Dynasty Analysis
In this seven-part article series, I have looked at the rookies from the 2019 class at each position. In this article, we will examine the best and worst of rookie tight ends.
After consuming fantasy content, do you find yourself keeping fantasy notes on your phone? Do you bring your own personal rankings to your draft? Are you making spreadsheets for important stats as you prep for your rookie drafts? Do you fill-up notebooks analyzing your league mates’ tendencies? Are you taking pages of notes as you break down film on Odell Beckham Jr. or DJ Moore? If this sounds familiar, making your own database could give you the upper hand over your competition.
These are the few teams that don’t utilize the tight end position very well or have trouble developing young talent.
The offseason is here but in fantasy football, there is no off-season. In this piece I will look at some veteran players I am targeting in dynasty leagues and why. It only takes one of these guys to make or break a season and for their price tag, you may just get the bargain that puts your team over the top.
The Steelers selected Johnson with the 66th overall pick in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Coming into the season, Johnson was the fourth receiver on the Steelers’ depth chart. He sat behind Juju Smith-Schuster, Donte Moncrief, and James Washington. However, after Week 1, the Steelers had seen enough of Moncrief. From then on, Johnson and Washington shared the WR2 and WR3 roles behind Smith-Schuster. In that role, Johnson received 92 targets, converting those into 59 receptions for 680 yards and five touchdowns. He led the Steelers in targets, receptions, and receiving touchdowns, and he finished just behind Washington in receiving yards.
After beginning 2019 battling injuries, Ward got healthy and dominated the second half of the season. In the 10 games between weeks eight and 17, the 2018 fourth overall pick created 38 total tackles, 11 passes defended, three turnovers and scored a touchdown for the Browns secondary. Over that span, Ward finished sixth among CBs in IDP scoring.
In Week 1, Samuel led the 49ers’ receivers with an 88% snap share, although he had just three receptions for 17 yards. The 49ers benched Pettis, giving him only two offensive snaps. After Week 1, the 49ers rotated Pettis, Samuel, Goodwin, and Bourne, a rotation that continued through Week 7. In Week 8, the 49ers traded for Emmanuel Sanders. They benched Pettis and Goodwin and used Sanders and Samuel as their two starting receivers, with Bourne as the primary WR3.
Now, we’re on to part four of this seven-part series about the 2019 rookies. Previously, I’ve talked about QBs, RBs part 1, and RBs part 2. Now, it’s time to get into the wide receivers, which I will split into three parts. There are simply so many receivers that either had high rookie draft capital or achieved fantasy relevance in 2019. For part one, I’ll take a look at four receivers that were all first-round picks in a majority of rookie drafts. These are my rankings from late May 2019:
In the interest of furthering the inclusion of individual defensive players in redraft and dynasty leagues alike, let’s explore how each of the five defensive positions functions like an offensive position on fantasy football rosters. I can’t tell you which offensive player or even fantasy rookie draft pick you should offer for Aaron Donald without knowing the context of your league. I can, however, explain how to value defensive tackles in fantasy football using tight ends as context. In fact, each defensive position has a close parallel on offense.
Anticipating and acting on scheme change is a risk/reward proposition in fantasy football. Correctly anticipating an edge defender’s new role in a defense can deliver a difference-maker at the most valuable IDP position. There, I said it! The value above replacement for a high-end DE is greater than that for linebackers through much of the […]
Devin McCourty
While McCourty may be getting a little long in the tooth at age 32, there is no overlooking the value of his experience. It’s been rumored the past couple of seasons, and he himself admitted that the thought of retiring had crossed his mind, but he still feels like he can play at a high level and can still impact a team.
The 2020 running back class appears to be deep and filled with talent. David Montgomery may not even make a top-five list among players like D’andre Swift, J.K. Dobbins, Jonathan Taylor, Cam Akers, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and the list could go on. We love watching these guys in the combine and get excited about the NFL Draft. What we don’t want is for any of them to end up of the following teams.
The top free-agent prize in the cornerback group is without a doubt, seven-year veteran Logan Ryan, His career can be told in two parts and both prove why he’ll be the most sought after corner in free agency. Ryan’s career began in New England, where the Patriots drafted him in the third round with the 83rd overall pick of the 2013 NFL Draft. He would spend four seasons with the empire, playing in all sixty-four games, while becoming one of the league’s best tackling and coverage corners.
In this edition of “Redraft Reaction,” we’ll take a look at a series of minor moves that have transpired in February and the likely fantasy impact they’ll have in the redraft landscape.
I truly believe the Rams have to resign Littleton. They have some youth behind him, but it is uncertain and unproven youth. Littleton went undrafted out of Washington and has developed into one of the league’s best linebackers. He went from a two year backup for the Rams, to a two-year starter, with a Pro-Bowl selection in 2018. He’s their most accomplished and talented linebacking option.
Ingram led the way with 202 carries, with Edwards in second with 133 carries. Hill lagged with just 58 carries. Hill also only had eight receptions in all of 2019, a major disappointment for a player with highly touted passing-game skills. Edwards, who has almost no pass-catching ability, finished with seven receptions, just one less than Hill. Hill played in all 16 games, so his poor stats were not due to injury. He also played on only 17% of offensive snaps.
Coming out of Mississippi State, Sweat had the football world clamoring about his size and speed shown at the 2019 NFL combine. Sweat, a 6’6” 260lbs. edge rusher set the 40-yard dash record for the position at 4.41 seconds per @NFLReaserch.
There were four top-drafted running backs in last year’s rookie drafts. How did they fair in their rookie campaigns? What is their outlook going forward? Become a member, hop in, and find out!
Year after year you get your hopes up just to be let down by inconsistent, underwhelming, and untimely performances. These guys are only hot when they burn you, otherwise, their fantasy production is as cold as ice
This series will look back on the 2019 class and explore the biggest hits and misses. Now, since this will be a long series, let’s start with the premise here in part one. For each position, I will examine all the rookies that were selected in a significant number of rookie drafts, or achieved significant production at that position. A hit will generally be a player that produced fantasy points in year one and gained or at least maintained their dynasty value. A miss will be players who didn’t produce or at least who underperformed. I will also have a third category; incomplete. In this category, I’ll discuss those players who did not receive significant playing time and where they can go in 2020 and beyond.
Chris Jones is not only the top prize free agent interior defensive lineman but he is one of the top 10 overall defensive free agents. At age 25 he is among the youngest free agents but there are quite a few in this group. However, none of them are as talented or have the impact that Jones has had. Then when you consider that IDL is a highly coveted position by NFL teams, it takes his value to another level.
At age 27, Clowney will be entering his eighth season in the league. Up to this point, there have been mixed results from the freakish athlete. Injuries have been an issue throughout his career, as he’s only played all sixteen games in a season just once. However, there is no doubt the impact he can have on the field when healthy.
Just for fun, I’m going to get into my early redraft Round 1 for 2020. This list is subject to significant changes throughout the offseason, but let’s take a quick look right now. For this list, we’re assuming a 1 QB, 12 team, PPR format where there is an equal number of RB and WR starters.
Listed at 6’4 220 pounds, Cole McDonald looks like an NFL talent. McDonald has a rocket of an arm and moves very well for his size. As a two year starter at Hawaii, the gunslinger threw for 8,010 yards and 69 touchdowns. Although putting up video game numbers, McDonald is considered a day 3 prospect by most. This is likely due to a funky throwing motion and less than desirable completion percentage of 61.4. However, with a strong performance in Indianapolis, I believe Cole McDonald can make his way into the Day 2 decision. To do this, he will need to run a good 40 time and show off his arm talent.
