Le’Veon Bell – The Pittsburgh Steelers are “mixing and matching” Le’Veon Bell and LaGarrette Blount during OTA’s this offseason. This could easily be the Steeler’s getting a feel of what they have during OTA’s, but they will be committed fully to Bell in their new Zone-Blocking Scheme. Consider him a mid to low end RB1 with the potential to touch the ball 300 times this season.
Gio Bernard – Geoff Hobson of the Bengals website reported earlier yesterday that he expects new Bengals OC, Hue Jackson to “take the load” off the passing game this season. Hobson says he expects the Bengals to run the ball a lot more, which will help open up the “deep ball” in A.J. Green and the Bengals. Remember what Raiders Michael Bush did in 2011 under Hue Jackson when DMC went down? He totaled 5 games over 100 total yards with DMC’s absence – with Gio’s play making ability, this might just be the season that locks his RB1 status.
Toby Gerhart – There are a lot of coaches trying to model their team after the Seattle Seahawks; the Jacksonville Jaguars are one of them. Gus Bradley wants Gerhart to be their Lynch this season in their heavy run offense. “Knowing he was going to have to pass protect, catch the ball out of the backfield and get tough yardage, he was a really good fit for us,” Bradley spoke on RB Toby Gerhart. If healthy, Gerhart is in line for a major workload. “Gus comes from the Seattle Seahawks’ model of playing good defense, relying on the run game where Marshawn Lynch was their ‘Beast Mode’ out there. Hopefully, I’ll be the ‘Beast Mode’ down here for the Jaguars,” said Gerhart.
Latavius Murray – The Oakland Raiders Depth Chart has Murray listed as the 3rd RB, behind injury prone MJD and DMC. Greg Olsen, the Oakland Raiders Offensive Coordinator said Latavius Murray possesses the biggest upside in the Oakland Raiders RB Corps. If he’s able to stay healthy, the 6 foot 3′ second year speedster possesses huge sleeper appeal in the 2014 Fantasy Football season.
Montee Ball – Ball was punished early last season having fumbled in 2 of the first 3 games of the season. That’s all behind him now, as is Knowshon Moreno. With an improved O-Line the Bronco’s will be even more efficient running the ball up the middle this season. The news only keeps coming for future Montee Ball fantasy football owners. Jeff Legwold, ESPN Broncos reporter, said Montee Ball has shown major improvement as a receiver. Ball piled up 337 yards on 52 carries over Denver’s last 6 regular season games, while catching 15 balls. Now, take Moreno out of the picture and add in another 50 catches for Ball. Expect RB1 type numbers from Ball this season.
Michael Floyd – Sound the Fantasy Alarms on Michael Floyd! The Arizona Republic said the former Notre Dame WR “understood where he was supposed to be and when to be there,” and “caught nearly everything thrown his way.” The 3rd year WR is coming off a 1000+ yard season where he caught 66 balls. Expect Michael Floyd to have low end WR1/ high end WR2 type numbers this season
Knowshon Moreno – a “medical issue” is holding Moreno from off-season practice. A PFT NBC source says he may need arthroscopic surgery to fix it. Although it is not expected to be serious, knee surgery this close to preseason is never a good sign. Lamar Miller will continue to remain clear ahead of Moreno in the Dolphin backfield.
Christine Michael – The Texas A&M strength coach that trained both AP and Michael said that Michael’s athletic explosiveness is on par with Adrian Peterson’s. Louis Riddick, former 12 year NFL scout, tweeted Monday that when Michael “gets his chance regular season ’14, provided he’s healthy, he’ll show he’s the most gifted RB drafted in past 5 yrs.” Michael is the sure-fire RB of the future for the Seattle Seahawks. It’s obvious Lynch isn’t going out after a Super Bowl victory, but you can expect a way bigger load out of the Texas A&M star. He’ll take away 50+ touches from Lynch this season.
Seattle Seahawks – Their new Super Bowl rings:
