Several factors go into building a winning best ball team. One of those factors is identifying which players will let your team down and bust. Another is knowing which players have league-winning upside, especially in the later rounds. To help you build an elite best ball roster, I will identify the most likely bust candidate and potential league winner for every NFL team.
Today I break down the NFC West teams: the Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks.
The average draft position (ADP) used for this article comes from Underdog Fantasy.
- AFC Busts & League Winners: East | North | South | West
- NFC Busts & League Winners: East | North | South
- Snake Draft Pick Strategy: Early | Middle | Late
- Expert Consensus Fantasy Football Draft Rankings
Fantasy Football Busts: NFC West
Deebo Samuel (WR – SF): ADP 33.9 | WR18
Samuel had a career year in 2021, averaging 18.8 half-point PPR fantasy points per game. However, he has never been an elite fantasy receiver outside of that year. More importantly, the veteran has missed nearly 25% of the games in his career because of various injuries. Meanwhile, Samuel’s fantasy production fell off a cliff after the team added Christian McCaffrey. The veteran was the WR10, averaging 12.9 fantasy points per game before McCaffrey’s arrival. By comparison, he was the WR59, averaging only nine fantasy points per game once the team added the superstar back. It’s crazy to see Samuel have an ADP inside the top 60 picks, let alone the top 36.
DK Metcalf (WR – SEA): ADP 28.2 | WR15
While fantasy players like to think Metcalf is Seattle’s No. 1 wide receiver, Tyler Lockett has been the better fantasy asset. The veteran averaged 12.2 half-point PPR fantasy points per game in 2022 and 12.8 in 2021. By comparison, Metcalf averaged 10.7 fantasy points per game last season and 12.2 the year before. Meanwhile, the Seahawks used a first-round pick on Jaxon Smith-Njigba, impacting the star wide receiver’s fantasy upside. More importantly, Metcalf scored over 15 fantasy points in only four games last season. Instead of drafting the former Ole Miss star at his ADP, wait three rounds and select Lockett.
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Mike Fanelli is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @Mike_NFL2.
