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10 Players That Very Few People Are Talking About (1 Viewer)

Anarchy99

Footballguy
I will post them individually so I can provide an appropriate write up. They may not be fantasy game changers, but they should at least be candidates to consider with later round picks.

Jordan Cameron MIA TE

ADP 0 PPR Leagues: TE24, 210th overall
ADP 1 PPR Leagues: TE25, 214th overall

Average FBG Staff Ranking: TE23 (0 PPR), TE24 (1 PPR)
Average FBG Projection: 36-404-4 (average of 4 FBG staff projections)

On the surface, Cameron doesn't really seem to be in position to be all that fantasy relevant. He managed just 35 receptions on 70 targets last year for a paltry 386 yards and 3 TD.
But it was only 2013 when Cameron posted an 80-917-7 season in Cleveland and ranked in the Top 5. Miami's offense has been a mess the past few years, so common sense says things will still be problematic But let's dig a little deeper.

Clyde Christiansen is the new offensive coordinator in Miami. Raise your hand if you knew that. How have his teams' TE done in the past? Glad you asked. As an Assistant Head Coach or Offensive Coordinator in Indianapolis:

TIGHT END PRODUCTION:

2008 IND 109-1090-7
2009 IND 121-1312-10
2010 IND 112-1029-8
2011 IND 65-584-3 (the suck for Luck season)

Don't the Dolphins also have a new head coach? Yes. Yes they do. His name is Adam Gase. And you were wondering how his teams' used their tight ends? That's also a good question.

As the offensive coordinator in Denver:

TIGHT END PRODUCTION:

2012 DEN 98-974-7
2013 DEN 101-1064-14
2014 DEN 63-672-15

As the offensive coordinator in Chicago:

TIGHT END PRODUCTION:

2015 CHI 91-912-8

Ryan Tannehill will never be mistaken for Peyton Manning and the Dolphins receiving corps won't draw comparisons to Reggie Wayne or Demaryius Thomas. The talent level compared to IND or DEN is not the same, that much we can agree on.

But those numbers show something. Those 8 seasons work out to an average of 95-955-9 as annual production from the TE position. Besides Cameron, Miami has Dion Simms and MarQueis Gray (currently injured) at TE. Count me in for considering Cameron 200+ picks into the draft.

 
I might substitute Dwayne Allen over Cameron if you're talking about TEs that few are talking about but could produce nicely.

 
Well, good for you. You will deserve some major daps if Cameron hits.

Shoot, if you had Dion Sims on the list, I would have said, 'Oooh, good one!'

 
Nice post A99. Despite the possible positive situation presented by a change in staff, I am very skeptical that Jordan will have much fantasy relevancy. Frankly, I think he caught lightning in a bottle in 2013. Since that year his production has consistently been around half his 2013 output. He isn't very dynamic so he doesn't command the ball. I would expect a similar output as 2015.

Who else ya got?

 
Cameron has looked terrible lately and it's doubtfully he'll have much trust or leash from Tannehill. 
Yeah, somebody hasn't been paying attention. Horrible TC & PS. That's gonna morph into fantasy relevance...because he was good several years ago. Wat?

 
Pierre Garcon WAS WR

ADP 0 PPR Leagues: WR64, 190th overall
ADP 1 PPR Leagues: WR62, 173rd overall

Average FBG Staff Ranking: WR59 (0 PPR), WR57 (1 PPR)Average FBG Projection: 60-674-4 (average of 4 FBG staff projections)

Garcon is the receiver no one really wants on their fantasy team. He's not going to have a breakout season and crack the Top 10, he's 30 years old, and the Redskins have invested in other receivers.

However, that was the case last year and he still managed to rank as a low end fantasy WR3 (WR 36 in 0 PPR leagues and 31 in 1 PPR leagues). The Redskins opened up the offense down the stretch, averaging 277 passing yards and 2.4 TD over the last 8 games of the season.

Yes, Jordan Reed exploded . . . but he's missed 14 games in 3 years.
DeSean Jackson is still around (and a decent fantasy pick in his own right), but he's played a full season only twice in 8 seasons.
Josh Doctson has been banged up in camp with foot and Achilles injuries.
Jamison Crowder has had knee and hamstring injuries in training camp.
The running back situation is a bit of muddled.

On the surface, it looks like Garcon is slowly getting phased out, but he stilis l the Redskins WR2 on an offense that should have a potent passing attack. He'll never see the 11.4 targets per game like he did a few years ago, but he had 7.4, 6.6, and 6.9 targets per game on average his other 3 years in Washington. He could still see 100 targets.

With other receiving options drawing coverage, Garcon should see single coverage and be able to get open underneath for unexciting dump offs. He won't get 40 yard bombs, but he should get 3-4 catches for 40-50 yards and an occasional TD. I play in 16 and 32 team leagues, and in deeper leagues that is worth a lot.

Again, NOT A DIFFERENCE MAKER at around pick 200, but as a bye week or injury fill in, you could do worse than Garcon. You should get him as a WR5 or 6 and could get WR3 or 4 production. Again, he is not meant to be a high upside pick, he is meant to be a plug and play as an emergency pick. At that point in the draft, a lot of people will want to draft a guy that could go nuts. Clearly Garcon is not your man if that is the case.

 
Recently traded both Garcon (for Riddick) and Cameron (for Ladarius Green.)

Both 12 team dynasty 1.5TEPPR

Nice to see these threads starting to pop up.

 
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Good thread! I took Cameron as a last round flyer in a couple of leagues. Elite athleticism and not too far removed from a TE1 season. Definitely worth a flyer if you overlooked TE. 

 
Nice job...thanks for taking the time....good reading.

Will be back to grade at the halfway point.

And read the TOPIC people...!!!....Jeez.

 
Malcolm Mitchell NEP WR

ADP 0 PPR Leagues: Undrafted
ADP 1 PPR Leagues: Undrafted

Average FBG Staff Ranking: WR82 (0 PPR), WR82 (1 PPR)Average FBG Projection: 18-233-2 (average of 4 FBG staff projections)

There has been a lot of discussion in other threads about what the Patriots offense will look like this year, and the emerging fantasy sleeper has been Chris Hogan. The real fantasy sleeper in the NE offense is Martellius Bennett, but he is being talked about so I will skip over him here.

The Patriots are expected to use a 2 TE set as their base offense this year, with speculation that they will operate out of it 80% of the time. Prior to Mitchell's elbow injury, he was running with the first team offense and was (and still is) slated to be a starting WR opposite of Julian Edelman.

Hogan saw a lot of action in the preseason, but a lot of his production came playing with the second unit. He did have a sweet TD from Brady, further upping the expectations of a Hogan break out. I have seen several sites suggesting Hogan will put up Brandon Lloyd or Brandon LaFell type numbers playing the WR2 role on the outside and working the sidelines. However, Hogan has been working out of the slot essentially all of training camp and in the preseason. Mr. Glass (Danny Amendola) also is projected to work out of the slot, so it looks like Hogan and Amendola will be splitting time. With NE implementing a 2 TE set, unless they go with an empty backfield, that leaves Gonk, Bennett, Edelman, Mitchell, and a back as the receiving options.

Even if Mitchell starts as the NE WR2, I would still temper enthusiasm as to what he could actually see for targets. He still will be behind Edelman, Gronk, Bennett, the receiving RB for targets (and maybe Hogan).

Given that he a the likely starter on a high octane offense, he is worth a flyer given that he is not getting drafted in most leagues. See what happens and drop if if he doesn't pan out. Or pick him up once Brady comes back. I would guess 40 odd receptions for 500+ yards and 5 TD, more if players get hurt (which in recent years has been pretty regular).

Maybe the Pats don't stick to the 2 TE offense. Maybe they play Hogan on the outside. Maybe the talk of Mitchell starting was just a story. Worth a shot though.

 
I thought Garcon retired....with what the sheer lack of interest in the guy. Guy proved that he could be "the man".  It's not inconceivable to think that the stars could align to put him in position to do it again. 

 
Great thread, quality write-ups, Anarchy, thanks! The fact that Cameron has engendered such a negative subjective sentiment yet from a data perspective around TE usage looks objectively interesting is proof positive why he and other players should be talked about more. 

 
I get why Cameron would show up in a thread like this, but his rep is not just from 2013, it's from FOUR GAMES in 2013. He's been thoroughly mediocre since, and injury prone. I appreciate the TE usage stats, but I would rather take a flyer on Sims if I wanted to leverage that info for fantasy.

 
D.J. Foster NEP RB

ADP 0 PPR Leagues: Undrafted
ADP 1 PPR Leagues: Undrafted

Average FBG Staff Ranking: Not ranked (0 PPR), Not ranked (1 PPR)Average FBG Projection: 269 yfs, 11 receptions, 2 TD (average of 3 FBG staff projections)

Sticking with the Patriots, I have been talking up Foster much of the preseason, as he was the Patriots best all around back in camp. From what I saw / read / heard, Patriots defenders said he was very difficult to tackle, shifty, and that they had to take a different angle to tackle him. He was not going down easily in camp and was always falling forward for extra yardage.

Blount is generally a ground and pound guy that can't really catch. White can catch but can't rally run. Lewis (when healthy) can catch but can't really run well inside. Foster can do all of that. He may not be the best at each one, but he is the only one that can fill all the roles.

I have heard interviews and read articles with both BB and McDaniels suggesting that the NE offense has been too easy to read based on the running back in the game. That's one reason why I think Foster will earn a bigger role over time.

For what it's worth, prior to the announcement that Lewis needed more surgery, White was practicing almost exclusively with the receivers and they were working on moving him around as a receiver. He didn't take many snaps as a running RB.

As for Lewis, the story NE has put out there doesn't make sense. Initially, the vibe they put out was that if there were a game that day, Lewis could suit up and play. I actually buy that. But he probably couldn't play much or couldn't play long-term. Then it came out he needed surgery again and that there were things floating in his knee and some scar tissue that needed to be addressed. I also heard that Lewis knew about the situation, the team wanted him to have surgery ASAP, but Lewis insisted on trying to play through it and that didn't work. Thus the second surgery. The problem is, the typical recovery and turnaround for what they said he needed is a few weeks, yet the projected reappearance of Lewis was set at like 8-10 weeks. A return from clean up surgery does not take 8-10 weeks. Something is rotten in the State of Denmark.

Getting back to Foster, it would not shock me at all if Foster leads the Patriots backfield in touches and fantasy points even in Week 1 against the Cardinals. White is poor running the football and just another guy as a receiver out of the backfield. He has ok hands, not a lot of speed, and really has no burst or moves. He did well enough last year when Lewis went down, but that was mostly due to mismatches and creative play calling.

I don't really believe they love Blount all that much. They let him walk and then took him back only to let him walk again. Blount got no takers and came back on the cheap. The team was pretty angry that he was slow in recovering from his injury from last year, months and months after the fact. So much so, that for quite a while he was said to be on the roster bubble.

All I can saw is we'll have to see about Foster, as it's been so long since they had a back get consistent touches or be an every down back that the concept doesn't register. This is the type of situation you can get in on the ground floor by drafting him with your last pick or maybe with an early week waiver wire claim. But if he has a huge week, it will cost an arm and a leg in blind bidding dollars to get him (if you can even get him). The investment cost here is pretty much nothing more than your last roster spot.

Will pick this up again tomorrow . . .

 
I get why Cameron would show up in a thread like this, but his rep is not just from 2013, it's from FOUR GAMES in 2013. He's been thoroughly mediocre since, and injury prone. I appreciate the TE usage stats, but I would rather take a flyer on Sims if I wanted to leverage that info for fantasy.
I don't love Cameron as a player either. But one thing that I forgot to mention is the Dolphins are paying him $6 million this year. They could easily have cut him and saved the actual dollars in addition to freeing up some cap space. They also could have brought in another established TE and they didn't. They invested a 7th round pick on a TE, but he didn't make the roster and he ended up on the practice squad. If they wanted to upgrade at TE, they certainly had the opportunity. Similarly, Cameron is in a great situation to be relevant. Maybe he will pick things up and can hold on to the football better. We'll have to see if the new regime tries to get him involved like they did with TEs in their other environments.

 
Hope Paul Richardson makes the cut in this thread. Upper-half 2nd round talent who averaged 40 yards per catch his 2nd NFL season. I have him rostered in all of my leagues.

 
Blount is generally a ground and pound guy that can't really catch. White can catch but can't rally run. Lewis (when healthy) can catch but can't really run well inside. Foster can do all of that. He may not be the best at each one, but he is the only one that can fill all the roles.
Question - what about Sankey? Thanks.

 
If you simply have watched this guy play....you know.....HOT GARBAGE.

Sims might overtake him really soon.

 
Does Foster have more upside this season than White? I've got White on my last bench spot, but could swap him for Foster. I'm not convinced white will put up any big numbers but will be a consistent producer of a mediocre # of pts until Dion gets back.

 
I like the thoughts on Garcon. Very astute, IMO.  

I can't get on board with Jordan Cameron, however. I think sometimes you just see these guys and you know that it was a perfect mini-storm, never to be repeated. He seems prone to concussions also and other mild ailments.  He IS in a good place to get a boost from Gase but I don't think that is on Gase's priority list.  All in all, I expect a rather mediocre year from Cameron. 

Here's a nomination for the list. JSTEW.  Haven't hear much about him all year and I would expect he could be a big FF factor, yes?

 
I will nominate Travis Benjamin. Here is a WR who has elite speed and played on a horrible team with a horrible QB situation. Now he has Rivers (a highly capable and upper echelon signal caller compared to the dreck throwing him the ball during his short career) tossing him the rock. I expect a surprisingly strong season and he can be had for song in redraft. 

A real late round sleeper capable of giving you some seriously great weeks.

 
Blaine Gabbert QB SFO

ADP 0 PPR Leagues: QB30, 212th overall
ADP 1 PPR Leagues: QB31, 243rd overall

Average FBG Staff Ranking: 27th (0 PPR), 27th (1 PPR)Average FBG Projection: 269.2 fantasy points (average of 4 FBG staff projections)

To preface, not all of us play in 10- and 12-team leagues where you start only one QB, so fantasy relevance will vary based on the league size and starting requirements. That being said, I am not a Gabbert fan, will never be a Gabbert fan, and if he knocked on my door I  might not let him in. But I am forced to announce I am a Gabbert owner this season. And he should stand during the National Anthem.

But did you know Gabbert scored 159.05 fantasy points in his 8 starts last year. Double that, and he would have had 318.1, which would have ranked 15th on the season. That was before Chip Kelly got to town.

The 4 FBG staffers making projections have the Niners running an average of 914 plays on offense this year. San Francisco had 969 plays on offense last year. In his three seasons in Philadelphia with his up tempo scheme, Kelly's teams averaged 1,094 plays on offense. And the Eagles ranked 9th, 6th, and 12th in passing attempts. No doubt that the Eagles, as inept as they were at times, had more talent and could execute better the the current 49ers team. But I suspect that the San Francisco offense will be improved and headed in the right direction this year.

Few people will have the wherewithal to actually draft Gabbert (for fear of the humiliation factor), but he should be a serviceable fantasy backup QB in 12 team leagues and actually a decent starter in start 2 QB leagues. Just don't ask me who is going to catch the football, as someone is going to end up emerging as a decent fantasy option. Plus the Niners should be playing from behind, so SF should be in position to have to pass a fair amount.

 
I was shooting for guys that are really unnoticed. Players like Benjamin (ADP 115) and Stewart (ADP 62) may be getting somewhat overlooked, but they did not fit the profile I was aiming for.

 
From what I recall of Gase talking about Cameron recently, he said they have figured some of the plays that are good for Cameron and which ones are not. He mentions Cameron making a key block on Fosters TD run. From what I have seen the TE are responsible for blocking the backside of a lot of plays or sometimes to lead the RB through the hole. 

He said some positive things about Sims who he says has sneaky speed. The sound of this to me is that both TE will play and share targets. There may be some plays designed more for Cameron and others for Sims based on what they feel they do best and what the defense is doing at the time.

If other WR such as Parker and or Stills miss time due to injury, then maybe this leads to the TE becoming more involved in the passing game, but if the WR are healthy Gase prefers to run 11 personnel more than other groupings.

The offensive line is a work in progress which until resolved means the TE will be asked to help block more often, which if so limits target opportunities.

 
can i play?

Vance Mcdonald TE

In 8 games with Gabbert at the helm last year, McDonald was on pace for 600 yards and 6 TDs.  Now with both Anquan Boldin and Vernon Davis gone, and the talented slot receiver Bruce Ellington out for the year with injury, the middle of the field is wide open and ripe for the taking.  Add Chip Kelly's TE heavy scheme to the equation and Vance McDonald is easily the breakout TE candidate to watch this year.  You can pencil him in for 800 yards and 8 touchdowns, and 1,000 and 10 is not out of reach for the physically imposing fourth year player.

And he is going undrafted in most leagues.
 
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Yeah, somebody hasn't been paying attention. Horrible TC & PS. That's gonna morph into fantasy relevance...because he was good several years ago. Wat?
I'm not buying Cameron either but the information in the OP was very interesting and stranger things have happened. 

 
Before Teddy got hurt, Charles Johnson was on this list for me. He still might be.
I have heard mixed reports about Bradford's deep ball. Some that seem good, some that seem bad. Where Bradford has been particularly bad is on intermediate routes, which is kind of a preference for Norv Turner. If that is not Bradford's bread and butter though, and he is better with the deep ball than the mid range throws, Charles Johnson could still do well with Bradford.

Maybe Shaun Hill surprises me, that would be nice. But I wouldn't expect much from Johnson while he is starting.

 
Great thread "Anarchy99".   When I read the title of the thread--Garçon was one of the first 4 names that came into my mind.  While I don't personally believe in J. Cameron this season--I am also objective enough to see why he would qualify for this list.  In any case--thank you for the time you are taking in doing this--as it's a good read and good information to digest.  

 
D.J. Foster NEP RB

ADP 0 PPR Leagues: Undrafted
ADP 1 PPR Leagues: Undrafted

Average FBG Staff Ranking: Not ranked (0 PPR), Not ranked (1 PPR)Average FBG Projection: 269 yfs, 11 receptions, 2 TD (average of 3 FBG staff projections)

Sticking with the Patriots, I have been talking up Foster much of the preseason, as he was the Patriots best all around back in camp. From what I saw / read / heard, Patriots defenders said he was very difficult to tackle, shifty, and that they had to take a different angle to tackle him. He was not going down easily in camp and was always falling forward for extra yardage.

Blount is generally a ground and pound guy that can't really catch. White can catch but can't rally run. Lewis (when healthy) can catch but can't really run well inside. Foster can do all of that. He may not be the best at each one, but he is the only one that can fill all the roles.

I have heard interviews and read articles with both BB and McDaniels suggesting that the NE offense has been too easy to read based on the running back in the game. That's one reason why I think Foster will earn a bigger role over time.

For what it's worth, prior to the announcement that Lewis needed more surgery, White was practicing almost exclusively with the receivers and they were working on moving him around as a receiver. He didn't take many snaps as a running RB.

As for Lewis, the story NE has put out there doesn't make sense. Initially, the vibe they put out was that if there were a game that day, Lewis could suit up and play. I actually buy that. But he probably couldn't play much or couldn't play long-term. Then it came out he needed surgery again and that there were things floating in his knee and some scar tissue that needed to be addressed. I also heard that Lewis knew about the situation, the team wanted him to have surgery ASAP, but Lewis insisted on trying to play through it and that didn't work. Thus the second surgery. The problem is, the typical recovery and turnaround for what they said he needed is a few weeks, yet the projected reappearance of Lewis was set at like 8-10 weeks. A return from clean up surgery does not take 8-10 weeks. Something is rotten in the State of Denmark.

Getting back to Foster, it would not shock me at all if Foster leads the Patriots backfield in touches and fantasy points even in Week 1 against the Cardinals. White is poor running the football and just another guy as a receiver out of the backfield. He has ok hands, not a lot of speed, and really has no burst or moves. He did well enough last year when Lewis went down, but that was mostly due to mismatches and creative play calling.

I don't really believe they love Blount all that much. They let him walk and then took him back only to let him walk again. Blount got no takers and came back on the cheap. The team was pretty angry that he was slow in recovering from his injury from last year, months and months after the fact. So much so, that for quite a while he was said to be on the roster bubble.

All I can saw is we'll have to see about Foster, as it's been so long since they had a back get consistent touches or be an every down back that the concept doesn't register. This is the type of situation you can get in on the ground floor by drafting him with your last pick or maybe with an early week waiver wire claim. But if he has a huge week, it will cost an arm and a leg in blind bidding dollars to get him (if you can even get him). The investment cost here is pretty much nothing more than your last roster spot.

Will pick this up again tomorrow . . .
Ok Anarchy, you sold me on Foster. I know you're pretty in tuned with the Pats and I have White and Blount on my bench in a PPR. I was holding Lewis but dropped him for Foster. 

 
A guy with a lot of potential this year that is really under the radar is CJ Spiller IMO.  He's a great target for zero RB and more then likely he's probably on your WW right now (with good reason he has failed to live up to his potential for years). Payton has traditionally used multiple backs in his system with one of them featured in the passing game, Sproles and Bush before.  They signed CJ for this but it just didn't work out last year as he was again injured most of the season.  

If he can stay healthy(exception to the norm with him I know) and take over the role they want/signed him for in that offense he has top 10 RB potential in PPR.  

 
Blaine Gabbert QB SFO


The 4 FBG staffers making projections have the Niners running an average of 914 plays on offense this year. San Francisco had 969 plays on offense last year. In his three seasons in Philadelphia with his up tempo scheme, Kelly's teams averaged 1,094 plays on offense. And the Eagles ranked 9th, 6th, and 12th in passing attempts. No doubt that the Eagles, as inept as they were at times, had more talent and could execute better the the current 49ers team. But I suspect that the San Francisco offense will be improved and headed in the right direction this year.
I just said this in the 9ers thread. Something has to happen in this offense, and not all bad. And Gabbert had some zip on the ball IMO, he seemed better than the jailbreak Gabbert from Jax.

 
Another thing about DJ foster that I like. On yahoo he is a wr/rb position. Dropped Steve Smith Sr for him.

 
I'm not buying Cameron either but the information in the OP was very interesting and stranger things have happened. 
Yeah, I was a little trigger happy there. Quality posts by A99 even if you disagree.

re: Vance MacDonald - good call but there is a ton of chatter. Drafted in my non-astute league (20+ years & half of them are just doing it for the camaraderie.)

 
As for Lewis, the story NE has put out there doesn't make sense. Initially, the vibe they put out was that if there were a game that day, Lewis could suit up and play. I actually buy that. But he probably couldn't play much or couldn't play long-term. Then it came out he needed surgery again and that there were things floating in his knee and some scar tissue that needed to be addressed. I also heard that Lewis knew about the situation, the team wanted him to have surgery ASAP, but Lewis insisted on trying to play through it and that didn't work. Thus the second surgery. The problem is, the typical recovery and turnaround for what they said he needed is a few weeks, yet the projected reappearance of Lewis was set at like 8-10 weeks. A return from clean up surgery does not take 8-10 weeks. Something is rotten in the State of Denmark.

Getting back to Foster, it would not shock me at all if Foster leads the Patriots backfield in touches and fantasy points even in Week 1 against the Cardinals. White is poor running the football and just another guy as a receiver out of the backfield. He has ok hands, not a lot of speed, and really has no burst or moves. He did well enough last year when Lewis went down, but that was mostly due to mismatches and creative play calling.

...

All I can saw is we'll have to see about Foster, as it's been so long since they had a back get consistent touches or be an every down back that the concept doesn't register. This is the type of situation you can get in on the ground floor by drafting him with your last pick or maybe with an early week waiver wire claim. But if he has a huge week, it will cost an arm and a leg in blind bidding dollars to get him (if you can even get him). The investment cost here is pretty much nothing more than your last roster spot.
That 4th preseason game was quite a performance, excluding a batted down pass DJF was 9/9 on targets for 110 yards I do believe.

Who knows but my suspicion is maybe he is brought in as a wrinkle and gameplanning surprise when BB chooses, and that will be when Brady returns because he can really take advantage of him. Hopefully if this all comes to fruition it will not be too soon. The thing with BB is he could just activate him just before gameday and you would have no notice, or you can have someone on PS hanging on the back end of your roster which few are willing to do.

 
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Guys gonna make me tear up reading positive vibes on Gabbert..

I been considering butchering my team to get a 2nd startable QB to pair with D. Carr 

Garcon seems out of place, which I guess fits the theme

I know some viewed as a guy to build a team around, just a few Seasons ago..

Think Id rather hear Doctson noise..  But he did miss several months too

 

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