Deshaun Watson is out, and Jameis Winston is in. Russell Wilson is in, and Justin Fields is out. Amari Cooper is the new face in Buffalo. Who else on these teams benefits from these changes?
Welcome to Week 8 of the 2024 Footballguys Roundtable. Our intrepid panel of fantasy pundits discusses and debates four topics every week. We split the conversation into separate features.
This week's roundtable features these four topics:
- Fantasy True or False
- Real or Fool's Gold, TE Edition
- Who Benefits From Recent Lineup Changes (see below)
- QBs Suffering Due to Other Injuries
Let's roll.
Who Benefits From Recent Lineup Changes
Matt Waldman: Select one situation from the list.
- Jameis Winston starting for Cleveland.
- Russell Wilson starting for Pittsburgh (George Pickens is obvious; choose another Steeler)
- Amari Cooper in Buffalo (can't choose Josh Allen)
Jeff Haseley: With Jameis Winston starting for Cleveland, the immediate beneficiary is David Njoku. With the departure of Amari Cooper to Buffalo, Njoku becomes the best-receiving threat in Cleveland, and it may not be close.
Since Njoku's return from injury, he has a 30% and 20% team target share. With Winston now under center, I fully expect him to be the team's top target and biggest receiving weapon. He finished with 10 catches for 76 yards and a score in last week's game, where Deshaun Watson left with an Achilles injury.
Phil Alexander: Jeff is probably right about David Njoku becoming the beneficiary of Jameis Winston starting for Cleveland. But since the subscribers deserve some variety, why can't Winston also turn Jerry Jeudy's season around?
It's the smallest of samples, but on Winston's lone drive in Week 7, he aimed a team-high 36.4% of his throws at Jeudy. While we can't expect Jeudy to maintain such a stranglehold on the team's targets, it's a given he'll command significantly more than the 16.9% he has to date.
The quality of Jeudy's targets should increase along with the quantity. Winston has averaged 7.7 adjusted yards per pass attempt throughout his career. This season, Deshaun Watson has averaged an anemic 5.15. Winston's willingness to push the ball downfield should also lead to more splash plays for Jeudy, who leads all Browns pass-catchers with 13.2 air yards per target on the season.