Even though there might not be fans at the games, the NFL season looks to be on it’s way for 2020-2021. Which means the Fantasy Football season is underway as well. Each month I will be updating you on trends through mock drafts, fantasy football relevant news, and which defense/kickers to stay away from when drafting.
We go from the quarterbacks to…you guessed it! Defense and kickers. Since there isn’t too much to talk about them individually in fantasy football, I thought it would be best to combine the two.
(Having a player in the “Trending Down” section isn’t me calling them bad. Continue on!)
Trending Up
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs defense was the definition of “meh” last season. I won’t argue that. Even with that fact, it is also true that they were tied for 1st in the NFL in fumble recoveries. They also turned the ball over offensively a record amount of times.
This defense has pieces to be great. Lavonte David, Devin White, Vita Vea, these aren’t scrubs. No matter how good you are, if you’re asked to be on the field as much as the Buccaneers defense was thrown out there randomly, you are bound to have mess ups. Now with Tom Brady under center the game flow should be controlled way more.
Justin Tucker
This offense is a kicker’s dream. If they continue their dominance throughout the 2020-21 season, Justin Tucker is a great pick. He actually gets even better though if they slow down a tad, giving them more field goals instead of touchdowns. He is 99% kicking extra points on his career, and nearly made 97% of the field goals he kicked last year.
Trending Down
Mason Crosby
Last year was Mason Crosby’s most accurate season ever, kicking nearly 92% on field goals and making all but one extra-point, but don’t let those stats fool you. Crosby’s field goal attempts dropped from 37 in 2018, to 24 last year. The Green Bay Packers offense was lackluster to say the least, and they did next to nothing to let Aaron Rodgers fix that. Factor in the likely cold weather he will be kicking in too, and you are left with a lot of reasons to avoid Mason Crosby in 2020.
Seattle Seahawks
While you might think the Seattle Seahawks defense would be trending up after trading for a player like Jamal Adams but I beg to differ. They might have upgraded at safety, but this likely means Clowney will not be returning to Seattle. Something about Seattle and injuries tend to go hand and hand, and I do not believe their defense is capable of rotating the next man up.