Fantasy football roundtable: Avoiding Alvin Kamara, chasing Bryce Young and more
Welcome back to the Roundtable! This season I will try to get as many fantasy football analysts (and friends) to give us their best advice, overreactions, and maybe even some life lessons along the way. This is meant to be insightful, but also fun—so please be sure to enjoy and also give everyone a follow!
Today's Roundtable contributors include my amazing SiriusXM co-host Adam Ronis and the incredible Chris Vaccaro! Let's get into it…
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Which RB is at the top of your “do not draft” list?
Adam: Kyren Williams. It’s mainly due to the price since he tends to be drafted early in the second round. Williams was a target for me late in drafts last season and helped me win multiple leagues. The price is too much. Williams saw heavy volume in 2023, but he wasn’t able to stay healthy. He missed five games due to injuries and he’s 5-foot-9 and 194 pounds.
Injuries limited him in his rookie season with a broken foot and ankle sprain. He broke his hand in the playoffs last season and missed OTAs with a foot issue. Blake Corum was drafted in the third round and will get some touches.
Chris: The running back I find myself passing on in all drafts is Alvin Kamara this year. Approaching that 30-year-old cliff mark heading into his eighth season and the miles are piling up. Add in a hefty fifth-round price tag where I prefer other RBs around him such as Kenneth Walker, James Cook or grabbing another receiver and he’s a pass for me this year.
Throw in the fact that the Saints’ once top offensive line units a few years back is now looking more like a weakness and bottom-10 unit, and overall bad vibes out of New Orleans and I’m fading this year.
Kendall: I've said this before, and it's something that could come back to bite me later on in the fantasy season, but I'm fading J.K. Dobbins (really just the Chargers as a whole unit).
I don't believe Jim Harbaugh's arrival automatically means this team is going to break the rushing attempts record and that Gus Edwards and Dobbins will be league winners. Yes, Harbaugh and new offensive coordinator Greg Roman are known for their run-heavy offensive scheme, but I just don't want Dobbins, even at his cheap price.
I think our expectations are exactly where they should be and that's why Dobbins is priced as a late-round pick on Underdog with an ADP of 143 on Underdog. Looking at my exposure, I've actually drafted rookie Kimani Vidal the most out of this backfield.
Is there a quarterback being drafted outside the top 15 who you think could outperform their current ADP?
Adam: Will Levis. Last season was awful for Levis outside of his first start, but the environment is completely different. The offensive line was awful last year and there was a lack of weapons and a team focused on the run. Brian Callahan takes over as coach after being the offensive coordinator with the Bengals the last few seasons. The offensive line was upgraded and Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd were added to go along with DeAndre Hopkins. Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears are good receivers out of the backfield. All the ingredients are there for Levis to succeed.
Chris: The quarterback I see outside of the top 15 who can outperform his ADP is Bryce Young. I can’t really understand why drafters aren’t taking a late-round shot on him as a backup QB on their deep rosters and he goes undrafted in almost all high-stakes leagues still here in late August with an ADP of 240+ and is QB30 off the board in NFFC drafts. I think we have to give Young a pass for his rookie season and wipe the slate clean coming into his second year where he gets a fresh start under new head coach Dave Canales, who did wonders with Baker Mayfield last year and brings in his new system for Young to grow in.
Add in a legit WR1 for Young in the offseason acquisition of Diontae Johnson and first-round pick Xavier Legette to help Young take that big second-year leap I expect him to. I can totally see Bryce Young hitting the board as a top-15 fantasy QB when all is said and done, and paying off as one of the best values on the QB Board for 2024.
Kendall: Trevor Lawrence is currently going as the QB18, which seems absolutely outrageous. Sure, the last three seasons haven't been exactly eye-popping for fantasy football—in fantasy points per game he has finished as the QB29, QB11 and most recently QB15, respectively.
Still, when looking at the Jaguars’ offense for the 2024 season, I can't help but to be a little more excited for Lawrence and his growth. According to Ian Hartitz, the Jaguars have had the league’s 28th, 20th and 30th-ranked offenses in “Supporting Cast Rating” over the past three seasons. Now this team brings back Christian Kirk and Evan Engram, while also adding rookie Brian Thomas Jr. and Gabe Davis (yes, I'm still mentioning him, OK). Lawrence also had an injury-riddled 2023 season, so if he can stay healthy and really elevate his game with new offensive weapons then we should see him seriously outperform his current ADP.
Who is your favorite late-round draft target?
Adam: Jaylen Wright. He’s athletic with speed and averaged 7.6 yards per carry last season at Tennessee. Wright is a great fit in the Mike McDaniel offense. Of course, he’s behind De’Von Achane and Raheem Mostert. It takes one injury for him to become relevant. Mostert is 32 years old and Achane isn’t a big back and had shoulder and knee injuries last season. He also had toe and rib injuries. A bench player should have big upside if he gets the opportunity and Wright fits the criteria.
Chris: Right now my favorite late-round draft target has to be New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy. He keeps moving up more and more and the days of grabbing him in Round 17 and 18 are over, but he’s still a value to me in rounds 13-15. Tracy already looks locked into the RB2 backup role behind Devin Singletary and I think steps in on Day 1 to a solid complementary role at worst.
Great hands out of the backfield and if not for his age most scouts say would have gone way higher than the fifth round where the Giants stole him in this year’s draft. I can see a scenario this year where the Giants are trailing in a lot of their games and Tracy finds himself in the game racking up receptions as a PPR monster in this offense.
Kendall: I am trying to look for any value I can toward the later picks in drafts and have found myself going after rookie running backs—specifically Dolphins RB Jaylen Wright and Giants RB Tyrone Tracy.
We never want injuries to happen, but both De'Von Achane and Raheem Mostert missed time last season and if one of them were to go down, it would open the door to an incredible opportunity for Wright. By no means does this mean that I believe Wright will straight up take over one of their roles, because last season that duo was just so damn good. But, he does have that late-round upside we like to look for.
Tracy had an injury scare earlier in camp but looks to be trending in the right direction, which is great news. The depth chart is thin behind Devin Singletary (who will be the workhouse RB), and this could be another situation where a rookie could come into a big workload if an injury occurs.
Give us a WR or RB from a previous fantasy season who you will just never forget (bonus points for a memory / story).
Adam: Michael Crabtree. I was in a fantasy championship game and the final game was on a Monday night on Christmas. My opponent had Crabtree and I had the Eagles’ defense/special teams. I was trailing and thought it was going to be a loss. Crabtree had no receptions that game and I won the championship. Who said zeroes were bad?
Chris: So many memories of great fantasy seasons of players on my teams which when you have that special season from a player on your team it makes Sundays even more fun all year long! The one that sticks out to me in recent memory was Cooper Kupp’s ridiculous 2021 fantasy season where he racked up 145 receptions and almost hit the 2K mark, falling just short and adding 16 TDs.
I just remember how automatic Kupp was every week and how nobody could stop him and Stafford’s connection on the field as if they were just playing pitch and catch every week. Buying in on him that year helped lead me to a few titles and he was appointment viewing every week so that always sticks out.
Kendall: ALRIGHT, stay with me here. My answer is Marshawn Lynch, but not because from 2011-2014 he finished in the top 6 in fantasy points every year and he placed in the top 5 in three consecutive campaigns. No, no, it's because I almost won tickets to the Beast Quake game.
I was driving myself and friends to school and we heard over the radio if we were the 12th caller and answered a question correctly that we would win tickets to the NFC Wild Card game that weekend. Obviously, we called and surprisingly we got through! Unfortunately, we didn't know the answer to "how many Seahawks cheerleaders are there" and subsequently I was unable to go to the most electric Seahawks game ever. No, I still haven't recovered. But I made sure to always have Lynch on the radar in fantasy football drafts.