Draft

Preston Brown isn’t being drafted like a three-down middle linebacker for a bad Cincinnati team whose defense could be on the field a ton in 2019. Or like a player who racked up four straight 100-tackle seasons while with Buffalo — including 144 total stops two years ago.

He's not a sleeper. He's not a value pick. If you want him, you need to go out and ensure that you land him. Everyone in 2019 is on the same page when it comes to Chrisitan Kirk.

This past weekend has rapidly become my favorite of the year. I was again honored to represent Fantasy Sharks at the second King’s Classic fantasy drafts at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton Ohio.

Fantasy owners are understandably cautious after Adam Thielen’s production dipped in the middle of last season when Minnesota switched offensive coordinators, but he’s just too talented to pass up at his current third-round draft price.

Welcome back one and all to the 2019 Shark Leagues! This is where we separate the champions from the chum. Once again we are offering the best free leagues on the planet where the competition gets harder the more you win.

One of the most difficult tasks in head-to-head fantasy leagues is trying to determine who the “hot” and “cold” players will be in any given week. You can’t use historical or seasonal averages because, well … by their very definition, ...

Trey Flowers is also an excellent edge-setter, as evidenced by his 119 total tackles over the last two seasons. Flowers has finished inside the Top 20 defensive linemen each of the past two seasons. If he can goose that sack total a bit a move just inside the Top 10 is by no means out of the question.

If we take Mike Williams’ 2018 receiving numbers and extrapolate them out over a full season of 100 targets, he would have ended the season with 1,003 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns. Any player who could average a touchdown a game is definitely someone to target.

Playing more in the preseason is usually evidence of distrust of a player especially in the first game. Here are some mid-to-late round players with signs pointing for optimism based on injuries and playing time.

If you love either Zach Ertz or George Kittle at tight end, you could conceivably also look at filling that position early, but know that down the road it will cost you depth at the running back or wide receiver position.

I looked at wide receivers (since 2007) who had amassed at least 170 targets in a season and had a reception percentage of at least 55 percent — then I examined how they fared the following season. The results were good, if not outstanding.

Ekeler actually had a productive outing against Arizona, but he made one of the worst mistakes a running back can make: he fumbled on a goal-to-go carry. On 1st-and-goal at the 2-yard line, he got stood up at the line of scrimmage, and linebacker Jordan Hicks stripped the ball..

Every year, readers will point out how this season will be different, that their favorite runner will buck the odds … and every season, the math holds up. Don’t be unnecessarily reckless; if you’re at the top of your draft, convince some other suckers to grab Saquon Barkley or Christian McCaffrey.

You can’t have all the studs on your team and you don’t need them all to win. The middle of the draft can make or break a team and if you look closely, there are values to be had. Teams that ...

The NFL is a young man’s game. Sure, veteran stars like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are still among the best in the game, but success in the NFL nowadays is about stockpiling young talent on relatively inexpensive rookie contracts. ...

The question on the minds of the fantasy masses right about now, is how to navigate drafts with the holdouts of running backs Melvin Gordon and Ezekiel Elliott looming over draft rooms world-wide?

You’ve probably heard the mantra that “You don’t win your league on draft day, but you can lose it”. Fantasy drafts are riddled with land mines. The more mistakes you can avoid on draft day, the better foundation your draft ...

Terrell Edmunds' first NFL season was admittedly, um, yeah. But Edmunds was drafted in Round 1 for a reason, and he's entrenched as Pittsburgh's starter at strong safety. If his production in 2019 comes anywhere close to his perceived talent level, a breakout sophomore campaign could be in the offing.

Buffalo is a great team defense to start the year with and you should have little trouble taking them very late in your draft. They start the season with a set of very favorable matchups (at New York Jets, at New York Giants, vs. Cincinnati).

When should you draft different positions? Should Saquon Barkley be taken ahead of Michael Thomas? Should Aaron Donald be grabbed ahead of George Kittle? Heck, where should any position be drafted as compared to any other position?

Each year, more NFL teams are converting to a running back by committee, or RBBC offensive build. This means that teams are regularly using two, three or even four ball carriers in a game and fewer teams are going with ...

With the recent emergence of best-ball popularity among fantasy professionals and more casual players, everyone needs differentiation between players good for regular leagues and those who will win best-ball leagues. With best-ball leagues starting on Yahoo! for the first time ...

Many thought that after the stunning news of RB Kareem Hunt’s release from the Kansas City Chiefs last season that the team would struggle to find another RB to replace his awesome production. Right about that same time Head Coach Andy Reid told those doubters, “hold my beer.”

A liability in the Grigson years, the Indianapolis Colts have done a 180 degree turn by turning their O-Line into a strength under new GM Chris Ballard.

In more IDP leagues than not, the young players listed here won’t be drafted at all. None are any sort of sure bet to have a big fantasy season. But there’s some upside present here — enough to warrant putting them in dart-throw territory late in drafts.

There are a few simple practices that you can follow to kick-start your team for the season. You won’t win your fantasy season with just a good draft, but it sure helps to start the season ahead of the competition in your league.

Dante Pettis will be a great receiver to play in the flex or even as your WR2 in 12-16 team leagues. He is absolutely worth the early seventh-round price, but I’m not letting him out of the sixth round in any format.

As a running back, it’s one thing to have a good quarterback who can keep defenses from stacking the box because they’re afraid of being beaten deep down field. It’s entirely another thing to have that quarterback be Andrew Luck.

The last three seasons were rocky for Burfict, who missed 20 games over that span before being let go by the Cincinnati Bengals. However, Burfict’s very familiar with Paul Guenther’s defense in Oakland from their time together in Cincinnati.

Thielen is a great story, but he is being drafted way too high in fantasy leagues. With an ADP of 3.09 he is going higher than some premium wideouts that will outperform him such as Amari Cooper (3.10), Stefon Diggs (4.05) and Julian Edelman (4.08).

The NFL announced on Friday that Tyreek Hill will not be disciplined under the league’s personal conduct policy – at least for now. While there will be no suspension for the time being, the NFL included in their official statement ...

Hopkins is the most physically gifted wide receiver in the game today and I stand by that. He consistently catches contested balls in double-teams and makes the tough yards after the catch. Hopkins is a no-brainer from picks six and on.

The Steelers already had to cover for the absence of Le’Veon Bell last year and knew he would not be an option for 2019. That leaves James Conner as the starter that rolled up nearly 1,500 yards and 13 touchdowns last year. But, Jaylen Samuels was also effective filling in for three games when Conner was injured.

In Part 5 of my 8-part series into fantasy football's breakout stars for 2019, we move on from the NFC conference and dive straight into the state of the AFC. We will start our journey with one the roughest divisions in all of football; the daunting AFC North.

Your team defense scheme can be like wearing plaid jerseys. Feel free to put on mash-ups of multi-checkered tops to shore up your injury or bye-week deprived roster. These fill-in squads can make great last-minute wardrobe fixes when your best outfit is in the lineup wash.

The Bills have improved the number and quality of weapons for Allen this offseason by adding wide receivers John Brown and Cole Beasley along with running back T.J. Yeldon. Beasley should act as a target-machine for Allen with John Brown being a reliable deep-ball threat. Yeldon’s pass catching skills make him a great third down target too.

Jimmy G is a lot more talented than Trubisky (another steal at ADP) with the fastest release and best looks in the NFL meaning he should outperform his ADP. His schedule allows him to be at least a late streamer in deep leagues or a good best-ball option at the end of the draft.

Now fully taking over for future Hall of Famer Antonio Gates, Hunter Henry will have a lot of opportunities to make big catches on a team that values and utilizes it's TE to the fullest. And you don't have to burn an early pick on him, as he is currently being drafted at the end of the 5th round.

Stock up on receivers, running backs, and tight ends early and then move on to quarterback... If Kirk Cousins falls to the 10th or 11th rounds he will be a bargain. He has great receivers and has had the extra time build a rapport with them.

With the departure of Gronk and his 72 targets from last year, James White is going to see some of those out of the backfield and a top-ten finish among running backs is not out of the question. Currently he has an ADP of 7.04 which is a steal at that price, for a back that could catch 100 passes this season.