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- 6 Late-Round Sleepers Emerge
It’s time to sift through the rubble now that Week 1 of the NFL preseason is in the books.
Dwain McFarland, per usual, did the heavy lifting for us as he identified the biggest utilization and usage notes from every game.
Instead of focusing on the downer news—Jordyn Tyson out two months gahhhhh—let’s instead focus on some emerging targets for the end of our drafts (and yes, that now includes Devaughn Vele).
Here are 📈 5 UPGRADES 📈 who stood out to me from Dwain’s piece:
1) Dolphins WR Caleb Douglas: Dwain moved him up 30 spots in his ranks after he played 100% of the snaps with the starters. His 52 air yards point to a solid deep-threat role in an offense in desperate need of playmakers.
Action item: He’s one of four rookie WRs to target at the end of drafts. Although, it is worth mentioning that fellow rookie WR Chris Bell was activated yesterday.
2) Packers RB MarShawn Lloyd: Up 13 spots in the ranks after playing 100% of the snaps with the first-team offense. He is a premier handcuff who has multiple outs to hitting between Josh Jacobs’ groin strain and the ongoing investigation following a domestic disturbance.
Action item: Feel free to push him up boards. He should be going alongside Tank Bigsby and Tyler Allgeier at the very least, if not higher.
3) Niners WR De'Zhaun Stribling: The rookie played all three drives with the starters and “dominated Titans starting defenders with a 53% target share, earning eight looks on 15 routes (94% route participation).”
Action item: Once you hit the double-digit rounds of a draft, he becomes a strong target. That puts him in the Jayden Higgins and Jalen Coker range. I’m torn between him and Deebo Samuel straight up.
4) Jets WR Adonai Mitchell: AD was the clear WR2 for the Jets, handling 100% of the snaps. He continues to inch up the ranks.
Action item: With incredibly bearish reports on Omar Cooper—who is playing behind someone named “Isaiah Williams”—Mitchell becomes a compelling target. He’s definitely a “better in best ball” play, but I don’t mind him as a managed dart.
5) Steelers TE Darnell Washington: Mt. Washington outsnapped Pat Freiermuth 74% to 47% and also ran more routes (62% vs. 54%).
Action item: This is equally about cooling on Freiermuth, but Washington is firmly on the late-round dart radar. He could easily end up the top TE for the Steelers this year.
6) Colts WR Keenan Allen. We knew something like this was going to happen and it became official late last night. Allen heads to Indy to give Daniel Jones another weapon while Alec Pierce nurses his ankle back to health.
Action item: Allen becomes a strong late-round WR target with lots of opportunity up for grabs in Indy.
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Around the Watercooler
Your favorite football nerds are back and bringing you the latest news, content and memes from the NFL universe …
🐴 A popular breakout WR just got company. Keenan Allen joins the Colts.
💪 How to find this year’s Matthew Stafford? Matthew is joined by Russell Wilson to explore.
🍋 Join a league and get a shot to win $10K. Play Harder & it’s Free.
📚 Play these stacks for big wins. Double your fun.
🫶🏼 Love hurts. Jeremiyah’s injury update and more.
⛑️ Boo, Jordyn Tyson is going to miss about two months. Now what?
👋 Pass on these WRs. Not getting burned by him again.
👀 Trade for Luther Burden in dynasty? Or explore other options.
🤔 Breaking down fantasy setbacks. For future titles.
🚑️ Other injury updates: Emeka Egbuka, DeVonta Smith & Breece Hall.
🚂 Ja’Kobi Lane hype train is gaining steam. Choo, Choo!
😥 R.I.P. Hayden Panettiere. She stole the show in Remember The Titans.
📉 Buy low on these players. Great insurance at RB.
🤔 Another body for the Giants RB room? An FA looms.
Who’s Rising and Falling on the Dynasty Rankings?
With Alex Cupps joining the crew here at Fantasy Life, he brings with him a wide array of coverage in the fantasy football industry. One area where he is quite passionate is dynasty fantasy football. That’s why one of his earliest orders of business was to share his dynasty rankings with our audience. Here are hints at a few players he’s either higher or lower on in those ranks:
What are the Optimal Spots to Draft?
With so much emphasis that’s put on the 1.01 in fantasy drafts, people tend to let down when they don’t get that top spot. Chris Allen is doing a great job of showcasing the strategy at the top 10 draft spots (more to come). But is there a favorite spot for drafters?
Tipp Major used our Draft Champion to explore the various draft spots in 10, 12 and 14-team leagues. The results are far from the obvious, and he showcases some great reasoning behind why those spots are the best. ⤵️
How to Predict the Year 2 Breakouts?
Could we have predicted Drake Maye’s Year 2 breakout? Some would say they did. Well, Alex Cupps built a model named CUPPS that does a good job of predicting sophomore breakouts. What happens when it’s put to the test on 2026’s Year 2 players? Kendall and Pete are joined by Alex to see what the model says. Make sure to subscribe to the Fantasy Life Show YouTube channel to catch every episode. ⤵️
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