RADIO
I have been looking at data from the 2019 season since the Super Bowl finished. I have been looking at projections for the 2020 season for the past few weeks. I have been writing fantasy football columns from different perspectives for the upcoming year for quite some time now. Do you know one thing I haven't done? I haven't tried to condense my thoughts on the hopefully-to-come 2020 NFL season, team by team, in a single sentence. Now, that's challenging.
We are accustomed to talking about players rising and falling in the ADP leaderboards, about specific positions and their boom/bust candidates, about sleepers in different places, etc. But it feels like we never look at the bigger picture at once.
Up next, you'll find the list of 16 AFC teams and their outlook for the 2020 season in just a handful of words. With such small descriptions, it is possible that you have another view of things. I hope I can hit the nail on the head on the majority of lines, though!
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AFC East
Buffalo Bills: I might die on this hill alone, but I'm a Josh Allen stan these days and think his rushing is more than enough to compensate for any potential passing issues he might show, so I'm making him a fantasy-priority in my to-do draft lists; also, shoutout to Stefon Diggs for finally getting traded and landing in the best potential scenario he could, where he will become your league winner in 2020.
Miami Dolphins: After DeVante Parker finally made me look good after all of those years praising his talents, I'm drafting Parker in each and every draft this season and I encourage you to do too because if you don't then you shouldn't have any other Dolphin in your team. Ugh.
New England Patriots: You can fade every living Patriot other than James White early, take a super-late flier on Julian Edelman, and definitely wait for New England to luck into Trevor Lawrence come 2021 to make him your QB1 next season.
New York Jets: If you did any research for the 2019 season and took some notes on the Jets roster, you can use them again for 2020 only flipping Robby Anderson's name for Breshad Perriman's, which probably means skipping all Jets players with the exception of Jamison Crowder if you play in a 2xPPR league (is that even a thing?) and low-key potential starting TE Ryan Griffin (get him for free once the draft is over, though).
AFC North
Baltimore Ravens: A lot of newbies will be fooled into overtrusting the Ravens this season after Lamar Jackson's MVP season (and you should draft him high, too) but no one else on Baltimore's roster except TE Mark Andrews should be considered a surefire fantasy option (perhaps Mark Ingram II, but I'm not fully confident of him breaking the 800-yard, five-TD marks).
Cincinnati Bengals: If you can't get any shares of Joe Mixon, then you can start forgetting about rostering any Bengal next season because they don't make much sense: Joe Burrow is a freshman, A.J. Green is a walking injury waiting to happen, and the Tyler Boyd/Auden Tate/John Ross III trio is a mess of targets and opportunities not worth the gamble.
Cleveland Browns: Love the backfield on your television, but hate it in fantasy leagues due to the potentially heavy split of duties; love or hate Odell Beckham Jr. but please maintain your position all year long; definitely love Jarvis Landry as the ultimate undervalued player to ever grace the NFL, and most of all bet on Austin Hooper exploding under crazy-QB Baker Mayfield.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Big Beard Ben Roethlisberger should be back and fit (for however long it lasts) after a season in which Pittsburgh featured two super-bad quarterbacks that brought JuJu Smith-Schuster and the rest of the squad's numbers down, so keep that in mind and bet on a potential rebound from JuJu and a good year from Eric Ebron while fading a crowded backfield that is expected to showcase a mostly-even split of opportunities between its parts.
AFC West
Denver Broncos: If you thought Cleveland's backfield can be impossible to predict let me introduce you to Denver's (Melvin Gordon III + Phillip Lindsay + Royce Freeman), which on the other hand presents a very nice one-two punch in terms of QB (Drew Lock, keep him in your late-round-picks list) and WR (Courtland Sutton, the go-to guy for now) with the potential of bringing another menace in rookie Jerry Jeudy (don't overpay, though, as he's still an incognito).
Kansas City Chiefs: Let's not lose any time here and say that whoever you roster from Kansas City is going to do you good; so go ahead and take Patrick Mahomes (watch out for--and avoid--a massive overpayment, though), Tyreek Hill/Travis Kelce (weekly goodies without fail), Mecole Hardman/Sammy Watkins (fun boom/bust plays with an explosive performance always at their reach), and rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire (definitely steal him if he starts to drop down the draft board).
Las Vegas Raiders: If you feel like gambling then make Marcus Mariota-Derek Carr your quarterback handcuff for the year, because no one has any idea who will be who for the Raiders in their new venue; don't trust Darren Waller too much, and if you are forced to pay for some Las Vegas player shares put them on Josh Jacobs' table.
Los Angeles Chargers: Call me ruthless but I can't love the Chargers with Justin Herbert and Tyrod Taylor (as much as I like his game) starting at quarterback, which makes the time to draft Keenan Allen a thing of the past and the time to draft Austin Ekeler (and Justin Jackson, believe it) the last and best thing in town.
AFC South
Houston Texans: Deshaun Watson will need to work his magic this season after Houston's moves, but he definitely will and therefore you can be pretty happy if you land him in your team; the problem comes with who will be helping him at the other end of his passes, and that is why you should totally fade the rest of the Texans skill-position players.
Indianapolis Colts: Philip Rivers is a reliable, rock of a player that never misses games and always produces steady fantasy points, will (hopefully) have T.Y. Hilton available and running routes, and most of all will share the field with a three-headed monster of a backfield that will have me pretty excited on my couch but upset in my fantasy leagues (what I mean is: all of Nyheim Hines, Jonathan Taylor, and Marlon Mack will have chances and share opportunities, so you're better off all of them).
Jacksonville Jaguars: Gardner Minshew II Volume II sounds very good, and this is a season in which Jax is playing for nothing more than a top-five (or No. 1) pick in the next draft, so he should have no limits in place and go for the booming play snap in and snap out; plus Leonard Fournette will more than probably get as many rocks as he can handle on offense, which is more than enough to give him all your money.
Tennessee Titans: Ryan Tannehill's 2019 season was more than enough to make him your QB1 (don't overpay, though) this year, and looking at the Titans' depth chart at the position he should be the starter even if he implodes; plus it is not that Derrick Henry (your 1,500 all-purpose yards, 15+ TD rusher) and A.J. Brown (second-year man poised to bump up his usage in a barren offense with upside to have a 70/1,000/7 season) won't help.
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