Saquon Barkley and Ja’Marr Chase, after five weeks in the NFL, have dominated for your fantasy teams. I’ll redraft the first round of a 12-team full PPR fantasy football league and see just how wrong most of us were with our initial ADP.
Round 1 Pick 1
Maybe I’m old-school but I would still take a versatile workhorse running back with the 1.01 every day of the week. Yes, I, along with many of you, was burned by San Francisco’s ambiguous reporting of Christian McCaffrey’s injury. However, Barkley is more than worthy of the first overall pick. He is averaging 22 touches, 130 yards, and one touchdown per game. Barkley is a true workhorse, behind an excellent offensive line, and looks as explosive as ever. He’s the 1.01.
Saquon Barkley reached a top speed of 21.66 mph on his 65-yard TD run, the 2nd-fastest play by a ball carrier this season, and fastest on a run play.
🔹 Defenders in the Box: 7
🔹 Expected Rush Yards: 3
🔹 Rush Yards Over Expected: +62#PHIvsNO | @Eagles pic.twitter.com/fjgvvpjdAT— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 22, 2024
Round 1 Pick 2
Recency bias aside, I’ll take Ja’Marr Chase at 1.02. He is an alpha receiver on a high-powered offense, Cincinnati has scored 30 or more points in the last three weeks and has the potential to put up week-winning performances. Last year, Chase put up the single highest-scoring week of any player in fantasy. This year, just last week, Chase dropped nearly 50 points again.
Throwback to when Ja’Marr Chase scored 52.2 fantasy points in Week 5 last year 😳
The highest single week scoring output of any player last season 🔥 pic.twitter.com/XqtsfSl827
— NFL Fantasy Football (@NFLFantasy) July 1, 2024
Round 1 Pick 3 & 4
In fantasy football, volume is king and these next two picks have ramped up their volume to level 11. Coming in at #3 is Kyren Williams and #4 is Alvin Kamara. Per FantasyPoints.com, Kyren is averaging an astounding 21.8 touches per game while Karama is the opportunity leader in the NFL with 24.3 touches per game. I have Kyren one spot ahead of Kamara because his offense and touchdown upside should improve when Kupp and Nacua come back.
Round 1 Pick 5
Speaking of kings, King Henry is still running through defenses with burst and power at the ripe old age of 30. In a putrid Baltimore offense where only Lamar and Henry are consistent fantasy options, the King still reigns supreme. Henry is also averaging over 20 touches a game, has broken off several big runs, and has scored a touchdown in each week. He is the same old dominating superstar that he has been for years.
DERRICK. FREAKING. HENRY. 🗡️
(via @NFL)
pic.twitter.com/OQHoPy2XQq— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 6, 2024
Round 1 Picks 6-10
6. Nico Collins – the #1 WR in fantasy is only this low because of concerns for a new injury he sustained in week 5.
7. Malik Nabers – the rookie phenom taking over the NFL and leading the whole league in total targets (53) and percentage of team targets (38%).
8. Justin Jefferson- Sam Darnold deserves a shoutout and is likely the favorite for comeback player of the year; but, when he has the best wide receiver in the NFL to throw to, life becomes a little easier. He’s just too good.
9. CeeDee Lamb – Even though Lamb has disappointed a bit compared to his ADP, he is still putting up WR1 numbers and has a second half of the season schedule that should let him recreate 2023 where he and Dak Prescott exploded into and during fantasy playoffs.
10. DK Metcalf – Seattle’s star receiver has gone over 100 yards receiving in three of five games and is on an offense that leads the league in passing attempts, and percentage of pass plays, and is third in passing yards per game. He’s only scored in two games, so his upside is even higher if he starts to get in the endzone.