LET’S GO! It’s finally football time, which means the fantasy season is officially starting this week. In this series, we will provide the best weekly options to stream at quarterback, tight end, and D/ST. Keep in mind, each streaming option will be below 50% owned, according to ESPN.
In dynasty, one of the most under-appreciated assets is the bench stash running back. These cheap assets can climb up depth charts and become useful to either your starting lineup or for trade. These types of players can be acquired for a fourth-round rookie pick or less in most leagues but can return a second-rounder or more in trades if they become a starter. Even if it’s only for a couple of weeks. For example, last season I was able to trade Ryan Nall and a third-round rookie pick for a second-round rookie pick when he took over for David Montgomery. The hardest part is finding which players are the best bets to not only remain on a team but also climb a depth chart. This article will go over certain metrics you can look for when deciding between these late-round or free-agent RBs.
Would you believe it if I told you that Antonio Gibson, who played mostly wide receiver (WR) in college, tallied 16.2 carries and targets per game in the first 11 games of his pro football career at running back (RB)? After blowing up in Week 12 for 20/115/3, along with five receptions on seven targets, he was hurt early in the next game and missed two weeks. He then came back and received a large share of the workload again, but he was hobbled a bit by the injury and indeed it has lingered into the offseason, somewhat unexpectedly. What are his prospects for 2021, and how do they compare to the rest of the 2020 RB class and other similar ranked veteran RBs?
Miles Sanders’ stock is dropping, and his fantasy value is in a completely opposite situation than last offseason at this time. The third-year pro put together a somewhat disappointing season in 2020. He played in four fewer games than his rookie year, he hardly outproduced his rushing statistics, and he was simply a non-factor as a receiver out of the backfield. In 2019, he finished as the RB15 in PPR leagues compared to the RB23 in 2020.
Jaret Patterson is a shifty runner with quick feet. He won’t blow you away with his 4.58 speed, but he was good at making people miss in college when working with minimal space. There were a lot of red flags on film with Patterson. Several times where bigger defenders were able to take him down without help. He’s hesitant at times when making the decision of which hole to hit. Patterson has excellent ball security and drive. He’s a competitor. He’s a fun player to watch, but I’m not sure his skills are going to translate in the NFL.
Jamin Davis entered the 2021 NFL draft as a redshirt junior. He was a starter for the University of Kentucky Wildcats for just one year. Davis topped off a very productive year with a break-out bowl game versus North Carolina State. He collected 13 tackles, was in on a QB sack, and picked off a pass to secure a victory. He ended the season with 102 tackles including four for loss and four forced turnovers.
In this article, I will be dissecting the current top twelve dynasty wide receivers, based on ADP provided by Rotoviz.com. To do this I have compiled a list of these WRs, their base stats, calculated their advanced stats that I think are important, and turned it all into an easily digestible chart. There are a few things you will need to know before we look at the chart so let’s talk about those.
As the great movie “Talladega Nights” informed us all, America is all about speed. Hot, nasty, bad-ass speed. Washington has taken that to heart and signed arguably the most competent and fastest wideout on the free agency market. Curtis Samuel. His signing now makes the college dream of his and Terry McLaurin into reality and nightmares for NFC East defensive coordinators. This one, two, punch is now in my mind, one of the best in the NFC, if not the NFL.
Before everyone goes out and gets Fitzmagic Washington jerseys, everyone needs to take a step back and take a deep breath. Washington is bringing back their entire quarterback room minus Dwayne Haskins, to whom I say good riddance, and is a story for another day. The contract is also another possible indicator of what Washington is planning to do with the quarterback position. Signing him for only a year and $10 million means they aren’t entirely assured of him being the starter the whole year let alone in the future. While I forecast Ryan as the opening day starter, the odds of him finishing up the year as the starting quarterback are slim.
Every year in fantasy football, there are players who take the next step towards becoming “must-own” dynasty assets. Finding who these players are is one of the many things that make fantasy football such a challenging and rewarding game. The purpose of this article is to discuss a few of those targets who could be on the cusp of entering top-12 first-round dynasty status.
This is the fourth article of the team needs series covering teams picking 16 through 20. Obviously, free-agency acquisitions will make a major difference as to who teams will draft. These predictions and needs will therefore change as we acquire more information. However, many are of the thinking that it’s better to supplement with free-agency and build through the draft. Teams want to get young assets and have them develop cohesion with the team. Therefore, the draft is often more predictive of a team’s long-term confidence in a player.
The 2021 offseason is shaping up to be an interesting …
It’s been a while since I last wrote an article for DFF. Between work, moving interstate, dealing with the rescheduling of a wedding, and the general hustle and bustle of life, I’ve been short on time over the past few months. Or that is what I have told myself.
It’s very easy to put something off, especially when you know there will be some effort involved, and sometimes you can let the excuses win. But I want to start 2021 right, and it’s time for me to start pulling my weight once again. The amazing team here at DFF has been smashing out content week after week, and I am fired up to get back to contributing regularly.
I love writing these storyline pieces. Now that we’ve hit the playoffs, I want to cover all the games, bringing you at least something to think about when you watch the playoffs. Even though playoffs don’t count for our fantasy teams, playoff performances can have massive effects on future dynasty value. This piece will give you something specific to look for in each contest, which I hope helps you enjoy the games even more. We all play fantasy football to enhance our enjoyment of football, and I’m trying to add to that sense of happiness here. Fun is the most essential part of this hobby for all of us, including me. I’ve listed the home team first for each game to keep things organized. For this week, I’ll cover the Saturday games in one article and the Sunday games in another. I won’t waste any more time, so let’s jump straight in!
Holy Smokes, this week was a fun one for the Washington Football Team defense. Playing at the displaced defending NFC champion 49ers, the Football Team produced four sacks, two fumbles, an interception, and two touchdowns to help secure the victory. Since Week 11, Washington has given up a total of 57 points (fewer than 15 per game), while scoring three touchdowns and registering 12 sacks in that timeframe. Players that made IDP waves this week include Chase Young, Kamren Curl, and Montez Sweat.
This marks two weeks in a row that Cam Akers has made it into the risers. That’s a good look, especially for a rookie that had a relatively rocky start to the season. Week 13 brought Akers a season-high in total yardage, touches, and snap %. In addition to the increased workload, Week 13 marks the third week in a row that Akers has found his way into the end zone. The increase in usage could be attributed to Darrell Henderson Jr. briefly leaving the game with a knee injury, but nonetheless, it is great to see the second-round pick finally get a real workload and look good doing so. I think what is most noteworthy from Week 13 is the usage of Malcolm Brown. Despite Henderson going down with a knee injury, Malcolm Brown saw a season-low in snap rate with just 16%. Does this mark the end of an era? Has Sean McVay finally realized Brown has no juice? Did he finally take a look at box scores and see Malcolm Brown’s longest run on the year is for 19 yards? I think the past few weeks, Akers has proven his worth, and McVay and company are ready to truly get him involved in the offense.
I think the Giants stunned everyone by beating the Seahawks 17-12, remaining in first place in the NFC East. The Giants haven’t had star Saquon Barkley all season due to an ACL tear, and Daniel Jones missed this game with a hamstring injury. Also, Devonta Freeman remains on injured reserve with an ankle injury and is on the COVID-19 reserve list. Luckily, the rest of their offense is currently healthy, and I expect Jones to return in Week 14.
Your boy is back once again with the 12th week straight of the Rookie Stock Market. I’ve enjoyed digging into the details and giving my weekly spin on them. In most formats, Week 13 is the last regular-season matchup and a pivotal week for lots of teams. Let’s dive into some of Week 12 performances.
The Cowboys come into this contest relatively healthy, of course, excluding Dak Prescott, who’s out for the season. Ezekiel Elliott continues to log limited practices with a hamstring issue, but he’s not on the game’s final injury report. Elliott looked better last week, as he took 21 carries for 103 yards for his first 100-yard game this season. Hopefully, Elliott continues his upward trend this week, although he’s a hard sell for me in dynasty leagues no matter what.
Every week, I’m going to break down an entire division, focusing on their play on the field that week. Specifically, I’ll go through each team and focus on their dynasty assets, especially anybody who suffered injuries or a massive value change. I won’t look at any player or team in too much detail. This article is more of a summary piece. I also included links to all my previous divisional nuggets articles at the bottom of the page. With that said, let’s jump right in!
