Fantasy Cheat Sheet: Your Draft Primer to Sleepers, Rookies & More

Fantasy Cheat Sheet: Your Draft Primer to Sleepers, Rookies & More article feature image
Credit:

Tim Warner/Getty Images. Pictured: Will Fuller

  • With the NFL season right around the corner, our fantasy football experts have provided a cheat sheet to help streamline your draft prep.
  • They've identified the best sleepers, rookies, late-round quarterbacks and even the busts to avoid in 2020.
  • Read more from Sean Koerner, Chris Raybon and Matthew Freedman below.

Editor's note: Eagles rookie WR Jalen Reagor suffered a shoulder injury on Aug. 30 that will reportedly sideline him for Weeks 1 and 2.


Draft day is here. Are you ready?

To streamline your prep, our trio of award-winning fantasy football rankers have made their picks across various categories — their favorite sleepers, top rookies and more.

Find a cheat sheet feat. all their picks below followed by quick summaries of their analysis.

[Create custom cheat sheets with our experts' rankings]

Fantasy Football Draft Cheat Sheet

Click on a category on the far left to skip ahead to that analysis.Click this to download the table.

Sean
Koerner
Chris
Raybon
Matthew
Freedman
Sleepers
Dallas Goedert
Will Fuller
Damien Harris
Breakouts
Hayden Hurst
Marquise Brown
Noah Fant
Busts
Todd Gurley
Todd Gurley
Nick Chubb
Rookies
Jalen Reagor
Michael Pittman Jr.
Cam Akers
Late-
Round QBs
Gardner Minshew
Cam Newton
Joe Burrow

Before we dig into their analysis, let’s meet our trio of rankers:

  • Sean Koernerwas FantasyPros’ No. 1 fantasy football draft ranker of 2019, has finished as their top in-season ranker in three of the past five seasons and is Action’s Director of Predictive Analytics.
  • Chris Raybonwas the fourth-most accurate FantasyPros’ ranker of 2019 and has watched every NFL snap since 2010.
  • Matthew Freedmanis the Editor-in-Chief of FantasyLabs and was the sixth-most accurate FantasyPros ranker in 2017.

Fantasy Sleepers

Damien Harris, RB, Patriots: There are question marks up and down the Patriots' running back depth chart. If Sony Michel is injured or ineffective, Harris will have a real chance to steal the lead-back job, which could be worth 1,000 yards and double-digit touchdowns. Read more from Freedman.

Will Fuller, WR, Texans: The missed games are all anyone seems to remember when it comes to Fuller, but he's proved that he can produce at a high clip, even with DeAndre Hopkins hogging 10-plus targets per game. With Hopkins gone, Fuller has the inside track to be Deshaun Watson's new No. 1 receiver. Read more from Raybon.

Dallas Goedert, TE, Eagles: The fantasy football market has Goedert's value entirely backward. Most assume that Zach Ertz lowers Goedert's floor/ceiling combo, but ultimately, the opposite is true. Read more from Koerner

Fantasy Breakouts

Marquise Brown, WR, Ravens: True breakout candidates are hard to come by these days — with the increase in passing and the spread offense, most receivers end up breaking out in Year 1 or … just aren’t that good. But Brown is the quintessential breakout candidate. Read more from Raybon.

Hayden Hurst, TE, Falcons: Austin Hooper was my highest-owned tight end of 2019 thanks to his role in offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter’s scheme, which has historically produced TE1s. Now I’m bullish on Hurst for the same reason — he should step right into Hooper’s role. Read more from Koerner.

Noah Fant, TE, Broncos: Fant is highly likely to break out at some point. It might as well be this year. Given the positional importance of athleticism and also draft capital, Fant looks like a future producer. Read more from Freedman.

Fantasy Busts

Nick Chubb, RB, Browns: Chubb has upside to be a top-five back if everything goes right for him this season, but I could just as clearly see Kareem Hunt taking on a way bigger workload than expected at this point. Read more from Freedman.

Todd Gurley, RB, Falcons: Gurley has lulled us into forgetting his risk. He hasn’t missed many games due to his knee injury, but he’s seen a major decline in efficiency. He hasn't been completely unproductive yet, but I see it coming. Read more from Raybon.

Todd Gurley, RB, Falcons: A decline in rushing touchdowns in Atlanta raises Gurley's bust potential. I'm avoiding him in basically all my drafts. Read more from Koerner.

todd gurley-prop-picks-betting-projections-2020
Todd Kirkland/Getty Images. Pictured: Todd Gurley

Top Fantasy Rookies

Cam Akers, RB, Rams: I am inordinately high on Akers. If not for Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Akers would actually be my No. 1 pick in rookie dynasty drafts. He might already be a top-12 fantasy back.Read more from Freedman.

Jalen Reagor, WR, Eagles: Reagor looks primed for a significant role in Philadelphia's above-average offense. The Eagles are hurting at wide receiver, so they'll need him to start Week 1.Read more from Koerner.

Michael Pittman Jr., WR, Colts: Henry Ruggs III has been the rookie WR I've been highest on for most of draft season, but Pittman provides superior value. As the Colts' likely starting X-receiver opposite T.Y. Hilton, Pittman could finish as the top rookie WR in fantasy. Read more from Raybon.

Favorite Late-Round QBs

Joe Burrow, Bengals: Investing in rookie QBs who went No. 1 overall in the draft tends to be a winning proposition. The five quarterbacks picked first overall over the past decade who have gone on to start all 16 games in Year 1 have posted a median QB10 finish. Read more from Raybon.

Cam Newton, Patriots: Is it fair to call a former MVP with five top-five fantasy finishes a sleeper? When he's being drafted outside the top 12, yes. Read more from Freedman.

Gardner Minshew, Jaguars: Given his skillset and the likelihood of the Jaguars tanking, Minshew has a chance to imitate 2019 Ryan Fitzpatrick. Read more from Koerner.

About the Author
The hub for everything bettors need to know about every sport.

Follow Action Network Staff @ActionNetworkHQ on Twitter/X.

This site contains commercial content. We may be compensated for the links provided on this page. The content on this page is for informational purposes only. Action Network makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the information given or the outcome of any game or event.