Prime-Time First TD Bets — Sunday Night Football, Week 16
Alex Christenson
As Week 1 is right around the corner, we are firmly in the midst of Drafters best ball season. In this format, it’s important to spread out your exposures on players and teams, so all of your rosters are not a victim to injury or variance if a handful of players bust. In saying that, it’s also crucial to take some stands on players who you believe are set to smash in 2021. These flag plants can define the course of your best ball season, because if you hit on “this season’s league winner(s),” then you’re laughing all the way to the bank. Let’s dive into five players who are must-draft players on Drafters.
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Fantasy Football – Five must-draft players on Drafters
Tua Tagovailoa is a high-upside best ball QB
(ADP: QB19, overall 144.3)
Tua Tagovailoa is on a collision course with a monster season. While throwing to a crew of backup wide receivers and Jaylen Waddle in Week 2, Tagovailoa has been putting on a show. Among 63 quarterbacks with 20 or more dropbacks this preseason, he ranked 10th in adjusted completion rate (80.6%). He’s also shown laser focus when under duress with an 85.7% adjusted pressure completion rate. In an offensive system that could shock people in pace, and with his wide receivers getting healthier by the day, Tagovailoa is being drafted at his floor. He has the potential to be a top-12 quarterback in fantasy football this season. In our Bold takes episode of Fade the Chalk, I outlined why.
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James Conner is undervalued on Drafters
(ADP: RB38, overall 116.3)
The disrespect for James Conner is real. Conner is being drafted as an RB4, which is total insanity to me. If you want to call him “injury-prone,” fine, you are entitled to your opinion, but don’t call him “washed.” Last year Conner was 13th in breakaway run rate and 14th in evaded tackles behind a bottom-three offensive line in Pittsburgh. Now he lands in Arizona with a mobile quarterback in an offensive scheme that wants to run the ball when close to paydirt. In 2020 Arizona ranked seventh in red-zone rushing rate (57%). Kenyan Drake was third in rushing attempts inside the 5-yard line. If we believe Conner is an upgrade over Drake (we should), then his ADP is laughable.
DeVonta Smith is a flashy best ball WR
(ADP: WR36, overall 76.5)
DeVonta Smith has flashed the ability in his limited preseason action to get open at will. That type of separation skill set at the wide receiver position is what target hogs are made of. As I outlined in my coaching breakdown of the Philadelphia Eagles, Smith’s upside in this scheme is as a 26% target share receiver as Philadelphia’s Keenan Allen. Despite his injury scare subsiding, his ADP has not returned to its previous high of the mid-60s at the beginning of August. Smith and Jalen Hurts stacks remain too easy to secure on Drafters.
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Mike Williams could have a huge best ball season at WR
(ADP: WR41, overall 83.7)
Enjoy this discount on Mike Williams. I have him ranked as the WR31 in PPR scoring for this season, so to draft him as a WR4 on Drafters is a blessing. Across the industry, his ADP sits comfortably in the mid-70s, so this seventh-round gift wrap won’t last forever. When you have this type of conviction on a player with 1,100 yards receiving and 10-plus receiving touchdown upside, it’s nice to see our own Matthew Freedman share the same sentiments as Williams also makes his five must-draft players.
Terrace Marshall is a great WR target on Drafters
(ADP: WR62, overall 136.4)
Terrace Marshall has been crushing NFL corners so far this preseason. He’s quickly showing why I was so high on him as a draft prospect. Through two weeks of preseason action, he’s run the most routes (28) on the team, playing out of the slot on 60.7% of his snaps. In this limited sample, Marshall has an absurd 4.93 yards per route run with a strong aDOT of 11.8. The Panthers’ offense showed last year that despite poor pace and quarterback play, it’s capable of supporting three top-36 fantasy wide receivers. That type of upside is available at a WR6 price tag. What are you waiting for? Enter a Drafters best ball draft now (use promo code FTN for a 25% deposit match on deposits up to $400) and take advantage.
