The Fantasy Points staff recently welcomed NFL Films legend Greg Cosell and NFL Insider Adam Caplan to talk about the NFC North and NFC West as part of our Virtual Town Hall Series. I highly encourage you to check out the entire conversation by accessing our Livestream archives.
Greg and Adam joined John Hansen and company to break down the NFC North and NFC West from front to back to help us get a deeper understanding of every roster heading into the summer. John has been holding these closed-door meetings with Greg and Adam for the last 15+ years. The Fantasy Points staff is proud to let the public peek behind the curtain during these exclusive Livestreams! Here are the notes we compiled from the NFC North and NFC West meetings.
Arizona Cardinals
Greg Cosell (GC): Rondale Moore is a lot like Wan’Dale Robinson. They’re both smaller receivers with explosiveness, but they’re not true receivers.
Adam Caplan (AC): The Cardinals could add a veteran running back to this backfield because they have nothing behind James Conner, who has had injury issues in the past.
GC: The Cardinals used more 12 personnel last year than people think, and he thinks they’ll use more 12 personnel with DeAndre Hopkins suspended and after drafting Trey McBride in the second round. Adam adds that the Cardinals are telling us they’re going to use more 12 personnel with the money spent on Zach Ertz and the second-round draft capital they used on McBride.
Chicago Bears
GC: He likes the Bears’ receiving corps more than most, and he like Velus Jones’ tape coming out of Tennessee. He also loved Byron Pringle coming out of Kansas State and he has incrementally improved to start his career. Signing Pringle in free agency was a good under-the-radar move by Chicago, and Greg wouldn’t be shocked if he developed into the #1 target, in terms of volume, in this offense.
AC: At the very least, the Bears are going to have speed at wide receiver. They also tried to sign Marquez Valdes-Scantling in free agency but he fetched too much money, but this offense is clearly going to attack more downfield. Adam said they’ll look for size to go with their speed next year.
AC: The Bears have some O-line questions but Adam likes the group more than most. The old coaching staff liked Larry Borum at right tackle and 2021 second-round pick Teven Jenkins will play left tackle after back surgery interrupted his rookie season. They signed Lucas Patrick to play center and Cody Whitehair will play left guard, which leaves right guard has the major problem spot.
Detroit Lions
AC: Jameson Williams said his recovery is going well but Adam said you have to be careful when players are giving health updates because they’re almost always optimistic. He believes if Williams is ready to go early in training camp then he’ll have a chance to play in Week 1.
GC: Williams is an instant game-changer for Detroit’s offense. He can run by any defender he’ll go against. They traded up 20 picks to get him so he’s going to make an immediate impact, it’s just a question of when he’ll be healthy enough to play this season.
AC: The Lions go four deep at wide receiver now with Williams joining Amon-Ra St. Brown. They signed D.J. Chark this off-season, who is healthy now after breaking his ankle last season. Josh Reynolds revived his career after the Titans cut him.
AC: The Lions are locked into Jared Goff through this season, and they can move on next off-season. This is still going to be a run-first offense with Dan Campbell running the show.
Green Bay Packers
GC: Romeo Doubs’ tape was good and he was worthy of being drafted before he was selected with the 132nd overall pick. Christian Watson ran by everybody at the FCS level and his measurables were almost exactly the same as Marquez Valdes-Scantling. The Packers we’ll have him run a select number of routes like they did with MVS, and Doubs has the chance to develop into a more complete receiver.
Graham Barfield (GB): Aaron Jones has been much more involved with Davante Adams out of the lineup (Jones averaged 20.9 FP and 6.7 targets/game in three games without Adams in 2020-21 and 16.4 FP and 4.2 targets/game in 26 contests with Adams). Jones is being extremely undervalued in early fantasy drafts.
Los Angeles Rams
This was the final team in our NFC Town Hall and we ran out of time to go in-depth on the defending Super Bowl champions. There also wasn’t much to say about a team that didn’t pick until the end of the third round.
AC: Cooper Kupp is locked in as the team’s primary slot receiver, but he’s a little concerned about how Allen Robinson will fit in with his new offense. A-Rob wasn’t moving great toward the end of his time with the Bears and he started playing more in the slot.
AC: They’d love to get Odell Beckham back, and they need one guy who can fly and create some big plays. Van Jefferson is in that role right now.
Minnesota Vikings
GC: Dalvin Cook will continue to be the foundation of the offense and he fits the outside zone that Kevin O’Connell will bring from Los Angeles. The Vikings are still going to run the ball.
AC: Alexander Mattison is a really smart player and valuable to the offense. Ty Chandler has a chance to be the third back and contribute on third downs. He’s undersized (5’11”, 204 pounds) but Greg liked him. Kene Nwangwu didn’t really contribute on offense last season but he’s a key returned for them.
San Francisco 49ers
GC: Tyrion Davis-Price is a really good prospect and Greg warns not to sleep on him this season. He thought TDP was a better prospect than Trey Sermon was coming out last year. Elijah Mitchell runs hard but is smaller (5’10”, 200 pounds) than TDP (6’0”, 211 pounds).
GB: Davis-Price’s selection could be the result of a couple of factors. The 49ers want to take carries away from Deebo Samuel to keep him healthy, and Mitchell isn’t built to handle 20+ carries like he had to do last season.
GC: Danny Gray isn’t refined. He’s more of a track athlete playing receiver. He had a lot of drops that were problematic, but his route running improved as last season went along. He’ll be a movement receiver in this offense.
Seattle Seahawks
GC: The Seahawks told us they’re going to be a running team and a defensive team based on their draft picks.
AC: He would bet on Kenneth Walker being the main ball carrier and it won’t take long for him to get there. Rashaad Penny is signed to a one-year deal and they used a second-round pick on Walker.
AC: The Seahawks can’t be taken seriously with their current quarterbacks.
