Every year, there are players that I target in every draft that I am in. I’m not talking about top tier RBs or the Lamar/Mahomes’ of the world, but players who I am thrilled to take at their spot or even reaching for if I find myself at the turn of the drafts. Outside of one player, all of these players are going outside of the top 4 rounds of your typical redraft league. This is the first part of a two part series of Must Draft Players of 2021.
Calvin Ridley is the most obvious player that will be on this list. We all know why he is here (no Julio Jones to compete with anymore). What can we say that already hasn’t been said about Calvin? He's locked and loaded for 160+ targets, well over 1,000 yards, and a floor of seven TDs. I’d be willing to draft him at the back end of the first round and be more than happy with my choice.
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Cooper Kupp is currently going as the WR20 off the board in 2021. He is coming off of back to back years with 90+ receptions where Jared Goff was his QB. His TDs were down significantly from the previous two years, but I am not worried about that, as I expect a bounceback to his previous years. He now has possibly the most underrated QB in NFL history as his QB in Matthew Stafford. Stafford can throw the pigskin a country mile, add in the high powered offense run by the prodigy that is Sean McVay and you have a recipe for a lot of fantasy points for our little Cooper Kupp. Copyright: Getty Images
Antonio Brown being drafted in the 9th-10th round of your typical redraft leagues is a crime. All summer long, every expert and analyst has been beating this drum and his ADP has not budged even a tiny bit. From the second he set foot on the field last year, he was the WR21 in PPR formats. That was AB coming right off the street, not knowing the playbook, any sort of work with the team, or true chemistry with Tom Brady. He is currently going 5-6 rounds later than his teammates Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Through the 11 games where AB was available, the target breakdown went as follows: Godwin- 78 Evans- 77 Brown- 76. Someone give me a reason why I shouldn’t gladly take AB a round earlier than his ADP to solidify a WR who has WR3 floor written all over him and has high end WR2 upside. Copyright: AP Images
Parris Campbell is a late round WR that could be a league winner. He has a new QB in Carson Wentz who is better than Philip Rivers regardless of your opinion of Wentz. He has the ability to throw the ball downfield, and to extend plays with his legs if necessary. Parris is fully healthy after tearing his MCL and PCL in Week 2 of last season. In the one week Campbell played, he was targeted 9 times which was more targets than Pittman had in any game outside of a Titans blowout loss. The Colts front office drafted Campbell to become the TY Hilton 2.0. We will know Week 1 whether that slot position is his or not, but this passing offense will be much more fluid than it was last year.
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Phillip Lindsay is someone that hits closer to home for me. A true underdog story to say the least. Year in and year out he gets disrespected, first by the Broncos, and soon to be with the Texans. It’s almost as if averaging 6 yards per carry means nothing to anyone anymore. As if being a back to back 1,000 yard rusher are a dime a dozen. He will be fighting for a starting position with Hospice David Johnson, and Nursing home Mark Ingram. By mid season, Lindsay will be the lead back in Houston and he will succeed to the fullest.
Clyde Edwards Helaire is currently being drafted at his floor. He is on a high powered offense that will be putting points on the board at will. There will be plenty of garbage time, run the clock, run the ball out type game script. CEH was the RB11 through the first 6 games last year while only finding the endzone one time during that stretch. If he scored just one more touchdown he would’ve been the RB6. After those 6 games, his carries were cut in half with the addition to Leveon Bell to the roster for a price of 3 potato chips. Bell is no longer there, no longer vulturing touches away from CEH. A full workload in this offense could mean a mid RB1 upside and a high end RB2 floor. At the spot he is currently being drafted in, it makes all the sense in the world for him to be classified as a Must Draft.
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Mike Davis in the 6th-7th round is not only a value but a Must Draft. He will be one of two starting running backs left on the board at that point, but he is the only one that will not be fighting for a starting spot. This job is all his, as his backups are two undrafted free agents. When Davis came in to replace CMC for the Panthers last season, he quickly became everyone's top waiver wire must addition. He is a reliable back, he won’t give you insane upside but a great floor. He is joining an offense that ran the ball the 12th most in the NFL with No Knees Gurley. This offensive line is more than capable of holding their own. You will be hearing too much about Mike Davis coming from me from here on out.
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