Offseason Low Down: NFC Team-by-Team OTA Notes
ARIZONA
Last year, Michael Floyd was lauded with offseason praise from everyone inside and outside the Cardinals. This year, it’s bulked up second-year WR John Brown that’s receiving all the OTA praise. The difference is he’s available in the 10th or 11th round of fantasy drafts, not the 4th where Floyd was going. The playmaking Brown will be a “favorite flier” if his ADP stays down. … The Cardinals knew they weren’t getting a power back when they took David Johnson. They wanted Andre Ellington 2.0, a sign they have no desire whatsoever to pound between the tackles. … That brings us to Carson Palmer, whose rapid return from ACL surgery had him participating in 11-on-11 at minicamp. The Cards are going to be a pass-centric spread team, one that is installing more no-huddle looks with their two “space” running backs and three plus wideouts. I prefer Colin Kaepernick and Sam Bradford as QB2s, but am fine settling for Palmer. His pace stats last year were impressive. … Logan Thomas’ debacle of an offseason means he can be cut in Dynasty.
ATLANTA
Devonta Freeman opened minicamp getting the first-team reps, but I think that’s more incumbent deference that something to latch on to. The real competition will go down in training camp. It is worth noting that the Falcons keep talking up Freeman’s pass-game ability – he’s the heavy favorite for third-down and two-minute work. … Rookie Tevin Coleman enters training camp slightly behind Freeman, but he’s going to make this a committee. I don’t buy the “not a fit for the scheme” talk. Kyle Shanahan is sharp and a talent maximizer – he doesn’t make the Coleman pick if he doesn’t think it can work. Coleman is a mid-round RB upside pick as the eventual 1A to Freeman’s 1B.
Julio Jones is healthy, in a contract year and playing the X for Shanny. Look out. … Roddy White took some veteran days off during the spring and he’s not a player I’ll be investing in this year. Roddy admitted the offense will be more balanced, his body has shown serious signs of breaking down the last two years, he can’t threaten defenses at age 33 and this is a scheme that funnels targets to the X. … A healthy Leonard Hankerson made an impression on Shanahan during their time together in Washington and has carried that down to Atlanta. He’s in the mix for No. 3 duties. … Jacob Tamme is leading the tight end battle, ahead of oft-injured Tony Moeaki and lumbering blocker Levine Toilolo. It’s something for TE streamers to keep an eye on. Tamme has two 50-catch seasons on his resume – albeit with Peyton Manning.
CAROLINA
GM Dave Gettleman confirmed the Panthers won’t put bubble wrap around Cam Newton after giving him a $118 million contract. He ran 9.5 times per game over the final six games of last year (including playoffs), willing the team to a 4-2 record. Expect 100-120 carries again this year for Cam. … Jerricho Cotchery fell off the radar after the Panthers added Devin Funchess and Ted Ginn. He slipped even further back once Corey Brown (formerly Philly Brown) emerged as the star of Panthers OTAs. … I’m not worried about Kelvin Benjamin being “overweight” in mid-June. He’ll be fine physically. However, I would be worried about his target volume decreasing sharply.
Jonathan Stewart is enjoying a healthy offseason and DeAngelo Williams is gone, conjuring images that made JStew one of the NFL’s rising stud backs in 2008 and 2009. Coach Ron Rivera said Stewart’s carry count will come down to how he’s playing. “If you are running the ball well, obviously you are going to feed him.” When healthy, Stewart has run at an elite level during much of his career. … One concern for both Cam and Stewart is the Panthers’ strange confidence in Michael Oher at left tackle. He could be worse than Byron Bell.
CHICAGO
New Bears coach John Fox is notorious for failing to trust rookies. So perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that White ran behind Alshon Jeffery, Marquess Wilson and Eddie Royal for much of OTAs. This is also an offense that will run more now that Marc Trestman is gone, and one that also has Martellus Bennett and Matt Forte as quality receiving threats. I’m not on White in Year 1 even though I think he’ll easily beat out Wilson in camp. … Jitterbug slot man Royal turned heads during workouts, getting singled out by both media and coaches for playing well and understanding the scheme. He previously played one season with Jay Cutler (2008, DEN) and caught 91 passes. … Martellus Bennett’s contract dispute was predictably much ado about nothing. I was happy to get him at 8.10 in this MFL draft.
DALLAS
After dealing with serious back issues over the past few years, Tony Romo participated fully in the offseason program for the first time since 2012. He’s healthy and likely to see a spike in pass attempts this year as the run game regresses. … Franchise tagged Dez Bryant claims he’s going to play hardball with a holdout. If he skips games and leaves $12.82 million on the table, I’ll eat this article. … Darren McFadden fought a hamstring issue and Ryan Williams had knee problems (again). That left Joseph Randle to handle most of the first-team reps and get all of the hype. I would be surprised if Randle didn’t lead this committee, ceding some change-of-pace work to McFadden and some pass-down work to Lance Dunbar. Former Rotoworld Football bossman Gregg Rosenthal gave a good glass half full take on Randle here. … Terrance Williams was lighting up the spring as the de facto No. 1 wideout (Dez didn’t participate, Devin Street is his direct backup). Williams should see far more than the 64 targets he saw a year ago as the Cowboys are forced to increase pass-game volume.
DETROIT
Joique Bell (Achilles’, knee) sat out the entire offseason program. The Lions didn’t mess around with any rookie hazing, giving SPARQ freak Ameer Abdullah the first-team reps right away. As an added bonus, he performed better as a receiver than the coaches expected. The all-purpose Abdullah is a serious threat for a heavy workload early on, even once Joique gets back on the field. … Zach Zenner did not have an impressive spring as he battles George Winn for a roster spot behind Bell, Abdullah and Theo Riddick. For now, it sounds like the Lions could try to slide Zenner onto the practice squad. Condolences, #DraftTwitter. … As for Riddick, there’s talk he could play most of his snaps in the slot. It’s not unreasonable as he could be a better No. 3 receiver than Corey Fuller. Still, the selection of Abdullah really hurt Riddick as he barely played last year when both Joique and Reggie Bush were healthy.
Calvin Johnson says he’s back to 100 percent after knee and ankle issues have bothered him over the last couple years. He’s also in Year 2 of the Joe Lombardi scheme. … Drops remained an issue for Eric Ebron, who continues to look like more hype than substance.
GREEN BAY
Davante Adams was the unquestioned star of the offseason program. He got called the MVP by coach Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers said he’s going to be a “star – for sure.” Adams is blocked by the presence of Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb, but the Packers run enough three-wide sets for there to be some boom weeks. If either of the starters goes down, Adams would erupt. … Rodgers also talked up Andrew Quarless, which should prevent anyone from wasting a pick on Richard Rogers. … Jordy Nelson’s hip appears perfectly fine. I’m operating as if he remains in his prime at age 30. … Worth noting that athletic monster Jeff Janis got some first-team reps while Jordy rehabbed. He’ll head to camp as the No. 4 wideout. … Even Randall Cobb thinks his numbers will regress off last season’s contract-campaign eruption, when he scored 12 touchdowns at 5-foot-10.
MINNESOTA
The Vikings’ first-team three-wide set featured Mike Wallace, Charles Johnson and Jarius Wright. … Johnson bulked up to 225 pounds and OC Norv Turner was relentless with praise. “He’s far and away our best receiver.” … I don’t give up on freak talents like Cordarrelle Patterson, but I won’t be taking him in redraft. The Vikings have no confidence he can get open even though they publicly proclaim otherwise. … Jerick McKinnon is locked in as Adrian Peterson’s direct backup. That won’t be a very voluminous role – the Vikings are going to ride Peterson into the ground as they prepare to part ways soon. The offensive staff reportedly sees APete as a “350-carry centerpiece.” … If Kyle Rudolph could ever sustain health, he’ll be a back-end TE1. For now, he’s healthy.
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