Looking to draft some local players to your fantasy football team this year? Here are the names that could make solid contributions, as well as which rounds to draft them.
WASHINGTON — Sure, you want to win your fantasy football league, but what fun is it if you can’t have some players from your hometown teams to root for? Just because you shouldn’t load up entirely on your favorite team’s players doesn’t mean you can’t wisely stash one or two on your roster, so long as you don’t waste too early of a pick on them.
With that in mind, here are the Redskins and Ravens worth taking a look at this year, along with the target round range you should think about taking them, assuming a 12-team PPR league.
Alex CollinsTarget range: Rounds 4-5
If someone wants to grab Collins in the first three rounds of your draft this year, let that person do so. Collins is a very capable running back, but with offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg calling the plays for Baltimore, there will probably be a shared workload among the running backs. RB1s in his offense have never finished above a ranking of 16 at the position since 2012. Who earned that number 16? None other than Alex Collins last year where he saw the ball 65.4% of the time he was on the field.
Collins did show big play potential last year as only the Chiefs’ Kareem Hunt and the Bills’ LeSean McCoy had more runs of 15 yards or more. In fact, according to Pro Football Focus, Collins ranked sixth in the league in breakaway percentage, as a whopping 36.3 percent of his runs went 15 yards or more. He also showed the ability to take a hit and keep running as he had the fourth most yards after contact per attempt among 17 backs with 200+ attempts.
Collins will be just 24 years old when the season begins and seems to have put the fumbling issues behind him. If you’re looking for an RB2 or even an RB3/Flex in the fourth round, Collins has the high upside, despite the fact that Kenneth Dixon and/or Buck Allen could eat into his workload.
(Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images
Jordan ReedTarget range: Rounds 7-9
If we’re talking about drafting a real life football team, Reed certainly would not be on this list. He has a lengthy concussion history along with other ailments that have plagued him throughout his career. However, when healthy, Reed has proven to be one of the very best fantasy tight ends. In 2015, Reed missed only two games (a career low) and he scored a higher full season grade according to Pro Football Focus than Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has ever received. Kelce was a longtime favorite of new Washington quarterback Alex Smith when they were teammates in Kansas City.
After playing in only six games in 2017, the 28-year-old feels a lot better than last year and much more explosive. If fantasy owners haven’t filled their tight end position by the eighth round, Reed is someone to be targeting. Due to Reed’s injury history, if you do decide to draft him, finding a solid backup tight end like David Njoku from the Browns or George Kittle from the 49ers would be wise.
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Photo by Elsa/Getty Images
Paul RichardsonTarget range: Rounds 13-15
The former Seattle Seahawk inked a five year/$40 million contract and is expected to be the deep threat the Redskins have lacked since the departure of DeSean Jackson to Tampa Bay. Richardson probably won’t command the volume that last year’s leading WR Jamison Crowder will receive in terms of targets, but he’s a big play threat and new QB Alex Smith proved last year he’s capable of throwing the deep ball, as he led the NFL in Adjusted Completion Percentage and Yards. If you’re in the 13th round of your draft in a 12-team league, Richardson’s high ceiling makes him a nice value grab.
(Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
Alex SmithTarget range: Rounds 14-16
Smith removed some of the notions that he’s a “game manager” last year with his deep ball statistics, and since 2011 only Aaron Rodgers of the Packers and Tom Brady of the Patriots sport a higher touchdown-to-interception ratio than Smith. You’re probably not drafting him to be your starting QB in fantasy unless you’re in a very deep league, as he’s the 18th QB being taken in the month of August in MFL10s.
However, the Redskins should throw the ball quite a bit this year as the RB situation is certainly below average with second-round pick Derrius Guice going down for the season with a torn ACL. Newly-signed Adrian Peterson ran for fewer than 2.0 yards per carry in 50% of the games he’s played since January 1, 2016 and had zero touchdowns in 13 of 14 of those games. Smith will be heavily relied on to lead this offense and can be played on a matchup basis if you don’t grab one of the top quarterbacks in your draft as an every week starter.
(AP Photo/Nick Wass)
AP Photo/Nick Wass
John BrownTarget range: Rounds 15-17
Brown is a hot commodity among fantasy circles this year, and his average draft position will probably continue to rise, especially after Monday night’s preseason game against the Colts where he hauled in an impressive catch from Joe Flacco in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. Brown is similar to Paul Richardson as he has game breaking speed and is already starting to earn Flacco’s trust, even though this is his first year with the team.
Brown bet on himself this offseason after spending the first four seasons of his career with the Cardinals, inking a one-year deal worth $5 million with an additional $1.5 million in incentives. The Ravens also added veteran Michael Crabtree to the wide receivers unit, which means Brown could be in a position to exploit single coverage or man coverage against a linebacker who won’t be able to keep up with his speed.
(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Ravens DefenseTarget range: Second to last round
Cornerback Jimmy Smith’s four game suspension significantly hurts this defense. In the past two seasons, when he’s on the field the Ravens’ D has the number one interception rate and number four success rate in the NFL. However, without Smith in the lineup, those numbers drop to the second-lowest interception rate in the NFL and the fourth-lowest success rate (h/t @SharpFootball).
There is reason for optimism that the difference gap won’t be so drastic this time around in his absence, though. Third-year cornerback Tavon Young is back after missing the 2017 season with a torn ACL and will look to pick up where he left off as a rookie when he was one of the best cornerbacks in the league in 2016, allowing just .98 yards per cover snap, which was second among that season’s class of rookie cornerbacks. He also led the team in passes broken up, tackles and stops. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey is in his second season and showed flashes of potential last year with 34 tackles and 2 interceptions along with 11 pass deflections.
Safety Eric Weddle is still an exceptional talent in that secondary, leading the team in interceptions with six last year. The ageless future Hall of Famer Terrell Suggs got double-digit sacks last year and proved he can still get after the quarterback at the age of 35. Finally, linebacker C.J. Mosley led the team in tackles last year with 96, is in a contract year, and has made the Pro Bowl in three of his first four seasons.
So how should you approach this situation if you want to own the Ravens defense? Draft them in the second-to-last round, start them against the Bills, Bengals and Broncos the first three weeks then start to look at a replacement for Week 4 against the Steelers. In the last two games that Ben Roethlisberger has played against Baltimore without Smith, he’s thrown for nearly 800 yards with 5 TDs total.
(Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
Chris Cichon (aka "The Big Chee on WTOP") has been a sports anchor with WTOP since 2013. In addition to reporting on sports, Chris coaches football at Towson High School in Maryland.
