Sizzle:
Patrick Mahomes – Kansas City Chiefs – 11th Round – Stock up!
This young kid from Texas lit a spark in the fantasy community on Friday with just one pass — a 69-yard touchdown to Tyreek Hill. This wasn’t a 40-yard pass that Tyfreak ran in for a touchdown; this was an absolute bomb. In fact, this ball traveled through the air longer than any pass attempted all last season. Mahomes has a cannon for an arm and the weapons around him are perfectly suited to make big plays all throughout the 2018 season. Expectations have to be tempered due to the Chiefs’ extremely difficult schedule, but their bad defense will provide plenty of positive game scripts for this passing game. It’s very likely that Patrick Mahomes and company will be the “Garbage Time Kings” of the 2018 season.
Peyton Barber – Tampa Bay Bucaneers – 9th Round- Stock up!
As a fantasy owner, we love to leave the draft feeling excited about the players we selected. We look up their stats, highlights and schedules to pump ourselves up about all of the potential upside. The reality is, we don’t get excited about all players and some we even question ourselves about. Peyton Barber is the latter. He is a third-year pro with no name value and an underwhelming resume. The narrative around him is completely wrong. Barber will start this team as the lead back. Through the first two preseason games, Barber has dominated in snaps with the first team offense and has put together impressive stats. Rookie Ronald Jones has compiled 11 yards on 12 attempts and has dropped both of his targets. This is Barber’s job to lose and he is being criminally undervalued in fantasy drafts.
John Brown – Baltimore Ravens – 12th Round- Stock up!
Its tough to find a greater value than John Brown late in fantasy. There is no doubt that Brown has the ability to be a top producer in the league. He is a smart football player and an exceptional athlete — a combination we don’t always get in today’s NFL. The main issue has always been his ability to stay healthy. As we all know, Brown suffers from the Sickle Cell trait which can cause a lot of complications playing at altitude. While Arizona isn’t exactly the mile high stadium in Denver, it does rank second in elevation. As for Baltimore, it is a whopping 10 feet above sea level, ranking as one of the lowest altitude stadiums in the NFL. This should help Brown stay healthier this year as he plays in the role of the No. 2 receiver for this pass friendly offense. We have already seen a touchdown connection between Flacco and Brown manifest in Week 2 of the preseason. While “Smoke” has remained under the radar for most of this offseason, don’t expect that to last. He is likely going to be a draft day riser.
Fizzle:
Jarvis Landry – Cleveland Browns – 4th Round – Stock down…
Landry has already climbed up a round and a half in ADP since Hard Knocks aired and Josh Gordon was held out of training camp. Don’t be the person who pays up for him. Landry is a volume-based receiver who’s skillset is not aligned with the starting quarterback. Tyrod Taylor has never been strong at targeting the middle of the field on short or intermediate routes. Landry won’t receive the same amount of targets he was getting throughout his tenure in Miami. As for Josh Gordon, he is already back and participating with the team. So the expectation of Landry being the only receiver in town is completely false, and if we are banking on any receiver to excel in this offense, it would have to be Gordon. His skillset matches up perfectly with Tyrod, and “Flash” won’t need 8-10 targets per game to be fantasy relevant. His YAC ability is out of this world and he has legitimate WR1 upside. If Baker Mayfield becomes the starting quarterback I would buy low on Landry right away, but until then he is a player to avoid.
James White – New England Patriots – 9th Round – Stock down…
It’s no secret that The Patriots’ RB core has been completely demolished with injuries. Sony Michel has been held out of preseason and is expected to return for Week 1, and Rex Burkhead suffered a partial tear of his meniscus. Both backs were slated to play the pass catching role in this high powered offense, a role that has a ton of fantasy value. With that news coupled with one solid performance in the preseason, White’s fantasy stock skyrocketed. White is now a 9th round pick. DO NOT DRAFT HIM! Both Michel and Burkhead are expected to return to start the season and Burkhead is already practicing. Take the draft day discount on those players and use White as nothing more than a DFS play during the season.
Davante Parker – Miami Dolphins – 11th Round – Stock down…
As much as we all like to think Parker is due for a breakout season, that is unlikely to happen this year. Parker has a broken finger and his week 1 status is up in the air. Even if he returns early in the season, what type of upside can we expect? Parker is on a bad team led by a quarterback who hasn’t played a full game since 2016. He never showed us anything to be excited about initially and will be perennially overhyped each season. Let somebody else waste a roster spot on him and opt for a player with more potential for 2018.
