Here’s what you need to know out of the owners meeting about the NFC West
PALM BEACH, Fla. — The NFL Owners Meeting took place last week, and I had the privilege of attending to hear what the head coaches and general managers said. With that in mind, here are some relevant quotes about players who matter to you.
We’re breaking this down by division, and here is the NFC West. Kyle Shanahan said Christian McCaffrey is “healthy” and “doing great,” but the 49ers coach is also excited about Isaac Guerendo. Mike Macdonald has high expectations for Seattle’s new passing game, which features Sam Darnold and Cooper Kupp, while Sean McVay is confident the Rams can replace Kupp with Davante Adams. And, in Arizona, Jonathan Gannon said Marvin Harrison Jr. will continue to “ascend” in Year 2.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t get updates on every player. But here are some notes that could help you prepare for your Fantasy leagues this season.
49ers: Kyle Shanahan confident in Christian McCaffrey, Isaac Guerendo
San Francisco needed four running backs in 2024 with McCaffrey, Guerendo, Jordan Mason and Patrick Taylor all getting work and dealing with injuries. Mason was traded to Minnesota, but Shanahan said McCaffrey is ready to go after being limited to four games last season due to Achilles and knee injuries.
“Of course, we’re set with McCaffrey,” Shanahan said. “But Christian is healthy, and he’s doing great. We have Isaac in there working, and we’ll see if we add one in the draft.
“We didn’t want to let Jordan Mason go. Jordan is a very, very good player. But Isaac, what you saw last year, he’s a big-play guy who can run hard. I was impressed as a rookie just how tough he competed and how hard he ran. He ran harder as the year went, which is a very good sign for guys. I was impressed with the mentality he had. The future is bright for him, and I hope he continues to go in the right direction.”
McCaffrey, who turns 29 in June, will either be a late-first or early-second-round pick in the majority of leagues. His age and health are huge risks, but he also averaged 24.5 PPR points in 2023 and 21.1 PPR points in 2022. For now, I would draft McCaffrey in the middle of Round 2, but his value will rise if he’s healthy at the start of training camp.
As for Guerendo, he should be considered one of the top handcuffs, and he’s worth drafting as early as Round 8 in all formats. He had five games as a rookie in 2024 with double digits in touches, and he scored at least 11.5 PPR points in four of them. He also showed he could be a viable option in the passing game with 15 catches for 152 yards on 16 targets, and he averaged 5.0 yards per carry.
The key for Guerendo, and even McCaffrey, will be if San Francisco adds a running back in the upcoming NFL Draft. Stay tuned, and we could have a different view of the 49ers backfield in 2025.
Seahawks: Mike Macdonald confident in new passing game led by Sam Darnold, Cooper Kupp
The Seahawks have a new passing game this season with Geno Smith, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett gone. Darnold is the new quarterback, and Kupp was Seattle’s big acquisition at receiver to join Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Macdonald is confident the Seahawks will do well throwing the ball this season, especially if Darnold can build off his performance in Minnesota in 2024.
“We have to create an environment where we get the best version of Sam,” Macdonald said. “It’s on tape what he can do. The wins, the teammate (he is), the work ethic, but we have to create something where he’s going to work every day, he’s confident, we’re doing the things he does really well, building the squad around him, playing complementary football on the other two phases, then let him do his thing.”
Darnold was great in 2024 with the Vikings when he averaged 21.8 Fantasy points per game. He passed for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions and had 67 carries for 212 yards and one touchdown. I don’t plan to draft Darnold as a No. 1 quarterback this season, but he could emerge as a waiver-wire addition during the year.
As for Kupp, he should be considered a low-end No. 3 Fantasy receiver in the majority of leagues and is worth drafting with a mid-round pick. He turns 32 in June, and he struggled down the stretch in 2024 when he scored 5.4 PPR points or less in each of his final five regular season games with the Rams. He’s also missed at least five games due to injury in each of the past three seasons.
Still, the Seahawks are hoping he can rebound in 2025. Seattle general manager John Schneider said Kupp remains “a deceptively fast dude” and should do well in this offense.
“He has a feel for sitting in holes,” Schneider said. “He can still route people up. He’s never been a 4.3 guy, but he’s an uncanny route runner. A lot like what older scouts have told me about Steve Largent.”
Rams: Sean McVay excited for Davante Adams as Kupp replacement
McVay said the Rams would miss Kupp, but letting him leave Los Angeles was the right move for the team.
“It doesn’t change the legacy, all the great things (and) more importantly the great person that he is,” McVay said. “But we do have a responsibility to the collective, and it was what we felt like was the best decision for our football team moving forward. Not easy. But that’s what our responsibility is.”
To replace Kupp, the Rams brought in Adams as a free agent. Even though Adams turned 32 in December, McVay expects him to make plenty of plays for the Rams this season.
“He’s a guy that we identified early in the process,” McVay said. “He was a guy that we had targeted. There was a consistent belief that this was the right direction to get it done.”
Adams should be considered a No. 2 Fantasy receiver in the majority of leagues, and the earliest he should be drafted is Round 4. The offense for the Rams, with McVay and Matthew Stafford, is a great marriage. But Adams is at the point in his career when receivers start to decline, and Puca Nacua remains the No. 1 receiver for the Rams and should lead the team in targets.
But last season, after joining the Jets via trade from the Raiders, Adams looked like a star again. He closed the year with at least 17.6 PPR points in five of his final six outings, including three games with at least 20.8 PPR points over that span. Hopefully, that’s the player the Rams — and Fantasy managers — will get in 2025.
Cardinals: Jonathan Gannon says Marvin Harrison Jr. “primed” for big second year
Fantasy managers considered Harrison a bust as a rookie in 2024 when he averaged just 11.6 PPR points per game. We had high expectations for him, but he managed only 62 catches for 885 yards and eight touchdowns on 116 targets.
Gannon has a different view of Harrison and is expecting him to improve in Year 2. But he didn’t think Harrison failed last season at all.
“He’s primed to have a more productive year,” Gannon said. “A more efficient year. I like where he’s ascending and where he’s trending to right now. I thought he did a hell of a job. He came in and scored a bunch of touchdowns and had a bunch of yards and had a bunch of catches. People were very aware of him. If you look at stats that doesn’t paint the whole picture of how people were defending us. There’s a reason there were a couple of games where the ball didn’t go to him a ton because they were playing two on one on him. He’s impacted the game in a positive way for us, and I think he’s continuing to ascend.”
Harrison should be considered a No. 2 Fantasy receiver in 2025, and he should be drafted as early as Round 4 in the majority of leagues. The Cardinals could add a receiver in the upcoming NFL Draft, and Harrison already has to share targets with standout tight end Trey McBride.
That said, he’s too talented to not be more productive in his sophomore campaign. I’ll buy the dip on Harrison this season if he falls on Draft Day.
