Tell me who you want, who you really really want
Reynolds sandbox reporters Jos Fagundes, Andrew Gardner, and Chozen Pierce take an inside look at who to take when it comes to Fantasy Football drafts. Jos breaks down the top quarterbacks and wide receivers. Check out the best running back and defense with Chozen. Andrew determines the best kickers and tight ends.
Basic Rules of Fantasy
Fantasy football is played by millions and millions of Americans. In normal leagues, the lineup is set to playing one quarterback, two running back, two wide receivers, one tight end, one flex spot (which is a spot in your lineup that you can put an extra running back, wide receiver, or tight end), one kicker, and one defense. Standard leagues points have mostly every touchdown being six points, but touchdowns for quarterbacks getting only four points per touchdown because they have more per game than any player. Other points include every 25 passing yards is one point with every ten rushing or receiving yards being one point as well. Sometimes certain leagues will do a point for a reception (PPR) where every time a player catches a ball, they get a point added to their score. Each position has its own rankings for its players depending on how many points they score and are projected to score on the season.
Basic Rules of Fantasy
Fantasy football is played by millions and millions of Americans. In normal leagues, the lineup is set to playing one quarterback, two running back, two wide receivers, one tight end, one flex spot (which is a spot in your lineup that you can put an extra running back, wide receiver, or tight end), one kicker, and one defense. Standard leagues points have mostly every touchdown being six points, but touchdowns for quarterbacks getting only four points per touchdown because they have more per game than any player. Other points include every 25 passing yards is one point with every ten rushing or receiving yards being one point as well. Sometimes certain leagues will do a point for a reception (PPR) where every time a player catches a ball, they get a point added to their score. Each position has its own rankings for its players depending on how many points they score and are projected to score on the season.
Basic Rules of Fantasy
Fantasy football is played by millions and millions of Americans. In normal leagues, the lineup is set to playing one quarterback, two running back, two wide receivers, one tight end, one flex spot (which is a spot in your lineup that you can put an extra running back, wide receiver, or tight end), one kicker, and one defense. Standard leagues points have mostly every touchdown being six points, but touchdowns for quarterbacks getting only four points per touchdown because they have more per game than any player. Other points include every 25 passing yards is one point with every ten rushing or receiving yards being one point as well. Sometimes certain leagues will do a point for a reception (PPR) where every time a player catches a ball, they get a point added to their score. Each position has its own rankings for its players depending on how many points they score and are projected to score on the season.
#1 Everyone wants to be a Quarterback
- Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs is one of the best quarterbacks the NFL has seen in decades. As a fantasy football player, he is also one of the best. He constantly puts up at least 25–30 points a game and even more depending on how the league’s scoring is. With wide receivers like Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins, and his tight end, who is the best in the game, Travis Kelce. He really put on a show last week against the Baltimore Ravens with throwing for 385 yards and 4 touchdowns. In that game, he also ran for 26 yards and a rushing touchdown. The Chiefs play the New England Patriots this week in Kansas City so it should be a great fantasy game for both teams.
2. Russell Wilson has been in the NFL for a long time and is still continuing to outperform his projections every year. The Seahawks quarterback already has one Super Bowl under his belt, but he still is hungry for one more. With Wilson’s stats, this year is putting him in top contention for the league MVP this year too. He already has thrown 14 touchdowns in the first three games in the season with close to 1,000 yards on the season. Going to Miami this week to play the Dolphins, he should add some more stats to his resume.
3. The Buffalo Bills drafted quarterback Josh Allen out of the University of Wyoming with the seventh overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Coming into the league the experts expected Allen to be the middle of the road quarterback because of his accuracy in college. With this being his third year in the league, he is exceeding expectations by having the second most total passing yards in the league, with having a little over a 1,000 and having over three total touchdowns a game. Allen not only throws for big touchdowns, having one of the strongest arms in the game but he can run the ball too, having almost one rushing touchdown a game. The Bills take on the Las Vegas Raiders this week so Allen should keep up his momentum going forward.
Future Prospects
Two quarterbacks that are good guys to look into going forward are the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott and the Cardinals’ Kyler Murray. They are both young guys who have a lot of potentials now that the team has been built around them. Both teams have added wide receivers to their depth charts and have great running backs in the run game. Both can also use their leagues to get points for their teams. They have a lot of potentials to have great seasons and lead their fantasy team managers to the playoffs and even the championships.
#2 Best Running Backs to carry your team
- For this season’s best running backs for fantasy football, the best is Dalvin Cook from the Minnesota Vikings. Cook has been consistent for the past three weeks, despite being behind in every game, the Vikings have called a passing play on just 53.8 percent of their plays, which is the ninth-lowest percentage in the league. Meaning the ball mostly lands in Cooks's hands. Dalvin Cook’s latest performance had him sit comfortably at 24 points against the Titans. Although the game resulted as a Viking loss Cook ran for 181 yards with a rushing touchdown.
2. The second pick is going to be Alvin Kamara from the New Orleans Saints. Kamara has been a crucial part of the Saints offense. Especially with Michael Thomas out, Kamara has been the offensive threat that gets the most touches. Becoming more of a receiving threat Kamara caught thirteen of fourteen passes for a total of 139 yards and two touchdowns. Averaging more than 20 points per game, Kamara is a great pick for anyone’s fantasy and would be a trade worth trading for.
3. the third pick is Derrick Henry with the Tennessee Titans. Last season Derrick Henry went off scoring 285 points last fantasy football season. Although Henry has been a bit faulty and this week’s game being postponed due to COVID-19 issues. Henry will start getting back into a dominant role on the field. We got a glimpse of this during the Minnesota game where Henry rushed for 119 yards with two rushing touchdowns. Scoring 26 points for whoever had him in fantasy football.
Future Prospects
For future running back prospects, the best is Christian McCaffrey. Once he returns from his ankle injury McCaffrey will have to prove himself again however, based on how he performed last year McCaffrey will be a trustworthy pick. Another future prospect to keep your eyes on for this season and next season would be Green Bay Packers, Aaron Jones. Jones has been on a roll scoring 43.60 points against the Detroit Lions and 15 against both the Vikings and Saints. Averaging around 6.1 yards per carrying Aaron Jones is going to be a must for any fantasy football team.
#3 Big Time Wide Receivers make Big Time Catches
- DeAndre “Nuk” Hopkins has been one of the best wide receivers since he came into the league. He was drafted by the Houston Texans where he was fantastic but this year he was traded to the Arizona Cardinals. With a better offense, Hopkins is excelling in the new system. He is having at least 10 catches a game with over 100 yards in almost every game. He has not caught a lot of touchdowns but those will come throughout the season. With Kyler Murray as his quarterback, he looks to be a top-three wide receiver this year for fantasy.
2. Tyreek Hill is nicknamed “Cheetah” because of his lightning-fast speed. If he was not an NFL wide receiver he would be running for the 100-meter sprint team in the Olympics. With Patrick Mahomes as his quarterback, Hill is always open for the infamous Mahomes deep ball. If people are in a league with bonus points for longer touchdowns, Hill is probably one of the best wide receivers to have because most of Hill’s touchdowns are over 30/40 yards. The Cheetah strikes almost once a game, if not multiple times.
3. The Atlanta Falcons are struggling as of Week 3. However, Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones should still be a top-five, if not top three receivers this year. He did not play Week 3 because of injury but he should be back this week to tear apart the Green Bay Packers secondary. Jones does not score a lot of touchdowns but he constantly has a lot of receptions and a lot more yards than anyone in the league. Look for Julio Jones to make a big comeback after coming off of a week three injury.
#4 Tight ends can catch too!
- Travis Kelce is always on the mind of fantasy owners when it comes to who to pick for their number 1 tight end. Kelce Was a key part of the 2020 super bowl run for the Kansas City Chiefs. This season he has 21 receptions, 227 receiving yards, and 2 touchdowns. These numbers are not spectacular by any means but never hold your breath around Kelce. He is poised to break out at any time in a game. He leads all fantasy football tight ends with 55.7 points a game and averages 18.6 a game. Kelce has been seen as a proven spark plug with 254.3 last season and he hopes to continue his success.
2. A tight end that might surprise many fans is Jonnu Smith of the Tennessee Titans. Jonnu holds the second-most points at 49.1 He is tied with the most touchdowns in the league at 3 and holds 181 receiving yards and 13 catches. He is a great replacement for Delanie Walker who left the team last year after being the main tight end the last 7 for the Titans. Smith looks to continue to be a top target for Ryan Tannehill.
3. Next up is the number 1 target for Derek Carr of the Oakland Raider last year, Darren Waller. Waller is 5th in Fantasy with 41.9. Waller was third in points in the 2019 season with 221 and hopes to continue in his new home, Las Vegas. Waller has proven himself as a deep threat with the speed that would rival any wide receiver. Waller ran a 4.46 40 coming out of Georgia Tech and hopes to keep blazing past safeties. He has a total of 1 touch town on 20 catches and 159 receiving yards.
Future Prospect:
Mike Gesicki has proven to be the right target for temporary Miami Dolphins Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick has shown to be a gunslinger in recent years and it’s no different in Miami. Gesicki is 6th in all points and holds 175 yards and 2 touchdowns. A young tight end to look out for is second-year Noah Fant. Noah Fant is third out of tight end in points with 46.4, 2 touchdowns and 181 yards. Much like Waller Fant could look to break out a long catch and run for mass points scored. One thing that is missing from this list is George Kittle who sprained his knee in a Week 1 matchup against Arizona.
#5 You will get a “kick” out of these Kickers
- Mason Crosby has been perfect in 2020 and the 36 year Green Bay Packers kicker shows no sign of slowing down soon. Crosby is 7/7 on made field goals and 1/1 outside 50 yards. Crosby has always had a huge leg and this season is no different. When it comes to extra points it is no easy feat with the distance now 33 yards compared to the old one of 20 yards (Prior to 2015), and Crosby is a perfect 13/13. Mason has scored the most point in Fantasy football of any Kicker at 39. Crosby is exceeding the expectations as he finished 13th of all kickers in points during the 2019 season.
2. Stephen Gostkowski is tied with Crosby for the oldest on this kicker list and is competing to be number 1. Gostkowski is one of the most decorated kickers in NFL history with 383 made field goals and an 87 percent completion rate. The kicker has proven to be clutch in his first 14 years with the New England Patriots. He has 3 super bowl rings, 4 pro bowl appearances, and 2 first team all NFL honors, and has cemented himself one of the best kickers of all time. The 2020 season started off rocky for Stephen as his week one appearance against the Denver Broncos showed him 1 for 4 on field goals and 1/ 2 on extra points. He was able to kick the game-winner but he looked to be a little rusty from his late signing with the Tennessee Titans. Week 2 proved to be better with another game-winner and a week three with a total of 25 fantasy points, including 3/3 outside 50 yards. He might be a far cry from his time on the patriots but he has proven head coach Mike Vrabel right on keeping him after a disastrous week 1.
3. Justin Tucker has been racking up awards since he entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2012. The Ravens kicker has seen 3 pro bowls and 4 first team all NFL honors. The 2020 season is now different as he is a perfect 7/7 on field goals and 10/10 from field goals. He holds 34 fantasy points and ranks third out of all kickers, and one might think he would have passed Gostkowski and Crosby if the ravens didn’t struggle in their Monday night contest against the chiefs. Tucker hopes to continue his stellar career in the 2020s after being named to the all 2010’s team and the number 1 pick of all kickers for fantasy owners.
Future Prospects:
When looking to pick up a kicker here are a few that might fit the bill. Randy Bullock is tied with Tucker at 34 fantasy points and is 8/9 on field goals and is 6/6 on extra points. Look to get Randy Bullock especially with young Bengals QB Joe Burrow finding his groove in the NFL. The next up is Rodrigo Blankenship, a top kicking prospect in the 2020 draft out of Georgia and looking to continue his success with the Indianapolis Colts. Blankenship is a perfect 8/8 on extra points and 8/10 on field goals.
#6 Defenses you can’t pass up
- For the best defenses to have for this season’s fantasy football it has to be the San Francisco 49ers. Although the 49ers have lost Nick Bosa due to a torn ACL playing against the New York Jets. They still perform really well averaging two to three sacks per game. Especially with last week’s performance against the New York Giants forcing two fumble recoveries and only nine points scored. This week the 49ers are projected to score 9 points against the Philadelphia Eagles. We will see how the 49ers perform to a more lethal offense.
2. Another great defensive pickup would be the Buffalo Bills. The Bills have been on a tear this season being able to drive the ball down the field and stop the ball from moving defensively. Gaining an advantage last week against the Los Angeles Rams with two sacks, one interception, and one fumble recovery. The Bills have been averaging 9 points per game in fantasy. The Bills are set to play the Las Vegas Raiders next week is projected to score close to 7 points on fantasy, however, as the Bills grow more confident over the season their defense will start to become more clutch.
- For my third pick the Steelers due to their defensive line being extremely lethal. Averaging around five to six sacks with one to two interceptions per game. The Pittsburgh Steelers defense has only allowed teams to score up to 21 points this season. Usually forcing fourth-down conversions. Their defense hasn’t scored offensively, but it seems they are getting closer and closer with two interceptions against the New York Giants and a single interception against both Denver and Houston.
Future Prospects
This year great defenses are necessary especially with offensive powerhouses like the Kansas City Chief and the Seattle Seahawks. So the first prospect would be the New England Patriots. Scoring eleven points against the Miami dolphins only allowing eleven points allowed. Then having a bump against the Seahawks, but still scoring 6 points on fantasy with a defensive touchdown in the first quarter via interception. The New England Patriots then only allowed 20 points against the Raiders offense with three fumble recoveries. Another great prospect is the Chicago Bears who are currently undefeated. Only allowing 26 points to be scored on them by the Atlanta Falcons and coming back from a 21 point deficit. Primarily to do with their defense getting extremely good in the second half. We will see how the Chicago Bears are going to be playing against the Indianapolis Colts next game where they are projected to score nearly eight points.
