WRs On the Move: Edwards Traded, Crabtree Signed

Two WRs are on new NFL teams as of this morning. One went to his expected team, the other was involved in a shocker trade. In the NFL, any trade involving a big name is a shocker, as they happen so infrequently.

Braylon Edwards was traded to the Jets in exchange for WR Chansi Stucky, LB Jason Trusnick plus a 3rd and 5th-round draft pick. So what are the fantasy implications?

One, Braylon gets a chance to turn around a ridiculously bad statistical season, 10 catches for 139 yards, including getting shutout last week against Cincy. At this point, he’s definitely not a WR1 or WR2, he’s only been worth keeping because of potential. Now, maybe things could pick up for him, so if you have him on your roster, you just got a second chance. The Jets are a winning football team right now, they have a rookie QB but he’s been pretty good for a rook. A change of scenery can do wonders for a players attitude and production.

We’ll just have to see what happens with Edwards in New York. But at least there’s a chance he could become productive this year, whereas nothing led a person to believe that would happen in Cleveland, which is languishing with a very bad offense.

This deal also affects some other players. For instance, what’s Stuckey’s role in Cleveland going to be? In New York, he was the #2 WR beside Jericho Cotchery. In Cleveland, he’ll be in the mix with Mohamed Massaquoi, Mike Furrey and Josh Cribbs. With the Browns anemic offense, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of value for Stuckey at this point.

Over in New York, Edwards will eventually team with Cotchery to make what could be an imposing WR tandem, if Edwards can resurrect his game. But in the short-term, Edwards will probably see spot duty until he has a week or two of practice, and Brad Smith will get some increased playing time next to Cotchery on a temporary basis.

In the other WR story of the day, Michael Crabtree finally signed with the San Francisco 49ers. What does that mean for Crabtree as a fantasy prospect? SBN Fantasy touched on that subject yesterday, but the guess is not much in the short term. Besides QB, the hardest position to transition from college to pros is WR. It’s very hard for a rookie WR to make a huge impact, and that’s if they go to offseason workouts, training camp and preseason games. Crabtree has none of that going for him. The 49ers want to run the ball and let Shaun Hill just manage the game, although the trio of Vernon Davis, Issac Bruce and Josh Morgan are putting up solid numbers in the passing department. I wouldn’t expect Crabtree to make a substantial impact until much later in the year, if at all this season.

To follow the Braylon Edwards trade, jet on over to Gang Green Nation.

For all the coverage of the Michael Crabtree signing, head to Niners Nation.