By: Jeremy Trottier, Jake Rajala, and Faustino Felix

The 2022 NFL Draft was loaded with offensive talent, as potential 2022 starters were picked in the third round and beyond. The NFL Draft, also known as a football holiday, is finally over. Nonetheless, it’s time for fantasy football gurus to begin scouting talent for their beloved rosters. With that said, we’re going to untwine seven fantasy sleepers that sleeping with Mr. Sandman.

Jeremy’s sleepers:

Jalen Tolbert – WR – Dallas Cowboys

One of the most notable players coming out of round 3 or beyond is Jalen Tolbert, the 6’3” receiver out of South Alabama.  Tolbert has received little to no recognition coming out of this class primarily due to his competition being FBS players.  The part about him that makes me think he could break out is the fact that the Dallas Cowboys already moved on from two of their receivers this offseason (Amari Cooper & Cedrick Wilson). 

Combined they leave 165 targets and 113 receptions on the table for someone to take, and with the receiver room shifting significantly this offseason, Tolbert could seek to snag the 2nd or 3rd receiver spot early in the season.  It is also worth noting that starting receiver Michael Gallup will likely miss the early part of the season due to his torn ACL, which gives Tolbert a direct route into a starting role alongside CeeDee Lamb and James Washington.  Jalen had a great final 9 games in 2021 and will seek to continue that level of play in the NFL for Dallas.

Dameon Pierce – RB – Houston Texans

The other sleeper of mine is Florida Gator Dameon Pierce, who was taken at pick 107 by the Houston Texans.  Pierce is another player who has an immediate shot at the starting role on his respective team, with the Texans RB room pretty much up in the air at the moment.  Last year’s starters David Johnson (current free agent) and Mark Ingram (traded to Saints) are presumably both gone or are at least for the moment.  The backs on the roster that he will be competing with are Rex Burkhead, Marlon Mack, and Dare Ogunbowale, who he should be able to at the bare minimum get rotational minutes with.  His size and power as a running back give him some solid upside as a roster-bound player on any dynasty team.  

Faustino’s sleepers:

Alec Pierce – WR – Indianapolis Colts

There’s a lot of upside to Alec Pierce’s game, and he was drafted to an ideal situation after a solid college career with the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Colts’ depth chart is wide open after third-year wide receiver Michael Pittman, so Pierce, with 2nd round draft capital, should start on 3-WR sets right away. He could become a favorite of new Colts quarterback Matt Ryan, who has produced top fantasy wide receivers before such as Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley, proving he can sustain good fantasy WRs. Ryan’s arrival should allow Frank Reich to open up the offense and pass the ball more often than he did with Carson Wentz.

Pierce has elite speed and burst, along with a huge catch radius. He’s a speed threat that has the potential to become a complete force at the perimeter, thanks to that athleticism and his 6’3” size. He averaged 17.5 yards per reception at Cincinnati. I fully expect Pierce to shoot up draft boards as the offseason progresses since this combination of talent, opportunity and draft capital at a solid team expected to compete for a playoff spot don’t come that often. It should be a matter of time before fantasy managers catch on, so get ahead of the curve and get Pierce in your rosters as soon as you can.

Zamir White – RB – Las Vegas Raiders

White’s arrival to the NFL was a roller-coaster, to say the least. He tore his ACL in his senior season of high school but nevertheless was recruited by Georgia as a top-five recruit for his position. He then suffered a second ACL before what was supposed to be his freshman season. Three years later, he was drafted in the fourth round by the Las Vegas Raiders, after being the leading rusher for two years in a row in a Bulldogs backfield that included fellow rookie James Cook. He won a National Championship along the way.

Nicknamed “Zeus”, White is a powerful runner who is bound to score a lot of touchdowns in his career. He also possesses breakaway speed, and he is more elusive than you would expect from power back such as him. His only knock is that he doesn’t have a lot of receiving production, so that limits him to being a two-down back in the NFL. He will join a crowded Raiders backfield that includes Josh Jacobs and Kenyan Drake. Jacobs just had his 5th year option declined, and Drake is on the last year of a two-year contract. With both being players from a previous regime, there’s a solid chance neither of them is on the Raiders’ roster in 2023.

New Raiders GM and Head Coach Dave Ziegler and Josh McDaniels both come from the New England Patriots, whose approach to the RB position is having a committee of cheaply acquired running backs. That bodes well for White’s playing time opportunity in 2023 if he manages to make a good impression in his rookie year. This is more of a dynasty pick, but one that has the potential to have a huge rise in value in the short term.

Jake’s sleepers: 

James Cook – RB – Buffalo Bills

I believe that the former Georgia stud with a popular football name has a legitimate chance of starting in a talented Bills offense early on. The brother of Dalvin Cook unveiled a personal best of 1,012 total yards and 11 total touchdowns in 2021. Similar to the prime version of Le’Veon Bell and former Georgia RB Todd Gurley, he displays excellent quickness and patience. He has a unique ability to be a receiving stud, as well. According to PFF, he ran the third-most routes from the RB position. He reminds me a lot of Kenyan Drake, but he can be a more talented pure RB. 

Isaiah Spiller – RB – Los Angeles Chargers

Isaiah Spiller might be a bit in the shadow of Austin Ekeler in the Chargers RB room, but he is the second talented RB on this list in the perfect location. Spiller was one of the most accomplished CFB RBs to enter the draft: 3,578 total yards and 26 total touchdowns. Bucky Brooks has already stated that Spiller is one of the “10 perfect rookie team fits”. In fact, Brooks feels that Spiller could be the potential 1A RB in Justin Herbert’s offense, while the scatback Ekeler returns to a “change in pace” ball-carrier. The former Texas A & M RB ran a poor 40-yard dash (4.63), but he could still soon be leaned on as the bell-cow RB in LA. 

Velus Jones Jr. – WR – Chicago Bears

Todd McShay has started to really praise the outlook for Velus Jones Jr. The ESPN analyst stated that he was the “Bears best draft pick” and that he has a great ceiling in Chi-town. It’s easy to see why Jones Jr. is a fascinating profile given his 4.31 40-yard dash at the NFL combine. He can be an effective chess piece in the Justin Fields-led offense, as he can be dangerous with screens, deep routes, and quick slants. I absolutely expect Jones Jr. to be a security blanket for his second year QB frequently.

The post 7 fantasy football rookie sleepers in 2022 appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Jack Brentnall

With the draft less than a month away, we are beginning to get an idea of how things might play out. Every year there are players taken too highly and this year will be no exception. This is not to say they are bad prospects or that they will be bad NFL players – far from it – but that their current level of hype is unwarranted. Here are four players whose hype does not live up to their Expected Draft Position (EDP).

All EDP data referenced comes from Grinding the Mocks.

Charles Cross – OT, Mississippi State

I’ll start this by saying that Cross is by no means a bad player. He had an excellent 2021 season and his experience in Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense has made him one of the more seasoned pass protectors in the class. He is a name that fully deserves to be in the first round conversation. That said, I don’t think he’s deserving of the top 10 hype he’s been receiving in the pre-draft process. His EDP of 9.8 puts him in the same tier as Evan Neal and Ikem Ekwonu, but I just don’t see the same caliber of player on tape.

For starters, there is the obvious question mark concerning the offensive scheme he is coming from. Whilst Cross has an incredible 1,293 pass blocking snaps to his name over the past two years, only 265 of those were “true pass sets”. True pass sets exclude plays with less than 4 rushers, play action, screens, short dropbacks and time-to-throws under 2 seconds. They are a useful metric as they focus on how a lineman performed in the traditional dropback situations you will see every week in the NFL. For context, a player like Evan Neal had 233 true pass sets in 2021 alone.

There are also question marks when it comes to Cross’ run blocking ability. Mississippi State barely ran the ball, and when they did they ran a very small number of simple concepts. Cross was rarely asked to execute the kind of blocking assignments he will be expected to perform week-in and week-out in the NFL. There is no doubt he is a talented player, but there are far too many question marks for him to be discussed in the same breath as players like Evan Neal and Ikem Ekwonu.

Isaiah Spiller – RB, Texas A&M

Breece Hall and Kenneth Walker are at the top of this running back class, but for many people, Spiller is a close third. His background of consistent production in the SEC is understandably intriguing, and his EDP of 79.2 makes him the third highest ranked running back in the class. As far as I’m concerned, he’s not even in the same ballpark as Hall and Walker.

For starters there is his athletic profile. Spiller is a below average athlete in every sense of the word. He ran a 4.64 40-yard dash at this year’s Combine, putting him in the 40th percentile at the position. He was even worse from an explosiveness perspective. His 30″ vertical ranked in the 14th percentile. There were actually eight offensive linemen who posted better vertical scores. He ended up with a Relative Athletic Score of 5.61. For context, there has been just three running backs drafted since 2015 to record a 1,000 yard NFL season who had a RAS below 5.7.

The other concern with Spiller is his lack of a trump card. Hall offers exceptional vision and patience. Walker offers great contact balance and explosiveness. Spiller might be a solid all around back, but it is difficult to find a single elite trait to his game. He can be a contributor as a runner and receiver, but he isn’t the kind of player you can build your rushing attach around at the next level.

Christian Harris – LB, Alabama

Prospects from bigger schools often get a bump in the pre-draft process and there is no better example of that right now than Christian Harris. As things stand he’s currently got an EDP of 49.4. This makes him the third highest ranked linebacker in the class, behind Nakobe Dean and Devin Lloyd. It also puts him ahead of players like Leo Chenal and Quay Walker.

The biggest limitation to Harris’ game is his processing ability. You only need to turn on the tape to see a player who is still developing a feel for the position. His first step is remarkably inconsistent and he is slow to diagnose plays. He also struggles to read the run through traffic and often needs to see a play develop before reacting. His effort and willingness to make plays against the run is also questionable.

When it comes to coverage, Harris is incredibly raw. He has a really bad habit of getting his eyes caught in the backfield when playing in the zone, leading to big plays being made behind him. This was a big contributing factor in him allowing a passer rating of 120.4 throughout his career. Harris might have the athletic traits that teams want in a linebacker, but he’s the embodiment of a project player.

George Pickens – WR, Georgia

Pickens barely played in 2021 by virtue of his ACL injury, but that hasn’t stopped him rising up boards. As things stand he has an EDP of 37.5. This puts him on the verge of first round conversation and makes him the seventh highest ranked wide receiver in the class. With his reliable hands and a physical playstyle, it is easy to see why some have fallen in love with Pickens’ potential. That said, there’s far too much worrying me to even entertain the possibility of drafting him that highly.

For starters, there is his injury. Pickens finally made his return to the field at the back end of 2021 but didn’t look like the same player. He was sluggish in and out of breaks and lacked any kind of separation quickness. Whilst his pre-draft testing numbers were encouraging, his inability to translate these traits to the playing field on a consistent basis is troubling. Pickens’ production was heavily reliant on his contested catch ability, which is concerning given that he measures in at 6’3″ and 200 lbs.

He is also raw as a route runner and doesn’t show much in terms variations to his route pacing or manipulating defenders downfield. This is certainly something he can develop when he reaches the NFL, but it would still give me pause for thought before drafting him in the top 40. This is all before you even mention his disciplinary issues. Pickens was ejected from a game for fighting as a freshman and has also committed an astonishing 11 penalties during his college career.

The post Four overhyped prospects in the 2022 NFL Draft appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

The 2021 CFB class is decorated with talented players across all positions. One of the positions that stands out in CFB currently more than in recent years, is none other than the running back spot. There were two RBs selected in the first round of this year’s draft, but the 2022 NFL draft could feature three-four halfbacks with their names called on Day 1. 

A few of these players could push for the Heisman and oust historical seasons in 2021. With the college season steadily approaching, I’m going to outline the top RB talents headed into next season. 

1. Tank Bigsby 

Tank Bigsby, the sophomore RB for Auburn, who accumulated 834 rushing yards and 5 rushing TDs in 2020 has his sights set on a 2k rushing yard season in 2021. Bigsby earned SEC rookie of the year and he will aim to be one of the top all around players in the SEC next year. Pro Football Focus has Bigsby as the #1 returning back. Bigsby is one of the most explosive downhill RBs to compete at the collegiate level in the past few seasons.  

2. Deuce Vaughn Jr. 

Deuce Vaughn may be the closest player to former all purpose RB Darren Sproles in all of existence. The 5’5 RB for Kansas State was one of two players to score above a 85 grade in rushing and receiving last season (Michael Carter being the other). Vaughn notched 434 yards receiving and 17.4 YPC, while muscling out 642 yards on the ground. 

3. Kennedy Brooks

The third year RB for Oklahoma sat out the 2020 season, but he’s fresh and ready to prove he’s an elite RB back in the 2021 season. Kennedy Brooks, the former second team All Big Ten honoree, is a horse at 5’11 220. He can be a very effective early down back at the next level. 

4. Breece Hall

The 6’1 215 sophomore RB for Iowa State is Top 5, Top 3, and even number one atop many RB rankings. Hall ran wild for 21 touchdowns last year, while compiling 1,572 yards on the ground. His pure RB is near the top of the nation. The Junior will be a Heisman candidate this upcoming season and he could likely sneak in the first round of the draft next offseason. 

5. Isaiah Spiller

Isaiah Spiller isn’t related to CJ Spiller, but he’s another Spiller that is a Top 5 RB in the country. He’s the son of a former Texas TE which does speak of the athletic gifts in his family. The 19 year old was on the all SEC team, which goes to show his freak talent AND potential. Spiller has roughly 2,000 yards combined in the last two years, but he should be close to that mark in one full season this year. Alike Hall, his pure RB talent is undeniable and he is surely going to be a regular 1k yard back in the pros. 

Honorable mentions: 

Brian Robinson Jr. 

Jerrion Ealy 

Max Borghi

The post Top 5 RBs in CFB right now appeared first on Pro Football Mania.