In minicamps and upcoming training camps toward the end of July, most people think of position battles as rookies battling out veterans for starting spots, or fringe guys fighting to stay on the Week 1 rosters as a backup.
For fantasy purposes, position battles are similar in some cases, but in many, fantasy players will want to look out for players entrenched on the roster looking to play bigger roles in the offense. These battles won’t be figured out now that minicamps are over. They’ll go into training camp, and most of them will play out in the preseason depending upon how many snaps certain players get (or, in some cases, no snaps so that they stay healthy).
Leading up to the start of the season, here are five position battles that currently have no real frontrunner, but whoever wins the battle could have some major fantasy value.
No. 3 Green Bay Packers receiver
Players in the mix: Jarrett Boykin, Davante Adams, Kevin Dorsey
Usually, a team’s third receiver doesn’t get too many looks in fantasy drafts. In Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers is going to spread the ball around — he was the sixth most consistent quarterback last season, according to our premium stats (paid subscription required).
The receiver who takes the field along with Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb is going to have great flex upside.
Last season, Boykin filled that role, catching 49 passes on 82 targets for 681 yards and three touchdowns.
Now that James Jones is in Oakland, Cobb moves up on the depth chart, but he and Nelson have both had problems with injuries in the last two years (Cobb missed 10 games last year and Nelson missed four in 2012).
Adams seems to be the logical choice here, since the Packers took him in the second round of this year’s draft. Although he lacks ideal strength for a receiver, he has great hands and recorded one of the better vertical jumps at the combine among receivers. But Boykin was productive in the offense last season, so fantasy owners will want to keep track of who is getting the most first-team reps in training camp and who Rodgers seems to be favoring as a target.
Starting receiver in Carolina next to Kelvin Benjamin
Players in the mix: Jerricho Cotchery, Jason Avant, Tiquan Underwood
This is going under the assumption that the Panthers will deploy Benjamin on almost every offensive snap because he was such a high draft pick for them. Although Benjamin is athletic, he has terrible hands and I feel his draft stock relied too much on Jameis Winston’s play.
Although Carolina’s passing attack is nothing special, someone is going to get targets in that offense, and I don’t expect Benjamin to be very effective. Whoever wins the starting job alongside Benjamin is a great candidate for a flex play in standard leagues.
Cotchery’s 10 touchdowns last season for the Pittsburgh Steelers is way off of his career pace, but he showed he can be effective when given enough targets, averaging 13.1 yards per catch. Avant has eight years of NFL experience, but has never really stood out, even in Philadelphia’s high-flying offense last season.
Cam Newton isn’t going to be throwing for 4,000 yards any time soon, but the No. 2 receiver on this team can approach six touchdowns and 950 yards.
Backup San Diego running back
Players in the mix: Danny Woodhead, Donald Brown
After his big year last season, Ryan Mathews is going as a high-end RB2 in standard leagues in current drafts. Even with his 1,255-yard season, Mathews suffered an injury at the very end of the season and couldn’t help San Diego in their playoff game.
He averaged just 3.8 yards per carry in 2012, scoring just one touchdown, and in his first two seasons out of Fresno State, Mathews missed six total games. I don’t trust Mathews at all to be completely healthy this season. He’s going to get hurt at some point, and even if he doesn’t miss whole games, his role will decrease in the offense when injured.
This leaves the door open in fantasy for Woodhead and Brown. Woodhead is already being drafted as a flex play or a RB3, but owners will want to keep their eye on who the Chargers see as the true backup.
Should Mathews miss time, I doubt Woodhead would take over the role of being a primary back. Although I’m not sold on Brown’s talent, he showed he can be productive when given the chance last season, recording six games of either going for 100 yards or scoring a touchdown, according to our consistency metrics (paid subscription required). Brown’s six games were higher than Steven Jackson, Darren McFadden and C.J. Spiller’s five.
Mike McCoy could also believe that Woodhead could be a feature back should Mathews miss time, which would really drive his fantasy value up given his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield and make players miss on tackles.
New England Patriots backup tight end
Players in the mix: D.J. Williams, Michael Hoomanawanui, any free agent tight end
This is a tougher position to try to predict, given that the Patriots could easily go out and sign another tight end at any point this offseason. We don’t even know if Rob Gronkowski will be ready to go in Week 1, and he’s missed a total of 14 games in his past two seasons.
Owners who draft Gronkowski, and other owners looking to take a flier on a tight end late in the draft, will want to look at this battle and any moves the Patriots make. I don’t believe in the talent of either Williams or Hoomanawanui to fill in that Gronkowski role as a big-time target for Tom Brady.
Justin Keller, Jermichael Finley and Fred Davis are all still free agents (although Davis would need to be reinstated by the league in order for any team to really be interested). Should the Patriots sign any free agent tight end, they make a great handcuff for Gronkowski owners and could have plug-in-and-play value for owners who don’t get one of the top four or five tight ends.
No. 3 Eagles wide receiver
Players in the mix: Jordan Matthews, Josh Huff, Arrelious Benn
Although we’re working with a small sample size, we saw how effective Philadelphia’s offense can be under Chip Kelly. DeSean Jackson and Riley Cooper both had big fantasy years, but with Jackson out of the picture, Cooper and Jeremy Maclin are taking over the main receiving duties.
Maclin missed all of last season, and he hasn’t played all 16 games in a season since 2010, and we can only expect the Eagles offense to spread the ball out more as more players become entrenched in Kelly’s playbook.
Benn is on the roster, but fantasy owners will want to keep their eyes on Huff and Matthew’s battles in training camp and the preseason. Matthews was taken No. 42 overall by the Eagles in this year’s draft, and Huff went No. 86 overall.
Matthews is a great possession receiver who can work out of the slot or along the sidelines, while Huff is more of a slot-only guy with great body control.Both receivers have the ability to be a No. 3 option, but one of them will likely fall off, and Benn could even manage to impress some people and make it on the field more often than either rookie.
The winner of this battle has the potential to be a fantasy WR2 if Maclin misses any time, and if everyone stays healthy, could still be a low-end flex play or a WR3 in leagues that start three receivers every week.