good one, in Sam Hubbard, Grady Jarrett, and Trey Flowers. That group rivals nearly any other in the league. At linebacker, it’s the Lavonte David show, as he’s the only one with experience and production, of the group. A couple of other role players, including Eric Wilson, Micah Kiser, and Kam Gugier-Hill, constitute the spare parts and duct tape that are currently holding together this unit. Defensive back is also in a bit of a precarious position, as beyond the top-two of Tyrann Mathieu and Rodney McLeod, are a jobless Eric Reid—whose release, at least this time around, was due to his poor play, and Ugo Amadi, a guy with the most interesting name of any likely weekly inactive this season.
X-factor: Offensive depth/LB depth. This one still rings true from last year. At some point, Carolina is going to have to commit some more assets to these areas, as the patchwork bench is going to leave its mark in terms of losses if Justin doesn’t do anything to rectify it. While those positions give me a fair amount of hesitation, I trust Justin to make those fixes, prevail, and once again claim the division crown.
Projected division finish: 1st
New Orleans Saints (Anthony)
Last year’s finish: 28th (Division: 3rd)
Outlook: Despite his efforts and initial enthusiasm in joining the league, Fred turned what was at least a competitive New Orleans team from the previous years into a calamity. While Vic wasn’t paying the team an appropriate amount of love and attention in the years prior, Fred only amplified those problems, trading away some of the franchise’s key components. While the losses, particularly in the running back department, were backbreaking, they also helped to streamline the team into a functional, more-balanced roster, with the defense, long maligned, taking a slight step forward (Read: It helps to not have to roster six RBs, most of whom were rotational). This offseason, Anthony stepped in, and has given the Saints more of a flair for the fantasy darling crowd, drafting rookies Bryan Edwards, and Willie Gay (And nominally, Jeffrey Okudah and James Proche), and will have some key contributors to help cushion the blows of the holes Vic and Fred left in the roster At quarterback, New Orleans still relies on Josh Allen, a worrying statement, as the third-year pro has proven to be one of the most volatile starting options in the game, and rumors are abound that the franchise is already making 2020 an ultimatum year for the Herculean-armed QB, a la 2019 Trubisky. At running back, Latavius Murray returns, after having an uneven year in terms of playing time, as he was jerked around in the gameplan too often, irrespective of whether Alvin Kamara was present. With Kamara supposedly healthy this year, look for his role to shrink, but he should still have one for a dynamic Saints’ offense. Behind him are Jalen Richard, whose penchant for playing on downs that start with the number 3 is only matched by his unquenched thirst to murder his own children. Richard is joined by two presently unemployed backs, in Devonta Freeman and the aforementioned DeAndre Washington (Or in Washington’s case, being paid to not play on the team’s active roster), though Freeman could certainly be relevant once he finds a job, provided that he’s healthy. Out wide, the aforementioned rookie, Edwards, joins Jarvis Landry, to form one solid starting unit, though the recent release of Mohammed Sanu, the failure, so far, of Riley Ridley to do anything on a professional football field, and the rookie Proche being buried on Baltimore’s depth chart, means that it’s also not a very deep one, at present. On the flip side of the ball, it’s clearly a work in progress, but finally, at least, he’s starting to see the edge of the forest. While the defensive line is an abject mess, with Mario Addison and Denico Autry the only two options, it’s hard to care, as it’s the most fungible position in our league. At linebacker, the recent addition of Mark Barron to the Broncos’ roster, as well as offseason additions Chandler Jones and Willie Gay serve to fortify the Saints’ biggest on-paper need from previous iterations. Reggie Ragland also returns, and could work his way into a rotational role, or perhaps more given Jarrad Davis’ past injury issues. Jaylon Ferguson will also look to create havoc off of the edge on a Ravens’ defense that is still looking to replace Za’Darius Smith. Defensive back is perhaps the strongest position on the team, with post-breakout year Justin Simmons, promising sophomore Darnell Savage, veterans Tashaun Gipson and Stephon Gilmore, and the pair of former First Round corners, Eli Apple and Okudah, rounding out the group. All-in-all, it’s a solid unit in numbers and talent, and one which Anthony may use to bolster his other units via trade.
X-factor: Continued improvement. While there is a clear and visible plan for the first time in a long time in New Orleans, Anthony is still some ways away from turning around this long-mismanaged franchise. Though he does possess (And has personally added) many of the pieces necessary to do so, the South is a division on the rise, and he will likely have three teams to still look up to, at least for this year.
Projected division finish: 4th
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Caleb)
Last year’s finish: 29th (Division: 4th)
Outlook: Few teams have had the type of offseason that the Bucs did, going from a fledgling last-placed team that was less than the sum of some of its extraordinary parts, Caleb made some aggressive and calculated moves to get some help, and moved his window for contention squarely into the “now” phase. The foremost move was made to ship off the fourth overall pick to acquire megastar DeAndre Hopkins. He joins an offense that was already on the verge of contention, but has now been put over the top. Behind the center is 2019 disappointment Jared Goff, who earned a record-setting extension before slumping back down to Earth, after leading the Rams to the playoffs and Super Bowl in his first two years in Sean McVay’s scheme, respectively. For him to play better, he’ll have to play better under pressure, his biggest weakness to date, as the Rams scarcely had any assets to invest in better players this off-season. The shining jewel of this team is running back Saquon Barkley. It’s hard to overstate how much the Bucs went into the tank last year with his absence. His presence in this lineup immediately elevates it to the level of any other team on a given week. Behind him, the plan was for Damien Williams to slot in as the weekly flex starting option, but he opted out due to COVID-19. In his stead, Tampa Bay is likely to rely on practice squadee (Is that a word?) Dontrell Hilliard, noted thief of Derrick Henry touches, Dion Lewis, or a trio of wideouts, led by Hopkins. For the time being, though, the promise of those three is a bit delayed, with Deebo Samuel on the mend after a painful foot injury. Depending on whichever reports you believe, the sophomore sensation could be making his debut anywhere from weeks 1-5, and that uncertainty certainly certifies fantasy owners as certifiable. James Washington is likely to step into one of those spots, but so far, Caleb has yet to resolve that issue, as last I saw him, James Washington was not two people. Quintez Cephus is also one person, just an extraordinarily slow one for a professional wide receiver. Darren Waller proved last year that he’s one of the most-talented tight ends in the league, and provides the Ravens with long due credit for identifying the talent of a man whose tenure with the team was plagued by drug addiction. Now clean, he’s slated for another top-10 finish at the position. Behind him is Marcedes Lewis, whose parents either decided they wanted their child’s name to sound a lot like one of the Holocaust’s greatest private sector genocide profiteers, or wanted to distance him from that company by one vowel. Either way, this is likely the most and most-consequential ink he’ll receive all year. Defensively, the men up front are in solid shape, with DeMarcus Lawrence leading a unit with an aging cast of stars, including Geno Atkins, and Ndamukong Suh. The linebacking corps is improved from a year ago, but still relies on bit-part players Anthony Hitchens, Oren Burks, Kenny Young, and David Long Jr. behind Kwon Alexander and De’Vondre Campbell. In the end, it’s likely that the cast of characters may be able to provide Tampa with an above average unit in the aggregate, though the rules on how many players we can start on defense hasn’t changed, so Caleb must choose correctly. At defensive back, the Bucs sport one of the best young tandems in the league, in Jessie Bates and Minkah Fitzpatrick. Behind them, Eric Rowe turned from career backup to solid fantasy option last year, and will look to continue that for a second-straight year. Andrew Sendejo is the lone remaining DB, but is blocked by the Browns’ newest addition, Ronnie Harrison. He’s unlikely to see much time above 3rd safety unless the Browns suffer further attrition there.
X-factor: Offensive depth and linebacker. Switch the side of the ball from last year, but Tampa’s offensive bench is horrendous. It only stands out due to how good that starting unit is, and goes to show just what kind of effect Damien Williams’ opt-out has on the unit as a whole. It is integral that the Bucs try to remedy some of those issues, including acquiring another solid piece at linebacker, if he is not to get off to a slow start with such a talented group, as that would be a shame, especially with what he has given up. Frankly, nothing about his activity leads me to believe that will happen though, and it’s the only reason he’s not atop the division in these previews.
Projected division finish: 2nd
Remember to watch out for the seventh of our divisional previews, this time the NFC East, which will be out tomorrow. Thanks again guys.