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Draft Season is here! Bestball Leagues are flowing! The NFL Preseason is upon us. Drafthustle is here to get you ready to dominate your drafts and get to the money and the trophies! This is part of a series I am titling "Bop or Flop". For each team, I will be choosing one player I am high on (Bop), and one player I am avoiding in fantasy drafts at cost for the 2023 season (Flop). You can check out my rankings here!
Atlanta Falcons
BOP – Tyler Allgeier, RB
FantasyPros ADP – RB44, #131 Overall
DH Rank – RB37
Tyler Allgeier ran for 1,000 yards as a rookie 5th round draft pick, and the Falcons rewarded him by spending a top 10 pick on rookie RB. Bijan Robinson may be a generational talent and could be the best RB in the league as soon as next year, but he can’t carry the ball 400 times. The Falcons led the league in rushing attempts last season at 559, so there is plenty of work to go around. Allgeier will get enough carries to be a flex play most weeks and could become a top 12 RB if Bijan were to miss time.
FLOP – Drake London, WR
FantasyPros ADP – WR24, #59 Overall
DH Rank – WR27
Drake London has the talent to be a top 15 WR in the NFL, but his situation has me hesitant about drafting him at his current ADP. The Falcons will likely be in the top 3 of rushing attempts, and their QB situation is subpar this season. My projections have him as WR42, so a WR27 ranking is probably too high, but I have to be somewhat optimistic about his upside if I want to own any shares of London. Draft him as a WR2 at your own risk.
Carolina Panthers
BOP – Hayden Hurst, TE
FantasyPros ADP – TE27, #199 Overall
DH Rank – TE21
We know rookie QBs tend to lean on their TEs, so it makes sense to be higher on Hayden Hurst than the market. The Panthers are lacking in explosive outside weapons, so I expect Bryce Young to look to Hayden Hurst over the middle of the field early and often. In this TE market, whenever I decide to not draft Travis Kelce in round 1, I love to pair Hayden Hurst with a young TE with upside in the later rounds.
FLOP – Adam Thielen, WR
FantasyPros ADP – WR54, #133 Overall
DH Rank – WR61
Adam Thielen had a great run as a usable fantasy WR, but last year may have marked the end of it. He played all 17 games, and he still managed to have his 2nd lowest receiving yard total, lowest yards per reception, and 2nd lowest Fantasy PPG since 2016. The Panthers have a few young WRs with upside who I would much rather roster than Thielen, no matter the format. If you want a Panthers WR, go with Jonatham Mingo who has an ADP 4 rounds after Thielen.
New Orleans Saints
BOP – Juwan Johnson, TE
FantasyPros ADP – TE25, #191 Overall
DH Rank – TE16
Juwann Johnson is still man at TE in New Orleans, despite the Saints acquiring Foster Moreau, grabbing Jimmy Graham out of the shadow realm, and holding on to Taysom Hill. Johnson broke out in 2022, leading the Saints in receiving TDs, and posting career highs in receptions and receiving yards. Derek Carr has always favored the TE, and that bolds well for Juwan Jonson in 2023. He is strong candidate to crack the top 8 TEs if he stays healthy.
FLOP – Taysom Hill, TE
FantasyPros ADP – TE18, #178 Overall
DH Rank – TE24
Taysom Hill is going to have at least 2 games where he finishes the week as the TE1. Good luck guessing when that will be. I am all for drafting Taysom Hill as my TE2 in bestball, so I get him when he has those breakout weeks, but in managed leagues we don’t have that luxury. I am passing on him at TE18 when I have to decide when to put him in my lineup.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
BOP – Rachaad White, RB
FantasyPros ADP – RB27, #72 Overall
DH Rank – RB22
Opportunity has always been and always will be king in fantasy football. As a backup RB in 2022, Rachaad White had 187 fantasy opportunities (129 rush attempts and 58 targets). He is now the starter, so expect a sizable bump in opportunities and production. His ADP is in the 6th round, but I have been getting him in the 7th or 8th quite a bit. He is an ideal RB2 in all formats.
FLOP – Chris Godwin, WR
FantasyPros ADP – WR27, #65 Overall
DH Rank – WR30
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be going from Tom Brady at QB to either Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask, and that will mean much fewer pass attempts, which hurts Chris Godwin the most among their WRs. I currently have them projected to pass 33% less than in 2023 than in 2022. That would knock Chris Godwin’s target total from 142 to under 100. That is not worth a 6th round pick. Strong Pass!
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