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NFL Draft - Ideal Landing Spots for Fantasy Football

One of the most fun weekends of the year for the NFL season is the weekend of the NFL draft. Hope springs eternal for 32 teams. Well, maybe 31 since the Vikings traded their 1st round pick for Sam Bradford.

That hope and enthusiasm is also with fantasy football players, especially dynasty players as they hope their favorite prospects land in their favorite landing spots.

In this article, I will discuss some of my favorite matches made in heaven that I am hoping for this weekend.

Editor's Note: The FFPC Baby Gorilla Tournament is now open, featuring a $100,000 grand prize and a $675,450 total prize pool! This 12-team, Tight End Premium contest uses a 20-round draft format, with the overall winners determined by total points scored during Weeks 15–17. Get $25 to use toward your first entry by signing up through our link. Grab your team now! Sign Up Now!

 

Ideal Draft Spots for Fantasy Football

Dalvin Cook (RB, Florida State) 1.19 Overall to the Buccaneers

This is far from an original take, as this is a pick that has been mocked by many mock drafters over the last four months, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a great fit. The Buccaneers' current RB1, Doug Martin, is suspended for the first three games of the 2017 season for the remainder of an Adderall suspension. Making a pick solely based on a player being out three weeks doesn’t make sense on its own, but there are other reasons this pick could work out well for both parties. Buccaneers RB2 Charles Sims has shown little to nothing in his first two NFL seasons and Jacquizz Rodgers in nothing more than a journeyman backup.

Cook dominated college football throughout his career with 4,300 rushing yards in 3 seasons, including two 1,600+ yard seasons and 19 touchdowns in each of the last two seasons. Cook was a big play threat his entire career and that has been something lacking in the Buccaneers backfield. Prior to a porous combine performance where he tested in the ninth percentile in Burst Score and Agility score on Player Profiler, Cook had possibilities of going in the top half of the first round. However, now his combine numbers could slide him all the way to the 2nd round, but the ideal scenario would be the Buccaneers selecting him at 19 overall to be the workhorse back in one of the NFL’s best young offenses with Jameis Winston.

 

Christian McCaffrey (RB, Stanford) 1.15 Overall to the Colts

Christian McCaffrey has been one of the most prolific college running backs in recent memory in the last two seasons. McCaffrey had over 4,500 total yards in the last two seasons with 29 touchdowns. McCaffrey easily has the highest dominator rating (percentage of team's total yards) among the top backs in this class with a 50.7% dominator rating, good for the 98th percentile among all college backs.  The Colts may be gun shy about heavily investing in a running back after sending a 1st round pick for Trent Richardson in 2013, but this is a new regime in the post-Ryan Grigson era.

The Colts only legitimate running back is Frank Gore and one of these days, he will actually retire. His effectiveness has certainly tailed off in the last two seasons. McCaffrey would be a jolt for the Andrew Luck-led Colts offense that could be very explosive with a legitimate passing game threat coming out of the backfield. Drafting McCaffery would take some of the pressure off of Luck and gives him another weapon in the arsenal.

 

Deshaun Watson (QB, Clemson) 1.12 Overall to the Browns

In the annual tradition of saying “Next year's Quarterback class is better than this one,” that was one of the reasons many people gave when the Browns opted to trade down in the 2016 NFL draft and not select Carson Wentz. The quarterback highlighted by many in the “Next year's Quarterback class is better than this one” reasoning in 2016 was the expected arrival of Watson. Many way too early mocks in 2016 had Watson being selected #1 overall by the Browns and a year later they may not even need to select him #1 overall to still have a shot at him.

Watson has been a victim of the intense lens and over-scrutinization that happens to many quarterbacks in the scouting process in today’s NFL. Despite the 49 MPH throw velocity that has been a large concern of Watson detractors, he still had three seasons of solid production with Clemson including 8,702 passing yards and 76 passing touchdowns in his two full seasons as starter. While some may think the Browns are a bad landing spot with their history of quarterbacks in the last 17 years, it is definitely solid from a fantasy standpoint. The Browns have a pair of solid backs in Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson with one of the more underrated wide receiver corps in the NFL today led by Corey Coleman and Kenny Britt and with the bevy of picks that the Browns have in the 2017 draft, they likely aren’t done investing in weapons for their young quarterback.

 

Corey Davis (WR, Western Michigan) End of the 1st round trade back up to Panthers

Corey Davis and his landing spot is one of the harder ones to peg as we enter NFL draft weekend. The fantasy community is in love with the wide receiver who had three consecutive 1,400 receiving yard-12+ touchdown seasons. However, it appears the NFL may be a bit more concerned with the wideout who had limited opportunity to play against top competition and then was unable to participate in workouts at the NFL combine or his pro day. The lack of combine numbers could be concerning enough for teams that he slides toward the end of the 1st round on Thursday.

While there are teams who could take Davis in the late 1st round, I think a trade back up could be a more likely and more attractive scenario. Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess have been fairly disappointing in the last two seasons and it was clear that Cam Newton didn’t have a dependable target outside of Greg Olsen. Adding Corey Davis could be a coup for the Panthers offense that struggled as the 21st ranked passing offense in 2016. The possibility of a Newton-Davis combo should be enough to have fantasy owners salivating at the very thought.




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REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

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Josh Allen

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Kyler Murray

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Logan Webb

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Mike Matheson

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Pat Bryant

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Jacoby Brissett

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Daniel Jones

Could Take Part in 7-on-7 Drills at OTAs
Tyler Glasnow

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Sam Merrill

Iffy for Game 3 on Saturday
Anthony Edwards

Rejoins Starting Lineup Friday
Kevin Huerter

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Jalen Williams

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Cleared to Play Friday
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Available Friday Night
Joel Embiid

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Mats Zuccarello

Expected to Play Saturday
Joel Eriksson Ek

to Be a Game-Time Decision Saturday
Jonas Brodin

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Likely to Remain Out Friday
Sam Carrick

Won't Play Friday
Isiah Pacheco

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Rico Dowdle

Dynasty Ceiling Limited By Backfield Committee in Pittsburgh
Rashid Shaheed

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Marcus Mariota

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Jacoby Brissett

a Clear Sell-High Candidate for Dynasty Managers
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Cole Ragans

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Khamzat Chimaev

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Joshua Van

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Looks To Win Back-To-Back Fights
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Walker Lyons Could be Go-To Target for Bear Bachmeier
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Ty Benefield a Potential Game-Changer for LSU Defense
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Connor Dewar

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Played Through Torn MCL Late in the Season
Rasmus Dahlin

Ready to Go Friday
Alexander Nikishin

Set to Return Thursday
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Available Thursday
Owen Tippett

Remains Out Thursday
Roman Anthony

Heading for the Injured List
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Sam Leavitt Expected to Be Full-Go for Fall Camp
Tarik Skubal

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Cole Ragans

Royals Hopeful That Cole Ragans Makes his Next Start
Mark Stone

Nets Late Power-Play Goal in Losing Effort
Emilio Pagán

Emilio Pagan has Grade 2 Hamstring Strain, Expected to Miss 4-8 Weeks
Joe Ryan

Listed as Scheduled Starter for Saturday Against Cleveland
Tyler Glasnow

Not Expected to Land on the Injured List
Framber Valdez

Suspension Reduced to Five Games
Framber Valdez

Suspended Six Games
Tyler Glasnow

Exits Early on Wednesday With Back Pain
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Brauntae Johnson the Next Star in Notre Dame's Secondary?
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Ethan Barbour a Name to Know in Georgia's Tight End Room
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Payton Pierce Next Up at Linebacker for Ohio State
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Javin Gordon to Play Significant Role for Tennessee?
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Tanook Hines Stepping into WR1 Role for USC
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Rueben Owens II has "Star Potential" in Fourth Campaign
Brandon Woodruff

has Fluid Drained From his Right Shoulder
Brandon Woodruff

to Resume Throwing on Saturday, Return Imminent?
Carlos Correa

to Have Season-Ending Ankle Surgery
Jacob Misiorowski

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Logan Webb

Dealing With Knee Discomfort
Carlos Correa

Expected to Miss Significant Time With Ankle Injury
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Ludvig Aberg

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Justin Thomas

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Jordan Spieth

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Jason Day

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Akshay Bhatia

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Emilio Pagán

Emilio Pagan Headed for Injured List With Hamstring Injury
Justin Rose

to Continue Mid-Season Club Change at Truist Championship
Si Woo Kim

is Back to Peak Form Ahead of Truist Championship
Sam Burns

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Cameron Young

Looks to Carry Dominance to Quail Hollow
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Returns to Familiar Stomping Grounds This Week at Quail Hollow
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Looking to Bounce Back at Quail Hollow
Tommy Fleetwood

Looking For Better Iron Play at Quail Hollow
CFB

Mario Craver Enters No. 1 Wide Receiver Role for Marcel Reed
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LaNorris Sellers a Strong Rebound Candidate in 2026
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Cam Coleman Poised for Monster Year at Texas?
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Will Hammond Pushing to Be Ready for Week 1
Alex Fitzpatrick

Looking to Keep Up Ball-Striking Output at Quail Hollow
CFB

Notre Dame Leads College Football in Returning Snaps
CFB

Two Ole Miss Football Players Arrested, Charged with DUI
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Chase Elliott

Earns his Second Texas Motor Speedway Victory
Denny Hamlin

Misses Out on Winning at Texas
Alex Bowman

Finishes Third for the Second Week in a Row at Texas
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Earns Seventh Top-Five Finish of the Season at Texas
Chris Buescher

Scores his First Career Texas Finish in the Top Five
CFB

Bryce Underwood in Better Situation Entering Sophomore Season
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Nico Iamaleava Emerging as Leader, Playmaker for UCLA
Jack Della Maddalena

Gets Dominated At UFC Perth
Carlos Prates

Shines At UFC Perth
Beneil Dariush

Suffers A First-Round TKO Loss
Quillan Salkilld

Remains Unbeaten In The UFC
Tim Elliott

Drops Decision At UFC Perth
Steve Erceg

Wins Back-To-Back Fights
Ollie Schmid

Suffers First-Round TKO Loss
Marwan Rahiki

Remains Unbeaten