Veterans Veteran Fantasy Losers After Day Three of The NFL Draft
by Alan Seslowsky – Twitter: @Alanseslowsky

The real NFL draft is seven rounds. It is a three-day event. The fourth through seventh rounds are held on day three. Casual observers of the draft may start to lose interest; but not fantasy players. Day three of the draft still has big fantasy football implications. Plenty of running backs, wide receivers, and upside tight ends are picked that can cause value drops for veteran players. Below are a few veteran players that lost fantasy football value after day three of the real NFL draft.

Miles Sanders RB, Eagles

The Eagles drafted Kenneth Gainwell out of Memphis, early in the fifth round. Gainwell was drafted later than most of us thought he would go. Gainwell put himself on the fantasy radar with his monster 2019 college production. Gainwell finished 2019 with more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage and over 50 receptions. He does not have workhorse size at 5’8″ and 201 lbs. Gainwell profiles as a pass-catching or change of pace player. Gainwell’s presence on the roster does not kill Miles Sander’s value but could limit Sanders’ pass-catching upside. Heading into day three of the draft, Sanders looked like a player that could have escaped without getting a significant player to complete with on the roster. Sanders has had his share of injuries and may benefit from a shared workload, but he can no longer be aggressively drafted in the top 18 picks. Sanders is a perfectly fine pick in the early third round. 

AJ Dillon, RB Packers

Dillon has had an incredible roller coaster value ride this off-season. When dynasty startup and bestball drafts began in February, Dillon was getting drafted as high as the late fourth round. The bull case for Dillon was that Aaron Jones was rumored to be leaving the Packers in free agency. When the Packers resigned Jones, Dillon’s ADP returned to the 10th round as a premium backup player. 

Though real NFL seventh-round draft picks rarely return value, there are exceptions. Green Bay may have landed a gem in Mississippi States’s Kylin Hill. Hill proved to have a three-down skill set through the course of his college career. In 2019 Hill had over 1350 rushing yards with 10 TDs. In only three games during the 2020 season, Hill caught an eye-popping 23 passes. It is not a secret that Miss St. Head Coach, Mike Leach, had a falling out with Hill. During the pre-draft process, talking negatively about Hill, effectively making Kylin Hill radio-active for GMs. A quick internet search can provide details of Hill’s political disagreement with Leach. 

Hill’s talent is a problem for AJ Dillon’s upside. Should starter Aaron Jones go down, Dillon is unlikely to be a workhorse. He would share the load with Hill.  AJ Dillon is still worth a valuable roster spot but took a value hit with a live rookie runner now in the mix for touches.  

The Jets Running Backs: Lamical Perine/Tevin Coleman

Rational fantasy players were not fighting each other to draft either incumbent RB on the Jets’ roster. However, sharp players did take notice that the Jets are improved offensively and there was value to be had from this backfield. Both Perine and Coleman were reasonable last-round darts. The Jets made one of the best RB value picks of the draft taking North Carolina’s Michael Carter in the early fourth round. Carter does not have workhorse RB size but did out-produce his college teammate Javonte Williams in rushing yards this season. Carter can do it all and is already the most coveted fantasy RB on the Jets roster. Both veteran Jet runners are not worth rostering, even in deeper leagues.