Eric Sorenson
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Every week during the season NFL Network and NFL.com Senior Fantasy Analyst 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 (April 27th) with the Fantasy Sports Writer’s Association Hall of Famer.
What rookie skill-player will make the biggest fantasy splash this fall? “It’s definitely Clyde Edwards-Helaire out of LSU going to the Kansas City Chiefs with the last pick of the first round. He’s a ridiculously good fit for that offense. He’s not big, he’s only 5-foot-8 but this guy is a terrific pass-catcher and route runner. What does Andy Reid like? Pass-catching running backs and he has had a lot of success at that position through the years if you want to go back to Brian Westbrook and Duce Staley and then, of course, with LeSean McCoy. Then in Kansas City with Jamaal Charles and Kareem Hunt. Damien Williams has been good the last couple of seasons and he couldn’t get off the bench in Miami. So this is a really good fit for Edwards-Helaire. The one thing I worry about is can he pass protect at the next level being that he he’s only 5’8? That’s going to be something that he needs to answer but, other than that, he’s the top rookie in the 2020 class.”
What quarterback got the most help in last week’s draft? “Drew Lock. They put him in a really good spot. Now it’s all on his shoulders. Hopefully he can do something with the weapons that they added. They also got K.J. Hamler out of Penn State so he’s got a ton of offensive weapons, including Noah Fant and Albert [Okwuegbunam] from Missouri.”
With Nuk Hopkins now here in Arizona, what does that do for the value of Christian Kirk? “I think Kirk has lost some of his ceiling because Nuk is there but he’s still going to be in the mix as a three or four. Kyler, the sky is the limit for him. I really like what the Cardinals did and from a fantasy standpoint, this offense is going to be extremely friendly.”
Thoughts on Henry Ruggs III going to Las Vegas? “I like Ruggs but the problem with Ruggs is that Derek Carr was 30th in terms of pass attempts of over 20 yards last season. He’s not a great deep ball-thrower and if you look at who was his top option last year? It was his tight end Darren Waller. Who was his top option the year before? It was his tight end Jared Cook. Those guys don’t go vertical, ok? They’re not running go routes. So I feel like we have to see how Ruggs meshes with Derek Carr.”
Outside of Joe Burrow, will any of these other rookie quarterbacks make a fantasy splash this year? “I’ll tell you this. I’m not a fan of Justin Herbert. I’m not a fan of Jordan Love. I’m not being a Negative Nancy here. Go back and look at the history of the National Football League of quarterbacks who have been drafted in the first round. Typically, for every Cam Newton, there are five JaMarcus Russell’s. I feel like Justin Herbert has a lot to prove at the next level and Jordan Love is really raw. I don’t know how good that situation is going to be in Green Bay because Aaron Rodgers has to be plenty pissed that they decided to draft his eventual replacement and then draft a running back when they already have two, rather than get him somebody who can stretch the field! They were an NFC Championship team last season and they did nothing to help Rodgers.”
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