The San Francisco 49ers do not project to win a lot of games this season, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to mine fantasy value from this team.
Brian Hoyer is by no means a superstar quarterback, but could provide sneaky value in 2017. In 17 games over the past two seasons, Hoyer has thrown for 4,051 yards with 25 touchdowns to only 7 interceptions.
The Chargers offense can be a menace in 2017. The roster boasts offensive weapons like Allen, Gordon, Williams, Benjamin, and Henry. The schedule starts tough, but buy after that and reap the rewards of an excellent offense.
Tyrell “the Gazelle” William gets his nickname from his strong workout metrics. William oozes athleticism featuring an impressive 10.40 (98th-percentile) Catch Radius and a 130.7 (89th-percentile) Burst Score.
David Moore wasn’t given an invite to the NFL combine and was ignored in favor of more “popular” receivers, whatever that means. However, at his pro day, Moore showed up and put together a strong showing.
Amara Darboh is a similar prospect to Moore with a slight athletic advantage and a late third round pick carrying him. Moore meets the NFL athletic requirements just as much as Darboh, but has a better production profile carrying him.
In round two, do you go after “devy darling” JuJu Smith-Schuster, small-school college compiler Zay Jones, the contested catch savant Chris Godwin, yards after the catch monster Carlos Henderson, or everyone’s favorite gadget player, Curtis Samuel?
Chris Godwin is top-3 across all wide receiver workout metrics. As the best receiver in contested situations in college football in 2016, Godwin is a perfect fit for Winston, who specializes in feeding receivers in challenging situations.
If there’s anything that dynasty owners know, it’s that the Patriots offense will be extremely valuable. Projecting that offense though, and how the players will actually fill the key roles, is a tough task. Let’s take a look at the revamped New England offense that should be the staple of Brady’s twilight years.
Rob Gronkowski is the best tight end in the history of the NFL. He ranks first in yards per game and career fantasy points per game. The most ridiculous Gronk stat: he has as many double-digit touchdown seasons as every current Hall of Fame tight end has combined.
The Cleveland Browns are already the Houston Texans’ daddy, and the rest of the league is next. Since adopting a more analytics-based approach, the optimism for the Browns as a franchise is at a high point not seen in years, and that optimism spills over into their fantasy football outlook as well.
David Njoku is the definition of bigger, faster, stronger. Njoku is a match-up nightmare in the passing game with stellar yard after the catch skills, after he led college football with 11.2 yards after the catch per reception in 2016. While Njoku needs to improve his blocking, he’s got the athleticism and receiving instincts to be a monster at the NFL level.
Tyrell Williams and Keenan Allen, are really good. I can’t argue against that. I don’t want to. But it’s hard to listen to the projections of John Ross (also a first round receiver going to a crowded depth chart) or Brandon Marshall and Sterling Shepard, and wonder if Mike Williams is better-situated.
Mike Williams scores points in a specific way that the Chargers struggled with last season. And that specific way of scoring points just happens to be the most valuable and immediately effective for fantasy players: touchdowns.
Tyrell Williams had a quietly outstanding 2016. Meanwhile, his teammate Mike Williams possesses one of the most underwhelming prospect profiles for a first round wide receiver in NFL history.
Meanwhile, Mike Williams is being selected two rounds before Tyrell Williams, making Tyrell Williams a significantly better fantasy football value.
D’Onta Foreman will be attending the Lamar Miller Masquerade. Foreman is going to the Lamar Miller Masquerade to rip off his mask and put him on display for all to see. D’Onta Foreman is the fake bell cow exposer.
How threatened should Lamar Miller be after the Houston Texans selected D’Onta Foreman in the NFL Draft based on advanced stats and metrics profiles?
Mark Ingram received the most fantasy-relevant touches among NFL running backs in 2016. Ingram had 37 RZ carries (No. 11), 58 targets (No. 12), 9 breakaway runs (No. 15), and averaged 15 fantasy points per game (No. 10).
Even with the signings of Adrian Peterson and Alvin Kamara, Mark Ingram’s advanced stats and metrics prove that he still has RB1 upside in fantasy football.
