Veteran Free Agent Acquisitions to See a Fantasy Boost: Fan’s Take
Every year, a handful of players in fantasy fail to live up to expectations, but in certain situations, moving on to a new team will provide them with motivation to succeed. Excluding Peyton Manning and Vincent Jackson, let's take a look at five candidates who should receive a boost to their value by playing in a new city:
5. Martellus Bennett, New York Giants
Bennett spent four seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, but never really lived up to expectations. He has shown promise, but only has a single-season career-high of 33 receptions. Now that he is no longer playing behind Jason Witten, Bennett has a chance to shine as the featured tight end in New York. Jake Ballard and Travis Beckum are still recovering from torn ACLs, so Bennett has a golden opportunity to distinguish himself as Eli Manning's third receiving option.
4. Matt Flynn, Seattle Seahawks
After signing Flynn to a three-year, $26 million deal, the Seahawks expect him to play at some point. However, he still has to beat out Tarvaris Jackson and rookie Russell Wilson for the starting job. If Flynn is named the starter, he'll have quality weapons at his disposal in Sidney Rice, Doug Baldwin and Marshawn Lynch. Even though Flynn is relatively unproven, he has shown some potential when he has received playing time with the Green Bay Packers.
3. Robert Meachem, San Diego Chargers
Meachem began last season well with the New Orleans Saints, totaling 22 receptions for 228 yards and three touchdowns through his first five games. But since then, he has fallen behind on the Saints depth chart and failed to put up starting-caliber receiver numbers. With Meachem in the mix to start in San Diego, his value should rise considerably. While he does have injury concerns, he does not have much competition. Malcom Floyd has only played one full season in his seven-year career, Vincent Brown is still inexperienced and Eddie Royal's specialty is returning kicks.
2. Jacob Tamme, Denver Broncos
Tamme's fantasy value lies squarely on the health and performance of Manning. Assuming Manning is close to playing near his capabilities, Tamme could finish the season as a top-10 tight end. Joel Dreessen will have his share of receptions, but Tamme and Manning already have experience playing together in Indianapolis. When Dallas Clark missed 10 games in 2010 with a wrist injury, Tamme filled in with 67 receptions for 631 yards and four touchdowns. There are no established slot receivers in Denver, so Tamme will have many chances to make catches across the middle.
1. Brandon Lloyd, New England Patriots
Despite playing in poor offenses with the Denver Broncos and St. Louis Rams last season, Lloyd still managed to post a respectable total of 70 receptions for 966 yards and five touchdowns. But playing in New England with Josh McDaniels as his offensive coordinator and Tom Brady as his quarterback, Lloyd is in a prime spot to surpass those numbers. Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and Wes Welker will draw coverage away from Lloyd, which is a luxury he never had in either of his previous two stops.
Sources:
Travis Chan is a longtime fan of the San Francisco 49ers, Giants and Golden State Warriors. He is also a fantasy sports enthusiast and contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network. You can follow him on Twitter @Travischan1.
