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2022 DFF Draft Coverage: Pierre Strong Jr.

Dynasty / By /

Strong was one of my favorite rookie RBs coming into this draft, and I was hoping he would sneak into day 2. Going in the fourth round isn’t terrible as draft capital is concerned. There may be sneaky good upside with a Patriots team that has a strong commitment to the run game. It is obviously a crowded backfield, however, with Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson seemingly entrenched. There had been rumors earlier in the offseason about trading Harris, but that never happened. Strong will get a chance to compete, however, and it is well within the range of outcomes for him to rise to the top of the pecking order. I would expect this to keep him in the third round of most rookie drafts, with some owners reaching for him in the second. It is hard to see any redraft or best ball value at this time, and I am forced to lower my rankings for both Harris and Stevenson, the latter of which bums me out a bit.

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2022 DFF Draft Coverage: Charlie Kolar

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After growing up with NBA star Trae Young, Kolar took his talents to Iowa State after never receiving an offer from Oklahoma. He made an immediate impact after redshirting his freshman season in 2017. He hauled in 11 receptions for 137 yards and three touchdowns during his 2018 campaign. During the next three seasons, he earned many awards and accolades. Most notable were first-team All-Big 12 honors, serving as a Mackey Award finalist in 2020 and 2021, and winning the William V. Trophy (Academic Heisman). In that same span, Kolar appeared in 26 games, hauled in 157 receptions, and snagged 20 receiving touchdowns. He finishes fourth all-time in Iowa State football’s history in both career receptions (fourth) and career receiving yards (2,181), while also landing third in career touchdown receptions (23).

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2022 DFF Draft Coverage: Isaiah Spiller

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Isaiah Spiller put together three productive (and nearly identical) seasons at Texas A&M. He took over the backfield as a freshman, pacing the team with 946 rushing yards and 10 TDs. He also added an impressive 29 receptions for 203 receiving yards. Despite the addition of track star Devon Achane to the Aggies’ backfield, Spiller’s 2020 season was essentially a rerun of 2019: 1,036 rushing yards, nine TDs, 20 receptions, 193 receiving yards. In 2021, Spiller’s junior season, Achane captured a larger percentage of the RB opportunities. However, with rushing QB Kellen Mond out of the picture, there was more work to go around. Spiller was able to crack 1,000 rushing yards once again while adding another 25 receptions. 

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2022 DFF Draft Coverage: Quay Walker

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Walker was a four-star recruit from Cordele, Georgia, and ESPN’s second-ranked recruit at his position. He opted to play for his home-state team, the Georgia Bulldogs, where he took time to develop and emerge. After three years in Athens as a rotational piece, he established himself as a starter for UGa’s 2022 national championship defense. He started all 15 games, collecting 67 tackles including 5.5 for loss and 1.5 QB sacks along with three passes defensed and a fumble recovery.

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2022 DFF Draft Coverage: Dameon Pierce

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Pierce has a shot at competing for the RB1 spot for this team. He may start the season as an RB2/3, but there isn’t a clear-cut lead back for this team. He’s worth targeting in the middle rounds in both rookie and dynasty start-up leagues. He’s also a candidate to see some volume as a pass-catcher out of this backfield as well. It may take him a season to get rolling, but his red zone volume should be on notice early on in his career.

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2021 devy profile

2022 Draft Coverage: David Bell

Dynasty / By /

Bell should compete with Donovan Peoples-Jones for the WR2 spot on this team. He’s a top-20 receiver in this class, and he’ll likely be fantasy relevant early on in his career. He’s middle-round talent in both rookie and start-up leagues. You should be able to tell early on if Bell has a bright future with one of the best quarterbacks in the league slinging him the ball. In redraft leagues, he may be worth a late-round selection, but he has a lot to prove this offseason before then.

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2022 DFF Draft Coverage: Danny Gray

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Gray is a former high school state champion in the 100-meter dash and 4×100-meter relay. He took his elite speed to the field for a University called Blinn College for two years. He came out of those two years labeled as the top junior college prospect in the country, as he hauled in 54 receptions for 877 yards and eight touchdowns in nine games played as a sophomore. Then he took his talents to SMU. In 18 career games played for the Mustangs, Gray hauled in 82 receptions for 1,251 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also accumulated 70 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just six attempts. 

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2022 DFF Draft Coverage: Malik Willis

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After two seasons as the understudy at Auburn University, Willis made the best decision of his career and transferred to Liberty. He then took off and combined for 5,107 passing yards, 47 passing touchdowns, 1,822 rushing yards, and 27 rushing touchdowns in 23 games played. Willis has all the tools and upside in the world to become a solid starting quarterback in the NFL eventually. He isn’t a guaranteed product, but his ceiling is higher than any other signal-callers in this year’s draft. Willis showcases a rare combination of a strong arm and elite rushing abilities. In today’s NFL, that’s exactly what teams are looking for. 

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2022 Draft Coverage: Desmond Ridder

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Ridder has seen a sharp rise in dynasty SuperFlex ADP ever since his strong combine showing. I have done three FFPC SF startup drafts in the last two months and took him in the 20th round in one and the 9th in the most recent. I was expecting him to go in the first round and the dramatic fall of QBs in this draft does not make me feel great about the draft capital here. That said, if Ridder can learn behind Mariota, the sky could be the limit with Kyle Pitts and Drake London as cornerstone offensive weapons to play with in year two and beyond. I think this largely torpedoed Ridder’s redraft and best-ball value, but as only the second QB off the board, Ridder has a chance to become an incredible value play for both the Falcons and dynasty players. I expect him to go somewhere in the mid to late first round of SuperFlex drafts and for him to present an intriguing value in single-QB leagues somewhere in the late second to mid-third of rookie drafts.

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2022 DFF Draft Coverage: Jelani Woods

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Woods came into college as a quarterback but quickly shifted to tight end early on at Oklahoma State. Although his production wasn’t anything to be amazed by, Woods was voted honorable mention all-conference, as he hauled in seven receptions for 120 yards and two touchdowns in six games played. He earned the same accolades in 2019 and 2020 as a tight end with little productions. After his Junior season, the big-bodied tight end transferred to Virginia for his senior season. That turned into a wise move, as he set career highs with 44 receptions for 598 yards in 11 games played. He earned first-team All-ACC honors and finished tied for ninth in the school’s history with eight touchdown receptions in a single season. 

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2022 DFF Draft Coverage: Velus Jones Jr.

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During his four years at USC, Jones Jr. showed flashes as a return specialist and saw limited time as a receiver on offense. He found a larger offensive role after transferring to Tennessee University. In his final season this past year, Jones Jr. hauled in 62 receptions for 807 yards and seven touchdowns. Although he produced as a receiver, he was noticed by earning second-team all-conference notice as a kick returner. He finished his collegiate career with 2,973 kick return yards and two kick return touchdowns while averaging 24.4 yards per kick return. 

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2022 DFF Draft Coverage: Skyy Moore

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Being paired with Patrick Mahomes is as good as you can ask for with a rookie wide receiver prospect. Tyreek Hill is gone along with his 1239 receiving yards. Moore figures to step in and contribute immediately. I have Moore ranked as the number eight wide receiver in this class for projected future dynasty value. He has the potential to make an impact at the next level but he does not profile as a number one receiver. Moore should go off the board in rookie drafts in the early second-round.

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2022 DFF Draft Coverage: Trey McBride

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McBride put together a marvelous high school career, excelling in three different sports. He earned All-Colorado honors for football. He set his high school record for most RBIs and home runs hit in baseball. And he set the school record for most career points scored in basketball. At Colorado State University, McBride was a viable receiving option during his first three seasons. Then, he popped off during his Senior year, accumulating 1,121 receiving yards and one touchdown on 90 receptions. During the 12 games played in 2021, McBride hauled in at least six receptions in 11 of them. He also produced at least 59 receiving yards in 11 of the 12 as well. His average of 7.5 receptions and 93.4 yards per game in 2021 shows that he’s used to producing large workloads.

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2022 DFF Draft Coverage: Tyquan Thornton

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Thornton committed to Baylor after dominating in both track and football at Booker T. Washington High School. After a limited role during his freshman season, Thornton put together a solid 2019 campaign. He hauled in 45 receptions for 782 yards and three touchdowns in 13 games. He missed some time and showed a ton of inconsistency during the 2020 season before putting together his best collegiate season in 2021. Thornton was a second-team all-conference receiver, as he led the Bears with 62 receptions for 948 yards and 10 touchdowns. 

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2022 DFF Draft Coverage: Breece Hall

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Hall will likely start the season splitting touches with Carter Jr. Eventually, we should expect Hall to take over as the team’s lead back. He’s a future workhorse and a surefire RB2 (at least) to start off his career. In dynasty start-ups, he’s a considerable choice in the late second round/early third round. For redraft, he may be an early second-round talent. He’s a top-two running back in this class, and he’s going to receive ample amounts of opportunities in New York.

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2022 DFF Draft Coverage: Christian Watson

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Watson was the leading receiver on the 2019 North Dakota State team which featured Trey Lance at quarterback, with 732 yards receiving. He had 43 receptions for 801 yards his senior year. North Dakota was consistently blowing out their opponents, so you will not see eye-popping volume statistics for Watson. He is explosive, garnering 57 plays of 20+ yards over his college career. When you look at his rate stats they are far more impressive. Watson’s dominator rating was 44.0%. This is 90th percentile among prospects and ranked fifth overall.  The receiving yards per team pass attempt was also solid at 3.12.

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2022 DFF Draft Coverage: Treylon Burks

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After a quiet freshman year, Burks elevated his production significantly in his sophomore year. He had 820 yards receiving and seven touchdowns in only nine games. He followed that up with an even better junior year with 1,104 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns. Burks rated highly in two of the more predictive metrics for future success. His receiving yards per team pass attempt (RYPTPA) of 3.52 was the third-best in the class. His dominator rating (share of teams receiving yards and touchdowns) was second-best overall to Jalen Tolbert.

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2022 DFF Draft Coverage: Kayvon Thibodeaux

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Kayvon Thibodeaux was a five-star recruit and the consensus No. 1 recruit of the 2019 class coming out of Los Angeles’ Oaks Christian High School. The USA Today High School Defensive Player of the Year had 54 sacks in four years (two at Dorsey High School) and enrolled early at Oregon to contribute immediately the following fall. Thibodeaux has been a favorite of your author’s for the past three seasons and should have been definitely considered as the number one overall pick. 

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