Fantasy drafts are over with for the season, unless I try to sneak in one more in the next three days, as I often do. Now I can sit back, look at my various teams, and see, Wow, I ended up with a lot of the same players on a lot of different teams.
Virgil Green, Denver. This is not surprising. Fantasy Index was much, much higher on Green than anyone else. I had to do player searches just to find him in ESPN's rankings, which ranked Jeff Heuerman and Owen Daniels higher. You know, I get that preseason games are boring for many people, but it's worth at least taking some interest in who teams are starting at various skill positions. Green is Denver's starting tight end. Nobody is comparing him to Rob Gronkowski, but he certainly ought to be drafted.
Eli Rogers, Pittsburgh. Another player I was happy to select in the latter rounds of drafts. He's Pittsburgh's starting slot receiver. They're going to have a pretty good passing offense, and the only wide receiver obviously better than him is Antonio Brown.
Robert Kelley, Washington. Kelley is the No. 2 running back in Washington, and Matt Jones has been sidelined since early in the preseason after injuring his shoulder. There's been no indication that Jones will miss any time at the start of the season, but it's possible, and even if he's out there in Week 1, he'll likely either get injured again or disappoint. I see Kelley as a potential fantasy starter. Nobody else had any interest in drafting him.
Tajae Sharpe, Tennessee. I like Sharpe a little more than Ian does. It's true, Tennessee is going to run the ball a ton. But so is Buffalo, and when they do pass, Sammy Watkins will be the main guy. I am not buying elderly Andre Johnson as a significant factor, and I think Sharpe is better than Rishard Matthews. Sharpe could/should be the No. 1 wide receiver here.
Isaiah Crowell, Cleveland. In one of my leagues, Crowell wasn't drafted at all; I added him from free agency after the draft. And I get it. He plays for what will probably be the league's worst team (By design!), and ticked a lot of people off, rightly, with his inappropriate anti-police Instagram post. But he was contrite and tried to make amends for that misstep, and geez he's a starting running back for a team that will run a lot in the first halves of games, until it starts getting blown out.
Mike Gillislee, Buffalo. Very frequently last season, the Bills had two good running backs: LeSean McCoy and Karlos Williams, Karlos Williams and Mike Gillislee, etc. I love that people are drafting Reggie Bush with the idea he'll be the No. 2. Even in the event he starts out that way, it should take all of 2-3 weeks for Buffalo to scrap that setup. Gillislee is a nice last-round option; he'll start games this season.
Other Richardson repeat players: Terrance West, Kenneth Dixon, Philip Rivers, Jason Witten, Jacob Tamme, Willie Snead.
