Fantasy Football Sleepers: Why I'm Drafting a Lot of Will Levis

by Adam Ronis

2 months ago

In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Sleeper:

We have all been in a draft where we waited on a quarterback and our opponents took a backup quarterback before you took a starter. The panic sets in and you don’t feel good about the starter.

No need to worry. Taking two quarterbacks and hoping one evolves into a weekly starter can work. Jordan Love and C.J. Stroud were examples from last season.

Who will it be this season? One of my candidates is Will Levis, even though I disagree with his coffee preference. Levis was impressive in the preseason, completing 11 of 13 passes for 153 yards, and played without DeAndre Hopkins.

More importantly, the Titans are vastly different from last season when Levis struggled as a rookie. He played behind a bad offensive line, an offense with no creativity, and a lack of weapons. Brian Callahan is the new head coach after being the offensive coordinator for a successful Bengals offense.

Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd were added to bolster the receivers and Tony Pollard was signed to form a good tandem in the backfield with Tyjae Spears. The Titans told us a story with their additions that they will pass much more than recent seasons and the pieces are in place for Levis to succeed.

Don’t put mayonnaise in your coffee like Levis, though. Just draft him as a QB2.

Cramming for a last-minute draft this weekend? Breathe—we’ve got you covered. Find everything you need to dominate your draft for free in our 2024 Draft Kit.

What else is in today’s newsletter?

Ian Hartitz is here to answer the most pressing questions ahead of Week 1.
The Fastest Path to Fantasy Football Glory
Watercooler: Backfield battles to monitor

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Fantasy Football Questions We Still Have Ahead of Week 1

by Ian Hartitz

Perhaps no position faces more general uncertainty than running back. There are only a few true workhorses out there in the year 2024, leading to committee situations of varying shapes and sizes in more backfields than not across the league.

That brings us to today's goal: What are the biggest outstanding questions facing the RB position ahead of the 2024 regular season?

As always: It's a great day to be great.

What exactly is the Cowboys' plan?

Jerry Jones has put together a 2018 dream team between the franchise's No. 3 all-time leading rusher Ezekiel Elliott and longtime Vikings stud Dalvin Cook. The only problem: Neither 29-year-old veteran was exactly what the kids might call "good" the last time we saw them tote the rock:

Zeke and Cook among 68 RBs with 50+ carries in 2023

PFF rush grade: Zeke (69.2, 49th), Cook (51.5, 69th)
Yards per carry: Zeke (3.5, 57th), Cook (3.2, 61st)
Yards after contact per carry: Zeke (2.5, 53rd), Cook (2.2, 66th)
Missed tackles forced per carry: Zeke (0.13, 54th), Cook (0.18, 33rd)
Explosive run rate: Zeke (4.3%, 63rd), Cook (5.9%, 59th)

Not great! An optimist could point out that guys like Josh Jacobs, Saquon Barkley, and Alvin Kamara also had quite terrible efficiency numbers, but that doesn't exactly change the reality that the team's "all-in" approach yielded two objectively washed old men to replace 2023 bellcow Tony Pollard.

Maybe Rico Dowdle or Deuce Vaughn rise to the occasion and earn fantasy-friendly roles (HC Mike McCarthy seemed to hint at such for Dowdle) in this seemingly wide-open backfield. Or maybe this winds up being a jumbled four-back mess behind an offensive line expected to start two rookies.

This offense hasn't done much other than score a LOT of points with a healthy Dak Prescott in recent history; whoever winds up rising to the top of this RB depth chart will at a minimum carry some TD-aided upside in fantasy land.

More Backfield Questions That Need Answering

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The Fastest Path to Fantasy Football Glory

by Adam Ronis

If you’re looking to get in some more drafts but have limited time, check out FastDraft.

I started doing some drafts over the last few days and can’t stop. I’ve done multiple drafts that take as little as five minutes.

The Flex 4 format has six rounds and 10 teams with a $5 entry and a prize pool of $50,000. The positions are RB, WR, and TE, and could be any combination you like. The clock is 20 seconds and it’s PPR scoring. There is a max of 150 entries per person and the turbo function allows you to rank players and enter multiple drafts at once, having them computer-drafted for you based on your custom rankings.

It’s a best ball format with the four highest-scoring players counted each week. After the draft, you can assign Captain Booster multipliers for players, with 2x being the largest multiplier.

I’ve been going WR-heavy in most drafts. In PPR formats last season, 13 of the top 20 non-QB scorers were wide receivers. If I get a pick early, I will take one of the top 3 running backs. There’s also a portfolio feature that allows you to track player exposures both during and outside of drafts.

More drafts, finish in minutes, and another opportunity to win money. Didn’t take much to sell me. I am off to do another FastDraft.

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