The NFL free agency period has begun and teams are making moves left and right. However, every move that is made also has an impact on fantasy football for this coming season. There are five players/defenses that have seen their draft stock move the greatest over the past week. These players were going to get taken anyway in the draft but where they will be selected has changed.
Nick Foles- If there is one player who wishes that the season was starting tomorrow, it is finally Foles. It gets Darren Sproles in the backfield to go alongside LeSean McCoy which opens things up even more for him with the Eagles. If Foles was a quarterback that was going to be taken in the seventh or eighth round before, a move like this one moves him up into the fifth round with quarterbacks like Matthew Stafford and Philip Rivers.
Denver D- If owners are looking for a defense to select first or second among those units when the draft comes around, it is the Broncos. The additions of Aqib Talib, T.J. Ward and DeMarcus Ware make the Broncos a defense that has to be taken earlier than they would have been just a week ago. It is never wise to take a defense before the final two rounds but if it is completely necessary, the Broncos D may be the second defense taken behind Seattle now.
Golden Tate- The move from the Seahawks to the Lions will do wonders for Tate’s fantasy stock. He will get to be on the opposite side of Calvin Johnson and see a lot of one-on-one coverage. Tate was a solid player in Seattle but he wasn’t going to reach his full potential as a fantasy player with the run-oriented offense the Seahawks run. It may be wise to consider Tate a No. 2 wide receiver this coming season that needs to be taken in the seventh or eighth round.
Eric Decker- This is a curious move going from the Broncos to the Jets. He will be the No. 1 receiver in New York but loses Peyton Manning throwing to him. He is still someone who is going to get taken in the fourth or fifth round but will likely never get close to the same numbers that he saw in Denver. He could have been a wide receiver to select higher this coming year if he had stayed with the Broncos but now settles into a No. 2 WR spot.
Ben Tate- Tate gets to be a starting running back finally after being behind Arian Foster in Houston. He rushed for 771 yards last season and now moves to the Browns, who appear on paper to be better than they were in 2013. He also had 34 catches out of the backfield which makes him a dual threat and someone that will find a way to be successful in Cleveland. Tate should be able to rush for over 1,000 yards and he has become a solid RB2 or flex option in fantasy for the 2014 season.