Fantasy News

John Schmeelk of Giants.com projects Saquon Barkley at around 20-25 touches per game this season.

Schmeelk gave this total if he “had to guess,” and it would include carries, receptions, and kick returns. Barkley is extremely explosive and can do a ton of damage on returns, but we’ll see if the Giants want to use him there. If he can hit around that 20-25 mark on just offense, it’d put him among the league’s top workhorses. There has been some talk of veteran Jonathan Stewart potentially taking some goal line touches from Barkley, but that’s not a huge concern right now. The Giants drafted Barkley second overall for a reason, and he’ll be used a lot as a rookie in 2018. Barkley must be selected in the first round of all fantasy drafts.

Via: Giants.com 7/15/18 - 09:56 AM ET

DeMarco Murray is retiring from the NFL.

Unfortunately ESPN’s Adam Schefter felt the need to spoil the news when Murray probably would’ve have liked to announce it himself. Murray is just 30 years old, but he leaves the league as an extremely accomplished player over his seven-year career. As a third-round selection of the Cowboys in 2011, Murray burst onto the scene as a rookie, including his Cowboys-record 253 rushing yards on 25 carries against the Rams—the 10.1 yards-per-carry in that game set a Cowboys record for most YPC on 20+ carries in a game; it was also the tenth most rushing yards in a game in NFL history, and the second-most rushing yards in a game by a rookie. From then on, he was a huge part of Dallas’ success on offense, and he had his best season in his last season with the Cowboys in 2014, when he led the league with 292 carries for 1,845 yards (a franchise record) and 13 touchdowns and was named First Team All-Pro and awarded Offensive Player of the Year. In the 2015 offseason, Murray signed with the division rival Philadelphia Eagles, but big interior offensive line issues led to an unsuccessful year—though his absence clearly hurt the Cowboys. He was then traded to the Titans in the 2016 offseason and rushed for 1,287 yards and nine touchdowns before battling injuries in his final season last year and rushing for 659 yards. Murray finishes his career with 1,604 carries, 7,174 rushing yards (4.5 average), 49 rushing touchdowns, 307 receptions, 2,165 receiving yards, and six receiving touchdowns. We’re sure Murray is going to have a seamless transition to his post-playing-career life, but we wish him luck.

Via: Adam Schefter 7/13/18 - 02:11 PM ET

Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com says the Titans “are counting on (Corey) Davis to make a big leap in Year 2.”

After Tennessee didn’t bring back veteran receiver Eric Decker and didn’t add any big pieces during free agency or the draft, they are really counting on last year’s fifth overall selection stepping up as a top target for Marcus Mariota. Wyatt says Davis was one of the best players during offseason work until he was limited later—injuries are something to keep an eye on for Davis after he battled them leading up to his rookie season. If he’s featured as a true number one receiver and gets a lot of targets, Davis will have WR1 potential this season if he can stay healthy. He’s a player to keep a close eye on throughout the preseason.

Via: TitansOnline.com 7/13/18 - 09:10 AM ET

Norv Turner wants to eliminate Cam Newton’s “peaks and valleys.”

The new Panthers offensive coordinator was on SiriusXM NFL’s Late Hits show with Alex Marvez and Bill Polian, and he talked about getting Newton more consistent moving forward. Turner said he noticed Newton “has a large number of games where his quarterback rating is as high as anyone’s is. It’s in the high 90s, low 100s. But in the middle of that, of a 16-game season, he has four or five games where that rating is not very good… So what we’re going to try to work hard for is eliminate the peaks and the valleys and try to, on a weekly basis, make it more consistent.” Fantasy owners can attest to Newton’s up-and-down games, as last season he had seven games under 15 standard fantasy points; but some huge games helped him be the second-highest scoring fantasy quarterback. If Newton’s game gets more consistent under Norv Turner, both his weekly performances and his overall numbers for the season could be a considerable boost.

Via: SiriusXM NFL Radio 7/12/18 - 01:37 PM ET

Chris Thompson is expected to be healthy at some point during training camp.

Thompson suffered a broken fibula in mid-November against the Saints, and Redskins.com’s Stephen Czarda says the team expects “a healthy Thompson to return at some point during training camp.” It will be a surprise if Thompson isn’t considered 100% ready to go for the start of the regular season, but historically we’ve seen guys sometimes struggle in their first year back from a broken leg. The explosive receiving back is expected to have a big role as a target for Alex Smith, though, and he’s expected to go in the top 100 picks in most fantasy drafts after he was fantastic before his injury last season. We’ll keep a close eye on Thompson throughout training camp.

Via: Redskins.com 7/12/18 - 09:26 AM ET

Isaiah Crowell is expected to take a Matt Forte type of role with the Jets.

Jets.com Senior Reporter Eric Allen says Crowell will take the place of Forte, who retired after the season. Jets head coach Todd Bowles said of Crowell: “We like his toughness, we like the way he can slash through and cut. He’s a tough runner. We think he’s a pound-it back as well as having some versatile lateral movement that can play out on the edge a little bit. And we thought he’d be a great younger-legged type of Forté utility guy coming in. Maybe not the receiver Forté is to a certain degree, but running the ball, we thought he would help in the backfield from a toughness standpoint.” It sounds like the Jets coaches expect the backfield to be a lot like last year, when it was a couple of veterans handling the load with Elijah McGuire mixing in. Former Seahawk Thomas Rawls was also added to the mix, and there’s a lot of time to go until the start of the regular season, but expect the Jets backfield to be headlined by Crowell and Bilal Powell for now.

Via: NYJets.com 7/11/18 - 03:14 PM ET

Eli Manning thinks Sterling Shepard is “primed for a big year.”

Entering his third NFL season, Shepard is in a good spot for a potentially huge breakout season in 2018. Manning told NJ Advanced Media at the Gatorade Offense/Defense camp today that he “thought Sterling had a great camp during the spring. He’s understanding the coverages, understanding the route combinations, he understands zone and man, and how to make little moves to get open against different techniques.” Shepard has already been a reliable target for Manning his first two years in the NFL, catching 66.6% of his 184 targets while averaging 11.4 yards per reception; as a rookie, he had eight touchdowns. In a Pat Shurmur offense that had two receivers (Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs) play stellar football last season, Shepard has a chance to become a 1,000-yard receiver even with Odell Beckham Jr. alongside him on offense. Shepard is currently going outside the top 40 receivers in most fantasy drafts.

Via: NJ.com 7/10/18 - 12:46 PM ET