By The Hudsonian, Joshua Hudson
If you head over to the Club Fantasy Instagram page, you can stay up to speed on all the transactions as they occur, or as fast as my graphic designer can make some bomb ass pictures for you to like. Below you’ll see how I view all of the relevant NFL offseason transactions. I say relevant because, for the purposes of fantasy football, defensive signings don’t impact us as much as the offensive ones. I’ll cover the defensive signings when I do my team-by-team previews later in the summer.
I’ll identify the player, who they signed with or were traded to, and how I think it impacts their fantasy value going into 2017, positive or negative. Next up: Brian Hoyer and Pierre Garcon sign with San Francisco.
Transaction: Brian Hoyer and Pierre Garcon sign with the San Francisco 49ers
Fantasy Outlook: Pierre Garcon led the Redskins in receiving in 2016. It was his 2nd 1,000 yard receiving campaign with the ‘Skins. His first came in 2013, when Kyle Shanahan was the offensive coordinator. I’m starting to think that played a part in Garcon taking his talents to the Bay Area. Well, that and the contract. Hey, money talks people.
Brian Hoyer is a fringe starter that seemingly always gets a chance to start, does okay, gets hurt and loses his job. On the 49ers, he’ll be exactly that. He’s the starter until he gets hurt. I say that because he does play pretty well when given the opportunity. In 2014, when Shanahan was the offensive coordinator in Cleveland, Hoyer started the season 7-4. His stats weren’t eye-popping, but he won games. Don’t know if he can do the same in San Fran – their cupboard is pretty baron with talent at the moment – but it shouldn’t be a surprise if he does.
That said, Hoyer shouldn’t be on your immediate fantasy radar. Unless you’re in a 2 quarterback league. And even then, Hoyer is a backup and bye week fill in. Play the wait-and-see game with him. Garcon on the other hand is the most reliable target Hoyer has. Garcon should rival the numbers he put up in 2016 – 79 catches for 1,041 yards and 3 TDs – and be good for top 30 numbers. He’s a WR3, with WR2 upside but I wouldn’t bet on the upside. Just look at the team he’s on. They had to bring in two new QBs, a new FB, a new WR and a plethora of over players. Shanahan and new GM John Lynch have a lot to do with this team to make them competitive.
Having Garcon to keep a defense kind of honest should help out RB Carlos Hyde. What Hyde really needs though is to be dipped in that magic water that the Greeks dipped Achilles in and make him virtually invincible. He’s talented when healthy, he’s just rarely healthy. Eh, who am I kidding. Hyde is so injury prone, even if he were as blessed as Achilles, he’d still tear an Achilles. Draft any 49ers with extreme caution.