Fabiano’s Fantasy Focus: Free-Agent Frenzy, Volume II

Arizona Sports News online

There’s no fantasy football offseason on NFL.com! Be sure to check out NFL.com/Fantasy for in-depth analysis on all the news that will affect your fantasy team in 2014!

Each week during the season NFL Network and NFL.com Fantasy Football Editor Michael Fabiano joins Sports360AZ.com’s Brad Cesmat to share his insight on building and developing your fantasy team for success.

Here are some hi-lights from our most recent conversation (March 18th) with the Fantasy Sports Writer’s Association Hall of Famer as free-agency is off and running around the league.

What quarterback’s value has been hurt the most to this point since free-agency opened? “Who’s Cam Newton  going to throw the ball to? He lost [Steve] Smith. He lost Brandon LaFell. He has Greg Olsen but right now the Carolina Panthers two starting wide receivers are Tavarres King and Marvin McNutt…who are these guys? He needs to get some weapons in that pass attack and right now you’re looking at Santonio Holmes, maybe. You’re looking at wide receivers who aren’t going to thrill you…Cam Newton’s value as a passer is dropping a little bit. In fact, right now I would draft Nick Foles and Andrew Luck ahead of Cam Newton as well, of course, Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees.”

Do Michael Vick and Matt Schaub hold any fantasy value? “There’s not a lot of upside with Michael Vick or Matt Schaub. In fact there isn’t any upside at all with either one of those quarterbacks. Maybe Shaub as a late-round two but there’s so many quarterbacks in league, Brad. You know it, I know it. There’s going to be better options out there from a fantasy perspective if you’re looking at a ten-team league.”

Do you see any of the high-end rookie quarterbacks making an immediate impact in 2014? “You definitely know the teams who need a quarterback…based on how valuable quarterbacks are in the National Football League, you’re going to go see teams go after that position. You’re looking at [Teddy] Bridgewater, you’re looking at [Johnny] Manziel, you’re looking at [Blake] Bortles, you’re looking at guys who look like they’re going to make an immediate impact from guys who are top 10 picks, top 15 picks overall based on the type of teams that are in need of that position [who] are at the top of the draft order. So you’re going to see some rookies come right out of the gates and start…not only from a football perspective but from a fantasy perspective there are going to be opportunities there. I said it before, I’ll say it again, quarterbacks are valued more than ever before in the National Football League these days.”

To hear the rest of the interview, click here.

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