Wrapping up Rounds Four and Five
Draft weekend has ended and it's Back to Reality Monday on this final day of April. The ten day forecast shows all sunshine up here in northern California. Hell, compared to the crazy snowfall numbers earlier this month, it even looks like it's thawing out in places like Christmas Mountain, Pebblebeach Station, WI. (great name) Surely a delayed yet welcome turn to Spring Equinox for those in the nor-east. A side story to Day Three's slide of St. Brown could almost be framed as a Fall Equanimeous, though Autumnal Equanimeous has a better ring to it. Coffee number one is poured in pre-dawn darkness with around an hour of silence to go (aside from keyboard clicking) before slumber gets broken, and the house comes alive, so here we go.
4.07 TE Chris Herndon - NYJ
Hard not to at least keep an eye on any tight end who comes out of "The U", as Cane TE's have been a virtual vein of gold for supplying the NFL with studs at that position. Herndon's stats may not jump out at you, but he finished with the second most receiving yards for Miami in 2017. With names like David Njoku, Clive Walford (NYJ), Jimmy Graham, Greg Olsen, Kellen Winslow Jr., Jeremy Shockey, etc., they have earned my trust at recruiting and grooming the TE position for fantasy. He could provide a nice safety blanket for Darnold as they grow together in New York.
4.08 QB Kyle Lauletta - NYG
Likely just a backup for Eli and company. I'll just be focusing on the players who could reach dynasty relevance, so many of the following players will not get much more than a few keyboard pecks so I can move along.
4.12 RB Mark Walton - CIN
With 18 of his 30 games as a Hurricane ending with 3.5ypc or less, (with MANY games held to under 3.0ypc and even under 2.0ypc) what he did when not getting stuffed managed to pop enough to make him my RB7. His receiving and scoring prowess may give the Bengals a younger and cheaper version of Gio Bernard. If the full transition to handing the keys over to Joe Mixon relegates a smaller share for the backups, Walton could end up being the better handcuff when looking forward.
4.13 WR Daesean Hamilton - DEN
From a dynasty perspective, he's a pass. Nice addition for the Broncos, but more young depth than upside.
4.20 TE Will Dissly - SEA
Seattle adds a blocking TE and can use all the new blocking talent they can get. Extra credit for having a name you can rhyme with Dilly Dilly, and extra EXTRA credit for being pick 4-20. :-)
4.23 TE Durham Smythe - MIA
MIA already added their new receiving tight end, and this round add an old-school blocking one.
4.26 RB Ito Smith - ATL
Solid player landing in a spot than makes him almost undraftable unless you like handcuffing your handcuffs, and the dynasty leagues I play in don't have that kind of a luxury-sized bench. The writing on the wall here is that this could be Tevin's final year in ATL. If you happen to play in a league with a larger bench, he is plenty interesting with his soft hands and excellent all around stats. He will be on my radar to scoop off the waiver wire sometime late in the 2018 season.
4.31 RB Kalen Ballage - MIA
Drake owners are poppin' bottles at the Bellagio pick. At least this one is. Ballage looks to me like a backup/depth level player at the next level. Wasn't high on him and don't like handcuffing my running backs unless they have some pop to their upside, which IMO he does not.
4.32 WR Jaleel Scott - BAL
Baltimore adds a tall (6'5") big handed (10.5") WR who produced enough stats to keep an eye on. Five games in 2017 with 8+ rec, 4 games with 130+ yards, and he scored 9 TD's. They added enough WR talent this offseason to make Scott an afterthought, but BAL is far from having an established long term WR pecking order.
4.33 WR J'mon Moore - GB
Any name potentially at the receiving end of an Aaron Rodgers pass at least merits being jotted down. His numbers weren't bad, but even in his fourth season at Missouri, he failed to start every game. This landing spot buries him in the Green Bay depth chart, making him a difficult stash for dynasty.
4.34 RB Chase Edmonds - ARI
The Cardinals are hoping lightening strikes twice after nailing small schooler David Johnson a few years back. Considering the lack of talent at RB in Arizona, stashing Edmonds could pay off. His tiny-college stats were very impressive.
4.37 TE Dalton Shultz - DAL
Zeke owners rejoice! "Ze Germans" has one of the better run blocking TE reputations in this draft.
5.07 WR Justin Watson - TB
GEM ALERT! Watson made a good living roasting Ivy Leaguers to the tune of 27FPTS/gm and then blew up his Pro Day with a 4.4 40ydash and a 40" vert! White men CAN jump! :-) That alone is enough to have my interest, then adding in his size (6'3". 225lbs) and brains, and I'm buying. Excellent for my many shares of Jameis Winston as well.
5.19 TE Troy Fumagalli - DEN
Busted out the gate in B2B years at Wisconsin with 100+ yard games week one, but his numbers fade as the season drags on. My money is on either he or Jake Butt to become a dynasty factor in DEN, so he's worthy of a speculation gamble.
5.20 TE Tyler Conklin - MIN
Fairly rare for tight ends to put up big stats, but Conklin manged three big games (98, 104, 136) plus five TD's in an injury shortened (missed games early, finished the season active) eight games. 38" vert is nice too. Rudolph isn't going anywhere for now, so this is just a depth pick.
5.22 WR Daurice Fountain - IND
Another guy who put himself on the map with a sic Pro Day (4.46 40ydash, 42.5" vert, 134" broad), Fountain landed quite well. The lack of sure fire guys behind TY Hilton and the return of Andrew Luck makes him a must-stash player later in rookie drafts.
5.25 WR Jordan Lasley - BAL
His age, Compton attitude, major drops, weak combine and immaturity red flags caused him to slide the most out of my top 10 (WR5) pre-draft wide receivers. That said, his landing with the Ravens is almost the perfect fit. I could easily imagine a Compton version of The Wire. His 2017 totals look underwhelming until you factor in all the games he missed. His 27 FPTS/gm as Rosen's go-to-guy last season still has me a buyer, and his cost in rookie drafts should be very cheap.
5.28 TE Jaylen Samuels - PIT
Not a tight end at this level. Currently listed as a fullback. Put up excellent all-around stats as a real offensive weapon. Crazy stuff over his career. Multiple 3TD games rushing, 3TD game receiving in a bowl game, 11 multi-TD games, three 100+ yard rec games, games with 15 rec, 12 rec, etc. Durable. Scored 44 touchdowns over the past three seasons. With all of this, going to the Steelers almost makes him un-stashable with the lack of open opportunity in PIT added to the lack of a true position. If he happens to end up qualifying as a TE in your fantasy software, load up late on speculation alone.
5.32 RB Jordan Wilkins - IND
GEM ALERT! Wilkins showed no real weakness in 2017, getting it done with rushing (excellent averages, even vs. SEC defenses), receiving (26 rec) and scoring (10TD). Busted enough long runs (plus a 4.50 40ydash at Pro Day) to not worry much about his speed. A little older for a rookie, landing in Indy opens the door for him to compete for some work. If nothing else, the Mack and Hines owners should cuff with Wilkins just to be safe.
5.34 QB Mike White - DAL
The QB many had ranked just outside the Big Six, Dallas adds what looks like a capable backup to Dak.
5.37 WR Marquez Valdez-Scantling - GB
Green Bay adds a tall (6'4") fast!!! (4.37 40ydash) deep threat WR. Developmental type that may pop up in boxscores here and there, but generally undraftable.
Well that catches me up through round number five. Last up in this series breaking down the dynasty value of this draft class will be wrapping it up with rounds six and seven. Closing the door next article with hopes of digging up just one more draft gem hidden deep in the 2018 class.