Fantasy football wish list 2020

As we head into the thick of the NFL offseason, fantasy football eyes go in a bunch of directions. The combine. The draft. Free agency. 2020 schedules. I don’t know, whether Calvin Johnson is going to come back. Are we still wondering that one?

With all of that in mind, one of my annual traditions is to put on the fantasy football goggles and attempt to identify the moves that would be the most fun, interesting, and useful from a fantasy football perspective. Does that mean they are the right moves from an NFL standpoint? Sometimes! Not always. This isn’t that. This is the fantasy wish list.

(One note: I’m looking ahead at free agency, but I’m also ignoring some of the moves I think we all expect. I don’t think Derrick Henry will leave Tennessee. I don’t think Amari Cooper or Dak Prescott will leave Dallas. Obviously, if guys like that actually end up available, they’d be near the top of the interesting-for-fantasy lists, but they also don’t make for an interesting piece, because really, it would just be “team lacking X would get best player at X.” And we all know Joe Burrow is going to Cincinnati, so I’m not even going to bother. I want to be more than that.)

Ravens sign A.J. Green

Green’s days in Cincinnati are done, right? I guess the Bengals could franchise him, but man does that seem pointless after a lost 2019. Meanwhile, the Ravens were maybe the best team in football last year, and they did it despite getting almost nothing from the wide receiver position beyond Marquise Brown-when-healthy. Willie Snead never became the guy I once thought he might be. Miles Boykin didn’t offer much. Seth Roberts? No thank you.

Imagine this team with another receiver. Now imagine that receiver being A.J. freaking Green. Lamar Jackson will regress next year — at least throwing touchdowns, even if absolutely everything else is as good — and giving him another reliable receiver can only help. Add in the fact that the team is so run-heavy, and Green might not have to do as much as often with the Ravens as anywhere else, and maybe he can stay healthy.

(Want to contribute to me doing this? Join the Patreon!)

David Johnson heads to Tampa

Whether the Cardinals cut Johnson or there’s a trade, his days as a stud in Arizona are over. His days as a stud anywhere might also be over, but maybe in Tampa, reconnected with the coach (Bruce Arians) who headed up his record-breaking 2016 season, and with two superstar receivers there to make his job easier, Johnson could regain some of his lost glory.

Ronald Jones improved massively on a lost rookie season (he kind of had to) to finish as the No. 25 PPR back, but he’s not the future. Is Johnson? Maybe.

Cincinnati finds offensive line help, and I don’t care where

Honestly? The Bengals are going to have a competent offense in 2020, assuming Joe Burrow is as good as he’s supposed to be. Burrow, Joe Mixon, Giovani Bernard, Tyler Boyd, John Ross, Auden Tate. It’s not the 2013 Broncos, but that’s totally acceptable. Or it will be, if they can keep Burrow upright. The Bengals had one of the league’s worst O-lines last year, and while they should get shoulda-been-a-rookie Jonah Williams back for this season, that’s only one piece.

With their first pick in the draft tied up in Burrow, the Bengals might want to look to free agency … and there are some names there worth considering. Anthony Castonzo (unless he retires), Jack Conklin, Brandon Scherff. Or they can draft linemen. It doesn’t matter. But once Burrow is tied up, the line needs to be the focus.

Washington signs Austin Hooper

Honestly, Hooper’s best landing spot is probably back in Atlanta. But they have just the itty-bittiest cap space, and so many needs. So I wouldn’t be shocked to see Hooper move on. The list of teams that could use a tight end is actually surprisingly small, but Washington definitely qualifies now that Vernon Davis has retired and we might never see Jordan Reed ever again (and for his sake I hope we don’t). Pairing Hooper with Terry McLaurin would make for a strong 1-2 punch.

Saints draft Tee Higgins

You could easily argue that the Saints have the best combination of No. 1 running back, wide receiver, and tight end in the league. The problem for them is that it pretty much stops there, especially at receiver, where the team’s non-Michael Thomases combined for less than half of Thomas’ fantasy production. Higgins is a strong deep weapon and would be an excellent complement to Thomas, who saw a shorter average target than any top-flight receiver in the league. Get him in New Orleans and he could be the new DeSean Jackson.

Dolphins trade out of the fifth spot

Most everyone assumes the Dolphins will be taking Tua Tagovailoa at No. 5 — and they probably will — but man is that not what I would do. The Dolphins have needs up and down the defense and on the line. Put Tagovailoa, just back from injury, behind that line and who knows how things turn out. No, trade out of the pick, get more picks, bolster the rest of the team, plan to draft a QB next year, and run one more year with Ryan Fitzpatrick. He proved to be perfectly fine last year, and even if the line gets him in trouble … well, it’s callous, but if you’re going to get a QB hurt behind his line, better the 37-year-old journeyman than a 22-year-old future of the franchise.

Dolphins sign Melvin Gordon

So we can all be pretty sure that Gordon’s days with the Chargers are over. Unfortunately for him, we also appear to be firmly entering the “don’t pay running backs” days, which could limit his market. Gordon might have to settle for any job where he can be a starter … and frankly, there aren’t even many of those. Tampa Bay, Miami, maybe Houston, that’s about it. I already put David Johnson in Tampa, so let’s consider Gordon in Miami, where the team’s leading rusher last year was in fact that 37-year-old journeyman quarterback. DeVante Parker, Preston Williams, and Mike Gesicki all proved to be competent last year, but the team had as little at running back as I thought it was possible to have. Gordon isn’t going to make the money he thought he would. But if he ends up in Miami, he can put up production. And hey, who doesn’t want to live in Miami?

(Want to contribute to me doing this? Join the Patreon!)

Eagles just let Miles Sanders be

This almost certainly won’t happen — no team has been more committee-ish out of the backfield than Philadelphia since Doug Pederson came to town — but with Jordan Howard entering free agency and Boston Scott nowhere near a sure thing, there is at least an opening to Sanders being a bell-cow type in his second season. He was the No. 2 fantasy back in Weeks 13-16. Behind the league’s best offensive line, just let him go, let him be the No. 1 back, and Sanders has top-10 potential This one is obviously more of a fantasy goal than a real one — committees are safer for real purposes — but man, as a fantasy guy, I just want Sanders to be RB1.

Patriots sign Breshad Perriman

Could Perriman feel more Patriots-y? An ex-first-rounder who has bounced around a bit but has shown flashes, Perriman would be a field-stretching option that the Patriots desperately lacked last year. Julian Edelman is still a good receiver, but we know what he is, and it’s not a downfield guy. Pair him with Perriman, and the offense could click again. Especially if…

Patriots keep Tom Brady around

Look, assuming Brady is going to play, him staying in New England is the only way for us all to stay sane in 2020. If he plays for another team, the entire season will be how he does without Belichick, how Belichick does without him, and a hundred other related storylines. It will take everything over like a bad rumor. No, let’s keep them together, give Brady the aforementioned receiver, and let’s see if he can make one more run with that same team as always.