With the official start of the NFL regular season now less than two weeks away and several preseason games under each team’s belt, the roles of players in their teams’ overall schemes are becoming increasingly clear. This is especially true for players who have been suiting up in different uniforms than we’re used to seeing.
After a predictably tumultuous offseason, there are more than a few impact players who will be plying their trade with new teams this season. Here is a (completely non-exhaustive) rundown of some of the key transfers from this offseason and the effect they’ll have for their new teams.
Related: Can You Name This Fantasy Football Star?
Dylan Sinn is a freelance contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSinn or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.
Photo Credit: Getty
Fantasy Football Impact Players New Teams
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Ben Tate RB – Cleveland Browns
Former Team: Houston Texans
The Cleveland offense has been awful pretty consistently since the current incarnation of the team was born in 1999. That pattern doesn’t figure to change this year, as both Brian Hoyer and Johnny Manziel have looked far below average so far in the preseason. Tate, who has spent his entire career backing up Arian Foster, could be a bright spot in a black hole this season.
The former Auburn standout has averaged an impressive 4.7 yards per carry to this point in his brief career. This is in contrast to the Browns’ leading rusher from a year ago, Willis McGahee, who averaged a paltry 2.7 yards per rush. Tate’s fortunes in Cleveland will likely turn on whether he can stay healthy; the 26-year old has missed eight games in three season in the league, so rookie head coach Mike Pettine would be smart to not give his new featured back too heavy of a workload, especially early in the year, lest Tate break down again.
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DeSean Jackson WR – Washington
Former Team: Philadelphia Eagles
Jackson was possibly the highest-profile player to change teams this offseason as he is an elite receiver coming off the best season of his career. In Chip Kelly’s up-tempo offense, Jackson put up career highs in catches (82) and yards (1,332), and also hauled in nine touchdowns from Nick Foles.
Now with another new quarterback throwing him passes, Jackson gives Washington a deep threat they desperately need, after the team ranked 27th in vertical passing yards a season ago, according to ESPN.com. Whether RGIII will be able to get the ball to Jackson is up for debate. The 2012 rookie sensation has shown no evidence this preseason that his mechanical struggles from a year ago are behind him. Expect a ton of targets for Jackson this year, but don’t expect him to even come close to his totals from 2013.
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Eric Decker WR – New York Jets
Former Team: Denver Broncos
The Jets’ 31st ranked passing offense from a season ago gets a much-needed playmaking boost from the 27-year old Decker, who is coming off back-to-back 1000 yard seasons. The former University of Minnesota star’s 87 catches in 2013 were more than twice as many as Jeremy Kerley, New York’s leading receiver who caught (43).
Still, it remains to be seen how much of an impact Decker can have. He’s certainly a solid pass-catcher but he’s going from travelling first class, with Peyton Manning throwing passes to him, to coach with the unproven Geno Smith under center for the Jets (for now). He’ll be targeted plenty, but he’s never been a No. 1 option before and it remains to be seen whether he’s capable of making plays while drawing double coverage at all times.
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Golden Tate WR – Detroit Lions
Former Team: Seattle Seahawks
Tate was the top deep threat during the Seahawks’ transformation into a frightening juggernaut, averaging nearly 15 YPC over the last two seasons. Now he’ll hope to be part of the rebuilding of another doormat, after joining the perennially hapless Lions. These are not your father’s Lions, however, they are loaded at the skill positions and Matt Stafford drives an offense that can put up points in bunches.
As my astute colleague Josh Helmuth points out, Tate was targeted 94 times last year and ended up with a grand total of two drops. With another bona fide star on the outside in Tate, the Lions should be a more well-rounded unit this season, as opposed to the “Megatron and the Little Decepticons” offense they’ve trotted out for the last few years.
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Matt Schaub QB – Oakland Raiders
Former Team: Houston Texans
Schaub takes over calling signals for a Raiders team that hasn’t finished above .500 or made the playoffs in the last 11 years. His place as the starter is far from secure as second-round draft pick Derek Carr (as well as one of last year’s starters, Matt McGloin) is waiting in the wings if the long-time Houston QB catches the pick-six bug as he did a year ago when he threw one in an NFL-record four straight games.
Schaub is something of an unknown this year after being one of the steadiest passers in the league for the last half-decade. Despite his poor showing last year, this is still a player who has thrown for over 4,000 yards in three of his previous 5 seasons and has a career completion percentage of 64. He’s only 33, so it’s certainly possible he has some solid seasons left in the tank. There’s no Andre Johnson-level target in Oakland, so 4,000 yards seems unlikely, but bringing stability to one of the most unstable franchises in pro sports seems to be a reasonable goal.
