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2020 FantasyProjections: Notable Rookies (Fantasy Football)

2020 FantasyProjections: Notable Rookies (Fantasy Football)

I’ve gotten quite a few questions the past couple of months about what I will be writing on during the NFL season. My co-host on The FantasyPros Football Podcast, Mike Tagliere, obviously has The Primer and it’s an incredibly valuable asset during the season.

Well, this year, I will be writing an article every week that will give you a breakdown of every fantasy relevant player on every team and my projected stats for them in the upcoming matchup. I’ll be utilizing several resources at my disposal to make these as accurate as possible in hopes of helping you construct the best possible fantasy lineup.

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With that being said, I wanted to spend the next couple of weeks giving you a preview into my season-long projections and how I construct my rankings. Each day, you’ll find a different category highlighting ten players and a brief summary on my thoughts for them in 2020. If you’ve missed the previous two articles in this series, you can find the links for those below.

Notable Quarterbacks
Notable Running Backs
Notable Wide Receivers
Notable Tight Ends
Notable RB Battles

Let’s get right to it!

Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Kansas City Chiefs

RUSH ATT RUSH YDS TDs RECEPTIONS REC YDS TDs FPTS
204 877 6 66 590 3 233.49

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CEH’s draft stock has skyrocketed since the news of Damien Williams opting out for the 2020 season. He’s now going in the first round in nearly every draft and deservedly so. He’s a phenomenal pass-catcher out of the backfield and should become one of Patrick Mahomes‘ favorite targets immediately. At his size, he’s not going to see a ton of work on the ground, but this offense doesn’t need to operate through their run game when they have the QB that they have. Edwards-Helaire’s value is going to come through his contributions in the receiving game. With these projections, CEH lands at RB7 in Half PPR format.

Michael Pittman, Indianapolis Colts

RECEPTIONS REC YDS TDs FPTS
66 863 7 161.46

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Pittman’s entering the NFL after a successful college career with the USC Trojans. He’s a big-bodied receiver who has incredible hands and moves much better than you’d expect for someone of his size. Philip Rivers has shown a propensity to lock onto targets like Pittman deep downfield and he should become a factor immediately in the red zone too. If you’re looking to draft someone super late in your leagues that can drastically outperform their draft price, Pittman should be at the top of your list. Pittman slides in at WR35 in my rankings with these projections.

Henry Ruggs, Las Vegas Raiders

RECEPTIONS REC YDS TDs FPTS
68 914 7 167.25

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Ruggs was drafted before any other wide receiver in the 2020 NFL Draft and the Raiders clearly have a plan on how to maximize his strengths in this offense. Ruggs is a speed demon on the football field, but he also is much more than that. Ruggs is a good route-runner, he can compete in jump ball situations, and he has great hands as a receiver. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Ruggs finish the season as the rookie receiving yardage leader. With Ruggs being as much of a focal point of the offense as he is in my projections, he slides in at WR32.

Jerry Jeudy, Denver Broncos

RECEPTIONS REC YDS TDs FPTS
68 811 5 144.86

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Jeudy was my WR1 coming out in the 2020 NFL Draft and he would’ve been an instant impact player in a different offense. However, with the presence of Courtland Sutton in Denver, it’s hard to see how Jeudy ascends into a reliable starter for fantasy purposes this season. The selection of Jeudy is a great football move for the Denver Broncos, and it should help Drew Lock immensely, but it is unlikely to lead to fantasy relevance in 2020. Jeudy lands outside my top-45 WRs with these projections.

Jalen Reagor, Philadelphia Eagles

RECEPTIONS REC YDS TDs FPTS
54 786 6 141.68

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If we knew that Alshon Jeffery was going to miss the entire season, Reagor would skyrocket up into my top-36 WRs. However, until we get more clarity, it appears that Jeffery should be back towards the middle/end of the season. If that’s the case, Reagor could get off to a hot start and then cool down when Jeffery gets back onto the field. There’s a lot of volatility in ranking Reagor due to the various potential outcomes, but if everyone stays healthy in this receiving corps, Reagor’s going to do just enough to finish just inside the top-50 in my WR rankings.

CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys

RECEPTIONS REC YDS TDs FPTS
65 806 6 148.89

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Lamb may have fallen into the best landing spot for fantasy football, outside of Ruggs. This is a dynamic offense with some amazing receiving threats. Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, and Lamb form a threatening trio for defenses to cover and we could see this offense finish towards the top of the league in overall scoring. While each of these guys may cancel each other’s true fantasy ceilings, if something were to happen to Cooper and he missed games, Lamb would shoot up into top-24 consideration almost immediately. The projections don’t look fantastic for Lamb this year, but there is some additional upside to drafting the rookie receiver.

Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings

RECEPTIONS REC YDS TDs FPTS
65 837 5 146.39

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Jefferson will immediately step in and assume the vacated Stefon Diggs role in this Vikings offense. Adam Thielen‘s presence in a low passing-volume attack limits Jefferson’s projection output, but there’s built in upside with selecting Jefferson later on in drafts. Thielen struggled with injuries last season and was in and out of the lineup. If that continues into this season, Jefferson becomes the instant WR1 for this team. As long as Thielen’s in the lineup though, Jefferson will be a FLEX play at best right out of the gates.

Devin Duvernay, Baltimore Ravens

RECEPTIONS REC YDS TDs FPTS
55 666 5 124.16

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Duvernay ended up ranking within my top-10 receivers prior to the 2020 NFL Draft and I was extremely excited to see which team he landed with when it was all said and done. While I would’ve loved to see Duvernay land with the Philadelphia Eagles, for example, the landing spot here in Baltimore makes a ton of sense. The Ravens love their slot receivers and we saw Willie Snead end up with 5 receiving touchdowns last season. Even as a rookie, Duvernay is much more talented than Snead and he should have games where he’s able to be plugged in as a starter in your lineup.

Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals

ATT COMP PASS YDS TDs INTs RUSH ATT RUSH YDS TDs FPTS
584 365 4187 24 13 52 187 2 268.19

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Burrow lit the CFB world on fire last year with his season-long performance at LSU. Now, he walks into a loaded offense with tons of receiving weapons. However, expectations need to be tempered in a season where no preseason games will be played. Burrow should have a good season from a fantasy perspective, but it might not be enough to vault him into the top-12 at the position. He’ll have weeks where he can be a viable streamer, but with these numbers, Burrow lands at QB16 in my rankings.

Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins

ATT COMP PASS YDS TDs INTs RUSH ATT RUSH YDS TDs FPTS
198 120 1382 8 6 16 57 1 86.95

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Tua has the chance to be a NFL star one day, but he has to stay healthy in order to reach that mark. Tua appears to be all systems go for this season, but it’s unlikely that the Dolphins roll him out right away. With these numbers, I have Ryan Fitzpatrick starting 10 games and Tagovailoa starting 6. With the receiving options around him, or lack thereof, Tua’s unlikely to be in the streaming conversation this season.




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Kyle Yates is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Kyle, check out his archive and follow him @KyleYNFL.

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