I just completed a draft against other industry analysts. This is one of those best-ball leagues, with no waiver moves or starting lineups. There were 240 players chosen, and the quality of what’s left at the end is a little higher than what I expected.
In this 12-team league, each franchise has a 20-man roster. Your score each week is calculated by taking your best lineup (using PPR scoring) that includes a QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE, K, D plus one flex player (RB-WR-TE).
If you want to pick through the blow by blow of the draft, which unfolded online over a few weeks, you can see it at MyFantasyLeague.com. But here, I’m looking not at the draft picks but who wasn’t selected.
If we were to build a 13th roster out of what was left over, what would that look like?
Looking at the players not chosen can give us a sense of some guys who might be available in the last round of our own drafts.
Here (in my opinion) are the best 20 players not picked in the 2021 Fanex Analysis Draft competition.
Sam Darnold. There were 30 quarterbacks selected, and I’m surprised Darnold wasn’t one of them. With the way they aggressively throw the ball around in Carolina, I thought Darnold should have been the second quarterback on some roster. The Panthers have good receivers, and averaged 258 passing yards per week last year, tying for 16th in the league.
Jimmy Garoppolo. Garoppolo isn’t getting picked in drafts, and I think that’s a mistake. I think he’s going to be the opening day starter for the 49ers, and I expect he’ll put up top-20 numbers for as long as he can stay in that role.
Zach Wilson. We’ll see. He’s a starter with some decent receivers, and he’ll run around some. I thought he would be picked. Other notable quarterbacks not chosen: Jared Goff, Mac Jones, Tyrod Taylor and both of the main contenders in Denver. In my opinion, the vast majority of teams in this format should be carrying two quarterbacks, with just a few drafting three (to account for injury-risk players and guys like Deshaun Watson).
Sony Michel. I’m not a big Michel fan. He doesn’t catch many passes, which hurts him in this format. But I consider him to be entrenched as New England’s No. 2 tailback. His per-game numbers last year in his six starts were almost identical to what Damien Harris did in his 10 starts. Both of these backs could get a lot better when the Patriots pull the plug on Cam Newton, which could happen before opening day.
Joshua Kelley. In this kind of format (with no waiver moves) backup running backs are chosen. But other than Austin Ekeler, no other Chargers backs were picked. I expect this is because of the uncertainty of who’ll fill that role. Could be Kelley, Justin Jackson or Larry Rountree. I thought about Kelley with pick 238 but Samaje Perine was also available, and I considered Perine to be a safer choice to definitely be a No. 2 for the bulk of the season.
Qadree Ollison. As of right now, Ollison seems to be the No. 2 back in Atlanta, and he’s got a pretty ordinary guy ahead of him (Mike Davis).
Salvon Ahmed. Ahmed had a couple of nice games last year, running for 85 yards against the Chargers and 122 yards against the Patriots. The Dolphins signed journeyman Malcolm Brown, but I expect it will be Ahmed who’s their backup tailback.
Wayne Gallman. Gallman was a starter-type guy for eight games last year, and he ran for 533 yards and 5 TDs in that half season of work. They’ve got a host of guys competing in San Francisco, but some chance Gallman claws his way to the top of the depth chart for some portion of the season. In the league’s other impossibly crowded backfield, there wasn’t much interest in the Jets running backs other than Michael Carter: Ty Johnson, LaMical Perine and Josh Adams all not picked.
Christian Kirk. I don’t like A.J. Green, and I’m not sure that Rondale Moore will play much inititally. I think it instead will be Kirk who’s their 2nd-best wide receiver.
Tyrell Williams. Somebody needs to be the leading wide receiver in Detroit. I intended to select Amon-Ra St. Brown with a late-round pick, but somebody else picked him long before I was getting around to making that move. The Lions signed Breshad Perriman and Williams, and the size of the contracts indicates they think Williams is a much better player.
Adam Humphries. Camp reports indicate Humphries has been catching a lot of balls from Ryan Fitzpatrick. That pair had a rapport in Tampa Bay a few years back. With this being a PPR format, those kind of players hold some value.
Demarcus Robinson. He’ll probably be Kansas City’s 3rd-best wide receiver, with the potential to pull in touchdowns in a decent number of weeks – maybe a bunch of weeks if Tyreek Hill winds up missing time with some kind of injury.
Jamison Crowder. The Jets drafted Elijah Moore early in the second round, but they’re bringing back Crowder. With his experience, he’ll probably begin the season as New York’s slot receiver. Another Jets receiver also wasn’t picked: Denzel Mims (reports indicate he’s been struggling at camp to find a role).
Hunter Renfrow. In each of the last two years, Renfrow has caught more passes than any other wide receiver on the roster of the Raiders.
Jack Doyle. Doyle caught 7 passes for 70 yards and a touchdown in their playoff game last year. Capable of performing better than what we saw in the regular season last year. The other main Colts tight end, Mo Alie-Cox, also wasn’t picked.
Jimmy Graham. Bears are bringing him back, and he’ll probably be their main pass-catching option around the goal line.
Dan Arnold. The Panthers didn’t throw much to their tight ends last year, but I will be interested to see what they do with Arnold. He’s definitely a tight end of the pass-catching variety, and they made an effort to sign him in free agency. Arnold caught 4 TDs in the second half of last season with Arizona.
Brandon McManus. If the Broncos can get somewhat adequate quarterbacking, they’ll be pretty good. Denver attempted an NFL record 15 field goals from 50-plus last year, and McManus hit 10 of them. Possible top-10 kicker.
Dustin Hopkins. Washington looks like a pretty solid team – playoff team last year, and now with a better quarterback. The Football Team ranked 7th in kicker scoring in the second half of last year.
Los Angeles Chargers. Chargers have good defensive talent, and they’ve got an up-and-coming defensive coach coming in to help them get more out of it.
New York Giants. Giants played very well defensively in the second half of last year.
—Ian Allan