After the long break, it’s time to get back at it and take a look at some of the off-season transactions of every team. I’ll start with the division housing the current Super Bowl champs. Three pretty simple sections for each: what I think the team needed, what off-season moves I liked, and what moves I disliked. Let’s get into it!
Buffalo Bills
What they needed: The obvious needs for the Bills were QB and on the offensive line. I’m in a very tiny minority that still believes E.J. Manuel might develop into a fairly good QB one day but we’ll have to wait and see if he gets that chance again. The O-line got better as the season progressed but just wasn’t good enough to allow this offense to be very good. With the talent they have at RB, O-line should have been a big priority to enable this offense to just run it down the throat of every team they play.
Moves I liked: The big splash (outside of the coaching change) for the Bills was the trade for LeSean McCoy and I loved the move. Spiller has plenty of talent but hasn’t shown the ability to stay on the field like McCoy. This will be a grind-it-out offense like the Jets were under Rex Ryan and McCoy will be a very good workhorse. And, just as important, he’ll do it behind a potentially improved O-line with the additions of Incognito and 3rd rounder Miller. Percy Harvin will also be an interesting player to watch. The talent is still there but the question will be how he gets used. He’s a player that won’t fit every system and it’s tough to say how he’ll fit in for Buffalo. Charles Clay is an upgrade at TE over Chandler and might be a nice PPR surprise this season.
Moves I disliked: Not a lot to dislike but I do think the expectations for Sammy Watkins took a hit with the signing of Rex Ryan as head coach. While he could still put up good numbers, you probably have to drop a couple hundred yards and maybe a couple TDs from what you may have expected before. The offense won’t be the Broncos so, if you are targeting Watkins, you better hope for consistency because the big boom games probably won’t be there too often. And if it was any other head coach than Ryan, I would have hated the loss of Jim Schwartz as the DC. I’ll call this a push for now.
Miami Dolphins
What they needed: Miami was pretty solid just about everywhere last season and didn’t have the glaring holes most other teams around the league had. Their run D weakened a bit later on in the season but was good most of the way. Their biggest need might simply have been for Ryan Tannehill to progress as a QB. He holds the ball a bit too long at times and takes hits that veterans don’t tend to take. He stayed healthy last season but every QB is a hit away from fantasy disappointment and the risk is certainly higher with Tannehill until he learns to safely ditch the ball at the right times.
Moves I liked: The signing of Suh and using a 2nd round pick on DT Phillips pretty much eliminates the worry of the run D weakening. Tannehill got some nice upgrades as far as his weapons go with the additions of Jennings, Stills, and TE Cameron and the drafting of Parker. The Dolphins have a ton of mouths to feed and I personally like a lot of these guys (Miller and Landry may end up as sleepers for me). I think I like the addition of Cameron the most. If he stays on the field, he’ll be a top 5 TE. He’s a great play-maker that goes after the ball in traffic but he pays for his aggression. This offense should be pretty explosive and Cameron might be a phenomenal beneficiary of redzone targets. If you are going to wait a little on TE, you’ll get a ton of fantasy potential with Cameron.
Moves I disliked: Not much to dislike here for me. If I have to pick something, I’ll say I would have looked at another position on the 2nd round pick. It’s not a knock on Phillips in any way. But I would have liked to have seen them either snatch another O-lineman or grab some more talent at LB for more depth. Then again, having more depth at D-line doesn’t hurt, especially when you lose a player for the season because of substance abuse.
New England Patriots
What they needed: Well, they aren’t the champs because they have big holes everywhere. That said, the run D was especially bad at times last season and the leads the offense got hid that on the overall numbers. On top of that, the O-line was scary bad at the beginning of the season but did put it together later. I was terrified of the fantasy players on this team because of how awful the line looked in game 1 against Miami. The NE RBs are…on the team. I’m done getting even remotely excited about anyone in this backfield.
Moves I liked: They spent their first four picks on D with 3 of them on D-linemen. They needed to improve against the run and hopefully they’ve addressed that. Remember, this is important for fantasy purposes in terms of time of possession. Just think of the ugly Thursday night win against the Jets last season where they had the ball less than 20 minutes. Still some good fantasy games in that one but that’s going to be rather fluky if they allow other teams to play keep-away.
Moves I disliked: They went from not having a lot of great play-makers on offense to seemingly having even fewer. We all know what Gronk is going to do but trusting anyone else in this offense as a starter right now might be iffy. I did like Lafell as the season progressed last year and think he could be a valuable pick on draft day this season. I just don’t think they acquired another game-changing player and Cadet is certainly not it.
New York Jets
What they needed: It baffles me when I hear analysts talk about how much they like Geno Smith. Let’s be clear: he’s been a terrible QB up to this point in his career and I have a hard time believing that changes. Maybe he’ll make a dramatic turnaround this season but I’d put my money on Fitzpatrick getting some starts by week 6 or 7. They have a pretty strong team just about everywhere else but this team will struggle as long as Smith is under center.
Moves I liked: I expect Fitz to be playing at some point and a good D got better. Marshall and Decker at WR will be interesting but their numbers might be hurt by QB play. I think Ridley might be the most intriguing move here. Ivory has an injury history and Ridley showed great talent at times in New England but the fumbles kept him from being the main guy. If Ridley becomes the starter at some point, he could be a player that wins some games late for fantasy players. He’ll be worth a stash in deep leagues and should be a valuable one at that.
Moves I disliked: They did grab Petty in the 4th round but I think the need at QB was so obvious they should have went after someone sooner. There wasn’t much else to dislike about the Jets off-season but they are still a QB away from being a great team and the position is such a dire need here it drags the rest of the fantasy players down badly. If you go into the fantasy season starting a Jet at a skill position, I hope you are absolutely loaded everywhere else.
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