Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Recap

The Buccaneers had a rough time adjusting to new head coach Todd Bowles. In his first year as the team’s coach, both their offense and defense regressed from years past. Despite playing in his age-45 season, Tom Brady still played well. Brady threw more than he ever had in his career, completing 490-of-733 passes for 4,694 yards, 25 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. Injuries and poor offensive line play hindered the offense, while the defense was still pretty strong, allowing the 13th most points per game to opposing offenses. The Bucs took advantage of a horrible division, but were bounced pretty handily to a Cowboys team that exposed their flaws.

Fantasy Star

Mike Evans continued his unprecedented start to his career with his ninth-straight 1,000-plus yard season. Evans caught 77-of-127 targets for 1,124 yards and six touchdowns in 15 games. Evans struggled mightily in some games, but he also had huge performances which included exploding at the perfect moment for his fantasy managers in Week 17. Evans undoubtedly won many fantasy managers their championship round with ten catches for 207 yards and three touchdowns. He is one of the only receivers in the NFL who possesses this kind of weekly upside. Evans scored fewer touchdowns than normal, as he usually averages ten touchdowns per 17 games. In spite of the lower touchdown total, he was still able to finish as a top-12 fantasy receiver. 

Fantasy Letdown

Naturally, NFL fans went crazy when Julio Jones joined Tom Brady and the Buccaneers, however, this move proved to be minuscule. Jones played in ten games in 2022, catching 24-of-43 targets for 299 yards and two touchdowns. This was easily the worst season of Jones’ career, and NFL fans have to assume that his Hall-of-Fame career is over after his age-33 season. Jones was undoubtedly one of, if not the best, receivers in the league during his prime, but the version of himself that we saw in Tampa Bay was a shell of his former self. 

Burning Questions

Does Tom Brady have any magic left in him and will he back with the Buccaneers in 2023? The Cowboys were able to expose the Buccaneers flaws throughout the opening round of the postseason despite the fact that they are one of the most popular bets of Wild Card Weekend. Brady has seen more playoff success than any other quarterback in the league’s history, but it didn’t come true this postseason. Brady also has said that he wants to play again next year but isn’t under contract currently. There are countless rumors regarding his free agency or possible retirement, but only time will tell what Brady will do.  

Carolina Panthers

Recap

The Panthers started the year looking like a bottom-3 team in the NFL, but they enjoyed a solid finish to the season. After Week 9, the Panthers were 2-7, and they had traded Christian McCaffery and fired Matt Rhule. Steve Wilks took over the team and led them to a 5-3 finish, giving them a chance to win the division in Week 17. The Panthers had a seemingly endless quarterback carousel, and they will likely look to find their quarterback of the future in this upcoming NFL Draft. 

Fantasy Star

DJ Moore didn’t have a great year statistically, but there were signs of optimism along the way. Moore looked great per usual, but his horrendous quarterback play hindered him greatly. Moore caught 63-of-118 targets for 888 yards and seven touchdowns. Moore’s targets, catches and yards were the lowest he’s seen since his rookie year where he only started ten games, but his seven touchdowns were a career-high. Once Moore can consistently get competent quarterback play, his talent gives him the upside to be one of the best receivers in all of fantasy. 

Fantasy Letdown

Terrace Marshall Jr didn’t have high expectations going into the year, but turnover in the Panthers’ wide receiver room saw him in line for the WR2 role. Lots of fantasy managers assumed he’d see good target volume with opposing defenses trying to take DJ Moore and CMC away, and improved quarterback play from Baker Mayfield could help his fantasy production. Instead, Marshall caught 28-of-47 targets for 490 yards and a touchdown. Marshall took a step forward from his rookie year, but not a big one as he wasn’t fantasy-relevant most weeks. If he stays in this role, he could see vast improvements depending on who is throwing him the ball. 

Burning Questions

What will the Panthers do at quarterback? The Panthers went into the year with Baker Mayfield leading the way, and fans were optimistic about a much-improved offense. Instead, Mayfield was waived, and the Panthers handed the offense over to PJ Walker. Walker didn’t play well enough to keep the job, so Sam Darnold finished the year at quarterback. Darnold played the best out of the three, but it’s hard to believe he’ll start for Carolina next year. Will the Panthers draft their quarterback of the future in the first round, will they sign a quarterback in free agency or will they see what they have in Matt Coral? 

 New Orleans Saints

Recap

The Saints went into this season with so many questions to be answered. Dennis Allen was set to take over for Sean Payton, and Jameis Winston was looking to improve in his second season starting in this system. Winston underperformed, ultimately getting benched in favor of Andy Dalton for the remainder of the year. Alvin Kamara didn’t look like himself, and a lack of downfield passing made their offense very predictable and one-dimensional. Their defense regressed but was still the strength of this team. There aren’t many young players to build around on this Saints, and their cap situation gives them an extremely grim future. 

Fantasy Star

Taysom Hill may have had the most unconventional fantasy season ever for a tight end. Hill caught 9-of-13 targets for 77 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 575 yards and seven touchdowns. He also completed 13-of-19 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns. This was good enough to finish as the TE8 on the season, even though he failed to have a single game with double digit-passes. Hill will likely be involved in this offense for as long as he’s a Saint, and with players like Andy Dalton leading the way for them, Hill will see more opportunities to be involved in this offense. 

Fantasy Letdown

This was the second straight season where Adam Trautman saw preseason hype from fantasy analysts but instead of improving, he took a step back in his third season. Trautman caught 18-of-22 targets for 207 yards and a touchdown. Trautman was outplayed by Juwan Johnson throughout the whole season, and he lost playing time to Taysom Hill. It’s officially time to forget about Adam Trautman until he does anything fantasy relevant. 

Burning Questions

How can the Saints rebuild without tearing everything down? Things are looking rough in New Orleans with the Saints go into the offseason $50 million over the cap and without a first-round pick. The Saints aren’t set to lose any huge free agents, but they are very far from competing in the NFC without money to spend or draft capital to use. They likely will have to enter next year with a bridge quarterback, like Andy Dalton, as well as shed salary in the offseason. This division is terrible, and the Saints could definitely compete in it next year, but they are very far from being a serious threat in this league. 

Atlanta Falcons

Recap

In Arthur Smith’s second year as head coach, he led the Falcons to their second consecutive seven-win season. The Falcons didn’t look ready to compete this year, as their offense was led by Marcus Mariota and they were without Calvin Ridley for the year. Mariota played just well enough to stay in most games this year, but he was ultimately replaced by rookie Desmond Ridder. Ridder protected the ball with zero interceptions, but it was clear that he was being ultra-conservative with the ball. The Falcons were in the NFC South race up until the end, but nevertheless, they finished last. 

Fantasy Star

Despite starting only seven games this year, rookie running back Tyler Allgeier impressed NFL fans. Allgeier carried the ball 210 times for 1,035 yards and three touchdowns while adding 16 catches for 139 yards and a touchdown. Allgeier was the one bright spot in an otherwise struggling Falcons offense. He didn’t have many opportunities to score touchdowns since his surrounding cast was terrible, but he was still a top-30 running back in fantasy. This was a great start to Allgeier’s career, and once his backfield gets less crowded and his surrounding cast gets better, he has RB1 upside. 

Fantasy Letdown

The preseason hype for Kyle Pitts was ridiculous, as he was the third or fourth tight end taken in most fantasy leagues. Pitts went on IR after Week 11, but before then, he caught 28-of-59 targets for 356 yards and two touchdowns. Pitts was only seeing 2.8 receptions per game, and the Falcons were using him very sporadically. Fantasy managers should still believe in Pitts’ unreal talent, but he has to stay healthy and play in a better offense than this. Things should only go up from here for Kyle Pitts.

Burning Questions

What will the Falcons do this offseason? The Falcons have so many options this offseason with the eighth overall pick in the NFL draft as well as having the second-most cap space in the NFL. If the Falcons decide to roll with Desmond Ridder next year, they can add weapons and offensive line pieces for him while solidifying the defense through free agency. If they’re not convinced that Ridder is their quarterback of the future, they could select one at eighth overall and still have a ton of resources to build around them. The Falcons could go in many different directions this offseason, making them one of the most interesting teams to watch in football before the 2023 season.