Fantasy Football Predictions for the Playoff Losers
Fantasy Football is rough. Every year, every person goes in with high hopes. But then, for just about everybody, something goes wrong. For me, it was the injury of Deshaun Watson and the Ezekiel Elliott suspension. Despite all this, I was up by roughly 12 points on Monday after a great showing from Cooper Kupp, Frank Gore, and, the fantasy GOAT, Le’Veon Bell. I had the win essentially wrapped up. The only player my opponent had left — Jarvis Landry. Landry had scored 12+ points only three times all year. What did Jarvis Landry do? 16.6 points. But this is fantasy football. It gives you so much hope, like when recent waiver wire pick-up Cooper Kupp scores a personal best 17.8 points, but then stabs you in the heart with the aforementioned Landry incident. So now I have two options: I either A) start screaming about how Jordan Richards should’ve sacked Jay Cutler so Jarvis wouldn’t have scored or B) Cover up my deep sadness by making a list of top 10 Fantasy Football players for next year!
All for ESPN standard scoring
№1 Le’Veon Bell
I promise this isn’t biased. Le’Veon Bell has had, at time of writing this (December 12)44 more carries than any other back this season. Which for most running backs is good 2 games worth of rushes but for Le’Veon is probably one game. Along with the large number of carries, he is just straight up good at everything. Short yardage. Catching out of the back field. He’s sneaky fast, and has the patience of a high school senior waiting to get their college application back even though the colleges have probably already decided and are just dragging it out. What were we talking about? Oh Le’Veon Bell. He may have a little bit of shady history with the law(insert Blount joke) but he should be the number one pick in any league.
№2 Antonio Brown
Number 1 and Number 2 are both Steelers players! Similarly to Le’Veon, Brown dominates the rest of the competition in terms of the sheer volume he receives — he has 11 more receptions per game and also has 5 more targets than second place DeAndre Hopkins (As of December 12), and 29 more than third place Jarvis…calm Joey, calm, it’s okay, it’s just fantasy football. Antonio is just simply the best wide receiver in the NFL and should be treated as such. Pick him second in your drafts.
№3 Ezekiel Elliott
One thing that can be underrated in football and especially fantasy football, is motivation. People usually look at opportunity, offensive line, and quality quarterback play. Even though Zeke probably has all of that (Dak?) he will also be incredibly motivated and well-rested for next season. Even if the Cowboys do make the playoffs, it will probably only last one round, and Zeke will be very motivated to prove people wrong ( though his talent was never in question, only his character). In any case, Elliot’s motivation and pure skill should make him one of the best RBs in the league next year.
№4 David Johnson
David Johnson was the #1 RB last year. Injuries for Running Backs are a risky business so I wouldn’t put him in the top 3. However, he had a insane year two years ago, and with his wide plethora of abilities, he still should be a consistent RB1 in this upcoming season.
№5 Odell Beckham Jr.
Odell has an iffy quarterback situation, which is normally very bad for a wide receivers. However, Odell is no normal wide receiver. He has an insane catch radius and ridiculous hands. Odell is Odell, and unless he gets injured again (knock on wood) Odell will be the same old top 3 WR everybody saw before he broke his ankle.
№6 Leonard Fournette
The Jacksonville Jaguars are on the up and up, and so is Leonard Fournette. The LSU alum has taken the league by storm in his rookie year and has helped transform his team into a real contender. He has averaged 83.9 yards per game, good for 4th in the NFL (3rd is Dalvin Cook. Do what you will with that). The Jags offensive line has really come together, and their passing game is in the perfect fantasy middle ground — not good enough for the team to heavily rely on it, but just good enough to keep the other team from loading the box. Take Leonard Fournette knowing you will get a consistent RB1 with 21 rushes per game.
№7 Todd Gurley
The biggest thing that Todd Gurley has going for him is his situation — he is the best skill player in a very potent offense. As a result, he leads the league in rushing touchdowns. He gets 18.2 rushes per game and can fly over defenders. Todd Gurley comes with a little risk due to the injury problems he had had in college as well as the potential for the Los Angeles Rams to regress to the mean. However, he has had such a good year it is safe to take him in the first round and probably even top 5.
№8 DeAndre Hopkins
Even with Tom Savage as his quarterback, since week 9 Hopkins has consistently been producing as the second best wideout in the league. Hopkins is a great deep threat, and with a hopefully fully healthy DeShaun Watson, Hopkins is a safe and productive pick that will be in the high class of wide receivers, now and for many years to come.
№9 Kareem Hunt
The biggest problem with the Chiefs star running back is dependent not on him, but on the future of his team. Next year, the quarterback will either be Alex Smith, who is bland and causes great predictability in the offense during the middle of this season, or a young rook named Patrick Mahomes who will have a lot to learn. Patrick Mahomes does have one of the best names in football, but that unfortunately doesn’t make him good. Kareem Hunt has boom or bust potential. He could be the first-five-weeks version of himself: the undisputed second best RB in the league. However, he could turn into the next-six-weeks version, a middling RB2. It is hard to say which version of Hunt we will get, which is why I don’t put him in the top 5, but he has the potential to be one of the best RBs in the NFL.
№10 LeSean McCoy
He is getting on the older side, next year he will be 30. Still, he shows no signs of slowing down. His touchdown rate is a little low, he only has 5 this year, but similar to Le’Veon Bell he gets lots of opportunities: the second most in the league. McCoy may be nearing the end, but I see one more quality fantasy year out of Shady.
