Ian Allan answers your fantasy football questions. In this edition: Why Jared Cook looks like a mediocre fantasy prospect. Where Thomas Rawls fits into a dynasty draft. And why Kirk Cousins is a better quarterback than Matt Ryan.
Question 1
Tough decision in 16-team league; all TDs are 6 pts, PPR league. Planning to keep Langford in round 12 and have to choose between tight end Cooks in 11th or Carson Palmer in the 4th. Looks like 6 or 7 QBs will be kept , None of the top ones though so I expect QBs to go of the board like normal which is way higher than most leagues due to the 6 points per td and the fact that it's 16 teams and waiting can leave you with RGIII as your starter. If I had to speculate Palmer goes in the third and I don't know yet if I drafting early or late in 4th Rd.
Vernon Jones (Rockville, MD)
I’m not a Jared Cook fan. He’s got great physical measurables, but he’s been in the league for seven years, and no team has really been able to tap into that. He doesn’t block well enough to be used as an in-line blocker. And while he’s got good speed for a tight end, he doesn’t seem to be anything special in terms of catching the ball, running routes, coming down with the ball in contested situations or having that knack for settling down in open spots in zones. A pretty ordinary guy, I think. I imagine the Packers will mix him into their offense, but I don’t think he’ll be a big part of what they’re doing. Will he even be better than their other tight end, Richard Rodgers? I’m not sure that he will be. Not even a top-30 tight end on my board, so not a player I would draft until the last round in your league. Palmer, on the other hand, I like. You’ve got 16 teams, and you’ve got 6 points for touchdown passes, so there will be competition for the capable players at this position. I think there are only 22 good quarterbacks, and it would be nice to be one of the teams in your league with two of those 22. There are bye weeks and tough matchups, and if your starter gets hurt, you don’t want to be relying on somebody like Jared Goff or Alex Smith. I ran some rough draft numbers on your league, and they showed four quarterbacks being selected in the first round, three being selected in the second, and three (including Palmer) being selected in the third. I think the correct move is to go ahead and use that fourth-round pick on Palmer right now, giving you the flexibility to better utilize your choices in the first three rounds.
Question 2
I've been offered Thomas Rawls for my 1.03 pick in the upcoming dynasty rookie draft. All I hear is how bad this draft class is, but the Seahawks drafted three RBs and Rawls is still recovering from an injury, so I'm torn on this deal. What are your thoughts?
Geoff Maleman (Los Angeles, CA)
Is running back a big need on your team? If so, then I would probably take on Rawls. I think he’ll be a good short-term running back, and you could fortify that selection, I think, by picking up Alex Collins in maybe the fourth or fifth round. He’ll probably be their next starting tailback. But I’m not in love with Rawls. I’m not sure how long he can stay healthy with that running style, and Seattle’s offensive line has really slipped. If you go through each of the five positions – left tackle, left guard, center, right guard and right tackle – and look at each of the 32 starters around the league, you can’t really come to any other conclusion than Seattle grading out with the worst offensive line in the entire league. It will be a surprise, I think, if they don’t have a bottom-5 offensive line. So if you go down the road of drafting Rawls, Alex Collins and perhaps C.J. Prosise, then you’re burning up roster spots and taking on those offensive line issues. If you can live without a running back, then the best course might be to sit back and watch these rookie receivers. Corey Coleman looks very good. To me, he seems to be cut from the same cloth as guys like Brandin Cooks, Steve Smith Sr. and Antonio Brown. He’s small, but he’s really quick and competitive as hell. Today, he’s the guy I would be hoping for. But if you’re drafting in mid-to-late August, you also get the luxury of taking a peek at Laquon Treadwell, Josh Doctson and Sterling Shepard. I like the way Jay Gruden puts together passing offenses, and I’m think Doctson could be the No. 1 guy there as early as 2017 – give him a year to develop behind DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon. With Treadwell, he’s handcuffed to Teddy Bridgewater, and that scares me.
Question 3
Looking for your thoughts. At QB, I have to keep either Matt Ryan or Kirk Cousins. I feel that Matt Ryan will always be good at home and just okay on the road. The eye test seems to point to he doesn't have what it takes to make it to the next level. With that being said, Cousins is still unproven. He had a great run down the stretch and seems to have move upside moving forward. At RB, I have the option of keeping either Jeremy Langford or Matt Forte. I feel pretty confident that Langford would be the good choice moving forward. He shined when he got his opportunity last year when Forte was sidelined. Looking for insight so that I clinch my 5th MVFFL Championship and second back to back.
Adam Bergeron (Salem, NH)
Not a huge difference between the two, I think, but I’m comfortable locking in on Cousins. He’s shown me enough. He was really good in the second half of last year, completing a league-high 74 percent of his passes, with a league-high 126 passer rating – 19-2 TDs to interceptions in those final eight games. I will concede that he was helped along in there by a soft schedule, but that’s still production against NFL defenses. We can say at his point (I think) that Cousins is one of the top 15 or 20 quarterbacks in the NFL – at least. More notably, Jay Gruden has shown very good ability to construct passing games. In the past three years, his offenses have all averaged at least 268 passing yards per game, and that’s without having a franchise-type quarterback like Brees or Brady running the show. That’s with Andy Dalton, Robert Griffin III, Colt McCoy and Cousins. Cousins also has that feel for taking in touchdowns on his own on quarterback draws. He scored 5 TDs last year. He won’t score that many again, but I think it’s reasonable to hope for him to maybe get three of those touchdowns, and that’s something Matt Ryan doesn’t do. On the other side of the equation, we’ve got the Falcons. Ryan has averaged 293 and 287 passing yards per game the last two years, so it’s reasonable to say he’s a slight favorite to finish with more yards. But just 21 TD passes last year, when they had all kinds of problems in the red zone. He wasn’t a great touchdown passer in either of his previous two seasons, with 26 and 28 TDs (in a different offense). Are there issues with him or with Kyle Shanahan’s offense? Maybe. I think the upside for Ryan is that he improves into being the kind of quarterback that we’re pretty sure Cousins will be. Not a huge difference between these guys, but I would roll with Cousins.