To kick-off the fantasy season, each manager provides their own hot takes about a player on their roster. Each take varies in pungency, so they’re also graded by number of Scoville Heat Units.
We’ll do an end-of-season retrospective to see which takes came to fruition.
Gordon: “David Montgomery will end the season with more total yards than Aaron Jones”
SHU: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Analysis: Mandatory Montgomery season 2 could be green lit with Tarik Cohen on the PUP list. Surpassing the consensus RB6 overall is a tall task with LaFleur funneling the offense through the ground game this year, but there is a chance — Montgomery finished as RB6 right behind Jones last season.
Jesse: “Myles Gaskin is Ekeler 2.0”
SHU: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Analysis: Spicy counter to Caleb’s scathing blast. To compare the two running backs’ last year averages:
- Ekeler: 11 carries, 6.5 targets, 5.4 receptions, and 40 receiving yards.
- Gaskin: 17 carries, 4.7 targets, 4.1 receptions, and 38 receiving yards.
All eyes on whether Gaskin can hold off no-names like Salvon Ahmed and Malcolm Brown, especially after HC Brian Flores said “Pick one (RB) and put them in. We like all three guys. They do some things.”
Benny: “Julio Jones is gonna remind everyone that he’s still Julio Jones. Top-10 WR season.”
SHU: 🌶️🌶️
Analysis: Age 31–32 is typically the cliff when most receivers see a steep decline in total production. But Julio is different. Last year, Julio was more efficient than years prior at gaining yards on a per route, per reception basis. To return to WR1 worm, his body just needs to defeat Father Time:
Kong: “CeeDee Lamb will finish as a top-5 WR for the year”
SHU: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Analysis: In five games with Dak last year, CeeDee averaged 17.1 PPR points per game, which already ranked as top-15 among WR. Breaking into the top-5 requires Lamb to lead the Cowboys in Red Zone targets again by an even greater margin than last year.
Alex: “Marquez Callaway will return at least WR2 value in the first half of the season and carry AA’s team to the playoffs”
SHU: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Analysis: The undrafted sophomore is locked into big-time opportunity as the de facto “1” in the Saints passing offense, while M.T. starts the season on the PUP list. And with Jameis prone to taking shots down the field (vs. Taysom throwing a capped target of 15 yards), Callaway will have mouth-watering opportunity. Buy the hype!
Sammy: “End of season , Damien Harris will be a top-12 fantasy RB”
SHU: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Analysis: Last year, Cam led the Patriots in carries within 5 yard line at 22 carries with Burkhead trailing with a miniscule 4 total carries. Now that Cam, Burkhead, and Michel are gone, all those goal-line touches are vacated. Will all those carries go to Harris, or will Bill play his RB carousel mind games again?
Theo: “Odell Beckham Jr will learn to keep poop off his chest, focus on strengthening his legs, and return to WR1 form. No pink eye risk.”
SHU: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Analysis: Baker hit his stride as a passer, just after Odell went down last year. If he can throw efficient, high-value darts to depth chart guys like Donovan Peoples-Jones and Rashard Higgins, maybe he can rewind the clock for OBJ, who has yet to find chemistry with Baker after two seasons.
Bode: “Antonio Gibson will function as McCaffrey-lite in WFT offense and post a top-3 season.”
SHU: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Analysis: Ron Rivera had multiple seasons with McCaffrey when McCaffrey went nuclear as a true three-down back. Now, he has a wide receiver converted tailback in Gibson, who arguably fits the same mold, at least as a diet version of CMC…
PC: “Don’t sleep on DK Metcalf aka Baby Bron. I project he’ll be top-5 WR this year.”
SHU: 🌶️
Analysis: Seahawks OC Schottenheimer is gone. Enter Shane Waldron, who could let Russ cook with Metcalf has his sous chef in a more motion-based, YAC-centric offense. In the first half of last season, Metcalf was already hustling and sizzling to a top-5 WR start.
Vince: “Justin Jefferson becomes the clear cut #1 in Minny…”
SHU: 🌶️
Analysis: Mike Zimmer voiced frustrations over several players’ non-vaccinated status, especially after Thielen went public about his personal decision to remain unvaccinated. Zimmer just threw out bunch formation from his playbook.
