The NFL is a 365-days-a-year enterprise, and that means there’s never a bad time to talk fantasy football.
That’s especially true this Friday night, as Geno Smith’s trade from the Seattle Seahawks to Las Vegas Raiders has a major fallout that could impact fantasy drafts for years to come.
In the departed corner sits wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, one of the league’s rising superstars who is still waiting for a potential second trade domino to fall in the form of DK Metcalf.
In the welcoming corner is tight end Brock Bowers, soon to be the league’s No. 1 player at his position and now with a massive upgrade at QB.
MORE: Geno Smith trade sends NFL fans into a frenzy
Geno Smith trade’s fantasy football impact on Raiders
In standard scoring, Bowers finished as the No. 2 tight end in the 2024 fantasy football season behind George Kittle.
Bowers led all tight ends in yards, with 1,194, and that was with the likes of Gardner Minshew and Aiden O’Connell throwing him the football.
Smith is by no means the perfect quarterback, but he’ll happily let the ball rip to his favorite target. He’s never had a tight end like Bowers, who is more like a superhuman receiver anyway.
Bowers should enter the 2025 season as the consensus No. 1 tight end in all fantasy football drafts, and there will be some who pitch him as a late first-round selection.
Elsewhere in Vegas, Jakobi Meyers could get a value bump as well. It’s hard to pitch multiple players from an offense with a bad quarterback, but Smith proved in Seattle he can allow multiple pass-catchers to be effective at once.
The Raiders’ running game is a question mark, with rather unproven youngster Sincere McCormick potentially leading the committee. McCormick would be a sneaky flex pick given that the offense should move the ball well with Smith at the reins.
Smith himself may get a slight upgrade to his value, too, after playing behind a porous offensive line in Seattle last season.
Geno Smith trade’s fantasy football impact on Seahawks
We have to wait to see how the rest of this plays out in Seattle.
Quarterback might not actually see a downgrade, since Sam Darnold has now been linked with a move to the Seahawks as a free agent.
The receiving corps remains up in the air since Metcalf could still be traded away.
Smith-Njigba finished 2024 as the No. 14 wide receiver in standard scoring. He’ll likely fall in the high-end WR2 range in drafts, and if Metcalf is moved and Darnold signs, he’ll have WR1-upside given his potential target share.
The Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet timeshare at RB will still be potentially confusing for fantasy owners, although Walker remains explosive when healthy.
And if Metcalf is traded, keep an eye on who the Seahawks do or don’t draft at wide receiver. If they don’t bring in anyone new, someone like Jake Bobo could all of a sudden see a lot of targets.
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