Interestingly we’re about 30 games into the baseball season and I heard people talking about their fantasy football draft. Now I also got my invite to renew our two leagues already. I think this is the earliest I’ve ever received a notice to renew our leagues. Of course this got me thinking. Who could be the impact rookies to look for in this years draft. Now we still have to get through training camp and of course the wonderful pre-season games, but let’s have some fun and rank the rookies who could have a big fantasy impact this coming season.
While there are a few players you could put at the top of this list I think I’m going with Christian McCaffery of the Carolina Panthers. Carolina used the 8th pick in the draft to select McCaffery; so you have to think he’ll be a big part of their offense. McCaffery should not only get carries he should also be a big factor in the passing game. Leonard Fournette of the Jacksonville Jaquars should also get enough carries to have some fantasy impact. Fournette should be the #1 running back right fro the start of training camo and as long as he gets the carries he’ll be a positive fantasy player. I seem to be running back heavy at the top here, but I also like Dalvin Cook of the Minnesota Vikings. Minnesota doesn’t have a #1 running back; so Cook should be able to step right in and fill that role. Cook could be a good fantasy player this season. It looks like wide receiver Mike Williams landed in the right spot with the Los Angeles Chargers. Keenan Allen just can’t seem to stay healthy and Phillip Rivers like to go downfield; so Williams has a chance to be the top fantasy receiver. The Cincinnati Bengals need someone to help A.J. Green; so with the 9th pick the Bengals selected John Ross. Ross was the guy at the combined with the lighting fast 40 time and should be able to run some of the coverage off for Green. Don’t be surprised if Samaje Perine wins the job as the Washington Redskins #1 running back in training camp. Washington doesn’t have a top back and if he’s given a chance Perine could take that job. O.J. Howard has a chance to get a lot of targets around the goal line and that could really help his fantasy numbers. If Howard can work well with Jameis Winston will be the key to his fantasy success. David Njoku is another tight end who has a shot at putting up some good fantasy numbers. Of course he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns, but pretty much as soon as they selected him they cut their starting tight end. Njoku is young and might need a little time to learn at the NFL level, but if he gets it quick there could be some fantasy positives there. Juju Smith-Schuster is another wide receiver who went to a good spot. Obviously Antonio Brown is the clear #1 receiver on the Pittsburgh Steelers, but there’s no true #2. While there are getting Martavis Bryant back from suspension he’s just one violation away from a lifetime ban. Plus Bryant is purely a deep threat; so there’s room for another underneath receiver. This could be a good spot for Smith-Schuster to fit in. I’m going to round out the Top 10 with Tennessee Titans wide receiver Corey Davis. Marcus Mariota needs a true #1 receiver and Davis could be that player. Davis was considered the best route runner in the draft and if he can get a good working relationship with Mariota there could be some fantasy positives there.
There’s 10 rookies for you to start looking at and I’m sure there are some that you like that I didn’t mention. Feel free to leave your favorite rookie headed in this fantasy season in the comments and as this list expands I’ll take a look at them.
On Sunday afternoon the Nashville Predators beat the St. Louis Blues 3-1 to in that series 4 games to 2 and advance to the Western Conference finals for the first time in team history. Then last night the Ottawa Senators beat the New York Rangers 4-2 to win that series 4 games to 2 to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. Tonight the Predators and the Senators will find out who they’ll be facing in the Conference Finals as we have two Game 7’s on the schedule. Now the marquee match up this round has been the Pittsburgh Penguins against the Washington Capitals and it just seems right that it should take seven games to decide who wins it. Of course the series didn’t look like it would be going seven games when the Penguins won the first two games and three of the first four games in this series. Washington has responded with back to back wins in Game 5 and Game 6 to get us to this point. Can the Capitals make it three wins in a row to take the series or will Pittsburgh find a way to get a win on the road to advance to the Conference Finals and continue to defend the Stanley Cup. The other Game 7 tonight features the Edmonton Oilers at the Anaheim Ducks. Edmonton jumped out and took the first two games of this series before Anaheim came back and won three straight games. The Oilers where able to hold off elimination with a big 7-1 win in Game 6. There has been a lot of offense in this series as the teams have combined to score 42 goals in six games. Can Edmonton put up another 7 goals and advance or will it be the Ducks who put the puck in the net enough to advance to the Conference Finals.
On a side note: at the start of the season Dan the Man picked Washington to win the Stanley Cup while my choice was Anaheim. It looks like we’re going to need big Game 7 wins out of our picks to continue in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
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