Fantasy Football Best Value Picks: Wide Receivers
Calvin Ridley, Falcons
There’s not much higher Ridley can be than his WR6 draft status in 2021 or WR4 finish from ’20. Well, , actually, he could end up being the highest-scoring receiver in fantasy. He’s a great bet for 100-plus catches and 10 TDs, and he should push up to around 1,500 yards. There’s a case to take him over everyone except Davante Adams given he will have more receptions than Tyreek HIll and maybe double the scores of Stefon Diggs.
Allen Robinson, Bears
It’s head-scratching why A-Rob is being underrated again after he proved he can produce huge numbers with Blake Bortles and Mitchell Trubisky-Nick Foles alike. The Andy Dalton-Justin Fields combination is better than what he had last season, and he’s still the big-time alpha in Chicago with Darnell Mooney a distant second. Robinson finished as WR12 last season, and there’s no way he should be considered any lower than that.
Robert Woods, Rams
Bobby Trees gets a much-needed QB upgrade with Stafford and can further distance himself from Cooper Kupp as the true go-to guy outside. Look for Woods to shoot past 90 catches and 1,200 yards and record double-digit TDs for the first time in his career. The WR13 from last season doesn’t deserve a drop to WR18.
Ja’Marr Chase, Bengals
2021 FANTASY CONSISTENCY RATINGS:Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end
Diontae Johnson, Steelers
DJ Chark, Jaguars
Jerry Jeudy, Broncos
FANTASY DRAFT STRATEGY:Snake Draft | Auction | Best Ball | Dynasty/Keeper | IDP
North Texas Rb Deandre Torrey
Every year, productive small-school backs go overlooked and end up providing value for NFL teams that give them a chance. DeAndre Torrey could end up being one of those backs. Hes one of the deeper 2022 NFL Draft sleepers youll see, and its unlikely he gets drafted at all.
But Torrey has some appeal as a potential high-value add in the UDFA circuit. Hes been an insanely productive back for North Texas. Although hes smaller at 57, 195 pounds, hes compact and energetic as a runner. He hits the hole with great burst, and he can be tough to take down in the open field.
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First Base Dynasty Rankings For Fantasy Baseball
It’s not quite draft season for fantasy baseball but that matters little in dynasty. Cut/hold decisions are being made in the following weeks leading up to the annual redraft or auction so it’s important to assess the relative value of each player on your roster. As it turns out, I’ve recently updated my dynasty baseball… Read More
New York Giants Charles Cross
The Giants desperately need to build their offensive line, and the choice on the board now would likely come down to Cross or Iowa C Tyler Linderbaum. Cross has played very well the past two seasons, earning all-SEC honors, and is the type of athlete to handle the transition to RT. Further pushing the value of OT, the NFL had not selected a center in the top 10 since 1968 when the Bengals selected Bob Johnson at number two overall. 2020 selection Andrew Thomas has been the lone bright spot on the Giants offensive line, and Cross is a natural LT, so the team would have to decide how to shuffle the line, but the focus should be on asset accumulation right now.
The Giants are praying they find themselves as the beneficiaries of QB movement ahead of them, pushing a guy like Hutchinson or Neal down, or hoping a team to come up and jump Carolina or Washington on the QB market. Either way, this team is a mess and needs to build talent throughout the roster.
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Nfl Dfs Sleepers And Busts Wild Card Weekend: Is Playoff Lenny Back For Tampa Bay
As DFS becomes the main way managers continue to play fantasy football, here are our picks for NFL Wild Card sleepers and busts.
As fantasy football managers polish their newly secured hardware, DFS takes over the conversation as each week presents an entirely new set of challenges to those looking to take down contests. With Wild Card Weekend of the NFL playoffs on the horizon, here are our picks for DFS sleepers and busts for the opening round of the playoffs.
Strength Of Schedule Tool
Not every week is equal in fantasy football, especially when it comes to beating your friends in the playoffs. If you preferentially choose players who have a favorable schedule going into Weeks 15 and 16, you will have a great chance of success. The Awesemo Strength of Schedule Tool is not your regular list of good and bad defenses by week. Alex Baker has put his projections to work using game lines from the season coupled with specific stats to create a rating for each matchup that is not solely based on last years performances. Types of defenses are also taken into account. Inside, run-stuffing defenses may allow no points to bruising backs who continually run through the A-gap, but what about pass-catching backs like Christian McCaffrey or Alvin Kamara? Awesemos Strength of Schedule Tool treats those backs differently, for example, and tailors the fantasy football strength of schedule to their unique situations. We have also grouped each players strength of schedule by periods of the season. Want to know how a player grades out during the playoffs? Just toggle the playoff column. Got a guillotine league where you need to be great right off the bat? Toggle Weeks 1 to 4.
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New York Giants Tyler Linderbaum
The Giants took their RT with the fifth pick and followed it up by grabbing Linderbaum. A center this high is almost unprecedented, but it speaks to the state of the Giants offensive line and where the talent lies in this class. Linderbaum won the Rimington Trophy as the best center in college football and continues a long trend of excellent Iowa offensive line prospects. The combination of Linderbaum and Cross and Thomas would give the Giants plus players at three positions and help smooth over rough patches at the guards. The Giants have to focus on removing any remaining excuses on an offense hypothetically loaded with skill talent between Saquon Barkley, Kenny Golladay, and Kadarius Toney.
The Giants have to address the offensive line with their first two picks. Absent that position, the team could consider an edge like George Karlaftis or David Ojabo to compliment 2021 pick Azeez Ojulari.
Holy Cross Cb John Smith
As weve mentioned before, production is a great way for FCS players to get noticed. If they can produce at a level above their counterparts, thats the first step to being recognized by NFL evaluators. John Smith has done that.
The 60, 186-pound cornerback has 3 interceptions and 5 deflections in seven games this year. In his career, Smith has 10 interceptions and 25 deflections to his name. Hes a high-level playmaker at the FCS level with dangerous ball skills, and he also flashes quick twitch and vertical athleticism.
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Baltimore Ravens Jordan Davis
Davis has the size to serve as a traditional NT and the versatility to disrupt gaps, an essential need in the Baltimore defense. An impact player from a blue-chip college program, Davis fits the Ravens traditional drafting model to a T. Brandon Williams has been a critical piece of the defense for years but just turned in his worst season and is 33 and a UFA. Even if the team retains him, the likelihood is his days as a critical impact player are dwindling, and Davis allows for a smooth transition.
Injuries decimated the Ravens this year, but the team has an explicit type, primarily versatile players from major college programs. If he is still on the board, C Tyler Linderbaum is a potential pivot as Iowa is a known offensive line factory, and Baltimore prefers to minimize risk early in the draft.
Three Hitters Set To Break Out Earlier Than Their Prime
In baseball, common sense would indicate that a player would break out when they reach their prime, which is around 26-years-old. However, development is not linear. We have seen plenty of players burst onto the scene with the first or second season and flourish, while others have taken longer than expected to develop. It really… Read More
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What Are Fantasy Football Sleepers Breakouts & Busts
Most fantasy football fans are very familiar with terms like sleepers, breakouts and busts. But the industry has never really set out to define each term. What specifically constitutes a deep sleeper vs a regular sleeper? What percentage of points do you have to increase or decrease to be considered a bust?
Here at Awesemo we have set out to better define what fantasy football sleepers, breakouts and busts are by categorizing them in our rankings relative to their average draft position. With each set of fantasy football sleepers, busts and breakouts listed, we have created a differential column relative to their average draft position so you can see how player rank.
Awesemos data table allows you to compare our projections vs. the average draft position, see which players projected to bust in 2021 and which players make for great mid- to late-round steals. Breakouts are determined by how far ahead Awesemo has a player projected over his ADP. Sleepers are similar but have an ADP of 50 or lower, while deep sleepers have an ADP of 100 or lower. Busts are players that Awesemo has ranked much lower than their ADP.
College Fantasy Football Wr Sleepers
Arkansas State’s Corey Rucker ranks highly in CFBDynasty fantasy WR rankings but isnt well-known by most college football fans. He has potential for a monster season with WR1-type numbers in Butch Jones offense.
Jadon Haselwood was the No. 1 WR in his recruiting class but has battled injuries and could be on the verge of a breakout for Oklahoma. Marvin Mims broke out at WR as a freshman while Haselwood was injured, but Haselwood has the size to be the prime target in the red zone paired with the speed to be a threat on every down.
Heres the rest of our fantasy sleepers at wide receiver:
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College Fantasy Football Rb Sleepers
North Carolina lost an incredible amount of production to the NFL draft this year when Javonte Williams and Michael Carter left. The Heels plan to replace that duo with someone who can run between the tackles and catch the ball — namely, Tennessee transfer Ty Chandler.
TCU has upside this season as a dark-horse candidate to compete in the Big 12. At running back, five-star Zach Evans returns to a backfield, where its fully his job this year. He competed with Darwin Barlow last season, but Barlow has since transferred to USC. Evans finished the season strong and will look to bring that momentum back as the main starter.
Heres the rest of our fantasy sleepers at running back:
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Pittsburgh Steelers Malik Willis
Willis has garnered buzz in the devy and dynasty rookie community all year long, but this feels like the last safe landing spot before a potential fall outside of the first round. Despite rumors to the contrary, the team can not count on Mason Rudolph as their replacement for Ben Roethlisberger. The team needs to invest heavily on the offensive line and could opt for that route, taking a QB like Carson Strong or Desmond Ridder in round two but facing Lamar Jackson, and Joe Burrow for the foreseeable future inside their division could force their hand on a dynamic dual-threat talent. Willis leaves a desire for improvement in accuracy but would be a jolt of lightning to an offense that has grown to accommodate the twilight of Roethlisbergers career.
The Steelers and Ravens have long operated as mirror organizations, and much like Baltimore, they could opt to take Ikem Ekwonu as the centerpiece of an offensive line rebuild.
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Fantasy Football Start’em Sit’em: Week 17
Updated: Friday, December 31st
The decision on which player to start, or sit, largely comes down to the options on your roster .
As an example, Rashaad Penny is listed below as a “start” for Week 17. And I’d certainly be comfortable going into Week 17 with him as one of my starting running backs.
Then again, Penny may be a “sit” for your team.
In other words, if you roster Nick Chubb, Joe Mixon and Penny and start only two running backs, you should start Chubb and Mixon and, in turn, bench Penny.
For a more direct answer on whether we would start Player X over Player Y, check our Week 17 Fantasy Football Rankings. Instead of making those direct comparisons, the goal here is to highlight players that we like, or dislike, for the week.
Washington Tbas Sam Howell
Washington finds itself in a similar position as Carolina regarding QB needs. The team hoped Ryan Fitzpatrick could build upon their 2020 playoff appearance, but continuing his career is an open question. Taylor Heinicke has alleviated any concerns he may be a franchise QB. The team is at a crossroads in many ways, and a young QB to complement their rebranding efforts would go a long way towards building fan belief. Howell finds himself in the unenviable position of spending 2021 under the microscope of preseason expectations on an understaffed team after losing four key skill position teammates to the 2021 draft. Howell is a leader and can make every throw necessary to succeed at the NFL level. Some may see him as a dual-threat option judging solely off stats, but the reality is his athleticism is more on par with Baker Mayfield, a player who was able to extend plays in college but NFL quickness closed those windows.
If the team strayed away from QB, Treylon Burks or Garrett Wilson are the types of WRs that Terry McLaurin has not gotten the luxury of helping free up coverage in his career.
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Nfl Dfs Picks Week 17 Afternoon Slate: Live Before Lock 3 Pm
Prepping for a fantasy football draft can be a time consuming,confusing process. Spending hours reading though magazines, on-line articlesand listening to podcasts can leave you sifting through a mishmash ofconflicting and often useless information. It is difficult figuring out who totrust and which stats are noise and which are not. You have probably comeacross players who are considered breakout picks in one article,only to see them labeled as busts in another.
The reason for this is simple: There are too many availablestatistics to choose from, and many of the ones that are used by fantasyfootball analysts contain little, if any, predictive value. In fact, even thestatistics that do offer predictive value can be harmful when viewed inisolation. When citing individual statistics as fantasy football analystsoften do they can make the case for anyone. If you are tired of thegroupthink and industry consensus, maybe it is time for a data-driven approach.
Fortunately, Awesemo has created first-rate fantasy footballrankings based on projections. Good projections consider millions of datapoints. They then determine which data points are most predictive and aggregatethem into a single overarching number for each player, finally culminating in aranking system that takes relativity into account.
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Fantasy Football Sleepers For The 2021 Nfl Season
Here are ten sleepers for the 2021 season with their Fantasy Football ADP in parenthesis :
QB – Trey Lance, San Francisco 49ers
Look at 2020’s top 10-scoring fantasy quarterbacks and you’ll notice a common theme. Almost all of them are prolific runners. The average top-10 quarterback had a rushing line of 79.5/416.5/5.1.
To highlight the importance of rushing production, look no further than the G.O.A.T. . Of course, Brady isn’t known for his rushing prowess . But in his first season in Tampa, Brady threw 40 touchdowns and 4,633 yards . Even so, Brady only finished as fantasy’s QB8. Winning from the pocket used to be enough — Brady has nine seasons where he finished as a top-seven fantasy QB.
Nowadays, quarterbacks that are exclusively pocket passers need to have career-type seasons to warrant a high ranking. On the other hand, QBs with elite rushing upside can be mediocre passers and still be strong fantasy plays.
So, while the rookie version of Lance won’t have the passing success that Brady will have in 2021, his elite rushing upside puts him squarely in the top-10 mix once he becomes a starter. Lance is more talented than Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts, as an example, and Hurts was the QB7 from Weeks 14-17 last season after the team benched Carson Wentz.
One of the common things I’ve often done in a fantasy football mock draft is pair someone like Joe Burrow, on my list of undervalued players in fantasy football, with Lance for two high-upside options.
