Training camps are in full swing and now padded practices are underway. That means that the annual news dump is upon us — coach and players quotes, depth chart movement, and everything else we need to know as fantasy football managers.
In this series, it will be our job to highlight these players in an effort to help you get ahead of the game in your research. Today, we hit the AFC West. This was one of my favorites to do with a lot of intriguing players in the mix.
(Keep up with the whole series here)
Jamaal Charles, RB, Denver Broncos
There are 39 RBs being selected ahead of Charles on average, per Fantasy Football Calculator, but Charles has a clearer path to playing time than he’s given credit for. Supposed started C.J. Anderson has missed 23 games over the past four seasons, second-year running back Devontae Booker is out for 6-8 weeks with a wrist injury, and late-round rookie De’Angelo Henderson is raw. If Charles regains form — and he is reportedly already “doing everything”– he could emerge as a surprising fantasy asset.
The narrative: Charles is too old and can only handle a small workload
Charles has only played eight games over the past two seasons, but he was fully cleared for training camp. Peter King reports that the Broncos want Charles to see 8-10 touches per game, but new head coach Vance Joseph hasn’t said anything like that. Instead, Joseph mentioned Charles’ name first back in late May when he talked about striving for a rotation at the running back position. Instead of taking King’s report as fact, why not focus on a football report instead? On that note, the plan is for Charles to already participate in 7-on-7 team drills for the first time in camp on Wednesday — just one week in to Broncos camp.
Reports to focus on: This one is simple — we want to crawl before we walk. If Charles can get through team drills unscathed, the focus will shift to reports about his usage in the passing game and with the first-team offense.
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