Take a look at the roster of any championship Fantasy Football team after the season is over, and inevitably you’re going to see a guy or two who was drafted way lower than his production should have warranted. The key to winning your upcoming fantasy league is getting upper round production from mid to late round draft picks.
Your fantasy football draft is right around the corner, and here are five players who have a chance to make a big impact from later draft position. If you haven’t set up your league yet, or if you’re looking for one more league before the season starts, sites like Playdraft are easy to use and offer great options for fantasy football.
1) Jameis Winston – QB, Buccaneers
This year, Jameis Winston is getting drafted with an average draft position of early in the second round, the 8th quarterback off the board. While Marcus Mariota and Derek Carr are the young quarterbacks everyone are talking about taking the next step, Winston is the guy who might surpass them both. Last year, Winston bumped his touchdowns thrown up by 6, and there’s no reason he can’t take another step this year. Meanwhile, his rushing touchdowns fell from 6 to 1 from 2015 to 2016 while his rushing attempts stayed the same. If he managed to tally a few more rushing TDs while improving through the air, Winston is a top 5 QB.
2) Joe Mixon – RB, Bengals
Mixon is coming off the board as the 20th running back selected, with an ADP of the 4th round. That’s too low for a guy who would have been a surefire first round pick had it not been for character concerns, and who finds himself the primary running back in a Cincinnati offense with some real weapons in the passing game. Mixon has a chance to be a top 10 running back this year.
3) Christian McCaffrey – RB, Panthers
Another rookie running back, McCaffrey is being picked as the 15th running back on average, with a 3rd round ADP. In other words, he’s being picked a full round later than a guy like Jordan Howard, who’s on a terrible Bears offense and will face stacked boxes all season long. McCaffrey, on the other hand, will benefit from defenses having to stop Cam Newton first and foremost, and his first round pedigree attests to formidable talent. McCaffrey has top 5 potential this year.
4) Josh Doctson – WR, Redskins
All the way down as the 64th wideout taken, with an ADP in the 14th round, Doctson is a deep sleeper who might pay big dividends in 2017. The Redskins lost Pierre Garcon and Desean Jackson to free agency, so someone’s going to have to step up and catch passes from talented QB Kirk Cousins. Enter Doctson, the 2015 first round draft pick. The Redskins will give Doctson every opportunity to break out, and he could easily be a top 30 wide receiver this year.
5) John Brown – WR, Cardinals
Brown is being drafted as the 43rd wide receiver off the board with an ADP of the 9th round, which offers plenty of value for the explosive wideout. 2016 was a down year, but only a year ago Brown put up over 1,000 yards and 7 scores. Some early training camp injury woes put a bit of a damper on Brown’s fantasy luster, but a strong performance in preseason game 3 showed hes ready to go this year. As the number two wide receiver in a strong Arizona offense, Brown should put up big fantasy numbers, possibly cracking the top 20 wide receivers in value.
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