The Miles Sanders hype train has lost the brakes and is full speed ahead going into the 2020 season. But the train seems to be staying on the tracks after Doug Pederson told Miles Sanders, “You’re the guy this season.” Coach speak should be taken with a grain of salt, but this is exactly what Miles Sanders truthers like myself want to hear. The hype is so rampant that if you Google “Miles Sanders shirtless” the 2nd picture in the results is actually Saquon Barkley shirtless. I mean, if Google is confusing Miles Sanders and Saquon Barkley in August, imagine what Sanders will do for his investors during the season.
I now have Sanders as my RB7 for the 2020 season and there is potential for him to end up even higher than that. I moved him ahead of Austin Ekeler and Josh Jacobs who I think he is more talented than, I just needed assurance that the volume is going to be there. I’m not saying that the recent Pederson comments have eased all of my anxieties. After all, running back by committee is in Pederson’s nature as a coach. Sanders needs to hit the ground running early to keep Boston Scott off of the field. If Sanders does end up starting slow and Philly falls back into a heavy committee approach, it isn’t necessarily all doom and gloom for Sanders, but your chances of getting return on investment drops dramatically. But the players with the lowest risk are off of the board by pick 4 and risk is what makes this all fun.
Quick hitters
– Bryan Edwards is running with the first team in 3 WR sets during camp. A healthy Bryan Edwards is going to be a stud in the NFL and he is still a value in dynasty rookie drafts. Just last week, I was able to acquire him in the middle of the second round in our Ditka Sausage Dynasty rookie draft. There are analysts that think Edwards’ ceiling is actually higher than Ruggs’.
– Laviska Shenault has been reportedly running with the first team at Jaguars practices. Shenault has a lot of athleticism and the Jags have previously stated that they plan to use him in a lot of different ways. Without any preseason games this secret stash might be easier to hide from your league mates.
– Jalen Hurd, who was a 3rd round pick out of Baylor in 2019 will have to wait another season to make a splash after tearing his ACL. A lot of people close to the 49ers believed he could make a big splash early with Deebo Samuel starting the season on the sidelines. With Hurd going down, the only really interesting 49ers wide receivers to me are Kendrick Bourne and Brandon Aiyuk. Aiyuk has reportedly been impressive so far in camp.
– J.K. Dobbins has reportedly looked very explosive in camp so far. I don’t see a scenario where he doesn’t carve out a nice role for himself in the Ravens’ offense. He has a ton of upside and seems worth the risk being drafted outside of the top 30 RBs although that ADP might not last all the way through August.
– T.J. Hockenson says his ankle still isn’t 100% and that means that I’ll be 100% avoiding him in drafts. There is already so much upside in the middle of the pack when it comes to tight ends so taking a shot on Hockenson doesn’t seem necessary.
– The A.J. Dillon truthers are loud after a training camp picture of him looking like The Hulk came out on twitter. This backfield has screamed “AVOID!” to me ever since they added Dillon to the mix in April. I’m certainly not drafting Aaron Jones this year.
– A quick update on the dumpster fire that will be catching passes for the Jets in 2020: Denzel Mims hurt his hamstring and it will cost him the chance to be WR3 on the Jets’ depth chart. It has been reported that Jamison Crowder has by far looked like the best Jets receiver so far in camp. Adam Gase also said that Chris Herndon will be the starting TE in 2020. The Herndon news is obvious, but important nonetheless. Jamison Crowder is always on my radar because he always seems to fly under other drafters’ radars.
– Justin Watson could start in the slot for the Buccaneers in 2020. Tom Brady loved hitting Edelman and Gronk out of the slot so it’s something to really keep in mind.
– I don’t know what to make of the Washington Football Team’s running back room after Derrius Guice was let go. It sounds like Bryce Love has looked good. Maybe Antonio Gibson could be part of a committee backfield? Maybe Adrian Peterson holds them both off. I doubt that I draft anyone in this backfield but I think Peterson has the best shot at volume.
– Dez Bryant is scheduled to work out for the Ravens this week. I don’t think that there is much here and I don’t plan on evaluating him unless he has a team. But you never know. It sounds like the Ravens will no longer be pursuing Antonio Brown.
– Preston Williams doesn’t have any health restrictions as of today. Buy, buy, buy!
– KJ Hamler has reportedly been a stand out at Broncos camp. You have to love those Penn State receivers once they get into the NFL. I’ve been excited about Hamler But the landing spot in Denver left him with a lot of competition for targets. Even if he doesn’t pop in his rookie season, I definitely like him for the future.
