Happy 4th of July! The NFL took the occasion of our nation's Declaration of Independence to hand out or confirm a few suspensions. These are the key players who won't be available at the start of the season if you select them (or their affected teammates) in fantasy drafts.
Aaron Jones, Packers. We ran an item on Jones this week highlighting his advantages, and disadvantages, compared to Green Bay's other two running backs. Add to the list on the negative side of the ledger the fact that he'll miss the first two games of the season for violating the league's substance abuse policy (a marijuana-related traffic arrest).
One way to look at it is that Jones will now be available considerably later in fantasy drafts. He was already a tricky selection with it unclear whether he'd be No. 1 or No. 3 on the depth chart, and now we can say for certain he won't open as the starter. But I think with a strong preseason, and if either Jamaal Williams or Ty Montgomery get nicked up the first two weeks of the season, Jones could still emerge as the team's best fantasy back fairly early. Not the suspension is good news. But it makes his price tag more reasonable.
Julian Edelman, Patriots. Edelman (pictured) was hit with a four-game suspension for PEDs a while back. Some (Patriots fans) thought the veteran might win an appeal, but it seldom happens, and that penalty was made official yesterday. Some sites have propped up Jordan Matthews as a possible fill-in, since he has played the slot in the past, but Matthews is a bigger, much different type of player than the Patriots have used there previously.
Far more likely, we think, that either rookie Braxton Berrios or second-year man Riley McCarron fills that role early on. Or maybe James White gets a lot more looks in the passing game. Anyhoo, it won't be Edelman, so view him as either a major value -- a 6-7 catch per game PPR star who will happen to miss the season's first month -- or best left to someone else. I don't expect I'll draft him anywhere, but I guess if he falls far enough, it's possible.
Reuben Foster, 49ers. Slightly less fantasy significant for most here, but Foster stands to have some value in IDP leagues as the team's middle linebacker once he's on the field. He'll miss the first two games of the season due to a suspension, but those who followed his offseason know it's a slap on the wrist compared to what was expected a short while ago -- it seemed entirely possible the team would release him outright. I like the idea of selecting Foster at the value he'll come at, filling the void for a couple of weeks, then plugging in an 8-10 tackle per week middle linebacker come Week 3.
Jamon Brown, Rams. I guess if you wanted a reason not to select Todd Gurley No. 1 overall, you could look at the fact he'll be missing his starting right guard the first two games of the season as reason to drop him behind LeVeon Bell or Ezekiel Elliott. I wouldn't, but there's your excuse if you want to. Rams will be fine, but they won't have Brown for a couple of weeks.
Jameis Winston, Buccaneers. Old news. Winston will miss the first three games. And given Tampa Bay's early-season schedule (Saints, Eagles and Steelers the first three weeks) a rough start and some back-biting and whatnot could occur early on. I still think Winston makes sense as a No. 2 fantasy quarterback you can select in the final rounds of drafts (how often do you expect to use your No. 2 QB the first three weeks of the season anyway), but not a viable No. 1 and not a particularly appealing choice knowing he'll miss four of the first five weeks (Bucs have a Week 5 bye).
Robert Turbin, Colts. Also oldish news. Turbin is suspended for the first four games of the season, which prevents anyone from making the mistake of drafting him. A committee featuring Marlon Mack and Nyheim Hines and perhaps Jordan Wilkins is likely, as it was even before Turbin was suspended. Hines is the one who's flashed in preseason workouts.
--Andy Richardson