Last year, I made this list, and shortly thereafter my fatnasy football season was ruined. My faith in Julio Jones, despite his ever-growing injury history and new surroundings, was not rewarded. James Robinson tore his Achilles. Robert Woods tore his ACL. Matthew Stafford played well, but it wasn't enough to salvage much of anything from what became one of the worst fantasy seasons of my career. They say insanity is doing the same things over and over again while expecting a different result. Well, the players are different this year, but this list has returned, and it's likely that the players I'm listing below are all but doomed for a horrible season. Godspeed, fantasy managers. The mayhem and glory all starts tonight.
Nyhiem Hines, Colts RB
Getting the weirdest addition to this list out of the way first. Jonathan Taylor's usage was bananas last year, but even if it's relatively the same, the Colts have a much more competent QB, who is more likely to dump off to short routes than he is to make a game-altering bonehead move, could still equal more value for Hines this year. At his double-digit round ADP, Hines was free all summer, and if every report we got out of training camp is to be believed, he's going to be involved way more this year than in years past. Even if that only equates to having Nyhiem in RB2 territory, he'll still be regarded as one of the steals of the summer.
Mike Williams, Chargers WR At some point in Draft SZN, I realized that Mike Williams was someone who could end up winning my fantasy league if I were able to draft him. He was performing at a WR1 level all year last year, and wasn't being drafted as one this summer. In many cases, Keenan Allen, whose fantasy outputs were quite similar to Big Mike's last year, despite entirely different stats, is being taken ahead of him. Williams just got paid, and seems as though he's poised for a monster breakout. That's the kind of guy you're okay with taking a chance on in fantasy, and I did just that in over half my leagues.
Darnell Mooney, Bears WR I know the Bears are poised to have an abysmal offense this year, but it won't be due to the efforts of the Moon Man. He broke out, ever so quietly, at the end of last season, and proved to have chemistry with the Bears' latest franchise QB gamble Justin Fields. A new regime should mean more focus on getting the Bears' best players invloved, which it seems like Mooney was for the Bears all summer. After starting strong in the WR3 range early in the summer, towards the latter end of Draft SZN Mooney was regularly going on the WR3/4 line. That's an insane value to get for a team's undisputed number one receiving threat, and his dip in ADP meant that you weren't even risking your fantasy team's future on him, either.
Travis Kelce, Chiefs TE
Even with the emergence of Mark Andrews,the first tight end to top Kelce as fantasy's number one Tight End in almost a decade (you read that right), Kelce found a way to return to the top of the rankings once again this offseason. The Chiefs' puzzling decision to trade Tyreek Hill before having to try and re-sign him again opens up over a hundred targets for the Chiefs, and it's likely to be split between Kelce and two receivers who weren't on Kansas City's roster last season. Who do you think is most likely to get those targets? My money is on Patrick Mahomes's favorite target and number one fan, who rides into the sunset with another 90+ catch, 1200+ yard, 10+ touchdown season, cementing himself forever as the undisputed king of the fantasy tight end. Bonk.
Trey Lance, 49ers QB
I am in seven fantasy leagues this year, which is far too many. I have Lance in 5 of those 7 leagues, and I don't think that's enough. I'm all in on Lance this year, whose body type and skillset matches that of all of fantasy's great, top-tier QBs right now. If you're betting against him, you're betting against his lack of experience, which is what burned all the people unwilling to draft Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, or Lamar Jackson as their late-round fantasy QB. Lance won't get to the real-life talent of those QBs (yet), but his impact in fantasy could be limitless if he's able to become what Kyle Shannahan envisions him to be. The best part is, he was being drafted at the end of the QB1 line, which means that even if he stinks and you're ready to jump ship, it's likely you'll be able to find a suitable replacement on the waiver wire. Trading for Lance was a high-risk, high-reward move for the 49ers. Drafting him in fantasy is the lowest-risk, highest-reward QB option we've had in years. Let's ride, Trey.
As I reflect on all of the leagues I've drafted for this summer, here are a couple other nuggets I've noticed, in a convenient and short list:
-I wish I got more shares of Chris Godwin and Drake London
-My hatred for Russell Wilson sadly carried over into how I view the Broncos' offense as a whole this year.
-The first round of drafts this year was insanely deep. There were so many options at nearly every stage of the first 10-12 picks.
-Alvin Kamara's value never caught up to the fact that he likely won't be suspended this season, so Kudos if you were able to capitalize.
-I had a tough time deciding between Cooper Kupp, Justin Jefferson, or Ja'Marr Chase as my #1 rated WR going into the season, so I was happy to find a way to get each of them in one league apiece.
-The most honorable mention on my official list was JK Dobbins, who I was able to stash on my bench in a few leagues. If he's able to get right come November, look out.
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