Travis Hunter: Full-Time WR?

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• Steelers beat writer Nick Farabaugh says that the team has reportedly reached out to the Saints regarding a trade for WR Chris Olave

  • A potential move from New Orleans up north to Pittsburgh would send Olave from a team without a real answer at quarterback to another team without a real answer at quarterback… unless you consider the game of hard to get between the Steelers and free agent QB Aaron Rodgers an answer. Pittsburgh is in need of a second capable WR behind the recently acquired D.K. Metcalf after trading away George Pickens to the Cowboys earlier this month, and it seems that they could have eyes for the oft-injured former first round pick in Chris Olave. Olave has been a productive fantasy WR2 in his two healthy seasons to begin his career, but multiple concussions limited him to just 8 starts in 2024 and, in turn, his lowest single-season fantasy output. Without Derek Carr in the fold in New Orleans and just 2nd-round rookie Tyler Shough in place to succeed him as of today, his situation isn’t necessarily appealing with the Saints – but it’s not like a one-way ticket to Pittsburgh would be rescuing him from without, either. At this point, it seems like the Steelers are treating D.K. Metcalf as the clear No. 1 option in their passing game, and that Olave would be playing second fiddle to him in a passing game that lacks weapons outside of the big-bodied former Seahawk. Should any agreement on a trade between the two teams be reached, the Saints would be left dangerously thin when it comes to pass catchers, with Rashid Shaheed and Juwan Johnson serving as the only receivers with any relevant experience in the NFL.

• Jaguars WR Travis Hunter is running almost exclusively on the offensive side of the ball, per ESPN’s Michael DiRocco

  • After an initial firestorm of questions regarding which side of the ball the two-way star would play on after the Jaguars traded up to the No. 2 pick to get him, Travis Hunter seems to be trending heavily towards playing the majority of his snaps in the NFL during his rookie year on offense. Surprise, surprise. This was the expectation coming into the draft even before Liam Coen got his hands on him, and after reiterating immediately post draft that Hunter would play primarily on offense, the Jags coaching staff is making good on that promise given the work that Hunter has gone through so far. Hunter will be contending with last year’s rookie sensation Brian Thomas Jr. for targets in an offense that vacated 153 targets from last year after the departures of Evan Engram, Christian Kirk, and Gabe Davis, leaving plenty of work available for the former Colorado Buffalo in Liam Coen’s new offensive scheme. Coen was able to inject life both into Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers passing offense during his time in Tampa Bay, and he’ll look to wave his magic wand once again and fix what has ailed Trevor Lawrence since he signed his mega-deal last offseason. Hunter will profile as a fantasy WR3 with clear WR2 upside if he can hit the ground running, with a high range of outcomes that could have him challenging Brian Thomas Jr. by the end of the season.

• ESPN’s Adam Schefter says that he expects the tush push to be banned at this week’s NFL owner’s meeting

  • Saquon Barkley managers rejoice. While this won’t be a direct transfer of double-digit touchdowns onto Barkley’s docket from Jalen Hurts, if the tush push is banned, we could see a drastic decrease in the rushing touchdowns that have made Jalen Hurts an elite fantasy quarterback since he became the Eagles’ full-time starter. Of course, this is merely speculation by Schefter – but he is one of the most plugged-in resources around the league, and we’d be remiss to dismiss a claim from him this large. The good news for Jalen Hurts managers: the Eagles offense is still one of the best both on field and on paper, and they should be able to find other ways to get the ball into the end zone from the one yard line – which very well could include Jalen Hurts rushing touchdowns, just not necessarily while riding the backs of three interior offensive linemen. Saquon Barkley does gain some upside on his higher end of his range of outcomes if the play would be banned, as it would be more likely that the Eagles continue to lean on their offensive line and give the ball to their best playmaker behind Hurts in that situation. In reality, though, Jalen Hurts will continue to be a high-end fantasy starter thanks to his overall rushing upside – even if it appears that he’s been a tush push merchant over the past three seasons.

Can Dak Prescott Get Back to his 2023 Form?

We’re wandering into uncharted waters with Dak heading into 2025: under Mike McCarthy, the Cowboys ranked top-10 in passing attempts in four of his five years – the lone exception being in 2022 when Prescott missed 6 games. Prescott also missed 8+ games in 2020 and 2024, but in his two fully healthy seasons, Prescott was able to finish as the overall QB8 (2021) and QB3 (2023). Here, we see that high passing volume + limited/very limited rushing ability can still = Strong QB1 finishes (assuming Dak is healthy). That changes a bit with Brian Schottenheimer taking over playcalling for Dallas:

Assuming that the high passing volume and efficiency is what made Prescott viable as a fantasy starter, which is a safe assumption, we could see that ripped out from under him this year. Brian Schottenheimer has ranked outside the top half of the league in pass attempts every year he’s called plays besides in 2008 with the Jets (13th in pass rate). The last time we saw Dak in an offense that didn’t throw the ball at a high rate was at the beginning of his career from 2016-2018: Dallas ranked 30th, 29th, and 21st in pass attempts in ‘16, ‘17, and ‘18, respectively. He still finished as the overall QB7, QB10, and QB14 in those years, though, and that was thanks to his rushing production: He had at least 280 yards and six TDs each season on the ground in that span. Dak has failed to top 150 yards on the ground in three of his past five seasons, so unlike those first few seasons, there won’t be rushing production that we can count on with Dak in 2025. Less pass attempts + little to no rushing upside = likely finish outside the top end of fantasy QBs.

That being said, the addition of Pickens does constitute and upgrade for Dak and could help him a bit, but an increase in the quality of his playmakers probably isn’t enough to overcome a change in offensive philosophy. Dallas drafted one skill position in this year’s draft: Jaydon Blue, RB from Texas. Their first round pick, an IOL Tyler Booker, suggests that Dallas wants to lean on the run game. Pickens doesn’t move the needle for Dak, and unless Schottenheimer does a full 180 and winds up being a pass-first playcaller after 15+ years of doing the opposite, he won’t have the luxury of a high number of pass attempts (or the threat of using his legs to score) to assure us that he can get back to his strong QB1 ways.