Fabiano’s Fantasy Focus: 2021 Preseason, Vol. II

Every week during the NFL season, Sports Illustrated Senior Fantasy Analyst Michael Fabiano joins Sports360AZ’s Brad Cesmat to share his insight on building and developing your fantasy team for success.

This time, Fabiano joined the Brad Cesmat Show to discuss pre-season happenings around the league. Here are some highlights from our most recent conversation (Aug. 6) with the Fantasy Sports Writer’s Association Hall of Famer.

Between The Lions, Jets and Texans, Which Team Has The Most Viable Fantasy Options?

“I am afraid of every single player on the Lions roster except for T.J. Hockenson. Every single one, including D’andre Swift. I think that’s going to be a committee. I liked him to begin with, they signed Jamaal Williams, Anthony Lynn comes out and says Williams is a classic A-back. Dan Campbell comes out and says they’re going to play the hot hand, and name me one elite running back the Lions have drafted since Barry Sanders. I’ll wait, because there hasn’t been one.”

“Houston, that’s a dumpster fire. I still love Brandin Cooks because somebody has to catch the ball. Beyond him, Nico Collins might be worth a late-round flyer, or Keke Coutee depending on who wins the starting role opposite Cooks. Their backfield is a mess, out of all those guys I’d much rather have Phillip Lindsay than anybody else because I’ll get him late and he’s the youngest guy there who could see snaps.”

“The Jets are actually gaining momentum. Michael Carter is getting some good, positive buzz out of camp and I think he could be the guy who’s maybe not a featured back but at least the top of a committee for the Jets. Corey Davis is a nice WR4, he’ll see a bunch of targets. Elijah Moore is really starting to step up, he’s gotten a lot of rave reviews in Jets camp. They’ve been using him outside and Jamison Crowder in the slot. If Moore can do both, that’s only going to help his value, so I think he’s worth a late-round flyer as well.”

If You Had The Opportunity To Draft Travis Kelce Or Tyreek Hill, Who Would You Pick?

“I’d rather have Tyreek Hill. Kelce’s been awesome five years in a row. Five years in a row he’s been the number one tight end in fantasy football. He’s entering his age 32 season, hasn’t shown any signs of breaking down. There’s been, I think, one tight end historically that’s had over 200 fantasy points in his age 32 season and that’s Tony Gonzalez. Kelce is every bit as good as Gonzalez, maybe better from a fantasy perspective, but he’s also entering his ninth NFL season and that’s not been a great year historically for tight ends. I wonder when the wheels are going to fall off. I’m not saying they’re going to fall off this year, but is he going to go for over 1400 yards and have over 100 catches? That’s hard to duplicate.”