FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFTING GUIDE

SportsBeat!

Written by Aaron Cantin

Football season is right around the corner and most importantly, Fantasy Football drafts are approaching even quicker. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating when I say “most importantly” but it's a serious subject. Especially when you see the money being tossed around. Regardless, nearly all Fantasy Football drafts will be taking place in the upcoming week so now’s as perfect a time as ever to get caught up with pre-draft rankings, which rookies will make an impact and everything relevant to helping you earn bragging rights between your buddies and make some money while doing so. Nothing’s sweeter than kicking your friend's ass and collecting money at the same time. Below, I preview first-round selections, sleepers and who-to-avoid. **Spoiler alert** I don’t advise drafting a quarterback in the first round.

Source: Getty Images. Pictured: Quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady.

First Round Worthy

Dalvin Cook - Minnesota Vikings Runningback

Cook returns as the feature back in Minnesota after a 2020 campaign in which he posted a career-best second-place finish in fantasy points among RBs. Despite missing two games, Cook ranked second at the position in carries, touches, scrimmage yards and TDs. His 22 carries inside the opponent's 5-yard line topped the NFL. Cook has finished top-three in fantasy points per game each of the past two seasons, but durability continues to elude him. He's missed at least two games in all four of his NFL seasons. Of course, when you're performing at an elite level, some missed time is tolerable. Cooks remains a top-three fantasy RB in a Vikings' offence that finished fifth in the NFL in TDs last season.

Christian McCaffrey - Carolina Panthers Runningback

McCaffrey was limited to three games during an injury-plagued 2020, but the 25-year-old is well-positioned for a big bounceback this season. McCaffrey was fantasy's No. 2-scoring RB in 2018 before scoring an absurd 156 more points than any other back in 2019. He was on track for another dominant campaign last season, scoring exactly two TDs while posting 25-plus fantasy points in all three of his appearances. Even after the lost season, McCaffrey is one of the league's few remaining every-down backs and will benefit from Matt Rhule and Joe Brady's RB-friendly offence.

Alvin Kamara - New Orleans Saints Runningback

The top-scoring fantasy back of 2020, Kamara finished a position-best 80% of his outings as a top-10 RB. Kamara's role in Sean Payton's offence is about as clear and consistent as they come, as he's finished between 171 and 194 carries each of the past three seasons while posting reception totals of 81, 81, 81 and 83 during his four NFL campaigns. Kamara has yet to finish as season lower than fifth at RB in targets, receptions or receiving yards and has finished top-two in total TDs during three of four seasons. Kamara's outlook is clouded by Drew Brees' retirement, but his combination of usage and talent positions him for a run at his fifth-consecutive top-10 fantasy campaign.

Derrick Henry - Tennessee Titans Runningback

As if Henry's 303-1540-16 rushing line in 2019 wasn't good enough, the oversized superstar back posted an incredible 378-2027-17 line on the ground last season. He's now led the league in carries, rushing yards and rushing TDs each of the past two seasons. He finished both seasons as a top-five fantasy back despite totalling 55 targets during the span. The lack of receiving work does lead to the occasional bust week, as Henry finished outside the top-30 RBs four times last season. Henry is now 27 years old but has shown no sign of slowing down, having finished no lower than ninth in YAC each of the past four seasons. He's a solid RB1 in PPR and an elite play in non-PPR formats.

Davante Adams - Green Bay Packers Wide Receiver

Adams was the top-scoring fantasy WR of 2020 by 29 points, which is incredible, considering he missed 2.5 games due to injury. Including a pair of playoff games, Adams was targeted at least nine times in 14 of his 15 full games and posted a ridiculous 130-1,471-20 receiving line during that span. He reached double-digit TDs for the fourth time in five seasons and posted a top-10 fantasy week in a position-best 57% of his regular-season outings. Adams averaged a career-high (and league-high) 34% target share, and he's now been at or above 30% each of the past three seasons. The 28-year-old hasn't appeared in 16 games in a regular-season since 2016, but he's so good when active that we can deal with some missed time. Aaron Rodgers' top weapon is the best WR in fantasy.

Travis Kelce - Kansas City Chiefs Tight End

The last time Kelce did not finish a season as the top-scoring fantasy TE, Patrick Mahomes was still a year away from declaring for the NFL draft. Kelce has paced the field in five consecutive seasons, ranking no lower than fourth at the position in routes, targets, receptions and yardage each year. As if he wasn't already dominating enough, Kelce set career-high marks in catches (105), receiving yards (NFL-record 1,416), TDs (11) and fantasy points (313) in 2020. He posted a top-five fantasy week in 13 of 15 appearances, finishing lower than ninth just once. In addition to benefiting from Mahomes and pass-heavy Andy Reid, the 31-year-old is so good that he's worth considering in the first round.

Saquon Barkley - New York Giants Runningback

Barkley returns to the New York backfield in search of a bounce-back campaign following a 2020 season in which a knee injury limited him to 64 snaps. Barkley was the feature back, as expected, out of the gate, handling 15 carries and nine targets while playing 88% of the snaps in Week 1. That aligned with his usage during his first two NFL seasons. Barkley paced all RBs in yardage and fantasy points as a rookie in 2018 and ranked third in yardage and fourth in fantasy points during his 12 full games in 2019. There are suddenly a lot of mouths to feed in New York, but Barkley is one of the few backs in the league who will push for 25 touches every week. The 24-year-old remains an elite RB1.

Sleepers

Mike Davis, Atlanta Falcons Runningback

The veteran and longtime capable NFL backup finally got the spotlight during a dominant stretch filling in for the injured Christian McCaffrey in 2020. From Weeks 3-8, Davis finished as fantasy’s RB7 in non-PPR setups and caught 30 passes across those six contests, giving him plenty of PPR appeal as well.

Logan Thomas - Washington Football Team Tight-end

Is 2020’s fantasy football TE3 being forgotten? Logan Thomas was one of only five tight ends to have over 100 targets (110) last season. His six touchdowns in 2020 were admirable, but there’s room for more in 2021. The Washington Football Team has made some great offseason moves to strengthen their offence.

Corey Davis - New York Jets Wide Receiver

How is this man being drafted later than his 2020 fantasy football finish? Corey Davis was the WR30 as the WR2 in a run-first offence. He was 16 yards shy of 1,000 receiving yards and had five touchdowns in 14 games.

Darnell Mooney - Chicago Bears Wide Receiver

Darnell Mooney was a top-50 wide receiver in 2020 with unfavourable conditions at the quarterback position as a rookie in 2020. He outplayed teammate Anthony Miller and ranked second among the Bears wideouts in targets, receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns.

Overrated players

Lamar Jackson - Baltimore Ravens Quarterback

Last season, which included time missed on the COVID-19 list, Jackson saw a drop-off from his stellar MVP performance in 2019. He was QB10 last season, but he's going around QB4 in '21 drafts, sometimes even ahead of Josh Allen or Kyler Murray. His running gives him a nice floor, but even with upgraded weapons, the supplemental passing numbers in a run-heavy offence are a concern without short TDs.

Jonathan Taylor - Indianapolis Colts Runningback

There are many reasons to love Taylor as a real running back after he made a great transition from Wisconsin workhorse to the NFL. But there's also the reality of a sudden unknown quarterback situation given Wentz's latest foot injury. Of greater concern is not having the blocking of Quenton Nelson (foot), the NFL's best offensive lineman. The Colts' passing game may be compressed, and defences can focus on taking away Taylor. He's not finishing near RB4 again because of all that.

Miles Sanders - Philadelphia Eagle Runningback

The Eagles want to commit more to the run with Sirianni, but will the new coaches trust Sanders to be featured when there's also Boston Scott, former Lions second-rounder Kerryon Johnson, and promising rookie Kenneth Gainwell? The trends and reports from the camp sound like there will be more of a committee approach to support Hurts. Sanders was underused in the final season with Doug Pederson and put up some good numbers when given the chance, but it's clear he's not seen in the realm of fellow Penn Stater Saquon Barkley.