Fantasy Football News and Notes: Travis Hunter's Usage, Tristan Wirfs Update, and More
Kendall Valenzuela catches us up on the biggest news topics around fantasy football, including a key injury to Bucs OL Tristan Wirfs, quotes about Travis Hunter's usage, and more.
We're moving through the dog days of the offseason as fantasy football draft season continues to inch closer and we continue to distance ourselves more and more from last season. Even without OTAs to report on or any preseason games to react to, early July can still provide fireworks for the fantasy community.
If you're just getting back into fantasy for the year or haven't been paying attention to the news, let's catch you up on the latest news around the fantasy community.
Travis Kelce has thoughts on Travis Hunter's usage
The big question for fantasy managers heading into the 2025 season is when to draft Travis Hunter, who is currently the WR31 on Fleaflicker. Some people are all-in and some are completely out, but it's understandable — there's never been a player like Hunter before. He's been called a unicorn AND compared to Shohei Ohtani because he is a full-time two-way player. Last season, Hunter led the nation with 1,360 snaps played — 688 on defense, 672 on offense.
The Jacksonville Jaguars drafted Hunter with the second overall pick in the NFL Draft, and at the time, the organization made comments saying he would start by playing primarily wide receiver. But don't worry, we're all still a little confused about what a full Hunter season could look like.
EVEN THE JAGUARS' SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM IS TROLLING US. They posted two different announcements about Hunter after they officially signed him to a deal worth $46.65 million fully guaranteed (which also includes a $30.57 million signing bonus paid up front).
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce did have some thoughts on Hunter and how opponents will attack a two-way player. Here's what he told the "Bussin' With the Boys" podcast:
"Teams are going to be going after him. They're gonna try and make his day miserable. If he plays corner, they're gonna run deep balls at him all day. They're gonna run the wide receivers, just take off on him all day, just to try to get him tired. Why wouldn't you just attack him that way?"
No matter what, the Jaguars do plan to play Hunter on both sides of the ball. According to ESPN, Hunter spent the bulk of OTAs and mandatory minicamp working on offense but did devote at least one full practice to defense.
Right now at Fantasy Life, Hunter is projected for 104.5 targets, 71 receptions, 865 yards and five touchdowns. That puts him at a WR36 finish, and our consensus rankings have him ranked as the WR30 — with a more aggressive approach warranted because of the potential upside scenarios.
Kirk Cousins Felt "Misled" by Falcons
First, if you need a little summer series recommendation, Quarterback is now out on Netflix, and it's pretty good (hashtag not an ad). The series follows Jared Goff, Joe Burrow, and Kirk Cousins through their 2024 NFL journeys, and we can all remember that things did not go smoothly for Cousins last season.
Maybe Quarterback is the new Madden curse? All I'm saying is two years ago they followed Cousins (tore his Achilles tendon), Marcus Mariota (benched), and Patrick Mahomes (won Super Bowl). Take Mahomes out of this, though! Last year, Burrow had MVP numbers but missed the playoffs, and Goff's Lions had a first-round playoff loss. Anyways, I digress …
Cousins said during the show that he felt misled when the Falcons drafted Michael Penix Jr (Fleaflicker's QB24).
"I ended up signing with Atlanta and was pretty excited about the chance to get down there and start fresh. And then, I was pretty surprised when the NFL draft happened," Cousins said. "I wasn't expecting us to take a quarterback so high. At the time, it felt like I had been a little bit misled, or certainly, if I had the information around free agency, it certainly would've affected my decision. I had no reason to leave Minnesota with how much we loved it there if both teams are going to be drafting a quarterback that high. But I've also learned in 12 years in this league that you're not entitled to anything."
The Falcons had a 6-3 start last season before Cousins took a hard hit to his right arm during a Week 10 matchup against the Saints. He said on Quarterback he knew something was wrong immediately.
After that game, things took a turn for the worse. Not only did the Falcons lose four games straight, but Cousins threw eight interceptions and no touchdown passes during that stretch. WOOF. Penix replaced Cousins for the final three games and is now entering the 2025 season as the clear QB1.
We don't have a big sample size with Penix, but we do know he loved to target Drake London. During the last three games of the season, Penix fed London 39 targets, when no other player had more than 12. We know we're drafting London again this season, but Penix? Not so much going out of my way for him.
Monitor this injury for the Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be down a key contributor to start the 2025 season. All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs underwent knee surgery on Tuesday and, unfortunately, will likely start the season on the physically unable to perform list, per Ian Rapoport.
Any player who starts the season on the PUP list immediately will have to sit out a minimum of four games before they can return. This is a huge blow not only to Tampa Bay's offense but to Baker Mayfield as well, who currently sits as the QB7 on Fleaflicker. Last season, according to PFF, Wirfs allowed zero sacks and just 13 QB pressures, which was the fewest of any OT in the NFL (minimum 600 snaps).
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