Under the Radar Players to Target in Rookie Drafts

RB Devine Ozigbo (NO)

Ozigbo is strictly a power back at 6-foot 235 pounds, and he will start the season behind free-agent signee, Latavius Murray, however, there is a path to a starting spot in this Saints offense. Murray has been solid over the last few years as a member of the Vikings but he has been anything but spectacular. He has a career average of 4.1 yards per carry, is four years removed from his last and only 1,000-yard season (2015), and is approaching the dreaded 30-year-old mark. Those are all good reasons why Ozigbo could get at least a shot at the “Mark Ingram” role in this offense.

Ozigbo profiles very similarly to Mark  Ingram in terms of their measurables — with neither player being a burner — Ozigbo put up a 4.7 40 compared to Ingram’s 4.62. Watching Ozigbo’s college tape, it was obvious that he was rarely the fastest guy on the field, yet still managed to reel off some pretty sizable runs, albeit versus lesser competition. In fact, he averaged an impressive 7.0 ypc in 2018 on his way to a 1,000-yard season and 12 TDs on a mere 155 rushing attempts.

The former Cornhusker will have his work cut out for him as an undrafted free agent signee, but he landed with a team that will know how to use him if he can find a way to overtake Murray. He is currently being drafted as the RB25 in rookie drafts, meaning, unless you have more than five rounds in your draft, you can probably get him after the draft without having to waste a draft pick.

WR Gary Jennings (SEA)

Jennings is one of the most overlooked players in this draft class, not because of anything he did or didn’t do, but because of the other rookie WR the Seahawks drafted — a guy by the name of D.K. Metcalf, maybe you’ve heard of him?

Doug Baldwin is likely going to be forced to retire before the start of the 2019 season, and everyone assumes that Metcalf will be the one to step into his role. Why would we assume that? Baldwin lined up in the slot on 67 percent of his catches in his last fully healthy season, 2017. If we know anything about Metcalf, it’s that he is a down the field guy, rarely, if ever, lining up in the slot, not to mention his well documented low agility scores at the combine.

When looking at Jennings however, he played almost exclusively from the slot and played it very well. He had 13 TDs for the Mountaineers in 2018 despite only catching 54 passes, and he averaged 17 yards per catch. Jennings is a 95th percentile SPARQ-x athlete, with 4.4 speed, and at 6-foot-1 215 pounds he isn’t a small guy.

Technically Baldwin only missed three games in 2018, but anyone who owned him in fantasy knows he was a shell of himself when he played. Despite that, he was still second on the team with 50 catches, which points more to a lack of production from the receivers behind him then it does to Baldwin’s production. The fact that RB Mike Davis was third on the team in receptions tells you all you need to know about the receivers Jennings has to beat out.

I’d expect Tyler Lockett and Metcalf to still be the No. 1 and No. 2 WRs, with Jennings at least having a shot at the No.3 spot. How valuable the No. 3 option is on a team that wants to run the ball remains to be seen, but Jennings is worth a look in deeper leagues as a stash.

RB Ryquell Armstead (JAC)

Armstead ends up in Jacksonville, and while he might have some depth chart climbing to do if he wants to see the field in year one, he is someone to keep an eye on this offseason — and more importantly, next offseason. Fournette’s off-field issues have been well documented — as have his injury history over his professional and collegiate careers. His dead cap number is cut in half after the 2019 season as it goes from over $8m in 2019 to just over $4m in 2020. If the Jags decide to keep Fourette after 2019, his salary on his current contract will pay him nearly $9m in 2020 — all according to Spotrac.com.

In other words, if Fournette doesn’t come out in 2019 and light world on fire in Jacksonville, there is a good chance he is elsewhere in 2020. That would open the door for Armstead. At 5-foot-11 220 pounds with 4.4 wheels and 90th-plus percentile Speed Score per PlayerProfiler.com., Armstead would be a good replacement for Fournette in 2020. He isn’t much of a receiver out of the backfield, which will limit his upside in fantasy, but he does have workhorse-like qualities as evident by his 200-plus carries last season.

Armstead isn’t going to set the fantasy world on fire, but if you’re looking for an RB that could have a starting role in the near future — and one that you won’t have to pay high draft capital to get — Armstead is your guy.

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