Fan Favorite

It didn’t take long for McLaurin to become a fan favorite in DC. In his debut against the Eagles he exploded for 125 yards and a 69 yard touchdown. He would finish his rookie campaign with 7 receiving touchdowns despite mediocre quarterback play. In fact, that was the theme for McLaurin’s career until last season. Overall, McLaurin has played with 13 different starting quarterbacks over his time in Washington.

Despite the revolving door at quarterback, a terrible owner and several losing seasons, McLaurin never complained but instead perfected his craft. He could’ve complained, asked for a trade or spoke out to the media but that’s not who he is. That’s why he is so beloved in Washington, he has been a true team player.

Contract Standoff

Fast forward to today and McLaurin is one of the few training camp holdouts. There is a clear disconnect in his value between the Commanders front office and Terry’s camp. Rumors suggest McLaurin is asking in the $33m per year range while the Commanders are offering significantly lower than that. Is he worth that asking price?

That’s where this situation becomes tricky. Is he a top 10 WR? Yes, I believe he is right around the 10 range when ranking receivers. If he were to get $33m per year it would put him only below Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson and CeeDee Lamb. While McLaurin is clearly a star, he is not an elite game-breaking receiver in my opinion.

Adam Peters and the Washington front office most likely think the same but there is the loyalty factor. For many years he was the only bright spot on this Washington team. He is also coming off a franchise record 13 receiving touchdowns but is about to turn 30 in September.

It’s not as easy as giving McLaurin what he wants but at the same time you have to consider what he means to this team and community. My gut is telling me this will get done for around the $30m per year range but this holdout could last all the way through the pre-season.

The post What to Make of the Terry McLaurin Contract Situation appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Taylor Ford

These three players will be hard to acquire in your dynasty and redraft fantasy leagues for 2021. Though, untradeable, means it will also be hard to trade these guys at the current asking price around leagues.

Jonathan Taylor

We start with the guy that is probably the hardest to move. This is the second season for the phenom that is Jonathan Taylor. Like the other two guys on this list, his stock is probably higher than it will ever be, making it hard to acquire him. The opposite side is that he is going to be hard to trade away because most people will not be willing to give the proper asking price for the guy. I personally am in 10 leagues (8 Dynasty), and I have only seen him moved once. I was the one acquiring him, and I paid a lot. That owner received Austin Ekeler, Robert Woods, and a 2023 first-round pick.  According to Dynasty Trade Calculator, as of right now, JT has a higher value than every running back not named Christian McCaffrey. In the last 6 games of last season, He put on a show for his fantasy owners. In those 6 games, he tallied 741 yards on 119 carries and rushed for 7 touchdowns. At only 22 years old he is going to be a monster, but is he worth paying the amount asked of by owners? In my opinion, absolutely.

Kyle Pitts

Second is the rookie future Hall of Famer Kyle Pitts. He is so high in value right now before even taking a snap in the NFL, it’s unreal. Redraft leagues may not be near as difficult to acquire or move him, but in dynasty, it seems impossible. The asking price is extremely high for unproven talent. I did see one trade in a league that I am in. Pitts got sent to another team for Darren Waller, Mike Williams, and 2 second-round picks. That is the cheapest I have seen out of the offers posted on Twitter. The guy is a rare talent at that position, sure. It still remains a mystery if that will translate over to the NFL. So, is the asking price worth the pay? Not in my opinion.

CeeDee Lamb

This number 88 superstar for America’s team is an absolute stud. Last year he put up just short of 1000 yards and tallied 5 TDs on 74 receptions. This was with four different quarterbacks. Now with Dak looking all sorts of elite and being the one throwing CeeDee the ball all season, Lamb is going to kill it. Though, he is not and will not be the number one receiver in Dallas as long as 19 is there. On the contrary of what most fantasy owners have been trained to believe this offseason, CeeDee is and will be the number 2 in the big D.  Amari is Dak Prescott’s favorite target and most likely always will be as long as Coop is on the squad. Now, this does not mean CeeDee’s value goes way down. Both Dallas receivers can and most likely will finish top ten in fantasy for the 2021-2022 season. I once offered all of my draft picks for 3 years (21 draft picks) for CeeDee by himself and the guy declined it. I have completed one trade this offseason for him. It involved me giving a first and Antonio Gibson. Is he worth the price you have to pay to acquire him? Yes, he is worth it, but getting someone to pays his price may be hard to find.

The post 3 of the most “untradeable” players in fantasy appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: (@AdamHulseSports)

The Dallas Cowboys are a team that is a real Super Bowl contender heading into the 2021 NFL season. They have a head coach in Mike McCarthy who has already won a ring with the Green Bay Packers, one of the best offensives in the NFL lead by superstar quarterback Dak Prescott, and an improved defense with a brand new, and highly respected, defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. They are the current betting odds favorite to win the NFC East Division at +135 according to the Draft Kings Sports Book and they actually have the second easiest strength of schedule ranking. There are many reasons to believe that the Cowboys can compete for a Super Bowl this season.

Dak is Back

After missing the majority of the 2020 season due to injury, Dak is back and ready to go for the 2021 NFL season. He has consistently been one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL and there is no reason to believe that won’t continue as long as he is fully healthy. In his last full season in 2019, he put up the best numbers of his career including 4902 passing yards and 30 passing touchdowns, both of which were career highs. In fact, because he has consistently trended up each year in terms of production, it’s still very possible that he will be even better this coming season than ever before. The best version of Prescott may still be on it’s way and that’s a very exciting thought for the Cowboys.

Elite Offense

The Cowboys have one of the best offenses in the entire NFL. Last season, even without Prescott for eleven games, the Cowboys still ranked 14th in total offense at 371.8 yards per game and 17th in scoring offense with 24.7 points per game. This demonstrates that even with the terrible quarterback play, and a ton of injuries to the offensive line as well, their offensive weapons were still good enough to produce. Now that Prescott and the line are both healthy again, they can get back to being the dominant force that they were in 2019 or even better. That season the Cowboys ranked 1st in the NFL in total offense with 431.5 yards per game and 6th in scoring offense with 27.1 points per game.

The CeeDee Lamb Factor

In addition to Ezekiel Elliot, Amari Cooper, and Michael Gallup, who were all a part of the team in 2019, is the now second year wide receiver in CeeDee Lamb. He had a very impressive rookie campaign in 2020 with 74 receptions for 935 yards and 5 touchdowns in a crowded passing offense. The fact that only five of his sixteen games played were with Prescott makes his season even more impressive. Most importantly, his best games of the year were when Prescott was playing including both of his games where he eclipsed 100 receiving yards, his only game with multiple touchdowns, and his most receptions with eight in a single game. This connection between Prescott and Lamb is something to keep an eye on in the 2021 NFL season and will likely be a huge weapon for the Cowboys.

Improving Defense

The Cowboys were a disaster defensively in the 2020 season. They ranked 23rd in yards allowed with 386.4 per game and 28th in points allowed with 29.6 per game. Despite not losing much in terms of personnel, this was a huge drop-off from their solid 2019 season where they ranked 9th in yards allowed with 327 per game and 11th in points allowed with 20.1 per game. This is why defensive coordinator Mike Nolan was fired after just one season with the Cowboys. They upgraded in a big way this offseason by hiring Dan Quinn to be the new DC, who was the mastermind of the famous Legion of Boom defense in Seattle with the Seahawks. With stars like Jaylon Smith and DeMarcus Lawrence to pair with exciting newcomers like Micah Parsons, Quinn has an excellent opportunity to get Dallas back into the top ten defenses in the NFL.

Season Outlook

Playing in the NFC East division that is fairly weak compared to the rest of the NFL gives the Cowboys an excellent chance to make a postseason appearance. The Eagles are in a complete rebuilding year, the Giants are improving but don’t appear quite ready to compete yet, and the defending division champions, Washington, are a solid team but definitely beatable and not as talented as the Cowboys are as a whole. This is why the Cowboys are the favorites to win their division and make an appearance in the playoffs. If Dak Prescott can continue to improve, and Dan Quinn lives up to his expectations of greatly improving the defense, then the Cowboys will be right in the mix as a Super Bowl contender.

The post Why the Cowboys are Super Bowl Contenders appeared first on Pro Football Mania.