Silva’s Shy Away 30

These are the players I’m letting my opponents draft in fantasy football leagues this season:

For Silva’s Top-150 rankings, head here.

1. Jonathan Taylor

While most fantasy sites project Taylor as a fringe first-round player, I’m valuing him more in line with the second- to third-round turn. Taylor has missed 13 games over the past two years – mostly due to recurring ankle injuries – and rarely been a meaningful passing-game producer dating back to Wisconsin. QB Anthony Richardson all but ignored targeting running backs in college and poses a direct threat to Taylor’s touchdown upside as a Cam Newtonian, 244-pound goal-line presence. Colts HC Shane Steichen, a 2021-2022 Eagles assistant, is quite familiar with the quarterback-friendly “Tush Push” in scoring position.

2. Saquon Barkley

Barkley enters the best on-paper environment of his career going to Philly, but there are underlying box-score concerns. Dual-threat Jalen Hurts has a basement-low historical running back target rate, while the Eagles’ patented “Tush Push” play can cut heavily into running backs’ touchdown chances. HC Nick Sirianni’s coaching staff has an odd affinity for Kenneth Gainwell as a role player, and fourth-round rookie Will Shipley is talented enough to earn situational snaps. I’m not going out of my way to draft Barkley this year.

3. Davante Adams

Adams turns 32 later this year after being a week-to-week adventure in 2023 with fewer than 60 yards in eight of his final 13 games and TDs in just four. A gradually declining No. 1 wideout on a quarterback-deficient team, Adams appears destined for a highly inefficient season in a potentially league-worst offense. As the Raiders have one of the NFL’s ten-toughest schedules, their season could go south quickly. Adams is on the back nine of his career; it’s easily conceivable that he would make noise to get out of a situation like that.

4. DK Metcalf

I’m betting on 2024 to be the season of Jaxon Smith-Njigba with 32-year-old Tyler Lockett in decline and Metcalf plateauing as a limited deep threat. Pass protection is a big concern for a Seattle offensive line that Brandon Thorn ranks bottom three in the league; the state of that unit may force new OC Ryan Grubb to feature higher-percentage passes favoring slot man JSN. Consensus rankings have Metcalf as a locked-in WR2. I view him as a volatile WR3.

5. Travis Kelce