Fantasy football season is upon us with millions of leagues gearing up to draft in the next few days. Today, I’m going to give you my top 15 targets based on where they are being drafted the last week. Some of them are high-upside bench stashes that could prove to be league-winners and others are just too good of values to pass up. I’m hoping to get more shares of each of these players in my remaining drafts.

Beyond this article, I’d encourage you to take a moment to look at all the tools on our website (that some on Reddit have deemed “cheating”) as they will assuredly give you an upper hand over your league-mates. We offer customizable cheat sheets, our auction calculator and the expert consensus rankings that most know our site for. Make sure to quickly import your team for free into MyPlaybook, which is like having a team of experts in your war room, and while you’re at it, give my podcast a listen if you’d like. Thanks for visiting FantasyPros; we look forward to helping you win a few fantasy championships this season! Now let’s get onto the team!

Honorable Mention: Chris Carson, Aaron Rodgers, Todd Gurley, Cooper Kupp, Jameis Winston, Mike Williams, Sony Michel

8) Golden Tate (WR – NYG)
It isn’t that I love Tate so much as it is that his ADP has just gone too far. As I’m typing this, he is the 55th receiver off the board and going in the 13th round. Folks, I know he wasn’t good once he was traded to Philly, but he had to learn the offense on the fly and let’s not overlook the fact that he was on pace for another 101 reception, 1,182 yard, 7 TD season with the Lions before the trade. Tate can still play at a WR3 or even WR2 level and with little competition for targets in New York, don’t be shocked when he crushes value even while missing the first four games.

7) Tony Pollard (RB – DAL)
Historically, holdouts don’t last deep into the season, but Ezekiel Elliott appears to have his feet dug in on this one. While he is gone, Pollard has RB1 potential week in and week out. That may sound extreme, but try to remember how you felt about the notion that James Conner, Alvin Kamara or Damien Williams would be RB1s when they took over. You hated it and couldn’t believe it possible until you realized that they were. It is the same with Pollard who is behind one of the top offensive lines in football and just so happens to be getting every single touch with the first-team offense in Dallas this preseason. We could be talking about a league-winner in the 9th round if Zeke holds out all season.

6) Hunter Henry (TE – LAC)
I have been a Henry fan since his ridiculous rookie season, and there is, of course, some risk that he isn’t the same player post-injury. He also has to split targets with Keenan Allen (already banged up again), Mike Williams and potentially Melvin Gordon, but there is also a chance Henry is a bonafide superstar tight end.

Henry has 115 career targets. Check out these TE’s per 115 targets:

Ertz: 80 rec, 881 yds, 5.3 TD, 160 fantasy pts

Kelce: 81 rec, 1039 yds, 6.4 TD, 183 fantasy pts

Gronk: 76 rec, 1138 yds, 11.4 TD, 220 fantasy pts

Don’t be shocked if Henry is being selected as the top fantasy tight end this time next year. After all, Travis Kelce will be older next summer than the broken down Rob Gronkowski was when he retired. Zach Ertz isn’t far behind him, either.

5) Corey Davis (WR – TEN)
What can I say, I am a sucker for target share mixed with talent, game script and a finally healthy quarterback. I get it, this isn’t the best passing offense, but Marcus Mariota has been quite good when healthy and perhaps we see that version this year, allowing Davis to have the prototypical third-year wide receiver breakout. Even if that doesn’t happen, the Titans are the fourth-best team in the AFC South this season and likely to face pass-happy game scripts much more often than they have in year’s passed. If Davis repeats his 26% target share and the Titans throw the ball even 500 times (would have been 27th in football last year), he will have 130 targets. Every wideout who totaled 130+ targets last year finished in the top 18 at the position. Davis is being drafted 37th among wideouts.

4) Melvin Gordon (RB – LAC)
Prior to Le’Veon Bell, we never saw a superstar hold out for an entire season. In fact, Bell’s decision backfired supremely as his contract with the Jets was nothing in comparison to his demands from the Steelers. Gordon’s camp has to recognize that failure and realize the true value of running backs in today’s NFL. You would expect that at this point, they are wrestling for a few extra 100 grand rather than expecting their absurd demands to be met. Perhaps he doesn’t play until Week 4, but there is also a chance we still get him for the entire season. Mind you, this is a player who was being drafted sixth overall prior to the holdout threat. There is absolutely a scenario where Austin Ekeler suffers an injury, Gordon assumes third-down and full-time goal-line duties and blows away his already insane pre-injury pace from last season. Prior to his Week 11 injury, Melvin Gordon had 1,189 total yards and 11 touchdowns in 9 games. His full-season pace was 2,113 total yards, 19 scores and 373 fantasy points which would have been the #1 RB by 30+ points. If he does, he could carry teams to a fantasy title out of the 3rd or 4th round of drafts.

3) Darwin Thompson (RB – KC)
Every year there is a high-upside backup running back in a great running offense that screams RB1 if anything were to happen to the starter. In year’s prior, it was James Conner, Kareem Hunt, Alvin Kamara, Arian Foster and Ray Rice. This year, that player is Thompson. Granted, Damien Williams is the starter for now, and while he was excellent to close the season, he may not be the same quality of football player as Thompson. Try to remember that Williams was basically turned away by the Dolphins after accomplishing nothing for them. That isn’t to say Williams can’t excel in this Andy Reid offense, as we’ve already seen it. Rather, it’s just that Thompson may be able to do much more. If Reid notices a stark contrast, it won’t be long before Thompson, the more durable back, takes the lion’s share of the carries.

2) Latavius Murray (RB – NO)
Remember back in 2017 when both Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram finished among the top six fantasy football running backs? Well last year, the duo actually scored more fantasy points per game combined. The reason you didn’t notice is that Ingram had a four-game suspension to start the year. In fact, despite that suspension, Ingram was selected in the top 50 picks last year, and for good reason: the Saints have been a top-two fantasy running scheme for the last EIGHT seasons in a row. Murray moves right into Ingram’s role, and while he might not be the same quality of pass-catcher, he has 50 catch-upside in this offense and let’s not look past the fact that he has been the most efficient goal-line back in the NFL over the last three years. Murray is being selected 50 spots lower than Ingram was last year and he isn’t slated to miss four games at the start of the season.

1) Justice Hill (RB – BAL)
As of today, Hill’s ADP sits in the early 14th round. I’m not taking a chance on missing out. He is mine in the early 12th or even mid-11th just to be safe. With no #1 or even #2 receiver in Baltimore, it is likely that Hill will see 50 to 80 targets. Pair that with the 6 to 10 carries per game and we are looking at a Tarik Cohen-like workload. My podcast co-host, Mike Tagliere, calls his skill-set similar to Reggie Bush. I see a bigger, faster, stronger Phillip Lindsay. He seems to have a safe RB4 floor that you can plug into your flex any week in a pinch, but his ceiling is what really compels me. Mark Ingram is now on the wrong side of 30 years old and is frankly just not anywhere near as electric with the ball as Hill. If Ingram suffers an injury or the Ravens recognize a difference in talent, Hill could lead the most run-heavy backfield in touches, and even though he is smaller, he totaled 20+ touches 11 times in his final two seasons of college and 30+ in 5 of them.

Some of my other 2019 Fantasy Football articles

• Cheat Sheet for Family & Friends
• QB Rankings and Notes
• RB Rankings and Notes
• WR Rankings and Notes
• TE Rankings and Notes
• 50 Stats for Draft Day
• Top 10 Sleepers
• Perfect Fantasy Football Mock Draft
• Auction Values
• Overall Rankings
• 7 Players who could be 2020 1st round fantasy picks
• 6 Potential Fantasy Football MVPs
• Dynasty Rookie Rankings
• Cheat Code: Don’t Draft a Kicker
• Cheat Code: How to Maximize D/ST Value

Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | SoundCloud | Google Play | TuneIn | RSS