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When Trey Lance does become the starter, he will inherit a young skill player core, an effective run game, and a spectacular offensive line. A dream for any young quarterback and any dynasty owner. Additionally, there’s no secret what Kyle Shanahan has been able to do for the careers of his quarterbacks. His offensive creativity and Lance’s raw skillset is a recipe for a potential high-end dynasty QB1.

The Bears aren’t exactly the 49ers in terms of landing spots for dynasty quarterbacks. Last season, they had a -9.18 (No. 27) Supporting Cast Efficiency rating and an 85.9-percent (No. 16) Protection Rate. While we’ll always love Andy Dalton for his awesome 2015 stretch, we saw what he failed to do with a stacked arsenal in Dallas. Justin Fields should be expected to start within the first few weeks of the season.

Why NFL trades are less frequent than NBA trades. Josh Palmer is a super duper sleeper.

Marquez Callaway could be the No. 2 in New Orleans, sorry Tre’Quan Smith truthers! Ihmir Smith-Marsette has multiple positive traits.

Ezekiel Elliott has been a fantasy stud since entering the league, but his performance slipped badly in 2020. Using PlayerProfiler’s advanced analytics, one would realize he had an average 23.3-percent (No. 23) Juke Rate, but ranked outside the top 50 qualified running backs in True Yards Per Carry, and outside the top 40 in both Yards Created Per Touch and Breakaway Run Rate.

Over his last four starts of 2020, Elliott averaged just 59-percent of the team’s snaps. If that holds or improves, he will still provide fantasy value as the primary option in a high scoring offence. But reduce his once-dominant volume and he profiles closer to Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Chris Carson, or Mike Davis in 2021. He would be a third round player at a first round redraft ADP.

Fueling the Kyle Pitts hype bubble! Who you got: Olamide Zaccheaus or Russell Gage?

Ja’Marr Chase’s 2019 reception perception was outstanding. How polished is Jaylen Waddle?

I’m drinking the Chargers hype Kool-Aid, and I am fully ready to get hurt again when the mystifying injury luck begins to plague the team as it does every year. But in terms of ceiling? I can’t be any more in on Justin Herbert. The loss of Hunter Henry is alleviated with Jared Cook and Donald Parham, and adding Josh Palmer to Keenan Allen, Austin Ekeler, Mike Williams, and Jalen Guyton just fuels the bulls case fire.

Call me crazy: the 2019 NFL MVP might be undervalued. Lamar Jackson will have the most stocked receiving group he’s ever had, is continuing to develop as a passer, and he’s already the best rushing QB of all time. Let’s not overthink. Teams like the Bills and the Ravens build around the strengths of their stars, and developing Jackson will be the number one goal for this forward-thinking team this season.

A.J. Brown is the undisputed No. 1 dynasty receiver. Penei Sewell is setting the Lions up for success.

D’Andre Swift will benefit from improved offensive line play. Anthony Schwartz helps the Browns’ tactical passing game.

In 2020, Emmanuel Sanders led the NFL with a 110.9-percent True Catch Rate, and that’s not a typo. What does this tell the RotoUnderworld audience? Despite a 67.1-percent (No. 97 among qualified wide receivers) Catchable Target Rate and 6.04 (No. 108) Target Accuracy, Sanders was able to utilize his 10.29 (92nd-percentile) Catch Radius to haul in a majority of his targets, even those deemed uncatchable. He caught 61 passes even though only 55 targets were deemed catchable.

Last season, Denzel Mims finished the season with a 51.1-percent (No. 103) Catch Rate. Box score hunters see this stat and assume “This guy can’t play and is a bust.” Mims’ 88.5-percent (No. 29) True Catch Rate and 14.1 (No. 12) Average Target Distance add context to his situation. A quarterback upgrade in 2021 would lead to an increase in Mims’ 57.8-percent (No. 107) Catchable Target Rate in 2020, and thus increase his Catch Rate that box score hunters overvalue.

The Cowboys offensive line took a step back last season after fielding what was arguably the league’s top line in 2019. Not much has changed for a good-looking group entering 2021, though the center position is still a hole that needs to be filled following Travis Frederick’s retirement. Like the Philadelphia Eagles, the Cowboys are banking on health in 2021 as Zack Martin, La’el Collins, and Tyron Smith return to play alongside Connor Williams. 

The Packers return four of five offensive line starters and could still re-sign Ricky Wagner, which would return 86-percent of their snaps from last season. However they did lose all-pro center Corey Linsley, who has graded as PFF’s No. 6, No. 7, and No. 1 center over the last three seasons, in free agency. While losing Linsley will hurt, there is still enough talent along this offensive line to remain a top unit in 2021.

The Miami Dolphins fielded a below average offensive line in 2020. They ranked No. 21 in PFF pass blocking and No. 30 in run blocking, while also ranking No. 24 in Adjusted Line Yards and No. 20 in Adjusted Sack Rate. This line seems to range between slightly below average to slightly above average unless both Austin Jackson and Robert Hunt take major leaps forward in their sophomore seasons.

Completing their offensive line rebuild, the Chargers saw Northwestern’s tackle Rashawn Slater fall to them at No. 13, where he was considered a top 10 pick and in a similar tier with No. 7 overall pick Penei Sewell. Provided enough health, no team in 2021 should see a larger turnaround in offensive line play from 2020.

Calvin Ridley’s breakout coincides with his opportunity. The Falcons currently have Julio Jones coming back healthy and have spent significant draft capital on superstar tight end prospect Kyle Pitts. Last year was the Calvin Ridley show, this year would be a competition for targets should Jones stay. Right now, I have a hard time taking him over guys like Keenan Allen or Michael Thomas who are currently going behind him.

Second-year quarterbacks don’t always improve on their first season. While Daniel Jones did show incredible rushing value, I should’ve known better that his decision-making was not all there yet. All of his advanced metrics were in the bottom half of the league among qualified quarterbacks. Lowlighted by 38 (No. 5) Danger Plays (No. 2), a 79.0 (No. 2) True Passer Rating, and a 7.2 (No. 24) Accuracy Rating. Sigh…