We’re coming up on the first full week of the NFL preseason, and soon we’ll be in the heart of fantasy draft season. FantasyPros analysts Derek Brown, Andrew Erickson, Pat Fitzmaurice and Mike Maher continue a series of preseason roundtables by discussing notable training camp news, player stances they’re second-guessing, and the Seahawks’ wide receivers. And check out last week’s fantasy football roundtable for even more expert advice!
- Identifying Rookie WR1s & WR2s | 6 Wide Receivers Most Likely to Become WR1s
- Draft Targets for Every Round: Early | Middle | Late
- Fitz’s Draft Primers: QB | RB | WR | TE
- 2023 Fantasy Football Draft Kit
Fantasy Football Draft Advice
Name a player you’re down on for 2023, but you’re second-guessing yourself about him? Who could make you look foolish by having a good year?
James Cook (RB – BUF)
Mike Maher: I’ve been down on Bills RB James Cook since last season and even traded him to DBro in our company dynasty league, but the training camp buzz surrounding Cook is getting hard to ignore. Nyheim Hines‘ injury gives Cook a clear path to the third-down role, and everything out of camp suggests Cook is also seeing the lion’s share of the first-team reps over veteran RB Damien Harris. There’s still concern about short-yardage and red-zone duties with Harris and whatever is left of Latavius Murray still lurking, but all of the early news about Cook has him trending upward.
J.K. Dobbins (RB – BAL)
Andrew Erickson: J.K. Dobbins, man. The guy looked absolutely teed up to smash as the Ravens’ RB1, but this ongoing contract dispute — where he has absolutely no leverage — and ongoing injury nonsense has me pumping the brakes. The Ravens went down to the wire with Lamar Jackson‘s contract extension. Dobbins hasn’t done a fraction of what Lamar has done for the franchise, and that makes me concerned about Dobbins’ role. He doesn’t catch passes and has played eight games over the last two seasons. It doesn’t seem far-fetched that the Ravens could tell Dobbins to pound sand and trudge along with Gus Edwards (whom they did pay already) as their starting RB.
Michael Thomas (WR – NO)
Pat Fitzmaurice: Michael Thomas. I have zero exposure to him because I doubt he can stay healthy after years of seemingly chronic injury problems. But what if he stays healthy? This is a dude who was on a Hall of Fame trajectory before sustaining the first in a series of ankle and toe injuries in 2020. Up until that point, he had begun his NFL career with four straight years of 1,100 receiving yards or more, culminating in a 149-catch, 1725-yard performance in 2019. The 30-year-old Thomas is older now but not dusty-old. If he’s back to full health — a huge “if,” obviously — he could reassert himself as an impactful fantasy receiver and also cut deeply into the target total of second-year WR Chris Olave, a player in whom I’m heavily invested.
Deebo Samuel (WR – SF)
Derek Brown: Deebo Samuel is a player I’ve been hard-fading all offseason. Samuel has the raw talent to make me look foolish, just as he did in 2021, if everything breaks his way. I have had difficulty convincing myself to draft Samuel at his WR2 price tag in a vacuum, much less when I factor in other players on the board at that point in the draft. The 49ers’ offense will remain explosive in 2023, and Samuel could leave me with egg on my face if he reprises his 2021 level of production.
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