In an unexpected move, the Tennessee Titans sent former second round pick and wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for offensive lineman Dennis Kelly. Now that he's in Philadelphia, it's time to take a look at Dorial Green-Beckham's fantasy football value. That includes reasons for optimism, reasons for concern and an overall assessment of his value.
Reasons For Optimism:
For starters, Green-Beckham is in line for plenty of work with the Eagles. Jordan Matthews is hurt, Nelson Agholor is still struggling and Rueben Randle is still awful. Green-Beckham showed promise in his rookie year, when he caught 32 passes for 549 yards and four scores. He'd ended up in the doghouse in Tennessee and moving to Philadelphia is one the best landing he could have found in terms of immediate playing time. At 6-foot-5, 237-pounds with sub 4.5 speed, Green-Beckham is a physical freak. A change of scenery could help him capitalize on his talent.
Reasons For Concern:
The Titans moved on from Green-Beckham after just over a year for a reason. The team was reportedly fed up with his focus and motivation, and he'd been demoted on the depth chart. For all of his talent, Green-Beckham has struggled to actually get on the field. He was kicked out of Missouri for a variety of offenses, and apparently didn't know the playbook with the Titans. Now he has to learn a whole new playbook in Philadelphia. He'd plummeted to fourth-string on the depth chart in Tennessee, stuck behind guys like Tajae Sharpe, Andre Johnson, Justin Hunter and even Harry Douglas. That's a string of red flags.
Stock Arrow: Up
I haven't yet updated my fantasy football big board, which had Green-Beckham at No. 111 overall before Week 1 of the preseason. His stock had fluctuated wildly for me, and I had him at all the way down at No. 173 on my tentative board before he was traded to the Eagles. For the time being, I'm going to move him back up to the 138-140 range. The red flags are serious, but the volume and potential is there for DGB. He's currently the No. 125 player off the board and while that's too high for me, he's a low-risk, high-reward player in fantasy.
Bonus:
Tajae Sharpe
Of all the players linked to this deal, Sharpe might be the biggest beneficiary. Sure, Andre Johnson is on the Titans, but he's washed up. Rishard Matthews also gets a bump, but no one rises like Sharpe will. Sharpe was great for UMass and profiles as the deep threat the Titans wanted Green-Beckham to be. He could very well start this year as for the Titans and is worth taking in the later rounds of fantasy drafts. He'll appear on my next fantasy big board, possibly ahead of Green-Beckham.