One of the more dicey but usually meaningless decisions to make in the draft is filling the last couple of spots at the end of your bench. Picking the right guys can put you ahead of your league on guys that will be high priority waiver pickups in most leagues, but for the most part even if you pick someone who eventually breaks out they were drafted and dropped for the latest waiver pickup. So here are three guys I am targeting late in drafts for their early season chances to carve out a major role for themselves with an ADP beyond 150.
Jeff Wilson Jr. – RB – MIA – 162
Jeff Wilson is an interesting bet to make. He doesn’t really feel like the type of guy who is going to go out there and be a league winner in fantasy. He will turn 28 this season and spent the first 4.5 years with the 49ers before a midseason trade to the Dolphins. Last season he hit career highs in yardage, carries, YPC, receptions, and receiving yards. He was handpicked by HC Mike McDaniel from the 49ers for his fit in the same offensive scheme in Miami which is encouraging. The Dolphins did add DeVon Achane in the draft, but he is an undersized speedback and shouldn’t eat too much into the first and second down role that Jeff Wilson could carve out. They are also attempting to sign Dalvin Cook, but his main competition for carries is fellow former 49er RB Raheem Mostert. Wilson ended the season with three straight games of double digit carries, but did little with them yardage wise but those games were against the Patriots, Jets, and Bills who were all top half of the league in rush defense. I am not going to bet that Wilson becomes a reliable fantasy starter without an injury to Mostert, BUT Mostert is 31 years old and has struggled mightily with injuries throughout his career. If the Dolphins don’t land Dalvin Cook or another big name in FA there aren’t many RBs this late in the draft who could be the Week 1 starter for their team.
Kenny Pickett – QB – STL – 168
Kenny Pickett is pretty forgotten in most drafts and based on last season, pretty rightly so. He is so forgotten if you type “Kenny” into Pro-Football-Reference he won’t even come up until you hit the “P”. In 12 games of work with one of the better groups of weapons in the NFL he threw only 7 touchdowns against 9 interceptions and he never threw more than 1 touchdown in a single game. BUT, like I said he has one of the best head coaches in the NFL in Mike Tomlin, he has one of the best groups of skill position players with Diontae Johnson, George Pickens, Pat Friermuth, and Najee Harris. Heck maybe Allen Robinson gets going again after a disastrous 2022 season.
I think there is enough of a shot that Pickett makes the year 2 leap to be rostered especially in 2 QB leagues, but also in single QB leagues where you punted on the position and went for someone with a lower ceiling like Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins, or Russell Wilson.
Chase Claypool – WR – CHI – 245
Chase Claypool was once upon a time a fantasy darling and now just one disastrous season later split between Pittsburgh and Chicago he is completely out of the picture for everyone outside the deepest of leagues. While I largely agree that he doesn’t need to be rostered in most leagues, I do think there is a very solid argument for him as well. First, he has improved his QB greatly moving from Pickett to Justin Fields. Fields needs to improve his passing numbers for Claypool to have a meaningful impact on fantasy, but the Bears are working hard to get him help in the WR core and Claypool has the talent and size to fill a vital role in this offense. He is a monster in this group and should at the very least get a ton of redzone work. DJ Moore is 6′ 210 lbs and Darnell Mooney is 5’11” 173 lbs while Claypool is 6’4″ and 238 lbs.
Let’s also not forget that the Bears traded a SECOND ROUND PICK (which was essentially a first round pick, #32 overall) for Claypool. He is going to see the field in a very significant way this season and he is well worth the bench stash for a few weeks to see if he can get going in this offense.