Ask a Scout
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Our Dynasty Scouts specialize in college football players and we’re here to answer your questions. Devy players, rookie prospects, draft questions, trade questions, etc. If you would like to submit a question, please see the thread in DLF forums in the College/Prep Scouting section or feel free to email me [email protected]. Be sure to include details and check in to see if your question got picked for future editions of this series.
Our first question comes from Yooperbacker from the DLF forums.
1.) I have the 1.01, 1.02, 1.03, 1.06, 1.14, and 2.01 in the upcoming draft for my team in sig. Who would you draft in these spots? I realize this is pre-combine and draft so the results will be based off of talent evaluated by film study. Note that it is a start 1 RB league so I’m hesitant to take both Gurley and Gordon.
16 Team 53 man roster ppr tack heavy idp (1qb, 1-3rbs, 2-5wrs, 1-3te)
QB:RG3, Cousins (TS), L. Thomas (TS)
RB:M. James, B. Rainey, L. Dunbar, B. Cunningham(TS), L. Murray(TS), C. Polk (TS)
WR:K. Wright, T.Y. Hilton, T. Smith, k. Thompkins, C. Beasley, A. Robinson(TS), C. Latimer(TS), J. Janis(TS), Q. Patton(TS)
TE: D. Allen, L. Green (TS), Z. Sudfeld (TS)
Response: That’s a great position to be in for the draft, considering it’s a 16 team league! I’ve never played IDP, so I can’t answer the question factoring that side into the equation. However, the top pick is easily Todd Gurley for me. The 1.02 and 1.03 is going to depend on the NFL Draft and situations for the players. Kevin White, Amari Cooper, and Jay Ajayi are my next best available players, followed by Melvin Gordon, DeVante Parker. Right now, I would probably lean with White and Cooper. The good news is you can select whichever player drops to you at the 1.06 if you’d like.
However, looking at your roster, I see large holes at quarterback and tight end due to the 16 team dynamic. I might try to trade back and grab tight end Maxx Williams to blend together with Dwayne Allen and Ladarius Green for the future. Then I’d look to grab either Marcus Mariota or Jameis Winston, whichever player ends up in Tampa because it’s going to be a great situation. If it was a 12 team league, I wouldn’t worry about those two positions as much, but it puts you at a big disadvantage every week and we want to flip the switch. I also like the 1.14 and 2.01 (17th selection) because that’s about where the talent drops off in this draft.
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The next question comes from Arkived from the DLF forums.
Question: I’m taking Gordon at 1.02. 1.03 and 1.08 are up in the air. I feel like I need some young potential at RB. I really like Duke Johnson, DGB (I know he’s a WR, but I am infatuated at this point), David Cobb, and Josh Robinson. Is Duke or DGB worth the 1.03? I know it’s early, but I’m not entirely sure what to do with my second and third 1st round picks at this moment.
Hitting the Wrong Hole – 8 team 1 pt PPR, .25 per carry Dynasty league (1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB/WR, 1 PK, 3 DL, 3 LB, 1 DL/LB, 4 DB)
QB – Stafford, RGIII
RB: Doug Martin, Matt Forte, Shane Vereen, Montee Ball, Roy Helu, Jeremy Hill, Dan Herron, Joseph Randle
WR: Dez Bryant, Victor Cruz, Jordy Nelson, AJ Green, DeAndre Hopkins, Odell Beckam, Percy Harvin, Justin Hunter, Mike Evans, Jordan Matthews, Cody Latimer,Marquess Wilson
TE: Rob Gronkowski, Julius Thomas, Jordan Reed, Jordan Cameron,Travis Kelce
DL: Muhammad Wilkerson, Greg Hardy, Carlos Dunlap, Cameron Jordan, Jason Pierre-Paul, Everson Griffen, Chandler Jones, Zeke Ansah
LB: Lavonte David, Alec Ogletree, Vontaze Burfict, Sean Lee, Ryan Shazier, Sio Moore, Danny Trevathan, Telvin Smith
DB: Morgan Burnett, Harrison Smith, Cyprien, Kenny Vaccaro, Tyvon Branch, Reshad Jones
2015 – 1.02, 1.03, 1.08
Response: Looking over your roster, you’re doing great at wide receiver to the point that I might ignore the position with this draft class. Gordon at 1.02 makes sense if you like him, but I might take the next best RB at 1.03. For me that’s Ajayi, but the NFL Draft will help clear that part up. Duke Johnson has fallen in my rankings to number 11 for running backs. I would trade back a few picks to let a couple of wide receivers get selected and then take a running back. I would also look at taking another running back with the 1.08 selection or DGB.
Diti51 from the DLF forums asks…
Question: Outside of the most notable receivers in this class (Cooper, White, Parker, DGB, Strong, Funchess) are there any under the radar receivers who have a chance to be stars?
Response: The short answer to your question is no. Overall, I only view the top four wide receivers with a chance to be stars and am down on the rest of the class. The next three on my list would be Sammie Coates, Breshad Perriman, and Nelson Algholor. I view their ceilings as WR2 type of players, unless their paired with a future Hall of Fame Quarterback and everything goes perfect. One late round flier I like is Tre McBride from William and Mary College. He gives me a Victor Cruz like feel, he performed well both at the Shrine Game and at the NFL Combine.
Question: Swampdonkey17, Dookmariot, and pjh0736 from the DLF forums all wanted more information the second and third tier Running Backs and Wide Receivers such as Strong/Funchess/Coates/Perriman/Hardy etc. Duke/Yeldon/Coleman/Ajayi etc. In depth analysis, comparisons, and cutting through the noise.
Response:
Ajayi is in tier two for me ahead of Gordon right now and I view him with great potential. He’s a good athlete that can fit any scheme, good flexibility and soft hands. I see RB1 potential in FF for him.
Tevin Coleman is underrated right now and is a good back, although he weighed in light at the combine. He doesn’t have good change of direction or short area burst, but if Coleman’s put in the right scheme, he could be a good fantasy player.
TJ Yeldon had a poor combine showing, but falls into the area of being good at everything and great at nothing. I like his feet for such a big back and he played well in some huge games, but never saw enough to sense stardom at the NFL level.
David Johnson has been steadily rising up my rankings and is now my sixth best rookie running back. Johnson was very productive at Northern Iowa and showed up against good competition. He is a bigger version of Coleman and I think is the most underrated back at this point. He has good hands, big play ability, with the size and change of direction to make a defense pay. Johnson has everything needed to be a starter in the NFL.
Ameer Abdullah is an extremely quick and smart runner with good instincts. He knows his limitations and doesn’t take many big hits. Abdullah has decent hands and can even run between the tackles. He performed great at the combine and even had a good weigh in. I am concerned over his fumbling and his utilization will be huge in dictating his potential fantasy value.
Duke Johnson is the most overrated running back in this class. He added weight and lost some of his explosiveness. Johnson isn’t fast enough to “win” at the next level and his power is too weak to compensate. He dances too much and just bounces to the outside, I also don’t like his fumbling. The combine revealed more of the same story to me and I won’t own Johnson on any of my teams.
David Cobb has good size paired with solid lateral agility. He is terribly inconsistent and frustrating to watch on film, which I will discuss more in an upcoming Triple Take on him. Cobb runs with toughness, breaks tackles and has decent acceleration. The downfall is Cobb has poor speed and I don’t see him ever being an NFL starter for a prolonged period of time.
Mike Davis is really getting the short end after an injury filled 2014 season. He’s being labeled as injury prone, but I like him as a running back. He has good size and quickness, combined with power and hands. He doesn’t have a high ceiling, but I think he could be a RB2 if things go well.
I will respond to the wide receiver portion of their question in my next installment of Ask a Scout.
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Nick can be found on Twitter at @_NickWhalen
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