I’m a list guy. I make “to do” lists, follow “honey do” lists, and will take time to read a top ten list of almost anything. This series of articles will bring you a top five ranking about a myriad of topics in the world of dynasty football.
Dynasty fantasy football players are a greedy bunch. The class of 2017 has been the focal point for many dynasty owners for the past year or more with the expectation that many college stars would make a smooth transition into the NFL and onto our dynasty teams. We’ve already seen many collegiate underclassmen make their intentions known. The vaunted class of 2017 will include juniors such as Deshaun Watson, Mike Williams, Dalvin Cook and Leonard Fournette, among many others. On the other hand, underclassmen such as Nick Chubb, Royce Freeman and James Washington surprisingly opted to return to campus for one more season.
With the January 16 deadline for underclassmen to declare quickly approaching, I’ve got my eye on five players who have yet to announce their plans for next season.
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1) Mitch Trubisky, QB North Carolina
After serving as the backup to dual-threat quarterback Marquise Williams the prior two seasons in Chapel Hill, quarterback Mitch Trubisky enjoyed a breakout 2016 season that saw him bolt from relative unknown to being a strong contender to be the top signal caller off the board…or maybe even the top player overall in today’s quarterback starved NFL.
Trubisky, a 6’3”, 220 pounder is said to have all the tools to succeed, though his limited experience has to be a concern for NFL teams spending such capital on him on the draft’s first day. With many teams at the top of the draft having a need at the position, Trubisky could be selected earlier than his talent deserves, as is often the case with quarterbacks. From a dynasty perspective, Trubisky, much like Jared Goff and Carson Wentz, would be in the third-round range in rookie drafts despite his expected status as a top NFL Draft selection.
2) Malachi Dupre, WR Louisiana State
LSU wide receiver Malachi Dupre was a hot asset in devy dynasty leagues before even taking a step on campus. As a highly-ranked recruit and showing off his skills in a promising freshman season, Dupre was being viewed as a future top three dynasty rookie pick.
The past two seasons have been disappointments from Dupre and the entire Tiger passing offense. Virtually all of Dupre’s numbers dropped from his sophomore season to the 2016 campaign and his dynasty stock has plummeted. There has been little buzz as to whether Dupre will or will not make the leap. After a down year and a mid-season coaching change, Dupre could stick around for his senior season and hope to make a strong impression on NFL scouts and coaches. If he does declare, expect him to be a second-round pick in most dynasty rookie drafts.
3) Juju Smith-Schuster, WR Southern California
I have to admit, I have a bit of a soft spot for USC receiver Juju Smith-Schuster. Much like Dupre, Smith-Schuster entered college with a lot of hype, which meant a great deal of devy value before he’d really done anything on the field. Also like Dupre, Smith-Schuster’s numbers were down in his junior season after a 1,400 yard sophomore season.
That second-year performance was enough for me to rank Juju as my top overall devy player entering the season, ahead of running backs like Fournette and Cook. A dismal beginning to the season led to a change at the quarterback spot and things were back on track for Smith-Schuster, but some of his warts were exposed early in the season. I am still a big fan of the USC receiver and despite some earlier talk that he and defensive back Adoree Jackson would return to make a run for the title, I expect both to make the leap to the NFL. Smith-Schuster should be a mid-first round dynasty rookie pick.
4) Curtis Samuel, RB/WR Ohio State
In his first two seasons at Ohio State, do it all dynamo Curtis Samuel had flashed some upside, but was stuck behind the massive depth always deployed by the Buckeyes. With the departure of players like Braxton Miller and Michael Thomas, 2016 was Samuel’s chance to shine and he did just that. With 97 carries and 74 receptions, Samuel was the top threat for the Ohio State offense in nearly every situation.
I’m not even sure which position Samuel will play in the NFL but after seeing the performances of players like Ty Montgomery and Tyreek Hill, it might not matter. If Samuel makes the leap, he’s the type of player who could gain hype throughout the draft process and end up as a mid-first round rookie pick if he lands in the right spot.
5) Courtland Sutton, WR Southern Methodist
About this time last year, I was chatting with friend and DLF writer Nick Whalen. In our conversation, he mentioned that he’d found “his next Corey Davis.” To say the least, I was intrigued. He dropped the name Courtland Sutton, a wide receiver from Southern Methodist who had just wrapped up his redshirt freshman season. I quickly rank to Youtube, Draft Breakdown, Noon Kick or anywhere else I could find clips of Sutton. By the time Nick’s 2016 version of the Devy Report was released, Sutton was a hot name in the devy market, being valued among top players like Smith-Schuster, Williams and more.
Sutton, a converted defensive back, didn’t let us down this season, eclipsing 1,200 receiving yards and scoring ten touchdowns for the second consecutive season.
While I love the talent of the 6’4”, 215 pound Sutton, I am worried that the small school and relative limited experience of two years playing receiver could push him to return to school for his junior season. That is not necessarily a bad thing as we saw Davis do the same thing a year ago, but as I said earlier, dynasty owners are greedy. We want these rookies and we want them now. If Sutton does surprise me and declare for the draft, he would be included in the top tier with Williams, Davis, Smith-Schuster and the pair of talented running backs, Fournette and Cook.
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Joe Mixon? Where would you rank him in a rookie draft?
Adam Schefter is reporting that Mixon just declared. Maybe if he keeps his nose completely clean throughout the pre-draft process and aces his team interviews/visits, he’ll be drafted sometime before the 5th round. I don’t believe all this chatter about him going undrafted.
Despite his vile transgression on campus, I think NFL teams are still driven to win and scooping up a late 1st round talent in the 3rd or 4th round will be tough to pass up. Despite all the negative press, the dude can still flat out ball. Does everything on the field from the tape I’ve seen. I’m especially impressed by his receiving chops, which should shine if he’s invited to the combine to compete in drills.
I didn’t include Mixon because some reports said he’d already decided to stay in school. Just as most will say, I love Mixon’s talent, but the off-field stuff is beyond terrible. He’s a player that I will let the NFL tell me what to think. If he’s drafted at all, he’s a 1st round rookie pick for me. If not, I’d still take a shot in the early/mid 2nd assuming he signs as a UDFA.
Scary if Mixon becomes an UDFA. Odds will be stacked against him ever realizing his massive PPR potential. My hope is that his team of advisors/family/friends have made the case that between now and the NFL draft, he’ll be able to clean up his image just enough to justify being selected.
As you said, if he’s at least selected at all, even in the 5th or 6th round, I’d be willing to spend a rookie pick on him. But as precious as these 2017 picks have become, I’ll be hard pressed to pull the trigger before the end of the 2nd or early 3rd round. And UDFA means I’m out of the Mixon business, sadly.
You think he’ll be invited to the Combine? I’m thinking he won’t. The NFL has made clear its stance on domestic violence. If this ends up being the case, it’ll be on him to wow teams at individual visits and at the OU pro day. He should at least be invited to that, right?? Such a shitty, shitty situation all around.
I agree with much of what you said. As for the Combine, my guess is no. He’s an easy option for the NFL to make an example of since he’s not in the league yet.
I sure hope Sutton declares for the draft! I also am intrigued by him! I currently have him as my 1st choice WR!!
Courtland’s my #4 wide receiver. A tick below JuJu at this point. Of course, none of this will matter until he wises up and declares already! The WR talent in this draft class is not on par with the RB talent, making Sutton’s chances of going early to mid 2nd round all that much better as WR-needy teams go on the clock.
This could be wishful thinking, but it seems like no news could be good news on the Sutton front. If he was confident about returning to SMU, I think he’d have come out and tweeted that he was staying in school. I did selfishly cringe when the SMU head coach decided to stick around, because him leaving could have helped the dynasty communitiy’s cause and given Sutton that extra nudge to leave school.
Either way, there’s not too much more time for him to mull the decision. I’m guilty of checking for Suttton updates on the web more times in a day than I’ll admit. In doing so, I’ve noticed there isn’t a lot of Sutton news out there to be found. So the dude is still a bit under the radar, which won’t last if/when he goes pro and teams see him in action at workouts. WR1 type body and shows it most of the time on film. I’m smitten.
I actually feel the opposite and that if he were declaring he would have done so already so he could start building up his hype. I really think he stays one more year and follows the Corey Davis model where he knows one more year in college can guarantee him as a 1st round pick and make him more money.
As a fan following him all season I actually hope he stays (I am sitting on 1.01 in a devy league), as I think one more year at of college will make him a better pro.
Sutton staying in school…I had that feeling since it took this long…right decision!
Hot off the presses…JuJu just announced on his Twitter that he will NOT be returning to USC.
