The ESPN Fantasy Football crew is counting down the days until the season begins! This summer, we've looked at each NFL division with a focus on what is new, old and perhaps quite a bit in between!
Click below to check out your favorite division:
AFC East | AFC North | AFC South | AFC West
NFC East | NFC North | NFC South | NFC West
AFC East
Key fantasy offseason movement
--The New England Patriots oddly signed not one, but a pair of relevant fantasy tight ends for QB Cam Newton to target. Alas, Hunter Henry was good for the Los Angeles Chargers, but never quite great for fantasy managers. Jonnu Smith emerged for the 2020 Tennessee Titans with eight touchdowns, but has still not reached 500 receiving yards in a season. If only one of them joined this team, that player would be rather intriguing in fantasy. In a projected timeshare, well, neither really is.
--Oh, speaking of Newton, eight touchdown passes versus 10 interceptions is a tough look, even when it comes with 12 rushing touchdowns. Nobody ever achieved the 8-10-12 line before! Newton may not get the chance to do it again if he cannot throw the football better and win games, as the organization added Alabama's Mac Jones with the No. 15 draft selection. This will be interesting!
--Perhaps Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa struggled as a rookie because he lacked wide receiver talent around him. It would not be the first time! The Dolphins may have thought so because they signed former Houston Texans WR Will Fuller V and drafted Alabama WR Jaylen Waddle. Problem solved! Well, maybe! Fantasy managers should remember the highly skilled Fuller must miss the first game as he finishes his PED suspension, and durability is hardly a strength.
--Then there are the New York Jets, sending QB Sam Darnold packing to the Carolina Panthers to make room for BYU star Zach Wilson with the No. 2 pick. Wilson figures to start right away, and the organization surrounded him with RBs Tevin Coleman and Michael Carter, along with WRs Corey Davis and Keelan Cole. So many quarterbacks to watch in the AFC East!
Something to prove
--The Buffalo Bills were rather quiet for personnel moves after reaching the AFC championship game, and perhaps they could afford to be. Still, QB Josh Allen, awesome as he was in leading all of fantasy football with 396.06 PPR points in 2020, needs to prove he can achieve monster statistics again, even though a long-term contract seems inevitable. Colleague Tristan H. Cockcroft discussed Allen's plight earlier. Really, this entire offense may need validation. Can WR Stefon Diggs really lead the sport in receiving yards again? Will either of the young RBs Zack Moss or Devin Singletary emerge?
--The Dolphins spoke volumes in free agency and the draft when they did not bring in an obvious competitor to push occasionally intriguing RB Myles Gaskin. Sure, former Los Angeles Rams bruiser Malcolm Brown is new and may handle short yardage opportunities, but Gaskin should get every chance to be a RB2 in fantasy, perhaps the only one in the division. He just has to do it!
--Numerous wide receivers in this division also have something to prove. Diggs was amazing, but nobody expects another 127 catches and 1,535 yards. The Dolphins, Jets and Patriots, in no particular order, each brought in wide receiver help for their young and old quarterbacks (no in between here). The Patriots wildly overpaid for ordinary WR Nelson Agholor, for example, after he caught 48 passes -- eight of them for scores -- in his lone Las Vegas Raiders season.
Whose fantasy stock may fluctuate?
--New England's running back and wide receiver situations seem less than ideal, and fantasy managers may choose to ignore all Patriots in the first half of drafts. RBs Damien Harris and Sony Michel figure to share early-down duties, but neither is a pass-catching option. James White is, but he disappointed last season. Agholor and Kendrick Bourne came via free agency, but neither excites. White, with some promise of regular third-down work, could be the team's top PPR option.
--The Bills could clear things up for fantasy managers at running back by giving either Moss or Singletary summer words of praise. Good luck with that. Watch newcomer Matt Breida, the former San Francisco 49ers temptation, muddy things up even more. Meanwhile, Allen is the lone QB in the division likely trusted in standard redraft formats.