Here are 10 players I’m avoiding at their current cost. And you can find the rest of my draft prep content below.

• My Fantasy Football Draft Rankings
• The Running Back Primer
• The Wide Receiver Primer
• The Quarterback Primer
• The Tight End Primer
• My Top-10 Must-Have Players
• My Top-7 Deep Sleepers
• 5 Potential Starters to Stash

Average Draft Position referenced using FantasyPros consensus ADP for half-PPR formats.

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Matt Ryan (QB – ATL): QB15
While Ryan has been extremely consistent for fantasy over the past several years, he’s been doing this on the back of ridiculous volume and having Julio Jones to throw to in Atlanta. Fast forward to 2021 and Ryan might not have either of those things. Julio is now in Tennessee and the passing volume could come crashing down with Arthur Smith now in town. With a bare cupboard of receiving options after Calvin Ridley and Kyle Pitts, the upside really isn’t present for Ryan this season. He’ll be a fine streaming QB in plus matchups, but I’d very hesitant to go into this year with Ryan as my locked-in QB1. His ADP has settled around QB15 – so you might not have to – but don’t assume that he’s going to be as consistent for your lineup as he has in previous seasons.

Daniel Jones (QB – NYG): QB30
Jones had 11 touchdowns last season and 10 interceptions. Yikes. While his receiving corps was in and out of the lineup with injuries, those numbers simply are not acceptable for an NFL QB. Heading into 2021, Jones now has a loaded arsenal of receiving weapons that should help take the pressure off, but we simply have no idea whether or not Jones can rise to the occasion. As a QB2 in Superflex formats, he’s fine to take a shot on to see if the receiving corps helps. However, he should not be viewed as anything more than a streaming QB that you can roll out only in plus matchups.

Saquon Barkley (RB – NYG): RB8
From a talent perspective, Saquon Barkley is the best RB in the NFL when he’s on the field. Unfortunately, the issue has been staying on the field the past two seasons. Barkley has played 15 out of a possible 32 games, which makes him a very risky investment at the top of your draft. For fantasy managers to have a shot of competing deep into their playoffs, they need their top draft pick to pull their weight all season long. As the RB3 in ECR right now, that’s too high of a cost for Barkley that doesn’t take into account his injury history whatsoever. As a late first-round draft pick, the risk is worth the reward. A top-3 pick in your fantasy football draft might be a little bit too rich.

D’Andre Swift (RB – DET): RB18
Based on pure talent, Swift already belongs in the top-12 RB conversation in the NFL. Unfortunately, it’s hard to have faith that Swift will finish in that range this year for fantasy purposes. While he could see plenty of targets in the passing game, the scoring opportunities on this bad Detroit Lions team probably aren’t going to be very plentiful. Additionally, he now has Jamaal Williams in this backfield to compete for touches with and Anthony Lynn has been vocal about his love for utilizing a committee approach. Swift is going to be a safe RB2 for your roster this season because of the floor he’ll bring you week in and week out. However, due to the offense he’s in, there’s virtually no upside. Think about it this way…would you have been as excited about Swift last season if he were on the New York Jets or Jacksonville Jaguars and in a near 50/50 timeshare? That could be the exact situation we’re looking at this season in Detroit.

Miles Sanders (RB – PHI): RB19
Sanders is one of the most exciting RBs to watch in the entire NFL, but he’s been a headache for fantasy managers over the past couple of seasons. While he could be incredible for fantasy if he was given the workload that a CMC or Zeke got, the Eagles coaching staff has refused to lean on him and they’ve consistently rotated in multiple other options. With Nick Sirianni coming in as Head Coach, there was some optimism that things could be different this time around. However, the Eagles have Boston Scott still on this roster and they added Gainwell in the NFL Draft, therefore signaling that we should be expecting more of the same. With Hurts taking away some rushing volume, plus the presence of multiple other RBs in this backfield, there doesn’t appear to be much upside to selecting Sanders this upcoming season. He can be viewed as a low-end RB2 this year.

Mike Evans (WR – TB): WR13
What Evans has done throughout his career is no small feat. In his seven seasons in the NFL, Evans has never finished with less than 1,000 receiving yards in any given year. With that being said, he’s a roller coaster to have on your fantasy football roster. Last season, Evans had numerous games where he only had one to three receptions, but he was able to come down with a touchdown on several occasions to save his fantasy output. Evans brings some massive upside based on his size, skillset, and talent. However, fantasy managers need consistency from their WRs if they’re being drafted at a premium price. There’s a possibility that we see Evans move up into the top-12 WRs in ADP by the time draft season rolls around. He’ll provide you with some of those week-winning performances, but that’s too steep of a price for me to get on board with that unpredictability.

Tyler Lockett (WR – SEA): WR19
If you’re looking for a boom-or-bust WR, look no further than Lockett. While his 2020 stats look great, there’s a greater context that doesn’t come across when looking at the fact that he finished with 1,054 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns last season. The majority of Lockett’s production came in three games last year, which is extremely concerning for fantasy managers that are playing in weekly redraft leagues. He absolutely comes with week-winning upside, but there’s the potential that he can hurt your fantasy lineup if he doesn’t come through with a huge performance. This all comes down to Lockett’s value point and where you’re able to get him in drafts. If you’re able to secure him as a WR3 on your roster, this is enough of a discount to where you can live with the potential range of outcomes. However, if you’re needing to rely on him as a WR2 or a consistent producer to keep your lineup in matchups, this is a strategy that can lead to a lot of heartache. We know what Lockett can be for fantasy, so he’s still worth selecting in your drafts this year. However, it’s going to all come down to his ADP and what it settles out at by the time drafts start happening.

Kenny Golladay (WR – NYG): WR28
There was a lot of hype surrounding Golladay earlier on this off-season and it was easy to understand why that was the case. He’s an incredibly talented receiver and he signed a massive contract with the New York Giants in free agency. However, once you sit down and really assess the situation around him, it’s difficult to get too excited. Golladay now joins an absolutely crowded offense with a lot of mouths to feed, which instantly puts a cap on his projected ceiling. With Saquon Barkley, Darius Slayton, Sterling Shepard, Kadarius Toney, Evan Engram, Kyle Rudolph, and Devontae Booker all in the mix for targets, Golladay is going to have to be ultra efficient with his opportunity to make an impact for fantasy football. Once you factor the injury Golladay’s currently dealing with in camp, he is more of a high-end WR3 than anything else. You’re buying into Daniel Jones taking a massive step forward if you trust Golladay as anything more than that.

Michael Thomas (WR- NO): WR30
After dealing with an injury for the majority of last season, MT underwent surgery in June to fully fix the issue and he’s now projected to be out for the first part of the season. It’s a bit of a mystery right now as to exactly how long he’s going to be out, but it doesn’t look good for his draft stock heading into fantasy football draft season. After projecting him to miss the first five games of the season, Thomas dropped from WR12 in my projections to WR44. Without the guarantee that he’s going to return to fantasy football dominance – as evidenced by last year’s performance – Thomas may just be on my “do not draft” list. I’m willing to let someone else in my league deal with the potential range of outcomes unless he falls to a ridiculous value point in my draft.

Noah Fant (TE – NYG): TE8
Fant’s had sky high expectations since he came into the league, but he has yet to deliver the consistent production that fantasy managers were hoping for from him. The QB play has certainly hurt him and now he has several other receiving weapons to worry about this year. With Sutton, Jeudy, Hamler, Okwuegbunam, Gordon, and Williams all vying for targets, it’s difficult to find a path for how Fant returns value on his current ADP. He has the talent – we can all acknowledge this – but if he doesn’t get the targets necessary to be a viable fantasy asset, it doesn’t much matter. Unless Fant’s ADP falls outside of the top-12 this year, I’m unlikely to have many shares.

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• My Fantasy Football Drat Rankings
• The Running Back Primer
• The Wide Receiver Primer
• The Quarterback Primer
• The Tight End Primer
• My Top-10 Must-Have Players
• My Top-7 Deep Sleepers
• 5 Potential Starters to Stash

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