After spending all 2017 weathering 28-3 jokes, the Atlanta Falcons selected 3 players at standard fantasy football positions in the 2018 NFL draft. Are any of them worth having on your radar in your fantasy football drafts?
Calvin Ridley, Wide Receiver, Round One
Ridley is eminently talented, and was one of the best route runners in college football last season, having the ability to run himself open nearly at will. The problem came when he was unable to run himself open. Ridley’s strength (or relative lack thereof) made it difficult for him to come down with the ball in traffic or on contested catches. He had serious trouble with DBs if he could not shake them, and was frequently overpowered by stronger opponents.
With those strengths and weaknesses, it’s hard to find a better situation for Ridley to be an immediate fantasy football contributor in 2018. He’s back with his former Bama coach, Steve Sarkisian, who runs the Atlanta offense. He also gets all the pressure off of him as opposing DCs will lose innumerable hours of sleep trying to figure out how to stop Julio Jones. Sark quietly got Mo Sanu to be the #30 WR last season, and Ridley is better than Sanu. He’s going as pick 124 (WR47). At that range, he is a higher upside play than guys like Sterling Shepard (WR43) or Kelvin Benjamin (WR46). He’s a double-digit round guy who is going to be a great Bye week fill-in for you and has an opportunity to take advantage of opposing defenses deferring their attention to Julio.
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Ito Smith, Running Back, Round Four
The Falcons did not draft Smith in the fourth round with the intention that he would contribute this year. They did it as a signal to Tevin Coleman that he should start looking to move on from Atlanta. Smith has almost the exact skill set as Coleman (though in a smaller body) with slightly lower speed. Most importantly, he will come at a fourth-rounder’s salary for the next few years.
Smith is talented and well-rounded, despite his small frame. He rushed for over 1,000 each of his three years as a starter and hauled in at least forty balls a year, averaging over ten yards a catch.. Sound familiar? He’s the new Tevin Coleman come 2019. File his name away for next year or if/when Coleman or Freeman get hurt, but we’ll need to see how the Falcons use him first. Without an injury ahead of him, he seems to have a ceiling of a change-of-pace back behind one of the most prolific one-two running back punches in the NFL.
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Russell Gage, Wide Receiver, Round Six
It’s a bad sign when a prospect only has highlights on YouTube. It’s even worse when the third most-watched video is his high school highlights. The worst sign is that fifth result is someone filming his TV excited Atlanta drafted another LSU Tiger. Nevertheless, Gage is undoubtedly a professional athlete drafted by the Atlanta Falcons. There’s not much to say about the guy for fantasy football. If he makes the Falcons, it will be as a return man and a fifth wide receiver. There’s no reason to still be reading this.
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For more team rookie previews, check these out:
2018 Rookie Roundup: New England Patriots
