Late-Round Rookie Targets
Each year, as rookie draft season rolls around, fantasy owners scramble to find out who they should be taking with their top picks in their coming rookie drafts. It’s crucial to hit on those picks, but people tend to overlook the later rounds. Hitting on late-round picks can help your teams immensely.
In fairness, the odds are stacked against any of the late-round picks to ever become reliable fantasy producers even as bye-week fill-ins. I’ll look at a few players with an ADP after the third round who might get an opportunity to become useful fantasy players in the future.
Quintez Cephus, WR DET
Current ADP: 39.8
Selected by the Lions with the 21st pick of the fifth round, Cephus is an intriguing dynasty option. DLF has a small video library that can help get you acquainted with Cephus if you don’t know much about him.
Cephus is currently buried on the depth chart; however, once he signs his rookie contract, he’ll be the only receiver on the team under contract for 2021. That’s right, every other Detroit receiver – ten of them – have contracts that will expire at the end of this season. Even if he is terrible, through attrition alone, it looks like he’ll have an increased role in 2021.
Not speedy or quick, but strong and explosive, he has an amazing opportunity as a role player if he can impress the coaches and build even the slightest rapport with Matthew Stafford.
Jacob Eason, QB IND
Current ADP: 46.8
Much like Cephus, Eason is in a great spot thanks to the contracts above him. Philip Rivers, Jacoby Brissett, and Chad Kelly will all see their deals expire at the conclusion of the 2020 season. If Eason can pick up the system and head coach Frank Reich likes what he sees, it’s possible that Eason is handed the reins in 2021 if Rivers decides to retire.
As one of the top quarterbacks in the nation coming out of high school prior to quarterbacking Georgia and Washington in college, there is plenty of tape on Eason. In leagues where I have aging quarterbacks, I’m absolutely burning a pick on Eason over other players going in the same range. Indy is a perfect landing spot where Eason can get coached up and developed for a year or two and has a chance to become the next name in a long line of Colts’ great quarterbacks.
James Proche, WR BAL
Current ADP: 47.7
Man, do I love me some James Proche. With arguably the best hands in the class, Proche has top-notch body control and was productive in college, with an NCAA-leading 111 receptions for 1,225 yards last year to go along with an NCAA fourth-best 15 scores.
Will he ever be a low-end WR1 for fantasy? No. But, at the end of round four, you could do a lot worse than a trusty possession receiver on an offense being led by Lamar Jackson. Proche’s special teams prowess should also assure he’s dressed on Sundays, as he is likely to be the Ravens’ punt returner to start the season.
Raymond Calais, RB TB
Current ADP: 48.7, but often undrafted
I’ll be honest, I hate Ronald Jones, so any running back landing in Tampa Bay gets me intrigued. Ke’Shawn Vaughn is getting all the attention early in drafts, but don’t overlook Raymond Calais (pronounced Cah-Lay) is worth a dart-throw as your rookie draft is wrapping up.
It’s hard to trust coach-speak, especially from Bruce Arians, but Arians called Calais a smaller but faster version of David Johnson, and per joebucsfan.com said: “I wouldn’t say he’s Tarik Cohen but he’s kind of that style guy, that, you know, joystick type guy. He can go out and play wide receiver and would be a mismatch”.
It sounds like they have plans to get him a few manufactured touches aside from his kick returning duties, so he has some potential in PPR leagues.
Jason Huntley, RB DET
Current ADP: 48.7, but often undrafted
Similar to Calais, Huntley was a later-round receiving back drafted by a team that also spent earlier draft capital at the position. Huntley has been compared to Phillip Lindsay, and although he’s got a tougher road ahead of him for fantasy relevancy than Lindsay did, Huntley could play his way into a more prominent role with the team like we saw Lindsay do in Denver.
He had 126 receptions over his last three seasons in college and was also a kick returner, so he will likely see the field in some capacity early into his career. With a similar ADP as Calais, I probably prefer Huntley as of this writing.
Joe Reed, WR LAC
Current ADP: 48.7, but often undrafted
I’m not sure why Reed isn’t getting more love in fantasy circles. He’s showed up at the combine with good measurables and landed in a decent spot with the Chargers. Unintentionally, he’s my third special-teamer in a row here, but his special teams prowess should keep him in uniform on Sundays.
More importantly, Reed is already penciled in as the Chargers’ WR3 behind Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. I’m not sure what a Tyrod Taylor/Justin Herbert-led offense will look like, but Reed is going to be their third option on the outside.
In case you were unaware, Allen and Williams have not been models of clean health during their careers. One untimely hit, rolled ankle, or sprained shoulder, and before you know it, Reed is getting a starter’s snap count- and he’s FREE!
Few things in fantasy football feel better than successfully navigating the tail-end of your drafts and possibly getting a starter out of the late rounds. Whether you use that player in your lineup for years to come, or flip them ASAP for an earlier round pick in the next year or two, it’s a massive win for you as a dynasty owner.
All of the above players can be had in the fourth round or later, and I’ve personally grabbed three of them off of waivers after my rookie drafts ended. If any of them fall to you in drafts, and you don’t love anyone still on the board, the players on this list present more upside than many of the others you can choose between. Good luck this season, hopefully, someone above can lead you to a fantasy championship.
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