Welcome to Week 1 of the 2023 Footballguys Roundtable. Our intrepid panel of fantasy pundits discusses and debates four topics every week. From this point forward, we're splitting the topics into separate features.
This week's roundtable features these four topics:
- Scouting the Waiver Wire
- Who Changed Our Minds This Summer? (See below)
- Game of the Week: Bills-Jets
- Bold Predictions
Let's roll with our staff sharing which players changed their minds this summer.
Who Changed Our Minds This Summer?
Matt Waldman: Jason Wood writes a series of features every August that covers players whose performances have led Wood to have second thoughts about his stance on their fantasy potential. Here's where you can find his articles on running backs, quarterbacks, tight ends, and wide receivers.
I want each of you to do the following...
- Check out Wood's four articles and pick 2 players where Wood's arguments might change your mind and explain why.
- Give me one player independent from Wood's features who is leading you to have second thoughts about his value this fall.
Go...
Christian Williams: Wood's argument about Miles Sanders being a risky bet at ADP is compelling enough to consider. Sanders looks like the clear workhorse, but the situation is bleaker than many believed heading into training camp.
It appears Sanders will earn a fine target share, which could offset the lack of touchdown opportunities. Still, Wood's argument centers on a poor offensive line and a less-than-stellar assortment of teammates, and those points are valid.
Sticking to running back takes, Wood's new stance on Deuce Vaughn is convincing enough, as some doubt about my original take on the small running back crept in throughout the preseason. Vaughn looked like a longshot to be a contributor on offense, with kick and punt return duties looking more fitting for a 5'5" running back. Still, the opportunity to become Tony Pollard's direct backup is there, and Wood's new stance seems more correct than mine.
Wood didn't discuss Romeo Doubs, but the Packers wideout changed my mind this offseason. While Doubs is dealing with a hamstring injury, he looks like the go-to guy on critical downs and underneath routes when healthy. Christian Watson and rookie Jayden Reed were my picks to lead the team in targets and receptions, but Doubs could be that player, based on everything we've seen and heard out of Packers camp this fall.
Daniel Harms: Wood’s thoughts about George Pickens have me reassessing mine. The chemistry they’ve shown in the preseason, along with assumed natural offensive regression to the mean, give reason to put Pickens’ ceiling higher than I initially thought. He already accumulated 800 yards in his rookie season and could surpass that number with improved touchdowns. There’s a lot of buzz around the Steelers offense.
There’s another player Wood flickered to life in my brain, James Cook. Cook was a player I was fond of coming out of Georgia, but he’s always been a timeshare back. Outside of Stefon Diggs, the Bills offense lacks electricity in its weapons and has lacked it out of the backfield for years. Cook has the speed and electric ability to put the Bills’ run game on the map. His pass-catching out of the backfield makes an even more intriguing argument. There might be more there than I thought.
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