July and August are the best time of the year for fantasy football. We all start to formulate strategies, plant our flags, and decide who we will yell at on TV for the rest of the year. That’s right, it’s fantasy football draft season! One key to winning your leagues is zeroing in on the right talent who will outperform their draft stock. Avoiding busts is equally, if not more important. With that in mind, and as a quick hitter, we here at Football Absurdity would like to prime you with the players to target, and the players to avoid, in your fantasy football drafts, team-by-team. What’s the difference between a sleeper and a breakout, you ask? I don’t know, why don’t you tell me, tough guy? You seem to have all the answers.
Sleeper – Michael Gallup, Wide Receiver (Expert Consensus Rank: WR46, 113 overall)
Michael Gallup was one of my favorite wide receivers for fantasy football when he came out of the 2018 NFL Draft. Unfortunately for me, and my pride, he never really materialized as a viable option. However! July is the time for doubling-down on your previous predictions and ensuring that when you are mildly correct, you can lord it over everyone else. Alright, let’s see how I can do this: Michael Gallup is the WR2 on a team with an annual top-ten QB. Opposing defenses will key in on Amari Cooper and Ezekiel Elliott, and allow Michael Gallup to chew them up underneath.
Strange, but true, fact: Michael Gallup led Amari Cooper in air yards in half of the eight games they played together last year. That’ll work. And if I’m wrong, I’ll see you right back here next year!
Breakout – Dak Prescott, Quarterback (Expert Consensus Rank: QB14, 100 overall)
QB6. QB9. QB10. Those are the three fantasy football finishes for Dak Prescott over his three seasons in the NFL. Since he’s entered the league, he has more top-ten seasons than Cam Newton, Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan, and Drew Brees. And yet, he’s going after all of these guys in drafts. He also turned into an absolute monster once the Cowboys added Amari Cooper to their wide receiver corps. Before Cooper, he threw for 202 yards and about 1.1 touchdowns per game. With Cooper, he went up to 274 yards per game and 1.6 touchdowns per contest. He was unstartable without Cooper (QB19 in the first six weeks), he turned on the afterburners after Dak arrived, vaulting up to QB9 from weeks 8 through 17. And for his troubles, he’s a backup fantasy football quarterback in drafts. If you’re in Team #WaitOnQB, then Dak is your man.
Bust – Jason Witten, Disgraced Former ESPN Analyst (Expert Consensus Rank: TE31, 284 overall)
Not really a bust at TE31, but everyone on this squad who should be drafted is being drafted. I just wanted to remind all of you of when he broke a trophy at the Pro Bowl as his last act of being a professional broadcaster. Hilarious.
