Ups and Down of 2014

Trending Up and Trending Down

This is a list of players that should improve this year in fantasy football stats or there production should decrease. 

Goings Up this Year

Andrew Luck- Andrew has proven that he is an elite quarterback and his numbers don't lie. He was one of the most productive quarterbacks last year despite losing his number one receiver, Reggie Wayne, to the injury reserve for most of the season. Now that Wayne is back and since they added WR Hakeem Nicks, their air attack can only improve.

Tom Brady- Last season Brady saw a decrease in stats because he had lost most of his receivers, however, the Patriots have signed Brandon LaFell and Gronk will be returning from his injury. With his weapons back Brady should bounce right back to his usual.

Broncos Defense- They have added three stars to their defense and should be at the top of the league this year.

Wes Welker- Welker had a spectacular season last year catching Peyton's passes and should catch even more now that Eric Decker is no longer in Denver.

Ben Tate- He was a solid fantasy running back despite playing behind Arian Foster, now that he is the starter in Cleveland his stats should skyrocket.

Golden Tate- The Lion's offense as a whole should improve with the addition of Golden Tate. He will take defensive backs away from Calvin Johnson Jr. and will free up the pass to Johnson. Tate will also receive his share of passes from Stafford and should be a good #2 fantasy receiver this year.

Going Down this Year

Peyton Manning- First let me say that Peyton Manning will still be great as always he will still be a definite top 5 quarterback, however, if you expect him to have the same year as last year you are crazy. He had the greatest year of any quarterback in history last year so it is nearly impossible to repeat his numbers. 

TY Hilton- TY had a good season last year and he really jumpstarted after the injury of Reggie Wayne. Now the Colts have signed Hakeem Nicks and Wayne is healthy TY shouldn't see the same number of chances he saw last year.

Jamaal Charles- He will still be a great running back, however, similar to Manning he won't be able to repeat the same stats as last year. He should still be one of the first players drafted in every league.

CJ Spiller- Spiller was a first round draft pick in most leagues last year and he was not worth it. His backup, Fred Jackson, scored more fantasy points than he did. Spiller was injured for part of the year but still payed horrible, from a fantasy perspective, for most of the games. I think that the Bills will give Jackson more of the load and have him carry the running load.

NFL Free Agent Impacts

New Signings and Their Impact

It's never too early to look for the new NFL season and there is no better time to start then during NFL Free Agency.

The Arsenal of free agents this year has been one of the best in many years. Big money stars were available on the market and many were signed. 

Players and Impacts                                                     
Darrelle Revis/Brandon Browner to New England- Obviously this will strengthen the New England defense as a unit. This was the big signing the Patriots desperately needed after losing star corner Aqib Talib, to one of their rivals, the Denver Broncos. The Patriots also lost a quality linebacker in Brandon Spikes to a divisional rival (the Bills). However, most importantly their star veteran, Vince Wilfork, has requested release from the Patriots team. The signing of Revis and Browner should help to solve the match ups in the defensive secondary. Last season the Patriots finished at 18th for yards allowed in passing per game (rankings provided by NFL.com). This isn't an awful statistic, however, if the Patriots hope to continue to be a true elite team they must strengthen up their defense because they don't have the same quantity of offensive weapons anymore. In the past few years they have had a rather poor defense but were able to make up for it with an extremely strong offense with weapons such as Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and of course the great Tom Brady. However, now their team doesn't have nearly the offensive strength due to the loss of many of these players. Therefore if the Patriots wish to continue to be a true elite team they must strengthen their defense to make up for the loss in their offense, and signing Revis and Browner should do just that.

New Broncos- Denver had a field day this offseason, signing many of the stars that were available from the beginning. They were able to snatch Aqib Talib, DeMarcus Ware, Emmanuel Sanders and TJ Ward. Ware will only add strength to the powerful Bronco defense. He will add another dimension across from Von Miller in the pass rush. The Bronco's defense is expected to be at the top of the league across the board. I'm expecting a slight decrease in pass defense due to the loss of future hall of famer Champ Bailey and other corner Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. However, it shouldn't be a big step down due to signing of shut down corner Aqib Talib and secondary player TJ Ward. But I think the loss in secondary will balance out with the improvement of their run defense and pass rush from signing Ware, not to mention the tremendous improvement of defensive tackle Terrance Knighton. Ware and Knighton are both must watch players for the next year as I assume they will make a huge impact to the NFL.

Ben Tate to Cleveland- This is a good deal for everyone. Ben Tate has shown great production over the past couple years and has put up numbers better than many starting running backs even though he played in the shadow of Arian Foster. Ben Tate deserves to be a starting running back and his numbers will only improve now that there is no one taking away his touches. Obviously the Browns have been searching for a running back after trading Trent Richardson to the Colts last season. Ben Tate will help to improve the offense of a young Browns team. He will help their running game and will give their quarter back a short pass option since both of the Brown's two star receivers, Josh Gordan and Jordan Cameron, are both deep threats. Tate is the perfect addition to the Browns because he is a very versatile player with the ability to catch passes out of the backfield. 

Byrd to the Saints- Overall a very good move by the Saints. Byrd is a big money player but deserves his earnings. He was signed to a six year deal to the Saints. This is exactly what the Saints needed to improve their secondary and give them a chance to be a true Super Bowl contender in the near future. 




Defensive Upgrade for Raiders- Other than the Broncos the Raiders may have head the best free agency so far signing three quality defensive players. They signed two defensive ends in Justin Tuck and Antonio Smith, to help their pass rush along with their run stuff. They also improved their defensive with their addition of LaMarr Woodley. The Raiders defense was awful last year allowing 28.3 points per game (fourth worst in NFL) and 11th worst yards allowed (stats by NFL.com). Their defense should greatly improve this year due to their new signings, however, their secondary is particularly weak, so watch out for a defensive back signing or adding a new back via NFL Draft.