Dynasty Fantasy Football Rookie Sleepers: The UDFAs
Editor’s Note: Ask and you shall receive. We had a request for this article yesterday, so here you go…
The 2020 NFL Draft has come and gone and many rookie drafts are either underway or complete. For deeper leagues, it’s really important to keep an eye on the undrafted free agents and create our watch lists. Many of these UDFAs are sitting on the waiver wire and you may have an extra spot or two. While most of these players will flame out, never get a legitimate chance at success or find themselves buried on a depth chart or on a practice squad, consider this list of stars who went undrafted:
Rod Smith
Priest Holmes
Tony Romo
Wes Welker
Antonio Gates
Phillip Lindsay
Arian Foster
Kurt Warner
While the success rate of the players we’ll talk about today having even a starter-level season in fantasy leagues is less than 10%, it’s important to keep your watch lists active or even roster some of these deep sleepers. After all, nabbing one of these undrafted prospects and actually seeing them hit is one of the most exciting things about dynasty leagues.
I asked Team DLF which undrafted free agents stood out to you post-draft and we had a lot of names flying around. While it’s a fool’s folly to rank the players on this list, it would also be unwise to completely ignore them. Consider this a dynasty watch list of undrafted players. While it’s going to be even more difficult to make an NFL roster this season with limited training camp opportunities out there for these prospects, spending some time to research these players and keeping up-to-date on their progress is certainly a proven strategy for dynasty success. After all, most (if not all) these players are basically free to roster with a late round pick, waiver selection or free agent pickup. To help you out, I’ll add a link to some additional information for each of them.
With that being said, here are the players whose names came up the most when Team DLF was asked about UDFAs:
Artavis Pierce, RB CHI
Pierce landed in Chicago and has a decent chance to make that roster. He was very productive at Oregon State, playing all four years and averaging nearly six yards per carry. He’s never had a big in-season workload, though he did post three 100-yard games last season, including a 141-yard, two touchdown performance against Stanford. David Montgomery is going to have a chance to really establish himself this year, but he hasn’t exactly been a difference maker thus far. You can read a little more about Pierce here and here.
Salvon Ahmed, RB SF
I admittedly have a soft spot for Ahmed as I’ve been a lifelong Husky fan. Still, I’m a realist when it comes to his chances. Ahmed is a very talented runner and stacks up with the best in this class in terms of pure ability. However, he has a really bad habit of waiting too long for plays to develop and looking for the home run play instead of taking what’s given to him. The 49ers are really the perfect spot for him as he could thrive in a scheme like they employ where your decision making is somewhat limited. His 4.62 40 time is a head scratcher and tanked his draft prospects, but rumors are circulating he was dealing with a back injury. When you watch him play, he simply looks a lot faster. You can read more on Ahmed here.
JaMycal Hasty, RB SF
The problem for Ahmed and Hasty is the existence of each other trying to secure one spot at most. Hasty is more of a receiver than Ahmed is, but he’s also small for the position. However, he does have one cut and go ability and we’ve seen what players like that can do in the Shanahan offense. With Matt Breida gone, one of these two running backs could make the team, especially if Jerick McKinnon doesn’t look like his old self. Keep in mind Hasty is an older rookie at 23 as well. Here’s a little more on Hasty.
James Robinson, RB JAX
Robinson is a small school (Illinois State) prospect, but was extremely productive. He finished second in school history with 4,444 rushing yards, 44 rushing touchdowns, and 5,218 all-purpose yards. It’s fair to wonder just how productive he can be moving not one, but two levels up competition-wise, and there are also some questions about his speed and tendency to fumble. However, the Jaguars just don’t have a ton on the running back depth chart and it seems obvious they don’t even really want Leonard Fournette around beyond this season. There’s some real intrigue with Robinson. You can read more on him here and here.
Rico Dowdle, RB DAL
I’m a sucker for undrafted SEC running backs and Dowdle fits the bill. I was personally hoping he would land on a team without a clear featured runner, but that just wasn’t in the cards. If Dowdle hadn’t dealt with a ton of injuries, there’s little doubt he would have been drafted, maybe even early on the third day. With Tony Pollard possibly being used more as a receiver this year, there could be room for a backup running back. If Dowdle is healthy (and that’s a big if), he should have a chance to make the Dallas roster. Learn more or even more about Dowdle.
Darius Anderson DAL
Much like Ahmed and Hasty in San Francisco, one of the challenges for Anderson and Dowdle is the existence of each other. Jet Anderson received a healthy $110,000 in guaranteed money and that alone should put him on the radar. He’s a different player than Dowdle as a more of a home run hitter and much like Ahmed, he plays a lot faster than his timed speed would indicate. There’s a fair bit of intrigue with Anderson and you can learn more about him here.
Kalija Lipscomb, WR KC
Vanderbilt wide receiver Kalija Lipscomb is a very interesting player to have on watch lists. Much like Anderson, he received a big free agent deal ($110,000) in guaranteed money. The Chiefs are said to be very high on Lipscomb and even though they have a stacked depth chart at receiver, it’s no guarantee how long some of those players are going to be around. It’s going to be fun to see what happens if the Chiefs try to sneak him on to their practice squad. If they feel someone else may nab him and they keep him on their roster this year, he’s certainly worth looking into further. After all, Patrick Mahomes isn’t going anywhere soon. You can learn a little more on Lipscomb here.
Jeff Thomas, WR NE
Thomas is getting a lot of buzz lately and that’s really no surprise to anyone who has followed him. He has big-time talent, but major red flags in the behavior and character department. Still, the Pats have one of the weakest depth charts in the league and Thomas has the ability to hit. You can learn more on his story here.
Anthony Gordon, QB SEA
We’ve seen the good and the bad come out of Washington State and Gordon is the latest quarterback to enter the league after putting up gaudy numbers under Mike Leach. While much more of a superflex prospect, Gordon could have a chance to unseat Geno Smith as the backup to Russell Wilson. You can learn more about Gordon here, just don’t expect the next Gardnew Minshew with Wilson in town.
Quartney Davis, WR MIN
With Stefon Diggs in Buffalo, there’s room for receivers in Minnesota. While Justin Jefferson is getting all the attention (and rightfully so), players like fifth rounder KJ Osborn and Davis should also be on the radars for dynasty owners as well. Davis is getting a fair amount of buzz in dynasty circles and has a decent pedigree as he posted five or more receptions in nine of the 11 games he played for Texas A&M last season. There was even a time where some of the talking heads at ESPN thought he could be a first round pick.
Hunter Bryant, TE DET
If you’ve never seen Bryant play, don’t let the undrafted status fool you – he can flat out ball. Unfortunately, the list of those who have seen him play is limited due to him dealing with a host of injuries the past couple of seasons. Still, the talent is there and the Lions are still waiting on TJ Hockenson to really live up to his billing. Here’s more on Bryant.
Thaddeus Moss, TE WAS
He’s nowhere near the talent his Dad was, but he also would have been drafted this season had it not been for an ailing foot. His loss is the Redskins gain as they get a player who could step in and produce a bit faster than others on this list based on the lack of talent in Washington. Moss is deep dart throw, but one with some upside as well. You can learn more about him here.
Lawrence Cager, WR NYJ
Speaking of positional depth charts that don’t have much talent, Cager landed in the perfect spot with the Jets. He’s another player who fell out of the draft because of injury concerns, but he may have as much ability as anyone on the New York roster. It’s very fair to wonder if he can ever really stay healthy and he won’t have much time to prove his worth, but you could do a lot worse when you’re looking at a stash on a deep dynasty roster. You can learn a bit more on the talented and oft-injured Cager here.
Tony Jones, RB NO
This is one of those classic UDFA tales where I like the player but love the spot. Alvin Kamara is in line for a big money contract and Latavius Murray isn’t a long-term answer for the Saints. While he’d have to likely beat out Dwayne Washington for a roster spot, the chance is there and you can see a clear path to production for Jones if he can somehow find a way to break through. Here’s some more on Jones and his chance in New Orleans.
Scottie Phillips, RB HOU
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I love looking at SEC running backs who go undrafted. If you play in that conference, you simply have to have some ability. With David and Duke Johnson forming the 1-2 punch for Houston, there likely isn’t a spot for early production. However, David Johnson is no sure thing at the moment and the depth chart behind those two is wide open. Phillips is one of my favorite sleepers on this list and you can read more on him here.
While none of these players are even close to a sure thing, look no further than Dumb and Dumber.
Ken is on Twitter at DLF_KenK
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