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We got together with the Footballguys staff members and asked a simple question: Which player -- generally taken in the third round -- do you least-like having on your team?
Here are their answers.
Jeff Pasquino
All the RBs look shaky / overvalued to me here, and the quarterbacks look to be a bit overpriced given the strong depth at the position. Overall I don't like this list much beyond wide receiver, and would even consider trading out of Round 5 to pick up more Round 6 and 7 value.
Given the price tag, my least favorite is David Montgomery. Tarik Cohen steals a lot of PPR value, and uncertainty with the passing game for the Bears creates even more pressure on the run game. Defenses will key in on Montgomery and force Nick Foles (or Mitchell Trubisky) to try and beat them. Chicago's offense is nothing to write home about based on 2019 numbers, as they were 25th overall in passing yards and touchdowns and even worse in total yards and total points (29th in each). Montgomery is a solid player, but his upside barely puts him in the Top 50 for me, which is why I want to get two backs in the first four rounds and focus on receivers and other values after Round 4.
Dan Hindery
My least favorite option here is Darren Waller. The tight end position is pretty deep this season and I think you can get 90% of Waller's projected production five or six rounds later with somebody like Hayden Hurst. Waller has increased competition for targets with Henry Ruggs and Bryan Edwards arriving via the draft and the healthy returns of Tyrell Williams and Hunter Renfrow. I still like him but not enough to pass over some wide receivers with realistic WR1 upside.
Andy Hicks
Cam Akers is being drafted as the presumed starter for the Rams this year following the departure of Todd Gurley. This is not the situation or time to make that assumption. Maybe by seasons end, Akers has the job, maybe he doesn’t. Last year's third-round pick Darrell Henderson and veteran Malcolm Brown will know the system and are more than handy in their own right. Brown himself had five touchdowns last year and Henderson had two games last year with over 10 rushing attempts. If we are going to be real this looks like a running back by committee team with a below-average offensive line. Even if one guy gets the job full time I’m not sure there is enough to be a fantasy starter. If this is a committee then it will end in fantasy disappointment.
Matt Waldman
QUARTERBACK
I agree with Andy about Akers, my least-favorite player in this round. Akers has the talent to be a good fantasy starter--even a PPR stud one day. There are too many question marks about his game and his opportunity to take him this early.
Based on the strengths of Akers' and Henderson's games, they mesh well with the Rams if the team continues running gap-style blocking as it did to finish the 2019 season. If the offense returns to a heavy dose of outside zone plays, both Akers and Henderson have the potential to develop into at least competent runners but it isn't the strength of either runner. Henderson bombed in the scheme last year.
Henderson also has great potential as a receiver and breakaway threat from the backfield. In some respects, Akers and Henderson could have a modern-day Jonathan Stewart-Deangelo Williams dynamic as a backfield in L.A. I'm expecting a near-even split between Akers and Henderson, but Akers with slightly more touches in each phase of the game. Brown has long been an underrated backup who can start if needed. He'll earn 15-20 percent of the backfield's touches.
Jeff Haseley
Of the backs in this round, Cam Akers is one I don't necessarily want to hang my hat on as an RB2. First, there is the rookie factor of not having ample practice time with zero preseason games. He may be the most talented back on the team, but if he is not ready to handle the playbook, or know the protection schemes, he will struggle on the field. The Rams still have Darrell Henderson and Malcolm Brown available, who both know the offense better and have experience playing in the league. I would not be surprised to see Akers brought along slowly. That's not exactly a situation that warrants interest for a pick in the fifth round.
Jason Wood
I like this group of players quite a bit and have rostered most of them in various early leagues and best-ball formats. Ironically, Keenan Allen is one of the few of this tier I'm not targeting, which seems to fly in the face of what most of my colleagues see as value. Allen is a talent, that's clear. But he also plays for a Chargers team in the midst of a rebuild with Tyrod Taylor as the Week 1 starter and an erratic rookie Justin Herbert as the eventual starter. I don't think Allen is going to be a bust, but I don't see the upside that warrants being excited about the pick, either.
But he's not my least favorite, it's D.J. Chark. Chark is talented, I don't disagree with Matt there. But the Jaguars are on a short-list for worst teams in the NFL and I fully expect the offense to be incapable of moving up and down the field consistently. I think Gardner Minshew was more of a curiosity last year than an answer, and he'll be brutally exposed this season. Chark is too talented to be stuck in this situation, but I'm avoiding all Jaguars players this year.
Ryan Hester
This was a harder decision than picking my favorite player in this round. I'm not sold that Akers will get the workload that a fifth-round fantasy pick should. And as Jason said, Chark's talent is great, but his situation isn't. But my least-favorite pick here is Waller. At tight end, there's an argument for picking a Tier 1 player and an argument for waiting and striking gold with a late-round pick. Rarely do mid-tier tight ends return a significant profit on their prices. Aside from that, much of Waller's production last year was volume-based. His team added target competition in the offseason, which should reduce his share.
Chad Parsons
As for avoid players, Courtland Sutton is a bit rich here considering the competition for targets is much higher than last year and Sutton was a WR2/3 in 2019. Also, I have minimal faith in Raheem Mostert and expect weekly ambiguity of which 49ers back will be the lineup play and it could change at a moment's notice with their deep committee.
Phil Alexander
I'm not actively seeking to add Montgomery, Sutton, Mostert, or Waller to my rosters, but I don't see how Keenan Allen helps win championships this season.
Anthony Lynn oversaw Tyrod Taylor as an assistant head coach and offensive coordinator for two years in Buffalo. The Bills ranked 31st and 32nd in team pass attempts in those seasons, respectively. LA's off-season moves -- ousting Rivers, retooling the offensive line, and adding another capable running back in the draft -- all point to Lynn and Taylor once again taking the air out of the ball. And that's assuming the offense doesn't go in the tank with a mid-season move to Herbert.
With fewer pass attempts to go around, Allen is in a target squeeze, competing with Austin Ekeler, Hunter Henry, and Mike Williams. The lack of volume won't be offset with touchdowns either. Allen has exceeded six touchdowns in a season only once in his career, all the way back in 2013.
Jordan McNamara
At this cost, I'm avoiding Darren Waller. There are plenty of options later, and late-career breakout screams one-hit-wonder. How much do the Raiders believe? They spent three picks in the first two days of the NFL Draft on pass catchers.
Andrew Davenport
There are several guys I don't want in this round (Waller, Akers, Mostert), but it's easily David Montgomery as my least favorite. He did manage to finish as the PPR RB24 last season, but he was the ultimate plodder that constantly hurt your fantasy team. He failed to score more than seven PPR points in a brutal seven games and was generally ineffective for most of the year. Nick Foles may be able to move the offense better than Mitch Trubisky, but let's face it, this offense isn't going to suddenly be in the top half of the league. Tarik Cohen stealing the passing game work is the final piece of the puzzle that keeps me from wanting to take a shot on Montgomery at all, let alone in the fifth round.
Bob Henry
I'll answer my least favorite player as Cam Akers, although I'm equally unlikely to select Keenan Allen. My lack of interest in these two stems as least likely options boils down to my preferred draft approaches for roster construction and positional preference at this point in the draft. I don't see much value at all around the running back position with Raheem Mostert being the caveat. I can definitely get behind Mostert if I've grabbed Jackson/Mahomes early, and/or Kelce/Kittle, and still haven't selected a second back yet. In those scenarios, Mostert is absolutely a priority target. The other backs I'm just not interested in at this cost because I don't trust that Cam Akers will be featured enough to warrant a fifth-round pick and Montgomery doesn't excite me enough from an upside perspective compared to other players available here.
Following my projections for the Chargers and Keenan Allen, he is suppressed on my draft board and I don't think I've drafted him despite completing more than 30 drafts this summer. I'm having a difficult time drafting any Chargers though Mike Williams is sometimes available late enough that I can roll the dice on his immense talent and upside, despite my belief that there just won't be as many quality targets to go around with Tyrod Taylor or Justin Herbert behind center. It's not a knock on Allen's talent as much as I don't trust this offense, the coaching staff, the play calling, or Tyrod Taylor to support enough of a passing game to project Allen even within 15% of his average numbers the past few years.
