Fantasy Football Review – part two

We started our debriefing of the 2014 fantasy football season yesterday. (You can read the part one here.) Today we finish up our discussion with Fantasy Editor Anthony Maggio, who talked with us about how this season went and how things look heading into 2015.

Please let us know what you’d like to hear about during the offseason and share your thoughts on Anthony’s observations, whether you agree or disagree. And thank you for reading throughout the season.

Zoneblitz: Several rookie WRs continued to debunk the trend that it takes three seasons before they figure it out – who among the 2014 class do you see continuing to ascend and who might take a step back?

Maggio: Yeah, I think we can go ahead and retire the third-year receiver myth. The rookies this year were

incredible, and the top-end guys come back to very good situations. Odell Beckham Jr., Mike Evans and Kelvin Benjamin will all continue to be the No. 1 options on their respective teams next year, and my only concern with any of them would be Evans and what the quarterback situation there winds up being. But even if the Bucs are breaking in a rookie, Evans will still be fantasy relevant.

I expect Jordan Matthews and Brandin Cooks to be the next best, and they could be joined by Davante Adams, Donte Moncrief and John Brown depending on whether certain teammates in Green Bay, Indianapolis, and Arizona, respectively, depart.

Martavis Bryant deserves mention, but I don’t see him turning into a consistent, reliable fantasy option. He’ll be big-play dependent, and I could see the Steelers bringing in someone else to be the No. 2 to Antonio Brown and leaving Martavis as the deep-ball guy. Jarvis Landry probably stays flat as well, as I think he’s a very good No. 2 possession guy, but won’t be an elite receiver. Allen Hurns, Allen Robinson, Marqise Lee and Marquess Wilson all have too many others to contend with at the position for me to expect them to take another step up in 2015.

Zoneblitz: Odell Beckham deserves a specific question. His numbers through 12 games had people invoking Randy Moss. Is he that good? Does he sustain it going forward? Where would you take him?

Maggio: I don’t think he’s Randy Moss good, but he’s not far off—and that’s rarified air. I absolutely think he sustains it, especially if Victor Cruz can come back from his devastating injury and be a reasonable enough secondary target for defenses to not totally key in on Odell. He’s knocking on the door of the top five at WR for me, which puts him in the early-second-round conversation.

Zoneblitz: The Bengals were using Gio Bernard as the main guy at the beginning of the season only to see injuries

provide Jeremy Hill with an opportunity. Hill literally took the ball and ran with it – how do you approach Cincy’s backfield heading into 2015?

Maggio: Like a lot of other backfields, unfortunately. With caution. It’s a true timeshare with Hill getting the meatier

end of it. I’d certainly be trying to handcuff them as I like the running game enough and both players enough that if either was a true bell-cow back I’d rank them in must-start territory pretty much regardless of opponent.

Zoneblitz: Same question on San Francisco – Frank Gore always seems to be solid at least early on, but he’s got a legit pursuer in Carlos Hyde waiting in the wings. Where do you look there?

Maggio: There’s a lot TBD in San Francisco with Gore’s future in question and a new coach coming in. That said, even if Gore is there, Hyde is the guy I would prefer. But again, we’re handcuffing here unless Gore leaves town and its crystal clear in training camp that Hyde is going to be given 20+ touches per game.

Zoneblitz: Any other committee situations you’re watching right now?

Maggio: A lot can happen with free agency and the draft, and frankly backfields are so crowded these days that there are far fewer situations I’m NOT watching than what I am watching. You know Matt Forte, Jamaal Charles, LeSean McCoy, Le’Veon Bell, Eddie Lacy and Arian Foster are going to carry the mail. C.J. Anderson likely belongs in that group as well, and Marshawn Lynch would if he were to stay with Seattle. From there it’s a whole lot of at least 70/30 splits.

Zoneblitz: Black Monday brought some expected coaching changes. A couple teams with some fairly relevant fantasy talent (Bears, 49ers) will be changing coaches. Do you follow this? And what will you be looking for in order to help rank guys on those teams going forward?

Maggio: Certainly who the head man is requires attention, but I generally look closer at the new offensive coordinator. Basically I’m looking at the historical trends in terms of run-heavy, pass-heavy, preference for one RB or a backfield committee, reliance on a No. 1 WR or a spread system that involves a lot of targets, etc.

Zoneblitz: What potential free agent situations will you be keeping an eye on?

Maggio: Justin Forsett is a big one because of how well he played for Baltimore this season, and if he returns to Baltimore I would easily have him in the top 15 at RB. And of course the leader of the pack in terms of interest is DeMarco Murray after his incredible 2014. There are a lot of names, though, that will have an impacts either because of who they’ll encroach on or who they’ll open the door for by their absence. The big names to watch besides those two: Ahmad Bradshaw, Mark Ingram, Ryan Mathews, Gore, CJ Spiller, Dez Bryant, Randall Cobb, Torrey Smith, Jeremy Maclin, Jordan Cameron, Charles Clay and Owen Daniels all will be various levels of fantasy relevant next season.

Zoneblitz: What head coaching changes could impact fantasy potential?

Maggio: It truly is all of them, but again, I’m going to be focused more on offensive coordinator hire in most cases.

Zoneblitz: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Maggio: Just one thing: I’d like to thank all those who either check out my rankings, read my stories on ZoneBlitz.com and 1500espn.com, listen to 1500 ESPN’s Fantasy Football Pants Party, or follow me on Twitter. I have fun doing this, and truly appreciate you all giving me this opportunity.

To read part one, click here.