X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Value Picks
Compare Any Players
News and Alerts

Fantasy Football Draft Strategy Advice - Live Q&A Recap with Zach Wilkins (8/27)

Live Fantasy Football Draft Prep Q&A

RotoBaller writer and lead NFL columnist Zach Wilkins (@LopsidedTrades) answers all of your fantasy football questions every Thursday night through the NFL preseason, and all through the fantasy football season.

Zach has been studying tape all summer to prepare for the NFL season and help you win your fantasy leagues! Last night he held a live Q&A advice session to answer your fantasy football draft prep, sleepers, rankings dynasty, rookie and draft strategy questions. Below is the recap of the Q&A from 8/27.

Come join in on the fun every Thursday night and get your fantasy football draft strategy questions answered. If you want your own chat username, register here!

Be sure to check all of our dynasty fantasy football resources for 2025:

 

Draft Prep & Advice – August 27th Q&A Transcript

Don’t forget you can always head over to our fantasy football chatroom, anytime, and for a “free for all” banter about fantasy football. Enjoy RotoBallers!
 

Hey guys we'll get this started in just a few minutes so get those questions rolling in!

Alright, what's up everyone? Lets talk about your drafts, the preseason and anything else football related!

just traded Brandin Cooks / Victor Cruz/ C.J. Spiller for Rob Gronkowski, Todd Gurley, Malcolm Floyd. Non Keeper, standard, non-ppr with return yrds counted. Did I get a bad deal?

Gronk is the best player in that deal, so that's a good start. I like Gurley and I believe he can be a special talent. In non PPR I'll probably take him over Spiller even though he might not start for the first few weeks. It's not a steal but I think its a good deal. Unless its a very deep league Floyd probably isn't worth rostering

unless you meaen Michael Floyd, in which case even better

dynasty keeper 2nd year of 3 for these two, lamar miller for $13 or justin forsett for $22?

Those two are about neck and neck in my rankings so I'll take Miller

nope i meant malcolm floyd but i dropped him today for markus wheaton

nice that is a very good move!

Keeper question? Which one player should I keep. Lamar Miller for an 11th rd pick, C.J. Anderson for 10th rd pick, or DeAndre Hopkins for 14th round pick?

All very good options, I would go with CJ Anderson. He

He's a borderline 1st round pick and I like that they just signed Evan Mathis

was worried about the Broncos offensive line before that. Feel much better now

bryan possibly out 4 games, right?

Yup! In case anyone missed it Martavis Bryant is facing a 4-game suspension. I just saw a tweet from Ian Rappoport saying it is for multiple failed marijuana tests so it looks pretty likely. Wheaton is definitely worth owning in all leagues but Bryant is most likely the #2 when he comes back

Concern regarding RBBC potential with Ronnie Hillman and Montee Ball? Compared to a guy like Hopkins who is the only horse in town?

Its a definite concern but the Texans offense is also going to be very bad (until Arian Foster comes back late September or even later). He'll get tons of targets but not sure how efficient the offense will be. Obviously the Broncos offense is excellent. I think CJ Anderson holds off the competition and gets plenty of touchdowns to make it worthwhile. Also you have to consider RB vs WR scarcity. soooo many good WRs this year in the middle rounds

14 team league, how good is Brandon Coleman on the Saints - late pick?

@MoneyBall, great question, there has been a lot of buzz around Coleman. He's a big dude and looks like he could be a great red zone target for the Saints. My problem is he still has zero NFL catches and zero catches through two regular season games. Its hard for me to really get behind that until he at least shows something. Still in a 14 team league he is a good flier if he falls to one of the last couple rounds. I wouldnt go earlier than that

I wrote about Coleman and several others in my Preseason Week 2 stock up/down article: http://www.rotoballer.com/stock-rising-falling-2015-fantasy-football-preseason-week-2/273534

16 team standard league with 2 flex spots. Which of these players should I keep(already keeping gronk) I can keep all six if I wanted: tony romo, lamar miller, chris ivory, brandon marshall, allen robinson, charles robinson

With keeper questions, its important to know: Is there a cost to keeping these players? (like you lose your first six picks or whatever or you lose the round you drafted them in) without knowing that its hard to say. But if there is no cost I don't see why you wouldn't.

yeah each one for each round

the less i keep the earlier i pick

gotcha. Alright in that case Lamar Miller is definitely a keeper. Thats 2 rounds, everyone else is iffy. I'd consider Ivory and Marshall but in the third round thats a little early even with keepers.

should i trade deandre hopkins and travis kelce for a.j. green

Thats surprisingly tough for me. I really like Green, he's my WR7 and the last of my elite tier of WRs. Hopkins is a step down but I really like Kelce as well. I think I'd have to hold. Green is my 16th ranked player overall and Hopkins is 30th. Kelce is a bit too much to cover the gap but it is very close.

my roster is odell beckham jr, Adrian Peterson, Jeremy hill, lamar miller, bench: chris ivory, ameer abdullah, jarvis landry and nelson agholor

yea im thinking of holding

That's looking like a pretty solid team. Great WRs and RBs I wouldn't give up a potentially special TE to upgrade at WR

yea and then i have matt ryan as my qb. I picked up teddy bridgewater and matthew bradford so i have 3 qbs. Between Teddy, bradford and carson palmer which one do you think has the best numbers this year?

I generally roster 2 quarterbacks at most. especially if I have a solid starter like Ryan. For me it goes Bradford > Palmer > Teddy. Bradford is in the highest volume offense with very good receivers. With consistent Matt Ryan already around I would want the most upside in my backup and that would be Bradford. The risk with him is injury and that's not a big deal with Ryan there.

zach im doing a 2pt ppr 12 team draft in a week, don't know my draft position, should i do early pick top rb late pick top wr? what should i do respectively in round 2? thanks,

Great, let's talk some draft strategy. For me the most important aspect of the early rounds is value value value! I really don't like to plan for taking one specific position. Whoever 'falls' to me at my draft slot is who I will take.

That said, if I am picking in the 1st half of round 1, that almost always means a running back, especially because I have DeMarco Murray in my top six and not many others do. But don't feel forced to grab a WR in round two just because you got a RB in the first.

oh wait, haha sorry I didn't see that it was TWO point ppr. That definitely changes things

Like you could make a case for Antonio Brown #1 overall and Randall Cobb extra early.

but everything else I said remains true. Huge emphasis on RBs that can catch obviously like Matt Forte, Jamaal Charles, Justin Forsett etc.

yeah ive been doing mocks where i ignore rbs completely

unless a forsett falls to me in the 3rd

Forsett would be a huge steal in the 3rd in that format. Look at a guy like Spiller in the 4th-5th as well

My league is 2QB with 6pt passing TD. Typically 7/10 of the first picks end up being QBs. Who, besides Andrew Luck and Aaron Rodgers would you look at with the extra passing TD points as a 1st round pick?

Honestly, I don't let 6 point passing Tds change my valuation of QBs very much if at all. in 2QB, Rodgers, Luck, Russell Wilson and Peyton Manning are all potential first rounders in 2QB I'd probably go top RB/WR outside of that and settle for the next tier of QBs otherwise

speaking of forsett, joe flacco recently said he's not sure if dennis pitta will play this year, i think that helps forsett's value in terms of reception opportunities

Yeah I'm not counting on Pitta for anything this year. if he plays, its great for the offense but with the drafting of Maxx Williams and everything I've read it seems questionable at best. In the Marc Trestman offense 50-60 receptions seems just about a lock with 70+ possible. This is the same guy that got Forte a record breaking 102 receptions last year of course.

WR Question. What do you think of dropping Roddy White for Markus Wheaton>

I'm not big on Roddy but I wouldn't do that. Wheaton is only a guaranteed starter for 4 games. It may be more, but he also had plenty of opportunities last year and didn't do much.

have my draft in 2 hours

I have 7th pick in a 3wr /flex .5 ppr league. If marshawn lynch isnt open should i reach on forte or grab a wr?

at the 7th pick I would grab Antonio Brown if he's there but otherwise I'm fine taking Forte or Demarco Murray

But pittsburgh did run 60% 3 WR sets, and they've said wheaton > bryant

Yeah Wheaton will likely be the WR2 on the depth chart but not for fantasy purposes. Look at Philadelphia last year for example, Riley Cooper was a 16 game starter but Jordan Matthews still blew by him in terms of fantasy relevance.

12-tm PPR, drafting 3rd overall. Am I crazy to take Antonio Brown with my first pick, and snag Forsett, LeSean McCoy, or Miller with my 2nd or 3rd?

Not crazy at all. I've heard some fantasy analysts argue for Brown #1 overall in PPR. I'd still go with one of Lacy/Charles/ Le'Veon Bell but you can easily make a case for Brown at #3

Do you think it's better to have Brown/Alshon Jeffery/LMiller or Charles/Jeffery/Matthews?

Oh...and Jeffery or Mike Evans??

While I love Evans, I'll definitely take Jeffery over him. I really like both of those scenarios but I think slight edge to Brown/Jeffery/Miller

thoughts on gurley? you like him for later in the year and fantasy playoffs?

Yeah I really do believe Gurley is a special talent and obviously the Rams do too if they took him 10th overall. It may take him a while to really get going coming off a major injury but I do expect him to make a big impact at some point this year. Probably about week 6 or so is where I would expect him to start looking really good

Zach with martavis out 4 games with the Susp can I expect an increase amount of targets for brown?

Maybe a tiny bit but Brown was already the heart of the offense and the most targeted receiver. He really doesn't have anywhere to go haha

but you can be assured he will get a LOT of targets

Thoughts on the probability of Vernon Davis regaining the chemistry he had with Colin Kaepernick before last year

?

I think its very possible Vernon Davis rebounds. He was dropped in my dynasty league with 26 player rosters and I immediately grabbed him up just in case that does happen. Davis was a top 5 TE in 2013 and he's 31 so he isn't totally ancient. Not a bad late round TE at all

20:51MikeF

Thoughts on Frank Gore in a PPR (vs guys like Miller, Latavius Murray, McCoy)?

Gore is obviously in an amazing offense that also saw Ahmad Bradshaw get a ridiculous number of rec touchdowns last year but he is clearly below Miller and McCoy for me. He's caught just 20+ passes once in the last 4 years and even in the Colts offense I'm not expecting a huge rebound as a receiver, thus limiting his PPR value

I'll be wrapping this up at 9 PM Eastern so just a few more questions for tonight, but next week I'll be back probably Wednesday night!

Zach what's your take on shane Vereen in Ppr?

Shane

I haven't been finding myself taking Vereen in any mocks. He's an interesting player but he's never had more than 840 yards from scrimmage in a season and averaged just 52 yards a game last year with the Patriots. I'd be surprised if that went up with the Giants.

He WAS still pretty valuable in PPR but his current price is just a bit too high for me.

thoughts on the browns rb battle? who comes out on top? and does the winner present good value running behind that formidable o-line?

Great question. last year Mike Pettine and the Browns were extremely frustrating when it came to knowing who was going to be getting the bulk of the carries in any given week and I worry that may happen again this year. I lean towards Isaiah Crowell as the starter though. If the Browns stick with one guy I think he can be a good value at his current ADP but Im doubtful. I like Duke Johnson too but I'm not buying Terrance West at all.

20:58MikeF

Hopkins or Matthews (PPR)?

I love Matthews but in PPR I give the slight edge to Hopkins. He might be one of the top five most targeted receivers this year. Andre Johnson was last year I believe, even despite Hopkins presence. For at least the first 3-4 weeks this offense will pretty much run entirely through short passes to Hopkins. He'll be a great PPR play

21:00MikeF

Thanks so much for your time!

Thanks guys, this was a lot of fun! The plan is for these to run 8 PM every Wednesday for the rest of the season.

but for now my hour is up. If you still have some questions (and I do see a couple rolling in) tweet me @LopsidedTrades link for the lazy: https://twitter.com/LopsidedTrades

I'm always more than happy to respond there! just have to keep it to 140 characters or less haha

 

 

NFL & Fantasy Football Chat Room

[iflychat_embed id="c-0" hide_user_list="yes" hide_popup_chat="no" height="400px"]

 

 




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Value Picks
Compare Any Players
News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Cody Brundage

Defeated After Accidental Clash Of Heads
Cody Brundage

Mansur Abdul-Malik Defeats Cody Brundage By Technical Decision
Oumar Sy

Suffers His First Loss
Alonzo Menifield

Scores Upset Win
Alex Bowman

Delivers Bravura Performance After Michigan Injury
Tyler Reddick

Inexplicably Mediocre on His Once-Best Track Type
John Hunter Nemechek

Canny Strategy Gives John Hunter Nemechek Best Career Road Course Finish
Cole Custer

Earns Best Finish Since Cup Series Comeback at Mexico City
Grant Holmes

Punches Out 15 in Loss
Elly De La Cruz

Goes Yard in Fourth Straight Game
Will Vest

Dealing With Finger Injury
Jackson Merrill

Placed on Seven-Day Concussion Injured List
J.J. McCarthy

Looking "a Lot Stronger"
Shohei Ohtani

Will Be Dodgers' Starting Pitcher Monday
Roki Sasaki

Shut Down From Throwing
Garrett Wilson

Receives New Contract Offer
Jordan Hicks

Headed to Boston
Kyle Harrison

Traded to Red Sox
Travis Kelce

Slims Down During the Offseason
Trey Hendrickson

Bengals Restart Contract Discussions
Brady House

Nationals Promoting Brady House to Major Leagues
Rafael Devers

Traded to San Francisco
Logan Gilbert

to Start on Monday
Jayden Higgins

Impresses During Minicamp
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

on the Move to Memphis
Cole Anthony

Dealt to the Grizzlies
Seattle Seahawks

DeMarcus Lawrence Making an Impression With his New Team
Isaiah Simmons

Being Used Exclusively as a Linebacker
Tyler Mahle

Placed on 15-Day Injured List
Travis Etienne Jr.

the Jaguars Lead Back?
Luis Robert Jr.

Scratched with Thumb Soreness
Desmond Bane

Traded to Orlando
Byron Buxton

Scratched from Sunday's Lineup
Daniel Jones

the Favorite in Colts QB Competition?
Brendan Donovan

Returns to the Lineup
Steven Adams

Rockets Agree to Three-Year Contract Extension
Royce Lewis

Hits 10-Day Injured List
Ty Dillon

Is a Respectable Cap Flexiblity-Focused DFS Option For Mexico City
Corey Perry

Produces 10th Postseason Goal
Connor McDavid

Scores First Finals Goal
John Hunter Nemechek

Is John Hunter Nemechek Worth Rostering In Mexico City DFS Lineups?
Shohei Ohtani

Blasts Two Homers in Win
Sam Bennett

Nets Another Road Goal in Game 5 Win
Eetu Luostarinen

Earns Two Points Saturday
Michael King

Not Making Progress
Brad Marchand

Pots Two Goals in Game 5 Victory
Jackson Merrill

Removed Early on Saturday
Sergei Bobrovsky

Ties NHL Record with 10th Road Win
Ross Chastain

Trackhouse Racing's Mexico Focus Makes Ross Chastain a Leading Contender for the Win
Kyle Busch

One of Two Past Mexico City Winners in the Field
Ryan Preece

Earns Surprising Front-Row Start
Austin Cindric

Not as Strong of a Road Racer as People Think
NASCAR

Bubba Wallace Stronger on Infield Road Courses Than Purpose-Built Ones
Joey Logano

Seemingly Alternating Between Good and Mediocre Races
Brad Keselowski

One of the Few Drivers with Mexico City Experience
Denny Hamlin

Ryan Truex Makes First Cup Series Start Since 2014
Erik Jones

Mexico City Will Likely be a Struggle for Erik Jones
Noah Gragson

Front Row Motorsports' Speed May Make Noah Gragson a Decent DFS Option
Ricky Stenhouse Jr

Road Courses Are Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s Worst Track Type
Riley Herbst

Surprisingly Outqualifies 23XI Racing Teammates at Mexico City
Cody Ware

a Very Experienced Road Racer but Still a Long Shot
Shane Van Gisbergen

Shane van Gisbergen the Heavy Favorite to Win in Mexico City
Christopher Bell

the Chalk DFS Play in Mexico City
Giancarlo Stanton

Likely Returning Early Next Week
Spencer Strider

Registers 13 Strikeouts
Emeka Egbuka

"the Talk" of Bucs Minicamp
Evander Kane

Drops to Fourth Line Saturday
Kasperi Kapanen

Won't Play on Saturday
Calvin Pickard

Starts Game 5 for Oilers
Jaxson Dart

Working as No. 2 QB During Offseason Workouts
Xavier Gipson

Roster Spot Could be in Jeopardy
Josh Reynolds

the Front-Runner for WR2 Duties
Garrett Wilson

Stock Up This Offseason
Breece Hall

Motivated Going into 2025 Season
Brandon Aiyuk

Making Good Progress From Knee Injury
Keon Coleman

Inconsistent at Minicamp
Mitchell Trubisky

Not a Lock for Backup Job
Dalton Kincaid

Adds Strength and Bulk
James Cook

a Full Participant in Mandatory Minicamp
Tyrese Haliburton

Struggles in Friday's Loss to OKC
Chet Holmgren

Dominates the Glass in Game 4
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Leads the Way in Game 4
Jalen Williams

Has a Quality Showing on Friday Night
Anthony Richardson

Should be Fine for Training Camp
Russell Westbrook

to Decline Player Option
Kevin Durant

Trade Could Happen in the "Next Few Days"
Joaquin Buckley

Set For Main Event
Kamaru Usman

An Underdog At UFC Atlanta
Miranda Maverick

Set For Co-Main Event
Rose Namajunas

Looks To Bounce Back
Andre Petroski

Looks To Extend His Win Streak To Four
Edmen Shahbazyan

A Favorite At UFC Atlanta
Raoni Barcelos

Set To Take On Former Champion
Cody Garbrandt

Looks To Get Back In The Win Column
Mansur Abdul-Malik

Looks For His Third UFC Win
Cody Brundage

Looks To Win Back-To-Back Fights
Alonzo Menifield

Opens Up UFC Atlanta Main Card
Oumar Sy

Looks To Remain Undefeated
Connor Hellebuyck

Wins Vezina And Hart Trophies
Aleksander Barkov

Records Two Power-Play Assists Thursday
Sam Reinhart

Collects Three Points in Thursday's Loss
Matthew Tkachuk

Notches Three Points in Losing Effort
Calvin Pickard

Joins Exclusive List with Thursday's Win
Mattias Ekholm

Logs Two Assists in Comeback Victory
Leon Draisaitl

Delivers Victory in Overtime Thursday
Myles Turner

Playing Through Illness
Reed Sheppard

Will Play in the NBA Summer League
Kevin Durant

Deal Could Come Sooner Rather Than Later
Dorian Finney-Smith

Undergoes Ankle Surgery
Anze Kopitar

Wins Third Lady Byng Trophy
Sergei Bobrovsky

Heading Out for Win No. 15
John Klingberg

Won't Play in Game 4 Against Panthers
Viktor Arvidsson

Sits Out Game 4 Against Panthers
Stuart Skinner

Remains in Oilers Crease Thursday
Jalen Williams

Leads Thunder in Scoring Wednesday
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Settles for 24 Points in Game 3 Loss
Pascal Siakam

Does Everything for Pacers Wednesday Night
Tyrese Haliburton

Gets Close to Triple-Double in Game 3 Win
Bennedict Mathurin

Leads All Scorers with 27 Points Wednesday
Brandin Podziemski

Has Second Offseason Surgery
Jaylen Brown

Undergoes Successful Knee Procedure
Matt McCarty

Comes Off Season-Best Showing at RBC Canadian Open
Justin Thomas

Desperate to Continue Good 2025 Season
Jon Rahm

Seeks Revenge at U.S. Open
Tom Kim

Aiming for Improvement in U.S. Open
PGA

Sungjae Im Expects Solid Performance at Oakmont
Brian Harman

Aims to Rebound From the Memorial
Tony Finau

has Been Up and Down at U.S. Open
Patrick Cantlay

Hoping This is the Year at Oakmont
Akshay Bhatia

Improving in Time for U.S. Open
Xander Schauffele

Primed for Another Major Championship Run
Cameron Young

May Struggle at U.S. Open
Collin Morikawa

Eyeing Third Major Championship Title
Matt Fitzpatrick

Seeks to Avenge Oakmont Collapse
Jordan Spieth

Can Contend at Oakmont
Shane Lowry

a Strong Value Play at U.S. Open
Brooks Koepka

Seeks Another Major Win at Oakmont
Viktor Hovland

Still Can Improve at U.S. Open
Michael Kim

a Boom-or-Bust Value Play at U.S. Open
Russell Henley

Looking to Play the Weekend at Oakmont
Tyrrell Hatton

a Safe Option at U.S. Open
Bryson DeChambeau

Eyeing Third U.S. Open Title
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF