With so much going on for the Denver Broncos this offseason, it’s easy to lose sight of what a great season Eddie Royal had in his rookie year. Last season, Royal had team rookie receiving records for 980 yards and 91 receptions.

This was a very productive year, and he makes for a fine complement to Brandon Marshall in this teams passing game.

The biggest shame to me is that we will never know what these two receivers would have done over the next five to eight years with quarterback Jay Cutler in the offense. This has to be a major disappointment to not only fantasy football owners, but especially to Broncos fans.

Eddie Royal To Be the next Wes Welker

Former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is the new head coach for the Denver Broncos. He’s implementing his offense from New England that has made Wes Welker a household name in fantasy football.

Under coach McDaniels’ system, Welker had catch totals of 112 in 2007 and 111 in 2008. It didn’t seem to matter who threw the football Welker’s way; he still posted a massive catch total for the season.

This year, Eddie won’t have Cutler. In this offense, though, one has to believe that Royal will still see many opportunities to stay active. Look for Royal to have over 100 catches in his second season in the league.

All Change Is Not Good Change

There’s no doubt there have been rifts in this organization since the team fired their old head coach and now have Josh in as captain of the ship. Jay Cutler was so ticked off about McDaniels’ entertaining offers for Matt Cassel, he ended up demanding a trade.

While that incident was bad, it hasn’t been the only issue with players that the organization has faced this offseason. Brandon Marshall is looking for a new contract. In June, he demanded a trade after a meeting with the owner of the team.

With camp starting up, Champ Bailey has been openly critical of the new coach’s way of doing things. Even the Broncos’ first-round pick from a couple years ago in Jarvis Moss has left the team and is considering retirement.

We don’t know if Moss is leaving because of the way things are going in the organization, but this is no doubt another piece of bad news in Denver.

My biggest problem for Royal’s production will probably be touchdowns. If you look at Wes Welker in the last two seasons, he had eight touchdowns with Tom Brady and only three touchdowns with Matt Cassel.

While Kyle Orton may find Royal many times for receptions, he may not be able to help him do better then his five touchdowns from a season ago.

Fantasy Football Information on Eddie Royal

Eddie’s value, much like Welker’s, is best in a points-per-reception (PPR) fantasy football league. Royal can make some big plays in the offense, but for the most part he isn’t a big play threat. That role tends to fall in Marshall’s lap in this offense.

If you are in a heavy touchdown performance league, then Royal is probably only a top 30 receiver coming into this season. If you’re in a PPR league, then you might want to consider Eddie as a top 25 or even 20 receiver this season.

At this point in time, I’m willing to say that Eddie should have a strong catch total even if the team is in turmoil this season. Drafting any Broncos players is going to be a roll of the dice, as this team is in major turmoil and it should be a problem throughout the season.

Fantasy Football Information Writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

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