How much longer can Detroit fans support this team? The 0-16 team was over a decade ago, but it doesn't feel like this team is much closer to the playoffs yet. The Lions are only 1-12 in the playoffs in the last 50 years and have never advanced to the Super Bowl. Don't expect anything to change about that statistic this year either because the NFC North is a tough division, especially defensively. The Lions used this years' first-round pick to replace Darius Slay, who they traded earlier in the offseason, and then used their second-round pick on D'Andre Swift out of Georgia. If I were a Lions fan, I would be furious that they traded Slay for trash, instead of pairing him with Okudah, and using their second-round pick on a running back, even though only one had been drafted up to that point. There are a lot of question marks on this roster, but luckily, as Christian McCaffrey showed us last year, you can still have a historic fantasy season on a terrible team. Matthew Stafford is reportedly fully recovered from his back injury, which caused him to miss the second half of the season last year. During the first half of the season, he was on pace to throw for about 5,000 yards and 40 touchdowns, which would have ranked him first or second in the league. If you doubled his 166 fantasy points through 8 weeks, he would have finished the season with over 330 points, which would have ranked third only behind Lamar and Dak. With that being said, the Packers and Vikings were tied for the third-most interceptions last year and the Bears allowed the sixth-fewest yards per play. Also, Stafford is entering his 12th season, at age 32, and coming off a major back injury. He's currently being projected around QB15 and being drafted in the 10th round or later. If I'm gonna take a QB late in the draft, I would prefer taking a risk on a guy like Mayfield, Burrow, or Goff. As I mentioned earlier, the running game got a lot more interesting this offseason. With Kerryon Johnson struggling with injuries since entering the league, the Lions decided to take D'Andre Swift to compete for the starting job. Heading into the season, a lot of experts are expecting Swift to take over this backfield at some point this year, which very well could happen, but Johnson has shown flashes of potential in his two seasons. It wouldn't be surprising to see this backfield split touches for the first few weeks until there's a clear hot hand. If Kerryon stays healthy, it wouldn't surprise me if he holds onto the starting job. Although he's missed six games in each of his first two seasons, he's been productive when healthy and given an opportunity. If you compare his first two years numbers with Dalvin Cook's, another young running back who dealt with injuries, they are almost identical. In Dalvin's first two seasons, he played in 15 games, carried the ball 207 times for 969 yards, and had 6 total touchdowns. In Johnson's first two years, he played in 18 games, carried the ball 231 times for 1,044 yards, and had 8 total touchdowns. Kerryon is currently projected outside of the top 30 running backs and is expected to go in round seven or later. Swift, on the other hand, is projected as a top 20-30 RB and being drafted anywhere from round four to round six. I like Swift in dynasty leagues and think he will have a bright future in the NFL, but using one of your top six picks on a rookie who might not even start is a little too risky for me. I would stay away from Swift in redraft leagues unless he falls. Using a seventh or eighth round pick on Johnson is a great value, although, with so many other risky prospects projected around him, I would probably lean towards taking someone like Guice or Damien Williams, if they're still available. Even though they lost Stafford halfway through the year, the Lions offense still managed to finish top 10 in the league in passing yards. If Stafford plays a full season these receivers could be even more dangerous than they were last year. Kenny Golladay, in just his third season, finished as WR9 in fantasy and led all receivers in receiving touchdowns. He's now had back to back seasons with over 100 targets and over 1,000 receiving yards. Only Mike Williams and AJ Brown had more yards per reception than Golladay last year. He's currently projected as a top 10 WR and going in the second or third round of standard leagues. His teammate, Marvin Jones Jr., finished the season as WR28 even though he missed three games and he had one of the biggest fantasy games of last year. Jones Jr. only had three games of more than five catches last year, which shows he doesn't need a ton of targets to still be a fantasy starter. Marvin Jones is projected to go somewhere between rounds seven and nine and is viewed as a potential flex player. Second-year tight end, TJ Hockenson, also should be a factor in the passing game. Aside from his week one explosion, the rest of his season was mostly forgettable. He's currently projected anywhere from TE12 to TE20 and is expected to be drafted somewhere between round 8 and 10. Danny Amendola and Geronimo Allison are the third and fourth wide receivers on the depth chart, so there will be plenty of mouths to feed in this offense. Out of these receivers, I would be most inclined to take a chance on Marvin Jones Jr. in the later rounds. A second-round pick for Golladay is a little too steep for my liking and there are plenty of other tight ends being taken after Hockenson that I like more than him.
Alex Zani
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