2018 Fantasy Football: Risers and Fallers After the Draft

Riser – Rashaad Penny – RB – Seattle Seahawks

Rashaad Penny spent most of the pre-draft process hanging around the end of the first round of rookie drafts. Then the Seahawks showed their faith in the talent taking him in the first round as the second running back in the draft. The fantasy world took notice and moved him squarely in the top 5 conversations even as high as 1.02. After the draft, Pete Carroll was ecstatic raving about how they viewed Penny as a three-down back. While there will be hurdles in Seattle with a bad offensive line he sits in a great place to get the majority of the carries and we all know in the world of fantasy football volume is king.

Faller – Calvin Ridley – WR – Atlanta Falcons

The draft process hasn’t been kind to Calvin Ridley as a fantasy prospect. In January Ridley was viewed as a consensus top 2 receiver for the draft. After a poor combine and now landing in Atlanta, he is close to falling out of the first round of rookie drafts. The Falcons picked him up is great for the team but as a fantasy football player, it truly limits his upside. On a roster with Julio Jones, he has no chance of becoming a WR1 for fantasy purposes. On top of that, he is competing for touches with Mohammad Sanu, Telvin Coleman, and Devonta Freeman. Ridley possesses the ability to have big games but with all of the talent, their consistent production could be hard.

Riser – Michael Gallup – WR – Dallas Cowboys

One of my favorite receivers available in the middle of the second round fell into the perfect situation in Dallas. The receiver out of Colorado will step into a pass-catching group with no clear cut number one or two wideouts after cutting Dez Bryant loose. Gallup has the ability to produce in multiple ways with great hands, the ability to win jump balls and run after the catch. In Dallas, he could quickly become one of Dak Prescott’s favorite targets and produce right away.

Faller – John Kelly – RB – Los Angeles Rams

The pre-draft buzz for John Kelly was really ramping up before the draft with dynasty players looking at him as a first-round rookie pick. Then the unfortunate event of being drafted by a team with one of the best running backs in the league happened. Being the handcuff to Todd Gurley has value but unless there is an injury the chances of having any fantasy impact are slim to none.

Riser – Tre’Quan Smith – WR- New Orleans Saints

The Saints offense is a well-oiled machine that allows for the majority of the players in it to succeed with Drew Brees there. Over the last couple years outside of Michael Thomas, it’s been just a carousel of receivers who have all been replaceable with Ted Ginn being the best of them last year. Tre’Quan Smith is a big play threat out of UCF who’s’ 6’2” 203 pounds who can run and win jump balls. He could step in day one and be the perfect complementary receiver to Thomas.

Faller- Mark Walton – RB – Cincinnati Bengals

Mark Walton has the skillset to step in day one on a team and be a nice change of pace back and pass catcher. Unfortunately for him, he landed in Cincinnati where they have a three down in Joe Mixon and a fantastic third down back in Gio Bernard. Buried on the depth chart behind these two could lead to an extremely slow start for Walton with limited opportunities.

Riser- J’Mon Moore– WR- Green Bay Packers

The Packers have a true hole as the number two receiver next to Devonta Adams. While the majority of the draft community believe it will be Equanimeous St. Brown they took J’Mon Moore two full rounds ahead of him. Moore is a receiver with great size at 6’3” 207 and a huge vertical. He has the ability to win jump ball situations, has reliable hands and can run after the catch. If he can polish his game up Moore could turn into someone that Aaron Rodgers trusts.

Faller- D.J. Chark – WR –Jacksonville Jaguars

D.J. Chark’s draft capital has been all over the place and his landing spot was not ideal. Chark has the size and speed to be an impact player but is on a receiving corps that includes Marquise Lee, Donte Moncrief, Dede Westbrook and Keelan Cole. All of this talent with a run-first offense doesn’t bode well for fantasy football, I’d avoid Chark at all costs.

Riser- Christian Kirk – WR – Arizona Cardinals

Christian Kirk landed in the perfect spot to jump-start his career in the NFL in Arizona. Drafting Josh Rosen in the first followed by Kirk in the second allows for the two of them to build chemistry all offseason and throughout their careers. The other thing that Kirk has going for him other than his incredible talent he gets to learn behind one of the all-time greats in Larry Fitzgerald. With the way, everything fell Kirk has as good of an opportunity to succeed as any receiver in this draft and could end up being the best from it.

Faller’s Hayden Hurst/Mark Andrews – TE’s – Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens should be a good landing spot for a tight end is that’s Joe Flacco’s favorite place to throw them drafting two raises a lot of questions. The two tight ends could both find their way on the field and cannibalize into each other’s production.  While either one could pan our eventually in dynasty I’d steer away being we don’t know who.

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