The Good

Broncos running back Javonte Williams had an impressive rookie season in Denver. Williams piled up 1,219 scrimmage yards and 7 total touchdowns in his first season. He could be seen regularly breaking tackles and proved to be built for the NFL. In fact, Williams had 31 broken tackles his rookie season and was the league leader in broken-plus tackles missed at 17.2%. Big things were expected for Williams in his 2nd season but he unfortunately went down with a serious ACL injury in week 4. Williams now seems to be ahead of schedule as he is already practicing again for the Broncos and could see some pre-season reps. This is great news for Denver fans as new head coach Payton will be able to get the best out of Williams going forward.

As insurance, the Broncos brought in running back Samaje Perine this offseason. If you followed the Cincinnati Bengals closely you know Perine played a pivotal role for them. Now that Williams looks to be healthy, Perine will provide an extra jolt to the running game for Denver. Perine is somewhat similar to Williams in that he rarely goes down on the first touch. He just doesn’t have the breakaway speed that Williams has. Expect the running game to be the strength of the Broncos offense.

The Bad

There were already questions about the Broncos wide receiver position going into next season. Unfortunately, the group took a big hit to their depth as receivers K.J. Hamler and Tim Patrick are now out indefinitely. The Broncos will now lean heavily on Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton in 2023. Jeudy has shown flashes of greatness but lacks consistency and Sutton hasn’t been the same since his breakout 2019 season. The Broncos also drafted Marvin Mims Jr. from Oklahoma with hopes to bolster the position. With the recent injuries, Mims will now be relied on for a heavy role in Denver.

The Prediction

Sean Payton will have an impact in Denver this season. How much of an impact is yet to be seen but the offense should be vastly improved. The problem for the Broncos is Russell Wilson is not the same player as he was in Seattle. He can no longer rely on his legs to extend plays and this causes more turnovers. The key for him going forward is to learn how to play from the pocket similar to what Drew Brees did in New Orleans. It will be fascinating to watch how this all plays out in 2023.

2023 Record: 8-9 (3rd in the Division)

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The Good

In Joe Burrow’s rookie season, he had one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL. He was constantly under pressure and ultimately went down with an ACL injury. Finally coming into next season Burrow will have a respectable offensive line with newly acquired LT Orlando Brown Jr. leading the way. The Bengals were able to pry Brown Jr. away from the Chiefs giving them an advantage over their rival. If Jonah Williams can successfully make the switch to RT and bounce back from a rough year this o-line could be a top-10 group.

Despite only playing in 12 games last season due to injury, Ja’Marr Chase was still able to surpass the 1,000 yards mark. Chase has solidified himself as one of the best wide receivers in the NFL in just 2 seasons. He is now fully healthy and you can expect big numbers for Chase in 2023. The chemistry between Chase and Burrow will only improve going forward. Also, expect more deep shots to Chase as this improved o-line should give Burrow more time in the pocket. Chase could end up chasing Justin Jefferson for the league lead in reception yards.

The Bad

While it’s hard to find a true weakness on the Bengals roster, there are two areas of concern. Cincinnati took a hit to their secondary when they lost safeties Von Bell and Jessie Bates III. They will now rely on their former 1st round pick Daxton Hill to step up into the starting safety role. To me losing these two will have a pretty significant impact on the Bengals secondary. Bates III was an anchor at the free safety position and was underrated during his time in Cincinnati. Bell had an impressive 2022 campaign and had 4 interceptions at the strong safety spot. I will be watching closely how this impacts the Bengals defense going forward.

The other area of concern is running back depth. Cincinnati lost running back Samaje Perine to the Broncos this offseason. Perine was a tank for the Bengals and offered a nice 1-2 punch with Joe Mixon. With Perine no longer there, the Bengals will look to 5th-round rookie Chase Brown to fill the backup role. Brown was impressive during his time at Illinois but I am not expecting the same amount of production that they had with Perine. If Joe Mixon goes down Cincinnati could be in serious trouble.

The Prediction

Cincinnati has all the ingredients of a Super Bowl team. They do have some minor concerns as I previously pointed out but overall they are in the conversation as one of the league’s best. Joe Burrow gave us all a recent scare when he went down during a training camp practice. It looks as if that was just a minor calf injury and he will return by the start of the season. Obviously, Burrow’s health is the key for the Bengals to make a deep run and if he stays healthy Cincinnati will be a threat in the AFC.

2023 Record: 13-4 (1st in the Division)

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This is obviously huge news for Alexander Mattison as he will finally be the lead back in Minnesota. Mattison has a chance now to finish as a top-tier fantasy running back in 2023. Keep an eye out for our fantasy football rankings as when they are updated you will see a pretty big jump for Mattison. As for Cook, it all depends on where he lands. Let’s now look at 3 potential suitors for the star running back.

Miami Dolphins

Rumors of Dalvin Cook to the Dolphins have been circulating for months now. The Dolphins have no clear-cut #1 running back and this spot makes the most sense. Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson Jr. and rookie Devon Achane round out the crowded running back room for the Dolphins. Achane was a 3rd round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft so the Dolphins have some investment there. Still, when you have a chance to grab one of the top running backs in the game you take it.

Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos are another team to keep an eye on as a Dalvin Cook landing spot. Denver has Javonte Williams coming back and they also signed ex-Bengal Samaje Perine this offseason. There are some factors here to consider. The first is Williams suffered an ACL tear back in October and it might take some time before he is ready. The other is Perine is more of third down running back and has never handled a heavy load. If Head Coach Sean Payton believes his team is a contender, expect him to make a move.

Dallas Cowboys

Dallas is a bit of a wild card on this list but there are signs the Cowboys may be interested in Cook. Earlier this offseason the Cowboys decided to release Ezekiel Elliott and move ahead with Tony Pollard. Although Pollard has shown a ton of potential the questions are there if he can handle a full-time role. Fantasy owners would not be happy with Cook entering the mix but the Cowboys offense would become a major threat next season. Never count out Jerry Jones to make a splashy move and bringing in Dalvin Cook would certainly be that.

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After missing all of his rookie season due to a Lisfranc injury, Travis Etienne was poised to break out in his second year. The former Clemson Tiger had a familiar face at quarterback in Trevor Lawrence and Doug Pederson was now running the offense. When the dust settled, Travis Etienne finished the fantasy year as RB17 (Half PPR) and totaled 187.6 FP. It wasn’t a down year by any means yet we all expected more from Etienne. Before we look ahead at Etienne’s fantasy outlook let’s first recap his 2022-2023 season.

2022

Travis Etienne started his 2022 campaign slowly. It wasn’t that big of a surprise since the RB was coming back from a pretty serious injury. He finished with single-digit fantasy points during his first 4 games. Etienne started to pick up momentum during the week 5 matchup against the Houston Texans. Etienne finished the day with 71 yards on the ground and an additional 43 yards receiving. After this game he started a streak of 4 straight double-digit fantasy point games including 3 top 10 finishes. This was the type of production fantasy owners were banking on.

After the bye week Etienne’s production slowed once again and this is the type of inconsistency that we don’t want to see in a top-tier running back. Thankfully Travis Etienne woke up again in his second matchup with the Texans. He used his vision to hit the hole, break the tackle and burst to the end zone for a 62-yard touchdown.

2023

As we start to project Travis Etienne’s value in 2023 and beyond it’s important to look at some key statistics. One of those is red zone stats among running backs. Etienne finished 30th in this metric behind the likes of Samaje Perine and Devin Singletary. The chances were there for Etienne as he had 59.4% of attempts in the red zone, he just couldn’t convert those into more points.

The Jacksonville Jaguars also drafted Tank Bigsby in the 3rd round of the 2023 NFL Draft. One could envision that the Jaguars are going to use him in the red zone given the stats I pointed out above. If that happens, Etienne’s value will take a hit.

Travis Etienne’s Fantasy Outlook

Travis Etienne is certainly a hot topic going into the upcoming season. He could be a league winner or he could end up costing you a chance at the playoffs. There seems to be no middle ground here. Currently, I have him slated at #21 overall in my 2023 top 100 fantasy rankings and I may drop him down some more. The inconsistency has me more worried about his overall value going forward.

Let’s take a quick look at where Etienne stands today in terms of ADP and FantasyPros ECR.

As you can see his ADP has stayed steady at 25 but his ECR is starting to drop. This goes to show that others are also second guessing his value going forward. I wouldn’t be surprised if his ECR continues to drop into the 20 range. As we move into training camp and the NFL preseason I will be keeping an eye on how Tank Bigsby is utilized. It will certainly have an impact on Etienne’s overall value. At this point, I have Travis Etienne on the tier 3 range of running backs for the 2023-2024 season.

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Denver Broncos: RB Samaje Perine (ADP: 167.7)

The Denver Broncos picked up RB Samaje Perine during the offseason in order to beef up their RB depth chart. Javonte Williams is still recovering from injury and there is some doubt that he may miss some parts of the season. Perine will take over the load at first and can be a suitable backup as he also has good pass-catching skills. The Broncos want Javonte to take his time so Perine has his reps.

Kansas City Chiefs: RB Jerick McKinnon (ADP 175.8)

It’s challenging to trust Kansas City Chiefs’ players not named Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. Their depth and plays make it possible for anyone to stand out. For this, we will trust Jerick McKinnon. He played an integral role in Kansas City’s run to the Super Bowl. The difficult part is that the Chiefs also have Clyde Edwards-Helaire, La’Mical Perine, and Isiah Pacheco. Hopefully, McKinnon will stand out due to his pass-catching ability.

Las Vegas Raiders: TE Michael Mayer (ADP: 138.9)

The Raiders drafted who many thought is the top TE in this year’s draft. Michael Mayer, a TE from Notre Dame, was picked up by Las Vegas in the second round. He is known for his offensive skills coming out of college. He will have some competition with Austin Hooper and O.J. Howard in the depth chart. Mayer has the most upside among the three and can be a sneaky pickup in the later rounds.

Los Angeles Chargers: WR Quentin Johnston (ADP 106.7)

Quentin Johnston landed in the perfect situation with the Chargers. Even if he’s the third-best WR on the team, the top two are often injured so this will open up more opportunities for him. With the addition of Kellen Moore on the team, the Chargers are bound to throw the ball deep more often which will help Johnston as he is likely to take those reps.

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By: Jake Rajala

The Cincinnati Bengals were the NFL’s darling in 2022, but they still needed to be more well-rounded this off-season. I expect the Bengals to be an AFC juggernaut in 2022, but I do believe there are a few players who will a large role that need to have a career turnaround. With that said, I’m going to outline three overrated profiles on the Bengals right now.

Samaje Perine

It may be fun to let off some steam on Samaje Perine after he didn’t make an attempt to catch the ball on the Bengals last play of Super Bowl LVI. Although, I do also believe that he hasn’t been an exciting RB2 on a team pushing for a Super Bowl win in the near future. Perine is a step below a prime Giovani Bernard and I’d prefer to see Cincy have a RB2 that can be a true x-factor in prime-time contests. Hopefully, he can have a 2022 season near his rookie season (785 all-purpose yards).

Hayden Hurst

It may seem like “Hayden Hurst is an athletic freak in a high-powered offense”, but he certainly didn’t lift off in a Matt Ryan-led offense. It should be well noted that Hurst is an inspiring person, but the former Falcons TE registered 571 yards in 2020 and 221 yards in 13 games last season. Hurst has been less exciting than Coby Fleener in a Saints uniform. I would be hesitant to expect him to shine in a Bengals offense that arguably displays the best WR trio in the NFL.

Sam Hubbard

I will say that Sam Hubbard has been a pillar of consistency, but I’d still like to see him get over the hump (10+ sacks, Pro Bowl honors). After Trey Hendrickson unleashed 14 sacks in 2021, It’s time for this pass-rushing partner to be a star in the AFC. Carlos Dunlap may not have had a positive tone in his last days in Cincy, but he has had better production than Hubbard as of late. Hubbard did also sign an impressive contract extension in the 2021 off-season, so it’s time for him to put it all together soon.

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