Evan Oscherwitz
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.
In our most recent conversation with Michael (Aug. 24), we discussed players whose values had fluctuated as a result of preseason developments. The season-ending injury to Jaguars rookie RB Travis Etienne dominated the discussion, and Fabiano indicated that his absence would produce dramatic changes in the values of the Jaguars’ other offensive skill players.
What Kind Of Effect Will Travis Etienne’s Absence Have On The Jags’ Offense?
“James Robinson is moving up. The Jaguars are going to want to run the football, that’s what they’re going to want to do. Robinson has been the starter all along, it’s just that everyone in the fantasy community loves the shiny new toy. Robinson was the RB7 last season and I feel like people have forgotten that. At wide receiver, I’ve seen Marvin Jones, Jr. move up, although he’s still a bargain. D.J. Chark has moved down and Laviska Shenault, Jr. has kind of stayed on the same level.”
James Robinson is an interesting one for 2021. Coming off a RB6 year 👀 pic.twitter.com/GG8I91gwUU
— EliteDrafters (@EliteDrafters) August 26, 2021
Should Managers Avoid Darrell Henderson Now That The Rams Have Acquired Sony Michel?
“[Henderson] is always hurt. He’s always dinged up with something. His thumb sprain is not considered serious, so my expectation is that he won’t be a question mark for week one, but here’s the problem with Henderson – he got drafted a couple of years ago and everyone in the fantasy community was all up on his stuff. His rookie season behind Todd Gurley, who was declining, Henderson couldn’t break into that backfield rotation and wasn’t even a top-90 fantasy back. So what do the Rams do? They draft Cam Akers, and then at the end of last season Akers is the guy. I was in a draft last night where I took Xavier Jones with my second-to-last pick [instead of Henderson].”
Rams RB Darrell Henderson left Monday's practice with a thumb injury, coach Sean McVay saidhttps://t.co/mhGWyzcLtO pic.twitter.com/sSjxUYWdGV
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) August 23, 2021
There Is Still Much Uncertainty Surrounding Deshaun Watson’s Availability. Where Does He Stand Value-Wise?
“That’s another big conundrum. I have been in 20+ drafts so far this offseason and I have not been in a league where he hasn’t been picked. If you’re in a super flex league where you start two QBs, you’re looking at round eight to nine range. Maybe ten if you’re in a league where you’re starting one quarterback and you have bigger rosters. People will take a chance on him regardless of what the allegations are. They’re despicable but we don’t know if he’s going to play football and if he does play football, we have no idea who he’ll play for. But you can’t overlook the talent at that point in drafts. We never want to be insensitive to what’s going on with Watson and that whole situation but that’s the bottom line at this point. People are still taking a shot at him.”
The #Texans are sending a message out that they are not going to trade away Deshaun Watson for less than what they believed he's worth.
They'll keep him on the 53-man roster and not play him, make him inactive every week, according to @AaronWilson_NFL pic.twitter.com/4XOWEfT47y
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) August 30, 2021
