Fantasy Football

What can those of us who spent early draft capital on Cam Akers, or that have him on their dynasty teams, do at the moment? Today we look to recent history for guidance to see how teams have fared when losing star RB talent either before or very early in a season and try to apply that to the Rams’ and our fantasy teams’ situations.

If you are considering dealing for Darrell Henderson in trade or haven’t drafted yet, his price will reflect production levels that history suggests he is not likely to reach. And looking beyond the current Rams roster for potential trade candidates is a lottery ticket. Placing one or more of those on our roster means filling our bench with long shots unlikely to put up numbers anywhere close to what we were expecting from a healthy 2021 Akers.

Following a full reconstructive surgery, Michael Thomas should be good as new following a full rehabilitation. In dynasty, he is a clear hold and a possible buy on the other end. If you’re a shareholder, keep calm and keep those diamond hands steady. His stock will rebound when he’s back in the lineup mid-season gathering targets like a squirrel preparing for winter. Then, you can decide whether it’s in your best interest to sell.

It’s tough for anyone to break through significantly on any sort of consistent basis when Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara are gobbling up 250-plus targets every season and the rest of the depth chart is muddled. Tre’Quan Smith’s disappearance last season should be a concern, but there’s solace in knowing he’s shown the capability of breaking through in a major way. This alone is why fantasy gamers need to be prioritizing him this season.

Despite a shallow target depth, Curtis Samuel averaged 2.18 (No. 12 among qualified wide receivers) Fantasy Points Per Target with a +32.0-percent (No. 3) Target Premium. He specialized in taking low-depth targets and turning upfield, and he was highly efficient for fantasy last season. His high Target Premium, QB upgrade, rushing ability, and chance for increased opportunity give him value at his current ADP.

Marvin Jones has hit the wrong side of 30, but is still productive and established, evidenced by last year’s +15.4-percent (No. 21) Target Premium and 1.98 (No. 27) Fantasy Points Per Target average. Jones will become a favorite of Trevor Lawrence with his ability to make contested catches, especially on Deep Balls. His proven efficiency and high veteran floor make him a great value grab at his late ADP.

New Rams RB1 Darrell Henderson will skyrocket up draft boards until likely settling in as an RB2 in the middle rounds barring a major addition by Los Angeles. With over 60,000 entries filled, 5,000 teams in Best Ball Mania II roster Henderson. Your odds of drafting him after today’s news and building a better team than any of those are low. There are only two outcomes for a team drafting Henderson today:

Whether Los Angeles brings in another competent running back, and whether his own passing down role expands, will define Darrell Henderson’s 2021 ceiling. The fact that he’s never reached a 60.0-percent Snap Share tells us it’s unlikely he possesses a ceiling in the range of Akers.’ Nonetheless, this is a capable player on a top offense thrust into immense opportunity.

2021 No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence became the fourth-ever first-round quarterback to have a Peyton Manning Best Comparable Player comp. He’s only the second quarterback in the database with Manning has his No. 1 comparison. Lawrence has two former No. 1 overall picks in his five Best Comparable Player comps, while the other three quarterbacks are non-first round quarterbacks. The ceiling is top-5 fantasy quarterback that leads NFL in passing yards and touchdowns. His floor is a low-QB2 that becomes a fantasy football non-factor. 

Justin Fields’ Best Comparable Player comps are interesting because despite running a 4.51 (99th-percentile among qualified quarterbacks) 40-Yard Dash, Robert Griffin is the only mobile quarterback in his comps. He has the requisite speed, but his college rushing production didn’t match his athletic measurements. Fields’ ceiling is a league-winning dual-threat quarterback in fantasy leagues and his floor is he’s an inconsistent QB2 in fantasy leagues held back by his passing limitations and decision-making; a pseudo-Scott Fish Bowl cheat code quarterback.

Hands down, Zach Wilson has the most electric and dynamic list of Best Comparable Players at the quarterback position. He also has the widest range of outcomes in this rookie quarterback class. Ultimately, Wilson reaching his ceiling comes down to if his rushing ability translates to the NFL level. His ceiling is low-end QB1, and his floor is that the New York Jets’ triennial search for a franchise quarterback continues.

In 30 college games, Mac Jones finished with 42 rushing yards on 54 attempts, curbing his fantasy football upside. When compared to the only two first-round quarterbacks in his Best Comparable Players list, Jones isn’t close to their level on the ground. His ceiling is mid-QB2 in fantasy leagues, and his floor is he’s given a Chicago overcoat and sinks to the bottom of waiver wires in non-Superflex leagues.

There were only four players with more than Bryan Edwards’ 15 targets who bested his 2.43 Target Separation mark. His ability to create space led him to a 2.42 Fantasy Points Per Target average, only 0.03 points south of Tyreek Hill. With Derek Carr’s efficiency and Edwards’ playmaking, the duo can produce big numbers. Regardless of what happens in 2021, Edwards should be a hot name in the 2022 trade market.

Looking forward to 2022, the Browns can cut ties with Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry while saving $30-million. Although they can rework the contracts to make them more affordable, the Browns wouldn’t feel pressured if Donovan Peoples-Jones can step up in a big way. He did just that in 2020. Expect Peoples-Jones to have a couple more big performances in 2021. And while everyone is currently looking at the rookies, make a play for DPJ before he blows up.

Looking back to 2020, both running back and wide receiver proved to return subpar value in the deep rounds. Running backs drafted after the 12th round finished as an RB1 only 4.95-percent of the time. Wide receivers drafted in the same range were only a WR1 3.39-percent of the time. The fall off is drastic compared to quarterback (17.09-percent) and tight end (12.66-percent). This suggests that QB and TE are actually deep and that WR/RB are the shallow positions in drafts.

On Underdog Fantasy, there are about 15 tight ends currently being drafted in the top 12 rounds. It is reasonable to expect about half of them to bust in 2021. A conservative projection would suggest that there are at least five available after Round 12 that can score at least 100 points. With the overall poor quality of the tight end position, it is reasonable to push off chasing TE depth until the later rounds in Best Ball.

Six wide receivers were taken in the first seven picks of Round 2, with Zach Wilson being taken at the 2.03 to break that run up. I don’t love reaching on Wilson here because he is currently parked at No. 25 overall in our rookie rankings. However, I love Jaylen Waddle at the 2.01 and Terrace Marshall at the 2.05. These two receivers are jumping into roles with high target potential in 2021.

There were seven running backs that were taken off the board in Round 5, including Chris Evans, Kylin Hill, and Khalil Herbert. I love all three, and think they can see playing time in 2021. My favorite pick of the last round has to be Ihmir Smith-Marsette. The Vikings do not have a clear WR3 and I predict that ISM will see lots of targets as long as defenses are focused on Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen.

Tevin Coleman (Underdog ADP: 176.7) is being drafted of Ty Johnson (ADP: 213.2) in best ball. Coleman, who averaged 1.9 yards per carry last year, is being billed as a possible ‘starter,’ but has almost zero chance to emerge as a league-winner at this stage of his career. If you draft under the assumption of a winning lineup, how will Coleman’s eight-point ‘usable week’ help your team? Take a flier on the higher-ceiling Johnson instead.

You are in Round 10 of your best ball draft and see Joe Burrow available well past ADP, so you snatch him despite having no Bengals players. Burrow has a top five season, helping vault you to the Best Ball Mania II final. However, if Burrow performs well, your score increases, but so do all the other entries rostering Burrow that week. The odds he hits his ceiling in a given week without a top performance from at least one of Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, or Tyler Boyd are low.