NFL Free Agency saved the sports world for two days while the COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc on the planet. The 2020 off-season will go down in history as one of the wildest few days in the NFL where games were not played. With every notification on my phone came a Adam Schefter or Ian Rapaport league shaking move. This went on for about 10 hours with little time to keep up with all the action that was going on. I’ll be breaking down my biggest winners and losers as far as players go for the 2020 off-season, between trades and free agency.
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1. Kyler Murray
Kyler had a slow start to last season, but finished strong as Kliff Kingsbury let him open up the offense more. Nobody was a bigger winner this off-season than Murray as the Cardinals traded away a bag of dirty gym socks for arguably the best WR on the planet, DeAndre Hopkins. Nuke has been the most reliable receiver the last two years outside of Michael Thomas. He has finished second in receptions the last two seasons, and has 31 touchdowns in the last three seasons. Between the Kingsbury Air Raid offense, and Hopkins’ talents of almost never dropping the ball, Kyler Murray in year two as the head of the offense for the Cardinals could be electrifying. Lock in Kyler for a top 5 fantasy performance on the year, you heard it here first
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2. Austin Ekeler
Austin Ekeler will be the unquestioned number one running back for the Chargers going into the 2020 season.The Chargers said that he would split time with Justin Jackson. The way I see it is similar to last year, The Chargers being down and needing to run a faster offense towards the end of the game. The difference between last year and this year is that Jackson doesn’t have the hands Melvin Gordon did, so I am projecting for more Ekeler use than a 50/50 split. Also, the QB questions will help Ekeler whether it will be Tyrod Taylor, or a rookie QB they could draft (and probably should). He is a wonderful checkdown option to have and there is a reason the team paid him all that damn money. This could be my bias coming out since I am an Austin Ekeler owner, but I can’t see a scenario where he isn’t the best back in the backfield for the Chargers again this year.
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3. Jordan Howard
There could not have been a better landing spot for Jordan Howard than the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins run game was dead last in the NFL last year in total yards, and 31st in YPC. In case you aren’t a Dolphins fanatic, the leading rusher for Miami last year was Ryan Fitzpatrick with 243 yards on the ground. Yes, you read that right. Miami hasn’t come out and said that Howard will be the starting running back yet, and I fully expect them to take a running back somewhere in the draft, the job is for him to lose. He was the number one option in Philly last year before his shoulder surgery, which he says is 100%. This is his third team in five years, even though he has racked up the third most yards since joining the league. If he can stay healthy and keep the job, there is no reason why he can’t have a great year in Miami.
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4. Eric Ebron
For those who listen to the podcast, you know that last year I had a man crush on Vance McDonald. This is not the same thing. Eric Ebron is a red zone monster, which is the exact place that the Steelers lacked in efficiency last year. It will also help the offense, hopefully, now that Big Ben will be behind center after missing pretty much the whole season last year. He has been spotty at best in his career so far, but was a Pro Bowler in 2018 with the Colts. He isn’t the biggest Tight End in the League, but he is very athletic and down in the red zone is hard for defenses to match up against. I really hope I’m right this year since Vance was an epic defeat that I will never hear the end of.
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5. Todd Gurley (Unpopular Opinion)
Now when this news first broke, I thought to myself “Well that doesn’t help the Falcons.” Then I realized that when the Falcons offense was a powerhouse, they had a healthy Devonta Freeman. Did Gurley look soft last year? Yes. Did he still finish the year with 1,064 total yards and 12 TDs? Yes. The Falcons lost their stud TE to free agency in Austin Hooper, which leaves the door open for more targets to go around. Gurley is on a 1 year $5.5 million contract this year, and if he expects to have a job anywhere next year, he will bounce back from last year's “off year”. I expect the Falcons to give him a lot of work since he could potentially be a rental. Only time will tell with this hot take but I will buy in on Gurley for now.
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