It’s almost that time of year again. Time to think of a catchy name. Time get your big board ready. Time to try and win some money in fantasy football. Follow along in this three-part series and I’ll tell you which players to avoid, players to jump on early and players that’ll be a steal late in the draft. Let’s start with players you can take off your big board early so you can focus on finding the sleepers.
- Jarvis Landry: WR (Browns) Last year, Landry would have been a good player in a PPR league (unfortunately mine wasn’t). It was misery watching him catch screen after screen after 2 yard drag. Ending up 42 yards receiving on way too many catches for that. Landry had problems finding the end zone, too. This isn’t going to change in Cleveland. He has a new quarterback throwing to him and he’ll also be alongside a seemingly clear-headed Josh Gordon. He’s worth a later pick as a WR, but don’t reach for Landry.
- Dak Prescott:QB (Cowboys)
Dak Prescott / Ian Halperin (UPI) Prescott lost Dez Bryant and Jason Witten this year, so now he’s throwing to Allen Hurns and Cole Beasley. Prescott is young and still needs that reliable check-down like Witten. The teams are going to stack the box against Elliott and force Prescott to beat them. The problem is, he’s not built to beat teams. He’s a game manager. If the Cowboys fall behind early, it could lead to problems for Prescott.
- Allen Robinson:WR (Bears) Robinson has all the talent in the world, but sometimes it seems like his effort is lacking. He went from a 1,400-yard season to an 883-yard season in 2016. He only played one game last year and now he has a big, new contract that’s going to motivate him even less. Mitchell Trubisky isn’t a world-beater at QB, so expect Robinson to produce around the same he did in 2016, maybe less.
- Derrick Henry:RB (Titans) Henry was supposed to “The Man” in Tennessee this year until Dion Lewis was signed. Now, he’ll split time again with the veteran, former Patriots back. Henry wasn’t already involved much in the passing game, catching 11 passes all of last year. Henry finished with 744 yards last year, including two, garbage time TD’s of 72 and 75 yards against the Texans and Colts. He’s not avoidable, but don’t take him over some of the better running backs.
- Demaryius Thomas:WR (Broncos)Thomas has seen a downgrade in his stats every year since Manning left. He didn’t finish with 1,000 yards last year, the first time since 2011. He’s getting older (30) and he’s now on the same vegan diet that essentially killed Arian Foster’s career. It’s been noted the wide receiver has lost strength since his dietary changeup. I still don’t fully trust Case Keenum, either. This makes Thomas a no-go for me.
