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The Tennessee front office cleared out the old “Exotic Smashmouth” regime, and brought in the defensive-minded Matt Vrabel for a fresh start. No one should benefit more from this turnover than Rishard Matthews. After a promising 2016 season where he hauled in nine scores on 105 targets, his 2017 season was a letdown.

With target hog Jarvis Landry gone to the Cleveland Browns, Kenny Stills could easily push for around 115 targets this season. Of the 263 wide receivers that were targeted 115 or times or more in the last decade, only 6.5-percent of them scored below 180 PPR points, per Pro Football Reference

Kirk Cousins represents a massive quarterback upgrade for the Minnesota Vikings, but will improved QB play be nullified by a run-oriented game plan this season?

The Vikings were one of the rare NFL teams to devote more than 45-percent of team targets to the top-2 wide receivers on the depth chart in 2017, and the passing offense will likely run through Thielen and Diggs again in 2018.

Roethlisberger and Rivers are two experienced and proven QB1s that are very undervalued. Both were in the top seven last year and in the top ten the year before and now are suddenly being viewed as low-end QB2s. Roethlisberger’s 561 Attempts was fifth in the league last year. He was fifth in passing yards (4,251), third in Air Yards (2,451), third in Money Throws (24) and fifth in passing touchdowns (28).

Philip Rivers was third in Red Zone Attempts (102), seventh in Deep Ball Attempts (67), second in Passing Yards (4,495), and fifth in passing touchdowns (28). At 36 years old, neither Roethlisberger nor Rivers are not showing signs of age. Target one of these two veterans in 2018, and you will not regret it.

Patrick Mahomes will have to be fantastic to just match the deep-ball efficiency the Chiefs displayed as a team last year, and even if that materializes there is the matter of Watkins’ skill set overlapping with Hill’s in that area, and it is also hard to imagine Watkins seamlessly transitioning to his role in Kansas City.

Tyreek Hill was integral in Chiefs’ receivers leading the league in average target separation (1.95), a big reason Alex Smith enjoyed the second-highest deep ball completion percentage among starters. With substantially stronger-armed Mahomes taking over for Smith, the sky appears the limit, but there’s no doubt Hill experienced an efficiency boom on downfield targets in 2017.

Many will note Alvin Kamara is due for efficiency regression this offseason, but it’s easier to overlook how his end-of-season opportunity numbers were stunted a bit both due to under-utilization in the first quarter of the season and a concussion on the first drive of New Orleans’ Week 14 game that was killer for fantasy owners.

The Saints’180 RB targets from 2017 are right in line with a more-than-decade-long positional average, and since the Saints have an established baseline is in that range, a strong argument could be made that we see them eclipse that number in 2018. With Ingram out for the first four weeks, Kamara is in a great position to actually build on his 100-target rookie season.

It intuitively makes sense that rookie quarterbacks should be cheaper to acquire going into their sophomore seasons after struggling as rookies. In spite of these struggles, the majority of recent first round QBs have actually gained value heading into their second seasons.

In order to accrue dynasty value year-over-year, it would be wise to spend second and third round picks on highly drafted rookie quarterbacks.

There are positive indicators underwriting Gurley’s massive 2017 turnaround, but he also blew away the league’s RBs in areas where a repeat performance in 2018 might be difficult, and they open the question of whether a back with a history of knee issues is worth the first overall fantasy pick.

We know Sean McVay and the Rams will seek to exploit the edges presented in the modern game. That should help mitigate any efficiency regression, and while it might be maddening on a week-to-week basis to own any of the WRs, getting a piece of a highly-concentrated and productive offense is rarely a losing bet, so long as it isn’t too pricey to make.

There is no rookie running back more polarizing than Miami Dolphin Kalen Ballage. He is the perfect size and has the necessary skills for a dominant running back. Physically, he is a hybrid of David Johnson and Todd Gurley and could end up being the Dolphin’s de facto RB1.

If Ballage gets the opportunity, he could be the Alvin Kamara Corollary, proving that both an underrated college resume and athleticism profile can predict success two years in a row. If he can somehow harness all of gifts together, he will not only become fantasy relevant, but will ascend to being the most talked about running back in football in 2018.

In Chris Ballard’s second draft as the Colts’ GM, he built upon his year one strategy by hitting the offensive and defensive lines hard in the first few rounds, waiting until the fourth round to select offensive skill position players.

Nyheim Hines popped at the combine, coming in as the fastest RB in the entire class by logging a 4.38 40-yard dash time. That kind of breakneck speed manifested itself in four touchdown runs of 50-plus yards in 2017.

Now that the 2018 NFL Rookie Draft is officially over, it is time cue the Bee Gee’s Stayin’ Alive as we look at six running backs who have escaped a potential fantasy hit because their team failed to draft any immediate competition. Jordan Howard and Jay Ajayi may not be considered the sexiest running back picks, but they should get the job done at a discount price.

In the offseason, the San Francisco 49ers showed the world that they meant business. One of the biggest moves was acquiring running back free agent Jerick McKinnon and paying him big money. McKinnon is the most athletic running backs in the history of PlayerProfiler, with his best comparable player being Hall of Famer, LaDainian Tomlison.