Maybe the Titans' defense wasn't what it was in 2018, but Dean Pees still did some excellent work with them in 2019. His decision to retire ends a very successful career that featured a top-12 defense in 11 out of his 12 years leading one. In the wake of his retirement, head coach Mike Vrabel has decided to not hire a new defensive coordinator to replace him, opting instead to spearhead a collaborative effort himself. They are keeping offensive coordinator Arthur Smith though after the Titans offense jumped from being a bottom-5 unit to a top-10 one.
Category: Redraft
The Pittsburgh Steelers had a rough beginning to their 2019 season. Ben Rothlisberger played in two games and missed the remainder of the NFL season due to an arm injury. His absence forced the Steelers to trot out Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges at quarterback. Well, things did not go as planned. The skill players for the Steelers were average at best, and Juju came back down to earth from his breakout season in 2019. With Big Ben back and hopefully healthy, they look to regain their form and fantasy-friendly offense. Let’s take a look at their 2020 outlook.
Not that the Bucs had a bad offense before, but new head coach Bruce Arians actually turned all those yards into points. Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles also did rather well with a defense largely devoid of talent. Sure he allowed a few more points than you'd normally like to see, but he was put in bad positions rather frequently by a certain turnover-prone quarterback. Both coaches will return for the 2020 season. Offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich will also return, though Arians is truly the one in command of this offense.
Cooks has been a wanted man in the NFL since being drafted by the New Orleans Saints in 2014. In 13 months, Cooks was traded from the Saints to the Patriots to the Rams. Cooks was moved arguably before his prime, too, between the ages of 23 and 24.
The Seahawks were perfectly adequate last season. 11-5 and won a playoff game. Certainly enough to keep all the coaching positions safe, but not enough to start seeing coaches getting poached to lead other teams. As a result, head coach Pete Carroll will return to continue his streak as the 5th longest tenured head coach in the NFL. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and defensive coordinator Ken Norton will return as well.
Matthew Stafford is currently being drafted as the 18th quarterback off the board in dynasty leagues according to myfantasyleague.com ADP data. Stafford is being taken around the 13th quarterback off the board in both redraft and best-ball leagues, according to fantasypros.com. Stafford would have been the QB 3 in 2019 if he continued on his pace for the whole season.
Kicking off the NFC North is last year's division champ and NFC title game runner-up. Matt Lafleur came in and immediately turned a stale franchise into a 13-3 home-field-advantage playoff team. However, with an improved and efficient defense, the typically offense-centric Packers failed to top 350 yards per game for the season. Outside of a monster year for Aaron Jones, the rest of the offense was mainly pedestrian outside of a few big games
Not much to say here. It's not like head coach Kyle Shanahan is on the hot seat after making the Super Bowl. He also doesn't have an offensive coordinator that can be poached as Shanahan is his own offensive coordinator. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh was considered a head coaching candidate elsewhere, but wound up staying put.
​The Texans had a solid season last year, making the playoffs with a 10-6 record. They eventually collapsed against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. During the off-season, Bill O'Brien made one of the most egregious trades in NFL history. They traded star WR DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals for David Johnson and his massive contract. Texans brought in Brandin Cooks and Randall Cobb and tried to fix the defense. Can the new-look offense provide any fantasy value? What WR will set himself apart from the pack? Will DJ return close to his 2016 form? Let's find out.
This article will make a case for three players at each position who are draft day values that I believe have a chance to finish as the #1 at their respective position. Keep these underappreciated guys in mind when you miss out on one of the favorites, and you might just be surprised. Even in dynasty leagues, teams in "win now" mode should consider these aging players to lead them to the promised land even if only for a year or two.
