NFC NORTH
CHI: Did the Bears surround Justin Fields with enough?
The Bears have the exact same offense last year except they added Equanimeous St. Brown, N’Keal Harry, Dante Pettis, and Byron Pringle. All of whom are on their tour of duty around the NFL. Whoopie, right?
It probably doesn’t excite Fields either. Besides David Montgomery, Darnell Mooney and Cole Kmet, there is little else for Fields to throw to and that’s why they’ll be sitting most weeks of the fantasy season.
DET: Can D’Andre Swift flip the switch?
The run has eluded a line of coaches before Dan Campbell stepped into the Motor City. If Swift can go from a solid dual threat to THE threat in the division, it will give eternal underdogs Detroit an advantage. Jamaal Williams will give him breaks but the pressure is taken off Jared Goff to get the ball to someone besides Amon-Ra St. Brown and T.J. Hockenson. Opposing defenses will be concerned with Swift so much, that they’ll be caught sleeping on Detroit’s receivers.
GB: Is Allen Lazard the key to the Packers’ offense?
Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillion are expected to touch the ball some combined 40 percent of the time. Who else do they have? Robert Tonyan is banged up to start the season, Davante Adams is gone and they brought in Sammy Watkins to replace him. They also drafted Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, and Amari Rogers, as the next wave.
That leaves returning receivers Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb as the only ones familiar with Aaron Rodgers. Lazard has that breakout potential but was overshadowed by Adams, as was every other Packers receiver during his tenure here. If Lazard can play the role of No. 1 receiver in his own successful way, then there’s a reason to own a piece of this receiving corps.
MIN: What new wrinkles will Kevin O’Connell introduce?
It seems like the same old-same old in Minnesota, right? Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, Alexander Mattison, and Irv Smith Jr. are all names we know. At this point, what you see is what you get. A lot of garbage time production, that’s what.
Let’s see K.J. Osborn more, or use Jalen Reagor in ways he wasn’t utilized in Philadelphia. There’s so much talent here, but it feels like we know how each game will go. So surprise us, Kevin O’Connell. Give us a reason to be excited about this offense.
