I often say that I may be wrong about the timing of a player but not about the player himself. I feel that way about Chase Brown. I really liked him going into last year when I thought that Joe Mixon was going to be on his way out and Brown was going to get more touches. That did happen towards the end of the season but with Joe Burrow’s injury it just was a difficult year for Brown to break through. Now with Mixon in Houston the Bengals brought in Zack Moss to split carries with Brown but I think it’s clear that Brown is the more explosive running back. I think he’ll lose short yardage and goal line touches to Moss but will be the running back on obvious passing downs as the team likes to throw that short screen to him for some very big gains.
Higgins surprised many people by returning to the Bengals on a one-year deal after claiming all offseason that he wanted to be traded. I don’t think he’s going to end up signing a long-term deal with the team as the Bengals are renowned for their cheapness. If what I’m thinking is going to come to fruition, I can see Higgins not wanting to risk himself getting injured. What scares me even more about Higgins is that he could have a very minor injury and it might last a much longer time because he doesn’t want to risk the big payday. That’s certainly not a player that I want to draft in Round 4.
I haven’t been a fan of Harris for many seasons but with the Steelers hiring Arthur Smith as their offensive coordinator you have to think that they are going to run the ball even more than they have in the past. Harris always seems to start the year slowly but then he picks it up as the winter months come. He should be a lock for 20 touches a game which gives him plenty of opportunity to score fantasy points. To get that kind of production in round seven seems to be very undervalued.
The Steelers may have made a critical error by keeping George Pickens and getting rid of Dionte Johnson in the offseason. While Johnson struggled with staying healthy Pickens is that very difficult player who doesn’t always listen and respond well to coaching. He’s also going to struggle not seeing the football as much considering the Steelers are a run first offense. I know he’s got all the talent in the world but I can see this turning badly very quickly.
It’s hard to predict when RB1 Nick Chubb will return to the field. I think it’s fair to say that he could be out for the first six to eight weeks this season. A lot of people are taking him in Round 10 mainly for the second-half of the season and the playoff drive. But this is also what makes Ford an exceptional value in Round 10. Ford is a very shifty runner who also catches the ball pretty well out of the backfield. He may lose some touchdowns to Foreman by the goal line but I still see him as a 15 touch player which is hard to find in Round 10.
For how many have we been saying that this is the year that Jerry Jeudy is going to break out? It seems he has all the talent in the world but he can’t stay on the field. The old adage is the best ability is availability. Which what makes things worse is that Deshaun Watson has not been even half the quarterback he was back in Houston. Moreover, Jeudy is now sharing targets with Amari Cooper and David Njoku and other talented players which he really didn’t have around him in Denver. I just can’t see myself clicking the button on his name.
The Ravens have one of the shallower receiving corps in the NFL and I think that works out fine for them because they are going to use a lot of 12 personnel with both Likely and Andrews on the field at the same time. Likely is a freak of nature who is explosive and has a great catching radius. Moreover, Lamar Jackson showed that he really liked throwing to him when Andrews was injured for a better part of last season. Likely is a player that I want to be in on this season.
Part of Andrews’ value was that he was good for some red zone activity and 7 to 9 touchdowns. In 2024 I worry that Derrick Henry is going to get a lot of the short yardage carries and I think they’re going to use Isaiah Likely’s size in the red zone. This means that Andrews might be more involved between the 20s than he is in the red zone. In round five I’d prefer to draft my WR2 which is the main reason why I’m passing on Andrews.
