For some of us Fantasy managers, this is the most interesting section of a draft. Check out these 10 players and start figuring how many have already produced at a Round 1 or 2 level and could do it again if things break right. Or how many of these players have the tools and opportunity to produce like the Fantasy elite.
This mix of veteran, young and rookie talent could win lots of Fantasy leagues this fall, including top rookie backs Jonathan Taylor and Cam Akers. They could all be league-winners for some of us if we only make the right picks and get the right kind of luck.
As you get ready for the 2020 Fantasy season, the best place to start is by getting to know the player pool, and the best way to do that is to dive into Heath Cummings' breakdown of our top-100 players for 2020. He'll make the case for and against each player, so that when you get ready to pick, you can make up your own mind.
You can also prepare by subscribing to Fantasy Football Today for non-stop Fantasy football content. Check out our latest episode below where the team discusses their favorite sleepers for 2020.
You can read about No. 51-60 below, and find the rest of the top-100 here:
- No. 1-10 - Christian McCaffrey through Miles Sanders
- No. 11-20 - Travis Kelce through D.J. Moore
- No. 21-30 - Cooper Kupp through Aaron Jones
- No. 31-40 - Melvin Gordon through James Conner
- No. 41-50 - Lamar Jackson through Courtland Sutton
- No. 61-70 - Devin Singletary through Hunter Henry
- No. 71-80 - Michael Gallup through Tarik Cohen
- No. 81-90 - Deebo Samuel through Jordan Howard
- No. 91-100 - CeeDee Lamb through Tevin Coleman
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The Case For: No matter what role the Vikings asked Stefon Diggs to play, he excelled at it. Last year, that role was as the team's biggest downfield threat and Diggs responded with an absurd 12.0 yards per target. He won't sustain that in Buffalo, but Diggs can handle a little regression because his new team doesn't have another No. 1 receiver like Adam Thielen on it. Diggs should get a higher share of the targets in Buffalo than ever before, and finish as a solid No. 2 receiver with top-12 upside if Josh Allen takes a leap.
The Case Against: Allen needs to improve a lot. Last year he was one of the least accurate deep ball passers in the league, while Kirk Cousins was one of the most accurate. You should expect Diggs to be less efficient, and this is a team that is still going to be run-heavy. And don't expect John Brown and Cole Beasley to just disappear from the equation either.
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The Case For: It was evident as soon as Week 1 that D.J. Chark's second season would not be like his first. He caught four passes for 146 yards and a touchdown in Week 1 and didn't slow down until an injury tripped him up late in the season. Before that injury, he put up 67-956-8 in 13 games as the team's clear No. 1 receiver. He has great rapport with Gardner Minshew and the Jaguars are in the middle of a rebuild, so the volume should most certainly be there. Chark has top-12 upside every week and for the 2020 season.
The Case Against: In his last five games, Chark had just one game over 47 yards. While that may have been injury related, it may have also been that opposing defenses finally gave him the respect he earned. There's a lot we still don't know about Minshew's upside, and Laviska Shenault and Tyler Eifert will come for a piece of that target share.
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The Case For: Much like Le'Veon Bell, Fournette is almost certain to see some positive regression in a few areas in 2020, especially after he scored just three touchdowns on 341 touches in 2019. In the two years prior, he'd averaged a score every 29 touches. If he'd done that last year, he would have finished as a top-five back, just ahead of Derrick Henry. I don't think he'd be available in the fourth round if that had been the case.
The Case Against: The Jaguars added Jay Gruden as their offensive coordinator and Chris Thompson as their pass-catching back, so that takes away some of the passing work he grew into in 2019. They also reportedly tried to trade Fournette during the NFL draft. Plus, they drafted Laviska Shenault, who is supposed to see some snaps at running back as well. Fournette's upside is limited by the increased competition and if the Jaguars give up on him, the floor could be rock-bottom.
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The Case For: Carlos Hyde was a top-30 running back in this offense last year, and he only caught 10 passes. David Johnson may not be the same player he once was, but it's hard to believe he's worse than Hyde. With DeAndre Hopkins gone, there is a chance for the Texans to restructure their target priorities, and that could lead to more opportunities for Johnson in the passing game than we've seen from Texans backs in recent years.
The Case Against: Johnson hasn't averaged better than 3.7 yards per carry in a season since 2016. By most measurements, he has been even worse than Hyde as a runner. The one place he has excelled is in the passing game, but the Texans have not exactly peppered their running backs with targets. Plus, they still have Duke Johnson, a very good pass catcher himself. For Johnson to find success this season he'll need to stay healthy, turn back the clock three years and hope the Texans either change their offense or get rid of Duke Johnson.
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The Case For: Four and a half years into his NFL career, DeVante Parker finally had his breakout. In his final nine games, Parker averaged 95 yards per game and only had two games with fewer than 15 PPR Fantasy points. We don't know whether he'll catch passes from Ryan Fitzpatrick or Tua Tagovailoa, but both quarterbacks provide Parker with top-10 upside.
The Case Against: Almost all of Parker's breakout happened after Preston Williams tore his ACL. In the first nine weeks of the season, Williams had more targets, catches, and yards than Parker. And Williams is expected to be ready for the start of the 2020 season. It's generally a bad idea to bet on a fifth-year breakout maintaining that production. It's far more likely we just saw Parker's career-year than the beginning of something special.
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The Case For: Taylor could be a generational prospect as a running back. He ran for 6,174 yards and 50 touchdowns in three years at Wisconsin, then ran a 4.39 40-yard dash at 226 pounds at the combine. He is a vicious runner between the tackles and possesses the speed to run away from defensive backs. Marlon Mack and Nyheim Hines aren't going to stand in his way for long.
The Case Against: Taylor isn't flawless. He fumbled too much in college, is inexperienced as a pass catcher and needs to improve as a pass blocker. He's virtually guaranteed to begin the season as part of a three-headed committee with Mack and Hines. It seems unlikely he'll take much passing downs work away from Hines and he'll have to earn red zone work ahead of Mack. With an abbreviated offseason, you shouldn't expect much the first month of the season. You'd be better off trading for Taylor in October than drafting him in August.
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The Case For: Despite sharing with Tarik Cohen (as well as Mike Davis and Cordarrelle Patterson early in the year), Montgomery finished his rookie year as a top-24 running back. Three times in the first six weeks, Montgomery saw a snap share below 50%. But starting in Week 8 he was on the field more consistently and averaged 75 yards per game. It's hard to imagine the Bears offense being worse than it was in 2019, and Montgomery has sneaky upside if the offensive line performs better. Montgomery was on pace for 296 touches in his final 10 games of 2019.
The Case Against: Cohen puts a serious cap on Montgomery's production. It's really difficult for a two-down back on a bad offense to be much more than a low-end No. 2 running back. It's also really hard to imagine the Bears seeing much improvement on offense when their biggest acquisitions were Nick Foles and Jimmy Graham.
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The Case For: Ingram turned 30 last year, but you'd have never known it watching him average five yards per carry and score a career-high 15 touchdowns. The fact is, Lamar Jackson and Greg Roman made things pretty easy for Ingram. Great play design and Jackson's ability to run or pass creates a situation where an Ingram carry is often the least of a defense's worries. He should once again be one of the most efficient runners in the league and could even see a small increase in touches if the Ravens play more competitive games.
The Case Against: Just because a running back beats back Father Time for one year doesn't mean he's not going to lose the battle eventually. And the Ravens know that, which is why they added JK Dobbins in the NFL Draft. Dobbins is a better talent than Gus Edwards and Justice Hill and could wrest significant touches away from Ingram. But even if Ingram gets the 228 touches he saw in 2019, he has no chance of matching his absurd touchdown rate. It's possible Ingram could lose up to half of his touchdowns from the year before. That makes him a low-end No. 2 at best.
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The Case For: Boyd has topped 1,000 yards two years in a row and now he gets a quarterback upgrade in the form of Joe Burrow. With A.J. Green back, Boyd's efficiency should rebound, and the Bengals defense still isn't good enough for them to be anything other than a pass-heavy offense. He's a top-25 receiver you can find well after the first 25 receivers have been drafted.
The Case Against: Burrow could be an upgrade over Andy Dalton at some point in his career, but it's not fair to expect that in his rookie season. And things are very crowded in Cincinnati with Green, Boyd, Tee Higgins, and John Ross. And, as far as efficiency goes, Boyd's 9.5 yards per target in 2018 looks like a clear outlier; he's been at 7.5 yards per target or worse every year otherwise. If he gets 120 targets that would put him 100 yards shy of 1,000 at his career Y/T. Boyd is best viewed as a low-end No.3 receiver.
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The Case For: Todd Gurley was a top-15 back in this offense in 2019 in spite of the fact he wasn't particularly good. All Cam Akers has to do is beat out Malcolm Brown and Darrell Henderson to find himself in that same role. Akers had somewhat limited success at Florida State, but he was also working behind a patchwork offensive line on a team that just wasn't very good. Akers is more talented than his competition in Los Angeles and should eventually become the No. 1 back for the Rams.
The Case Against: Henderson couldn't beat out Brown as the No. 2 back with a full offseason of work, so I'm not sure it's fair to expect Akers to win the job with no rookie camp or OTAs. While I would expect his role to grow as the season goes on, I'm not sure this is such a great job to have. The Rams have problems with their offensive line and they stopped throwing to their backs in 2019. Gurley's success was almost all in the red zone and it may take a few weeks before Akers earns that role. You should not go into Week 1 planning on starting Akers.
So what Fantasy football sleepers should you snatch in your draft? And which WR1 candidate can you wait on until late? Visit SportsLine now to get Fantasy Football cheat sheets from the model that was all over Derrick Henry's huge season, and find out.
