Nathan’s 2019 Fantasy Bounce Back Players

By: Nathan Brown, Team X Analyst

Some of these guys are coming back from injury, others just had an off year and a couple are new faces in new places! Whatever it was, you can expect them to come back and help you win your fantasy league!

Derek Carr QB Oakland Raiders – Carr was looking like a potential MVP candidate in 2016 before breaking his leg. In the two seasons since then his touchdowns have dropped, and his interceptions have risen. Last season he did have a career high 68% completion percentage and his first 4,000 yard passing season. So Gruden’s offense is doing good things for the quarterback and this offseason they added plenty of play makers for him. Starting with Antonio Brown, arguably one of the best receivers in the game. Two other big play receivers in Tyrell Williams and JJ Nelson plus rookie running back Josh Jacobs who has good hands out of the backfield. If his completion percentage and yardage stay in the range they were last year, I don’t see how his touchdowns can’t get into the low 30s after a disappointing 19 last season. 

Marcus Mariota QB Tennessee Titans – Another quarterback who in 2016 looked like a break out player, yet has regressed in each of the past two seasons. Well, Mariota has bulked up a little bit to try and help his health. WR Corey Davis took another step forward last year and the Titans used a second round pick on WR AJ Brown who is going to be able to give Mariota some run after the catch. Also the late season emergence of Derrick Henry will alleviate some pressure for the passing game. 

Devonta Freeman RB Atlanta Falcons – Freeman missed 14 games last season with a groin injury. It’s been reported that he looked healthy and explosive OTA’s. With Tevin Coleman moving on to the 49ers, it opens the door for Freeman to be more of a workhorse than he was before. Ito Smith is going to take some snaps away from him, but not as many as Coleman had in the past. Atlanta is poised to have a high scoring offense once again and having Julio Jones, Calving Ridley, Mo Sanu and Austin Hooper in the passing game should keep teams from loading the box which will give Freeman plenty of room to work.

Leonard Fournette RB Jacksonville Jaguars – In 2017 Fournette averaged 3.9 YPC while facing an eight man box 48.5% of the time, the fifth highest percentage in the league. Rushing for 1,040 yards and 9 touchdowns. While also catching 36 balls for 302 yards and a touchdown. In 2018, he only played 8 games due to injury. He faced an eight man box 35% of the time, the third highest percentage in the league. The high percentage of eight men in the box translate directly to other teams not being afraid of Blake Bortles as a passer. He was on pace for around to rush for 900 yards and 10 touchdowns as well as catch 44 and around 400 yards. Bringing in Nick Foles and offensive coordinator John DeFilippo should open up the passing game more and give Fournette better odds when he gets the ball in his hands this year. 

Demaryius Thomas WR New England Patriots – Thomas had a hard time finding his role with the Texans after the midseason trade. Signing with New England and having a full offseason to work with Tom Brady is going to help him out immensely. That along with the departure of Brady’s favorite big target, Rob Gronkowski as well as Chris Hogan and the unknown with Josh Gordon opens the door up. He has been a consistent 1000 yards and 5 plus touchdowns since becoming a starter in this league. The only hiccup I could see for him next year is gaining Brady’s trust because his career catch rate is 61%. 

Devin Funchess WR Indianapolis Colts – Last season some Funchess’ numbers falling off can be contributed to the unhealthy shoulder of his quarterback. Going to Indy and their potent offense he’s going to see plenty of targets. He’s a big target and will get a lot of looks in the red zone and will benefit from having Eric Ebron lining up with him after his 13 touchdown season. But just like the last guy, his abysmal career catch percentage(51.8%) could hurt him when trying to build trust with Andrew Luck. 

Delanie Walker TE Tennessee Titans – A week 1 ankle injury ended his 2018 season. He’s back, healthy and motivated to prove he can still play at a high level even at 35 years old. Walker has been a staple of the Titans passing game every year since joining the Titans, except last season. There is no reason to believe he won’t come back and be just as good. 

Hunter Henry TE Los Angeles Chargers – Coming back from a torn ACL, Henry will be stepping back into the starting role with Antonio Gates gone and only Virgil Green to compete for snaps with. He showed the ability to be a playmaker in his first two seasons and there is no reason to believe any differently. Last season the two tight ends who played significant time combined for 72 targets. Tyrell Williams is also gone opening up another 65 targets, you have to assume the majority go to Mike Williams, but if Henry takes 15 more those and ends up getting around 85 targets. He’d be in for a 60 catches season putting him in the 6-8 range for receptions by a tight end and setting him up for a nice season.