The best season-long fantasy football players are continually attacking the waiver wire and churning through their roster. That’s especially true early in the season, when we learn so much about roles.
With that in mind, we want to prioritize upside over everything else with our later-round picks. If it doesn’t work out, we can simply drop them for the inevitable high-quality options that will be on the waiver wire come September. Note that is very different from best ball, where we are stuck with them all season.
Here are my favorite targets with a home-league Average Draft Position (ADP) of 120.0 or later as of Aug. 1. The ADP I am using is a combination of Yahoo, Sleeper, and RTSports half-PPR ADP.
Note that “sleepers” I like such as Jayden Reed, Justin Fields, Justin Herbert, Jakobi Meyers, Ricky Pearsall, Tyler Warren, and Matthew Golden all go too high to be considered a “flier.”
These are listed in ADP order, but please consult your league’s specific draft applet to understand more about where they will go.
1. Drake Maye, QB, Patriots – ADP 127.3
Maye impressively averaged 16.8 fantasy points per game in his 11 rookie games. And I could argue he dealt with the NFL’s worst offensive line AND the worst skill-position corps.
Those units are far from “great” now, but they are vastly improved. The Patriots added Stefon Diggs in free agency plus TreVeyon Henderson and Kyle Williams in the draft. They also used the No. 4 overall pick on LT Will Campbell, the No. 69 overall pick on C/G Jared Wilson, and added RT Morgan Moses plus C Garrett Bradbury in free agency.
An uptick in passing volume/efficiency is likely with these new additions and the new Josh McDaniels scheme. And we know he can run — Maye posted 54/421/2 rushing in those 11 rookie-season games.
2. Emeka Egbuka, WR, Buccaneers – ADP 129.0
The ability to add a high-upside wideout like Egbuka as a later-round bench piece is what makes me want to draft RBs and QB early. The Bucs used the 19th overall pick on Egbuka despite having Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Jalen McMillan. Note that Godwin’s dislocated ankle continues to give him issues, Evans is 32 years old, and McMillan’s underlying rookie metrics were fine but not spectacular.
There are just so many ways Egbuka can earn a big role in one of the NFL’s most WR-friendly offenses. I expect new OC Josh Grizzard to run the same scheme/system he learned from Liam Coen. Egbuka is an ideal WR4/5 type.
We've created the best Draft Kit on the internet.
Our fantasy football Draft Kit Pro was created to prepare you with the highest-quality resources to help you win your league.
Our team of analysts, led by Evan Silva and Adam Levitan, create unmatched content and rankings to make sure you’re ready for draft day. While our Draft Kit is built for competitive fantasy players, we’ve made it fun and easy to consume.
If you aren’t satisfied with our Draft Kit for any reason, just email us within 48 hours of purchase and we’ll provide a full refund.
Full Draft Kit Overview » Already a subscriber? Log In
