Caution! DeAndre Hopkins, Kenyan Drake, AJ Green
by Alan Seslowsky

Our loyal readers and long time listeners to the RosterWatch podcast, have surely taken notice that we’ve had some of the sharpest minds as guests this offseason. On podcast #279, RosterWatch co-founder, Alex Dunlap sat with Lisa Ann from SiriusXM fantasy sports radio. They discussed players that Lisa Ann will be avoiding in 2020 fantasy drafts. Below are some of the those players:

Kenyan Drake– Give Him “The Boot?”

RosterWatch has been a vocal proponent of Kenyan Drake this off-season. Our senior writer, The Trashman, was one of the conductors on the Drake hype train before the rest of the industry got on board. For good reason, Drake is a defensible late first-round pick as things now stand in September. Once he was traded to Arizona in 2019, he finished the season as an RB1. It is hard to forget the epic run during the fantasy playoffs where Drake scored over 30 PPR points in weeks 15 and 16. However, recent news that he is in a walking boot for “precautionary reasons,” is enough to pause and re-think Drake as a first-round player. You are likely to encounter a number of injuries during the fantasy season, so it is not optimal to start your draft with a question mark before the first game even kicks off. RosterWatch still likes Drake, but it may be prudent to pivot to a healthier option with a similar upside, using the ultimate draft cheat sheet around the 1/2 turn. 

 

DeAndre Hopkins Falling

Hopkins has been a rock-solid first-round pick for the last half-decade. Year in and year out, you could count on Hopkins to be a target hog — and to produce — even during periods of miserable QB play. This offseason, Hopkins was traded to the Arizona Cardinals. This is a major upgrade for Arizona, but it projects to be a slight downgrade for Hopkins’ fantasy value. The draft market agrees as Hopkins’ ADP has not cracked the first round since the trade. In some drafts RosterWatch has monitored, Hopkins falls to the early third round. DeAndre Hopkins is still an elite NFL player, but he belongs at the bottom of the elite WR tier for fantasy this season. 

AJ Green– Is the upside worth the risk?

When healthy, there is no debate that AJ Green has always had the talent that could have led to a HOF career if things had broken differently for him. In 2020 bestball and mock drafts, Green has been routinely drafted in the 6th-7th round. Interestingly, Green had a similar ADP in 2019, when we all knew he was injured. During most of the 2020 offseason, Green was assumed healthy and once again had a mid-round ADP. There has been spirited debate on AJ Green, and both sides of the debate have valid points. The case for Green is that he theoretically carries top 10 WR upside in an improved offensive situation assuming full health and a return to past form. The case against Green is that he is nearly 32 years old, and has a long history of injuries which might make a complete return to that past form too much of an ask. Green reportedly had a hamstring strain that kept him out of practice for a few days; he then returned to practice August 26. Since, he has been held back in a scrimmage, but the team has indicated that this was out of an abundance of caution. Still, this is a reminder of how fragile AJ Green’s overall health can be. The RosterWatch Ultimate Draft cheat sheet will likely direct you to pursue other options at WR, avoiding AJ Green at his current ADP.