Five preseason changes Fantasy football players need to know about

Every season, a lot of meaningful things happened during the meaningless four weeks of the preseason. This year was no different. Players emerged, sputtered, and moved to new teams. Circumstances have impacted more than one player. Teams look different today than they did a month ago.

Too many things to list have changed over the past four weeks, but here are five that you need to know about.

So which 2019 Fantasy Football sleepers, breakouts and busts should you target and fade? And which RB1 candidate can you wait on until late? Visit SportsLine now to get 2019 Fantasy Football cheat sheets for every single position, all from the model that called Andrew Luck's huge season, and find out.

Josh Gordon is Back

Gordon is a risk, we all know that and there is not point even discussing that factor. He saw limited action this preseason, but his reinstatement alone is huge for the Patriots' lackluster receiving corps. With first-rounder N'Keal Harry on IR and no tight end to speak of, Gordon should be stepping into the biggest role of his career thus far. His only competition for targets will be Julian Edelman (who will get plenty) and the running backs. Take a victory lap if you targeted Gordon in the late rounds in drafts earlier this year and if you have any home league drafts left, don't hesitate to jump a round or two for his upside.

The Ravens Wide Receiver Corps May Be the Worst in the League

You know the outlook is grim when Willie Snead is sitting atop the depth chart. The Ravens spent their first-round pick addressing the position in taking Marquise Brown, who saw very limited playing time this preseason. Coming off of a pre-combine foot surgery, Brown practiced for the first time just a month ago. The learning curve, at least in the first few weeks, has to be expected. The team made no effort during the preseason to bolster their receiving group, despite Michael Crabtree and DeSean Jackson being available, and appear comfortable rolling out what they have. Mark Andrews is going to be a very busy guy over the next few weeks.

Tony Pollard is an RB1, Until Ezekiel Elliott Returns

Every preseason has a darling and Tony Pollard was it this year. He's been better than anyone projected and will have an incredible ceiling, as long as Ezekiel Elliott is not on the field. The narrative now is that even when Elliott returns, Pollard has carved out a big role for himself. We should temper expectations on that, as it is highly unlikely the Cowboys will make Elliott a top-paid back just to throw him into some form of a time share. Pollard is a top play against the Giants Week 1, even if Elliot puts the ink to the paper in the next day or so. The schedule remains soft after Week 1 with a road game against Washington followed by a home game against Miami. This allows for Dallas to ease Elliott back in, should he sign in the next three weeks. Pollard is a must-start in his absence, with no more than handcuff value upon his return, which appears to be imminent.

Justin Jackson is a Must-Own Player

Melvin Gordon held out, was given permission to seek a trade, and…nothing has happened. The Chargers dropped the hammer this week and informed Gordon's representatives that they will not negotiate with him during the season. We definitely will not see him Week 1 and have no idea when we will. Austin Ekeler was already being drafted prior to the Gordon saga.  His average draft position has quickly moved up more than one round with it becoming apparent that Gordon is going to miss time. Justin Jackson, once a late-round dart, is now a player who does not leave a draft sitting on waivers. Many are projecting a 50/50 split to start the season, but it should surprise no one if Jackson were to seize a larger share of the carries. We saw this a bit when Gordon was injured in 2018, with Jackson settling more into Gordon's role and Ekeler maintaining his role on passing downs.

The Andrew Luck Fallout isn't as Bad as We Thought

When Luck's abrupt retirement was leaked, the internet and Football world itself were in a panic. This was a shock, to say the least, and the reactions were rash. Twitter was full of updated rankings and projections, which made it seem like the entire Colts' offense was trending towards being a fantasy waste land. From the first of the month to the day before Luck was booed off the field at Lucas Oil Stadium, the top Colts were being drafted as:

• Eric Ebron – TE8

• T.Y. Hilton – WR12

• Marlon Mack – RB18

During the final two weeks of the preseason, their ADP has settled to:

• Eric Ebron – TE10

• T.Y. Hilton – WR16

• Marlon Mack – RB21

There is a discount, but not much. Only Hilton was knocked out of a tier, going from a low-end WR1 to a mid-range WR2, but still just falling four positional spots. The fallout of Luck stepping away and Jacoby Brissett is not nearly as bad as initially thought. In fact, the Colts went ahead and extended Brissett, giving him $20 million guaranteed over the next two years. Though the Colts' skill players were bound to be downgraded, Brissett clearly isn't much of a downgrade over Luck in the eyes of those drafting and in the eyes of those who employ him.

As mentioned earlier, a lot can happen in the preseason and a lot did. These are just a few of those things. The past four weeks were wild and the next 17 will be, too, with changes happening every week.