In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by New Era:
It’s rare that we discuss the NBA around here, but yesterday’s shocking Luka Doncic/Anthony Davis trade has made waves across the entire sports landscape.
But for those not steeped in the NBA, it can be hard to understand why everyone is so stunned over this move.
Fortunately, a few NFL insiders took a stab at translating it for a football audience …
Could We Get An NBA-Like Blockbuster in the NFL?
Adam Schefter equated it to the Ravens trading Lamar Jackson+ to the Bengals in exchange for Joe Burrow+.
Jordan Schultz spoke to an NFL GM who compared it to the Bengals shipping off Ja’Marr Chase to the Bucs for Mike Evans and a second-round pick.
Matthew got in on the fun with a Burrow for Dak Prescott scenario.
But … I’m not sure these comps work because neither of those moves would shift the short-term title odds in the same way as this NBA blockbuster. After the trade, the Lakers’ odds to win the championship moved from 40-1 to 18-1, while the Mavs’ odds dropped from 25-1 to 40-1.
To me, a better comp would be something like the Bills trading Josh Allen to the Colts for Jonathan Taylor in the middle of the season—an absurd move that would change the trajectory of two franchises in both the short- and long-term.
Feel free to try that one, Mr. Irsay. It’s on the house.
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Way-Too-Early Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Where Will The Rookies Get Drafted?
By Jonathan Fuller
In case you missed it last week, two of our great analysts here at Fantasy Life, Ian Hartitz and Chris Allen, joined a slew of other industry experts mock a 2025 fantasy football draft. You can read all about the way-too-early mock draft, including a breakdown of Chris and Ian's teams, their favorite picks, and early trends they noticed.
The final piece of the puzzle? Rookies.
Last week, we highlighted a trio of rookies Jonathan Fuller broke down and how he would insert them into the mock draft. With the Senior Bowl this past weekend heightening the excitement for rookies even more, we thought we’d highlight a few more, with a special focus on THE National Champion, Ohio State Buckeyes …
Quinshon Judkins - RB, Ohio State
Where will he be drafted in fantasy football?: 6th Round
This is where consensus rankings start to break down. Behind Jeanty, there is a pretty big tier with a handful of promising RB prospects along with one or two WRs. For me, Judkins is the guy I want next. He led the SEC in rushing yards and TDs as a freshman at Ole Miss and was a nightmare for defenders to get to the ground throughout his three seasons.
After two extremely productive years at Ole Miss, Judkins transferred to Ohio State to share a backfield with TreVeyon Henderson. This ultimately cost him some production, but he was a key part of the Buckeyes' championship run, so I think he's happy with that tradeoff.
In the way-too-early mock draft, I would have slotted him between David Montgomery and Isiah Pacheco in the early sixth round.
TreVeyon Henderson - RB, Ohio State
Where will he be drafted in fantasy football?: 7th Round
The second RB in Ohio State's dynamic duo, Treveyon Henderson broke out as a true freshman in Columbus before missing time in his second and third seasons. There was speculation he would enter the draft last season, but he returned to Ohio State and that decision paid off with a National Championship and the most efficient season of his career.
On pure talent, Henderson should go higher than this, and if he is selected in the early-to-mid second round of the NFL Draft, he will quickly rise up fantasy rankings. However, his injury history and concerns about how much volume he can handle are enough to keep him in the Travis Etienne - Tyrone Tracy range until we get more information.
WHERE WILL OTHER ROOKIES GET DRAFTED?
2025 New York Jets Team Needs: Adios Aaron?
By Ian Hartitz
The return of Aaron Rodgers was supposed to be the necessary ingredient to take the Jets from mediocre to great. And for a fleeting moment (three weeks) it seemed like the 2-1 Jets were on their way to doing just that … before losing nine of their next 10 games.
Ultimately, the Jets have now gone an NFL-high nine consecutive seasons without a single finish at or above .500. Not great, and the team has a LOT to figure out personnel-wise over the next few months in order to gain any level of trust in new head coach Aaron Glenn's ability to turn this sinking ship around.
Today we'll recap some of the good and bad of 2024 before getting into potential offseason injuries to monitor as well as team needs ahead of the 2025 offseason.
As always: It's a great day to be great.
Team Need No. 1: Quarterback
Rodgers' aforementioned disappointment makes his future in New York very iffy, likely leaving the Jets (again) in search of a long-term answer under center.
And really: Have they ever NOT been in dire need of some serious help at QB? Just look at their team ranks in passer rating over the years. Note that passer rating might not be the best one-size-fits-all metric in evaluating a QB (what is?), but the stat does do a good job of generally quantifying the success of an overall passing game.
Jets passer rating:
2020-2024: 78.0 (32nd)
2010-2019: 76.3 (31st)
2000-2009: 78.6 (21st)
1990-1999: 74.5 (24th)
Last year's passing game was objectively a below-average unit (18th in passer rating) … and it produced the team's fourth-best single-season mark ever, and their highest since 2002.
Veterans like Sam Darnold (lol), Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins, and Derek Carr are probably the best options available on the free agent and trade markets. Perhaps the Jets go down that route, otherwise they'll be looking to draft their first overly successful QB of the 21st century.
WHERE ELSE DO THE JETS NEED HELP?
AROUND THE WATERCOOLER
The latest analysis and insights from our merry band of football nerds:
🎙️Fantasy Life is on Radio Row at the Super Bowl! Make Kendall and Ronis a part of your daily routine.
😆 Your leaguemate is not ever going to stop sending bad trades now. SMH.
😇 There’s something to be said about a drama-free career. He did it.
📔 The Saquon Barkley origin story. Fun read.
🙏 The Raiders need a QB. Brock Bowers deserves it.
