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:Â DeSean Jackson signs with Tampa Bay.
WR DeSean Jackson to the Bucs should get fantasy owners excited. Especially if they own Mike Evans in Dynasty formats. Design credit: Kathilia Colón (@katcolon37 on Instagram)
Transaction: DeSean Jackson signs with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Fantasy Outlook:Â DeSean Jackson, throughout his nine year career, has never averaged less than 14.7 yards per catch. For his career, he averages 17.7. If you can’t tell by those numbers, Jackson is a dangerous deep threat. He gets behind defenses and makes them pay for trying to take away the underneath routes.
Having Jackson on your team can make a difference. Let’s look at some passing numbers from several teams. The Redskins receivers last year averaged 12.2 yards per completion, which was 4th highest in the NFL last season. The Bucs, his new team, finished 11th with 11.7. Now let’s go back a little further. In 2013, Jackson’s last year with Philadelphia, the team averaged 14.2 yards per completion, tops in the NFL. In 2014, their first year sans Jackson, they finished 12th with an average of 11.9. By comparison, the Redskins in 2013 averaged 11.4, good for 18th in the league. In 2014, their first year with Jackson, the Redskins improved to 6th in the league with 12.3 yards per completion.
You get the idea? Having Jackson on your team is a boon. Now that he has signed a free agent deal with the Bucs, expect Winston to take more shots downfield, something he and the team want to do more of. Jackson’s presence also takes more pressure off of stud wideout Mike Evans.
Going into your 2017 fantasy drafts, look for Evans to be a 1st round pick, likely among the top 5 WRs drafted. Jackson should be a top 30 WR, like he always is. Rarely has he had the type of season that begs you to draft him like a true WR1. He’s a WR3 with WR2 upside. The problem is you just never know when he goes off for two long TDs in a given week or when he tweaks a hammy. The plus side? He’s actually become a better and more reliable WR over the years, so he’s not just a one trick pony. Look for Winston and head coach Dirk Koetter to exploit that to open things up more for Evans. This Bucs offense should be on your fantasy radar come draft day.