We live in a great time where fantasy football players can play year-round. Draft.com enables us to do that with their best ball leagues. While I have had an absolute blast participating in their ongoing slow drafts, it is quite a challenge to find enough talent late in the draft to fill out a full 18-man roster in a 10-team league. This is especially true because next year’s rookies are not draftable until they are added to an NFL roster. If you nail these rounds, you will have a substantial advantage over the rest of your league since they will primarily be drafting players who won’t see much of an opportunity outside of an injury or two in front of them on the depth chart. I’ve got eight names for you today that you should be able to select in the 15th-18th rounds to close your draft.
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Joe Flacco (QB – BAL): ADP #197
You may look at Flacco’s final stats and see that he was merely mediocre, throwing for just 3,100 yards and 18 touchdowns. I look at his season and marvel at the fact that he was able to accomplish as much as he did with Ben Watson, Mike Wallace and Javorius Allen as his top three receivers. The Ravens will no doubt upgrade the position this off-season with the likes of Allen Robinson, Sammy Watkins, Jarvis Landry and potentially Dez Bryant, Jordy Nelson and Michael Crabtree available as free agents. There are a handful of potential impact receivers in the NFL draft as well. If Flacco can add two decent weapons, he should bounce back to being a top 15 quarterback. Remember, he started the season with such a bad back that the Ravens contemplated an emergency quarterback addition in the pre-season. After getting zero reps with the team, Flacco proceeded to throw just 69 passes in the first three weeks, the ramped it up to 37 attempts per game over the final 13 weeks. If you prorate that to a full season, we are looking at 600 pass attempts which would obviously provide a number of useful best ball performances.
Devontae Booker (RB – DEN): ADP #150
I would have laughed at myself two months ago for even considering Booker in the top 200 picks, let alone up near #150. Apparently, however, the Broncos insist that they will move forward with him as their starting running back. When you watch him on film, it’s easy to see why there is hope that he will bounce back. He was a tremendous college running back, but has been crushed behind a miserable offensive line. It didn’t help that defenses commonly stacked the boxes because the Broncos were throwing Trevor Siemian and Brock Osweiler under center. If the Broncos can get Kirk Cousins in there and upgrade a spot or two on the line, this Broncos’ running back role would actually start to look pretty good. This is especially true for someone catches the ball so well out of the backfield and could see his touches triple this coming season.
James Conner (RB – PIT): ADP #206
There is no doubt about it; Conner is no Le’Veon Bell. With that said, he may end up taking over 80% of Bell’s role as the head back for one of the best offenses in all of football. Bell is clearly outstanding in the passing game, but don’t be so quick to forget that DeAngelo Williams may have actually been better on the ground when he filled in for Bell over a large sample size of games. So much of a running back’s production comes from the scheme he is in and the opportunity he receives. If the Steelers balk at Le’Veon’s 14 million dollar per year asking price, they may end up giving Conner enough touches to be a top 15 running back next season.
Joe Williams (RB – SF): ADP #209
While Carlos Hyde was a pleasant surprise for 49ers fans and fantasy owners alike, his contract is up and San Francisco is expected to move on without him. He is a quality player, but doesn’t fit into Kyle Shannahan’s scheme. The 49ers draft Williams, and were careful with his recovery, because he does fit the scheme perfectly. If it weren’t for off-the-field problems, Williams would have been selected much higher in last year’s NFL draft after shredding the college competition for over 1,500 yards in 9 games. It that doesn’t excite you, then perhaps the fact that he was a combine superhero will. I’m expecting Shannahan to supplement the position with another piece in this year’s draft, but to have Williams play a Devonta Freeman type role in Jimmy G’s new offense.
Donte Moncrief (WR – FA): ADP #167
Two years ago, fantasy owners were fighting each other to get Moncrief in the top 50 picks after he went for 733 yards and 6 touchdowns as a 22-year-old. Times have changed, but it is primarily because of injuries to Moncrief and Andrew Luck. If it weren’t for those tough breaks, we would likely be talking about the 24-year-old athletic freak who had double-digit touchdowns in back to back seasons. Now obviously Luck may not be healthy and Moncrief might truly be a bust, but there is no player being drafted outside the top 150 with a better chance of finishing as a top 50 player next season than Luck’s version of Jordy Nelson.
Quincy Enunwa (WR – NYJ): ADP #194
In 2016, Enunwa was among the biggest surprises in fantasy football, catching 58 balls for 857 yards and 4 scores. It seemed inevitable that he would grab over 1,000 yards with a full season of being the Jets’ number one receiver. Up until the time he was suddenly ruled out for the season, Enunwa was being selected within the top 100 picks. A year has come and passed, Enunwa should now be healthy and is still the top dog in a lousy Jets’ receiver core, and yet Enunwa’s ADP is a full 100 spots lower. You ought to take advantage of that before everyone wises up after the Jets add Baker Mayfield or Case Keenum and starts grabbing Enunwa five rounds earlier.
Austin Seferian-Jenkins (TE – FA): ADP #158
The final stat line was uninspiring for the 6’6″, 260 pound athletic freak. With that said, we saw glimpses of what his special talent can accomplish in this league. Perhaps when the Jets finally add a competent quarterback, he will break out like we’ve all been waiting for. It would be even more exciting if a team like the Green Bay Packers or New Orleans Saints signed him in free agency this off-season. The off-the-field demons are finally out of his life so we should see the best version yet of ASJ in the coming season.
Adam Shaheen (TE – CHI): ADP #199
If we are going to talk about unbelievably talented tight ends, we’ve got to mention the 6’6″, 280 pound Shaheen, whom the Bears loved enough to take in the mid-second round last season. Rookie tight ends rarely do much and Shaheen was no exception to the rule as he saw just 14 targets all season. He hauled in 3 of those for scores, however. With the Bears expected to throw much more than the 473 times we saw in 2017 and Shaheen moving into the starting tight end role, we are looking at perhaps the biggest lottery ticket in fantasy football next season. There is risk in drafting him, of course, but it makes plenty of sense in a deep league like Draft.com offers where you need 18 players and 3 tight ends.
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