Every year, Evan Hoovler does the hard work for our fantasy football salary cap draft ranks. I come in over the top and have a fun little laugh and create a team of players that essentially ignores all his hard work and dedication that Evan puts into his work and says, “yea you could do that, but what if you got a team that was all $1, instead? It’s time for my annual tradition: the All-$1 Team! These guys are $1 or $0 based on FantasyPros’ Average Salary Cap Draft Value. Without further ado, the All-$1 Team!
All $1-Team Fantasy Football Quarterbacks:
Trey Lance, San Francisco & Justin Fields, Chicago
This is fairly straightforward. Through the two weeks of preseason, Justin Fields looks to be the real deal, and Trey Lance has some unevenness to his game, but he still has one of the highlights of the preseason so far. These two guys are dual-threat rushing-passing quarterbacks who can unlock the upper echelons of fantasy football glory.
But they are so cheap for a reason: we don’t know when they will start. Lance sits behind Jimmy Garoppolo, and Fields behind Andy Dalton. Neither of these players likely stand in the way of Fields and Lance for all that long, especially when you consider the heights they’ve already displayed in the first two preseason games.
Lance bounced back from a dreadful 5/14 passing game week one to post a respectable 8/14, 102 yards, two touchdowns, and one deflected interception in week two. He’s getting more comfortable, too, adeptly executing a six-play, 75-yard drive in 45 seconds at the end of the first half against the Chargers.
Fields has had more run, but he did play better right off the bat. Through two preseason games, he boasts a 23/39 passing line for 222 yards and a touchdown to go with 79 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Between these two guys, I would probably lean Justin Fields because he has the better chance to start week one. Garoppolo has looked passable in the last two weeks, whereas Andy Dalton has looked mostly like warmed-over garbage, and the Bears have no loyalty to the 2020 Cowboy. Though, if you want some Lance hype, Kyle Shanahan has gone from declaring Garoppolo their week one starter to being completely non-committal.
Pair one of these guys with Tua Tagovailoa for a few bucks total and you’re off to the races.
Others in Consideration: Tua Tagovailoa, Miami; Derek Carr, Las Vegas
All-$1 Team Fantasy Football Running Backs:
Rhamondre Stevenson, New England & Giovani Bernard, Tampa Bay
We have the new hotness in Tom Brady’s old stomping grounds, and the well-known veteran in Tom Brady’s new home on Sundays. They have two very different preseasons so far, with one declaring it his “SZN” and the other having an extremely solid camp doing exactly what we’ve seen him do so far throughout his career.
Stevenson is the guy through the first two weeks of preseason, posting 193 rushing yards and four touchdowns through two contests. People compare him to LeGarrette Blount, the last running back that Bill Belichick turned his backfield over to, and who used that opportunity to score 18 touchdowns in 2016. Also, it’s me. I’m people. I love Rhamondre Stevenson, and I have loved Rhamondre Stevenson. Back in May, I called him someone to keep an eye on to see how Bill Belichick decided to use him. It looks like he’s at least forcing himself into a committee with Damien Harris and Sony Michel. Maybe this is take-lock! Who knows!
Also to be honest I wanted to put James White here, but people are coming around to him and he was $2. Go get James White for a buck if you can, instead!
Giovani Bernard hasn’t gotten a ton of run in the preseason so far (just two carries and zero targets) but he’s Giovani Bernard. You know exactly what you’re getting with him. So, it seems, does Bruce Arians.
Bernard is a solid PPR play you can get for a buck. We already know he has a role in the Buccaneers’ offense. All he needs to do is start chipping away at Ronald Jones & Leonard Fournette’s workloads and the sky is the limit. Pass-catching backs in PPR are the skeleton key to late draft value. Use them.
Others in Consideration: Justin Jackson, Los Angeles Chargers; Salvon Ahmed, Miami Dolphins; Wayne Gallman, San Francisco 49ers
All-$1 Fantasy Football Wide Receivers:
Gabriel Davis, Buffalo & Terrace Marshall, Carolina
Gabriel Davis might get squeezed out by the Buffalo Bills adding Emmanuel Sanders to the rotation, but I still love Gabriel Davis’ talent as a flyer this year. I believe in the kid before he kicked the doors down against the Colts in the playoffs, posting a 4/4/85 line. Davis finished last year seventh in average depth of target as well as yards per reception, and ended 12th in fantasy points per target (all per PlayerProfiler.com). It’s hard to measure his preseason production because Mitchell Trubisky, not Josh Allen, has been under center for Buffalo.
So, I am going to bet on the talent here. I believe Davis to be incredibly talented, with the only thing holding him back being his potential opportunity with a crowded wide receiver room.
Rookie Terrace Marshall of the Panthers, on the other hand, has a crowded wide receiver room and is currently second in the NFL in preseason receiving yards. While I doubt his 23 yards per reception translate into the regular season, we have to remember a couple of things. First, Teddy Bridgewater isn’t that good, and he supported three wide receivers in this season last year. We still have to see what new quarterback Sam Darnold has in normal circumstances, but that bodes well for Marshall.
Second, Terrace Marshall is really good. If you don’t believe me, here’s the rookie with a big play in each of the first two games:
Others in Consideration: Jaylen Waddle, Miami; Tyrell Williams, Detroit; Elijah Moore, N.Y. Jets; Marquez Callaway, New Orleans
All-$1 Fantasy Football Tight Ends:
Adam Trautman, New Orleans & Jonnu Smith, New England
A couple of “new” tight ends for you folks. Haha, just a little joke. Sorry, sorry, I’m trying to delete it.
Anyway! Adam Trautman. A lot of people jumped off the Adam Trautman bandwagon after he blocked on 33% of his snaps in week one. This puts him in the same blocking range as guys like Dallas Goedert, Robert Tonyan, and Tyler Higbee. That is to say, if you were in on Trautman before, blocking on three-of-nine snaps shouldn’t change anything for you. As of writing this, the Saints haven’t yet played their second preseason game. If Juwan Johnson continues to impress, I guess we can skip over Trautman.
I just don’t see that happening.
Jonnu Smith is an interesting case because both he and Hunter Henry suffered injuries this preseason after singing with the Patriots this offseason. Henry hasn’t returned from his injury yet, and Jonnu just returned from his minor ankle injury. So, we haven’t really seen much of Smith with the Patriots. But, I believe that he’s a talented guy, and the Patriots paid him a whole lot of money to be a part of this passing game. Keep an eye on him, toss a buck at him, and see if he rewards that faith.
Others in Consideration: Blake Jarwin, Dallas; Evan Engram, N.Y. Giants; Cole Kmet, Chicago; Gerald Everett, Seattle
Do you want more 2021 NFL discussion? Then check out our Draft Kit! And then these links!
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[Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Justin_Fields_(cropped).jpg under CC BY SA 2.0]
