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[Dynasty] 2018 Draft Class (2 Viewers)

Washington junior QB Jake Browning is expected to be shelved for six weeks after recently undergoing right shoulder surgery.
Per the Seattle Times, the injury occurred against Arizona State on Nov. 19. Browning played through it, and Huskies coaches kept the news a secret as they prepared for the College Football Playoff. The throwing-shoulder injury gives some context to Browning's late-season struggles (along with playing a brutal slate down the stretch. Browning had a 202.79 quarterback rating through nine games, better than Russell Wilson’s 2011 NCAA single-season record. His QB rating dropped to 161.82 over the final five games. Browning was sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting after throwing for 3,430 yards and 43 scores.

 
 
Source: Seattle Times 
Jan 18 - 3:21 PM
 
Thanks for starting this Faust!

There is some nice talent that may be eligible next year, including a few red shirt sophomores like Webber and Darnold.

I've got a few one round devy's coming up and have been looking at the following for potential 2018 draft (hate carrying a player for more than a year, but make exceptions)

QB: Darnold, Jackson and Rosen

RB: Guice, Barkley, Chubb, Freeman, Patrick, Jones III, Weber, Scarlett and Michel

WR: Sutton, Cain, Washington, Kirk, St Brown, Westbrook, Lazard, Tate, Callaway, Irwin, and Thompson

TE: Gesicki, Jones and Andrews

I don't love the 2019+ RBs so I will likely stock up on 17's and 18's

 
There is no chance that Lamar Jackson can learn an entire NFL offensive playbook and/or read NFL defenses.

He will be moved to another position at some point at the next level.

 
spider321 said:
There is no chance that Lamar Jackson can learn an entire NFL offensive playbook and/or read NFL defenses.

He will be moved to another position at some point at the next level.
Agreed, will never be an NFL QB.

 
DexterDew said:
Thanks for starting this Faust!

There is some nice talent that may be eligible next year, including a few red shirt sophomores like Webber and Darnold.

I've got a few one round devy's coming up and have been looking at the following for potential 2018 draft (hate carrying a player for more than a year, but make exceptions)

QB: Darnold, Jackson and Rosen

RB: Guice, Barkley, Chubb, Freeman, Patrick, Jones III, Weber, Scarlett and Michel

WR: Sutton, Cain, Washington, Kirk, St Brown, Westbrook, Lazard, Tate, Callaway, Irwin, and Thompson

TE: Gesicki, Jones and Andrews

I don't love the 2019+ RBs so I will likely stock up on 17's and 18's
Guice and Barkley would far and away be my top choices.

 
Good to have a strong looking class following up a strong class, there should be plenty of chances to move 2017 picks and get a bounty of 2018 picks for them.

 
Deebo Samuel and Jauan Jennings are two SEC WRs who are being overlooked. Both guys have 1st Round potential.

 
Not saying we shouldn't factor in age for Ridley, but he just turned 22 at the end of his sophomore season. He'll be a 23 y/o rookie if he leaves after next season, the same as AJ Green was, IIRC

 
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I'm concerned about his age compared to other top prospects... I've never seen a guy 22 years old in his freshman year of college before. 
You made me go look this up as I thought now way but as Jeter just pointed he just turned 22 about a month ago. I had found an article from when he was in high school which said he'd only be able to play in like 3 games that season before hitting 19 years 9 months and Florida state law/policy does not allow you to play high school football past that age.

I love youth, I want all my players to be as young as possible but as Jeter also pointed out AJ Green was similar age and when I looked up Cooper Kupp the other day I came across that Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens were also similar as rookies.

One thing that stood out looking at Kupp, Owens, Green and Ridley and one could argue that due to their age they were heavily ahead of the curve as incoming freshmen, which based on age is easy to understand. But all 4 of those WR's(could not find Jerry's stats) had similar stats the year they entered college football as the year they left or in Ridley's case his only two season. So back in the 80's I might have viewed a Nebraska player as maxed out physically, knowing their weight room prowess at the time. I could easily see someone frame a solid argument that indicates these players maxed out early and we've seen the ceiling and might opt for a higher one. But of course what they did in the NFL blows that theory up.

 
You made me go look this up as I thought now way but as Jeter just pointed he just turned 22 about a month ago. I had found an article from when he was in high school which said he'd only be able to play in like 3 games that season before hitting 19 years 9 months and Florida state law/policy does not allow you to play high school football past that age.

I love youth, I want all my players to be as young as possible but as Jeter also pointed out AJ Green was similar age and when I looked up Cooper Kupp the other day I came across that Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens were also similar as rookies.

One thing that stood out looking at Kupp, Owens, Green and Ridley and one could argue that due to their age they were heavily ahead of the curve as incoming freshmen, which based on age is easy to understand. But all 4 of those WR's(could not find Jerry's stats) had similar stats the year they entered college football as the year they left or in Ridley's case his only two season. So back in the 80's I might have viewed a Nebraska player as maxed out physically, knowing their weight room prowess at the time. I could easily see someone frame a solid argument that indicates these players maxed out early and we've seen the ceiling and might opt for a higher one. But of course what they did in the NFL blows that theory up.
This is a form of confirmation bias though, as you have only looked up a few known greats.  How many other 100's/1000's are there out there that were in the same boat as these guys that had, indeed, been maxed out but aren't included in your analysis? 

 
This is a form of confirmation bias though, as you have only looked up a few known greats.  How many other 100's/1000's are there out there that were in the same boat as these guys that had, indeed, been maxed out but aren't included in your analysis
I hesitate to call it an analysis, more of an observation.

I'm sure you could find a litany of those that were maxed out, probably a lot more than those that did as I would think in general the failure rate is higher than the success rate.

 
Guys, Jon Moore has done some awesome work on the importance of age as we analyze these incoming rookies. I don't have access to the links, but I encourage you to search it out on Rotoviz. 

 
I'm concerned about his age compared to other top prospects... I've never seen a guy 22 years old in his freshman year of college before. 
To put it into fantasy perspective, he is 7 months older than Zeke Elliott and plays a position where players remain in their prime much longer.  By the time Ridley puts on an NFL uniform we're looking at a couple years difference.  I believe, 23 is very young for a WR and I will consider him still younger than most RBs in football years.   

 
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The "problem" I have with older college prospects is that they should dominate at the college level because of their physical maturity relative vs their opponent.

That's why studies like Jon Moore are relevant.

JuJu born 11/22/96. As a 18 year old put up 54-724-5. At 19 89-1454-10. Regressed as a 20 year old a bit 70/914/10

But he more than held his own as an 18 year old Frosh in a Power 5 conference. Dominated as a 19 year old Soph. Put up very good numbers as a Junior, especially after switching QBs

Calvin born 10/24/94. As a 21 year old Frosh 89/1045/7, very good numbers. As a 22 year old Soph 72/769/7. He regressed and/or play calling/or QB play. He will be a 23 year old Junior.

JuJu will always be younger. They both will have 3 seasons of Power 5 college experience, one will be playing in the NFL starting in 2017 the other 2018.

All things being equal, JuJu will have a longer NFL career based solely on age. But in 2018, will JuJu produce more than Calvin has too many variables to answer now.

I excluded Calvin from my list because I am concerned about his age and regression. NFL teams only care about winning and making money. A 23/24 year old WR may be attractive to teams that want to lock up a player for their rookie contract (and are not thinking like us FF players who cherish youth so much).

Right now, I'd rather have JuJu. It won't change after the combine, but may if he falls past the 2nd round in the draft.

Calvin will have to have a very strong Junior year for me to consider him Top 3 WRs next year (and other players falter, get hurt, don't declare, etc).

 
Jordan Villamin is definitely missing and should be mentioned in this class.

Tex

 
Auden Tate, FSU, is my top WR. I expect him to break out this/next season. He's got elite ball skills like Mike Williams, except I think he's better after the catch, and might be a tick faster overall.  He's huge at 6'5" 225 lbs.

 
The New York Daily News printed a column about whether the Jets should tank next season headlined: "Suck For Sam."
The Sam in this case is USC redshirt sophomore QB Sam Darnold, who'll first be eligible for the NFL Draft after next season (2018). The Daily News reports that although some in the Jets' building like North Carolina QB Mitch Trubisky, he isn't expected to last until No. 6. Unless New York talks itself into one of the crop's other signal-callers, it may choose to wait until next year to pull the trigger on a top-notch QB prospect. Next year's QB class, led by Darnold and UCLA’s Josh Rosen, is expected to be more top-heavy than this one. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Darnold threw 31 touchdowns with only nine interceptions in going 9-1 as a starter last year. "Suck for Sam might be worth the gamble," concluded Manish Mehta.

 

Source: New York Daily News 
Feb 10 - 2:15 PM

 
Jets should not have much problem tanking. They are the worst team in the division and are pushing the Browns for worst in the conference. Only one team will get Darnold and they will be a contender within a couple years. The team that does the worst job at fixing their QB issues should end up the best off. If I was Shanahan, I would act like K-Stink is my QB and just lose.

CLE
NYJ
SF
CHI
BUF

 
Pro Football Focus analyst Josh Liskiewitz ranked Penn State junior RB Saquon Barkley as the No. 1 returning player in the Big Ten.
"He boasts the second-highest returning overall grade from 2016 running backs, the second-most yards, the second-most yards after contact and posted more touchdowns and forced missed tackles than any returning back," writes Liskiewitz, who notes that Barkley has caused 146 missed tackles in just two seasons with the Nittany Lions. During the past campaign, the 5-foot-11, 222-pound Barkley rushed for 1,496 yards and 18 touchdowns. He also caught 28 passes for 404 yards and an additional four scores. Barkley has Heisman chops and should be in the running for a trip to New York for those festivities in 2017.

 
 
Source: Pro Football Focus 
Feb 12 - 4:48 PM

 

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