It’s often said that you don’t win your best ball contests in the early rounds, especially late ones. While we still need to hit on the early rounds, it’s entirely true that good late-round picks can propel a roster, just ask anyone who drafted Zay Jones last year. In this article, we’ll make the case for late-round wide receiver dart throws that have the potential to deliver a bullseye right when it matters.
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Fantasy Football Draft Dart Throws
Here are some late fliers worth taking in upcoming fantasy football drafts.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling (KC) 155.8
Last year perhaps some of us expected a little too much from Marquez Valdes-Scantling after several years of him never quite making the leap in Green Bay. Valdes-Scantling didn’t deliver on his ADP of 95 last year, but now he’s routinely available 60 picks later and is still attached to the best quarterback in the league in Patrick Mahomes. Valdes-Scantling led the Chiefs wide receivers in routes run (532) and deep targets (18), with no other receiver seeing more than 10. During the Conference Championship, when the Chiefs needed a player to step up, it was Valdes-Scantling who did so, catching six of his eight targets for 116 yards and a touchdown. The Chiefs need a player to step into the slot role that became vacant when JuJu Smith-Schuster departed, and while they might need to figure out which receiver can do that, Valdes-Scantling will likely continue to stay on the field as the vertical playmaker. It’s not always pretty with MVS, but the potential of a huge spike week always lurks, and that can’t be said for all receivers in this range.
.@PatrickMahomes and @MVS__11 already in midseason form ? (via @Chiefs)pic.twitter.com/andBBA4tSG
— NFL (@NFL) June 13, 2023
Tyquan Thornton (NE) 161.2
It was a slow start to Tyquan Thornton’s rookie campaign, with him missing the first four games due to an injury and then the Patriots easing him back in upon his return. Thornton suffered from the effects of an offense run by Matt Patricia and Joe Judge in what looked like an awful move at the time and looks even worse in hindsight. Thornton flashed with a top eight weekly finish in Week 6 and a top 16 finish in Week 16 when DeVante Parker missed time. As long as the Patriots don’t add a receiver whose name rhymes with MeAndre Shopkins, Thornton’s route to consistent usage is only blocked by Parker, Smith-Schuster, and Kendrick Bourne.
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