The key to success in fantasy football is making good decisions. But, of course, the first place to do that is in your league drafts. What you do in the back half of your draft can set the tone for your entire season. We all know the guys who will score points and help us win every week. The more complicated part is finding value in players that not everyone else is looking at. The unicorn. The yeti. The sleeper. Here are three players you should be able to get in those late rounds that could turn your team’s fortune come playoff time.
Rankings referenced using FantasyPros Expert Consensus Rankings (ECR)
Albert Okwuegbunam (TE – DEN) ECR: 190
When the Denver Broncos selected Albert Okwuegbunam in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL draft, many saw it as a move to help out second-year quarterback Drew Lock. Lock and Okwuegbunam were teammates at the University of Missouri, combining for 17 touchdowns over two seasons together. Unfortunately, Albert O. went down with a torn ACL after just four games that season, and we never really got to see what might have been. In 2020, he managed to play in 14 games and finish as the overall TE29 in PPR formats despite being behind Noah Fant on the tight end depth chart. While a TE3 finish isn’t necessarily impressive, it does tell you that, with things changing in the Mile High City, the only way for Okwuegbunam to go is up.
With the recent hiring of new head coach Nathaniel Hackett, the acquisition of quarterback Russell Wilson and the subsequent departure of Noah Fant, it’s hard not to be excited about Albert O. heading into 2022. He is now locked in as the lead tight end in a dynamic offense. He is a big, physical player with surprising speed and mobility for his size, reminiscent of D.K. Metcalf in Seattle. Hackett has already inferred they will use him as more of a wide receiver/tight end hybrid moving forward. In 2021, Okwuegbunam turned 40 targets into 33 catches for 330 yards and two touchdowns. With Fant now out of the way, it’s not crazy to think we could see 100-plus targets go his way this upcoming season.
Russell Wilson has a fantastic track record with athletic tight ends. In his three seasons with Wilson behind center in Seattle, Jimmy Graham was an overall top-10 tight end for fantasy twice (TE4 in 2016, TE6 in 2017). Hackett frequently uses tight ends in the red zone, as we saw in his time with Green Bay. In 2020, Robert Tonyan had 11 red-zone touchdowns. Albert Okwuegbunam has a similar physical and athletic profile to both Tonyan and Graham. This situation is the perfect storm for him to land himself in the overall TE12 or higher in 2022. Given his current FantasyPros ECR of 190 overall, he will be an absolute steal in your redraft leagues come August.
J.D. McKissic (RB – WAS) ECR: 120
There probably isn’t a more volatile situation in the NFL right now than with the Washington Commanders. This is a franchise in need of significant change, which can make it hard to want to roster anyone from thfaneir team in fantasy. Situation matters, and that includes front-office turmoil. Making the situation even less exciting for fantasy football managers is the recent addition of quarterback Carson Wentz, the presumed starter for Washington in 2022. It will be hard to justify investing in any part of the receiving corps for the Commanders this upcoming season. Still, running backs Antonio Gibson and J.D. McKissic couldn’t be in a better position to be fantasy relevant moving forward.
Antonio Gibson is a no-brainer coming out of this backfield in 2022. His current ECR (RB13, 27 overall) will probably prove to be a value when league drafts start back up in August. The less talked about running back on this team is J.D. McKissic. He is the sleeper no one is talking about, but everyone should be. While Mckissic missed the final six contests of the 2021 season, he was on pace to finish as the overall PPR RB22. That’s a solid value for a player currently valued as the overall RB43.
In 2020 (a non-injury shortened season), McKissic finished as the overall RB17 in PPR formats, grabbing 110 targets in the passing game to go with 85 carries. While Wentz likes to throw the deep ball, head coach Ron Rivera will most likely try to keep things short and quick, given how bad their offensive line has been. Lacking any real receiving depth outside of Terry McLaurin and Curtis Samuel, McKissic should be in for another season of 100-plus targets. The question is, can he turn those targets into points? From a purely PPR standpoint, the receiving work alone gives him enough upside at his current value to make him a fantastic late-round pick that could make waves for your fantasy squad.
Allen Lazard (WR – GB) ECR: 167
It’s been just a shade over three weeks since the Green Bay Packers did the unthinkable and traded away a franchise wide receiver to the Las Vegas Raiders. Most in the NFL community assumed when quarterback Aaron Rodgers signed his massive extension with the team, it was a given that Davante Adams would be back for at least the 2022 season. As we now know, that wasn’t the case. It’s left a perception of a void at the wide receiver position for the Packers, especially with the free agency departure of Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Second-year receiver Amari Rodgers, an aging Randall Cobb, and veteran Allen Lazard are all Rodgers has left at the moment.
If we’ve learned anything about Aaron Rodgers over his stellar career, it’s that he values familiarity when it comes to players within his offense. Targets are earned from the future Hall-of-Famer. For as good as Adams has been over his career, his first two seasons in Green Bay were abysmal, finishing as the overall WR74 in 2014 and WR66 in 2015. With Adams now out of the picture, it only makes sense that the next man up will be someone Rodgers knows and has a rapport with. While Cobb certainly fits this bill, he was barely targeted outside of one game in 2021 and missed a significant amount of time at the end of the season. From a logical point of view, Lazard is the only receiver who makes sense.
You might forecast the Packers taking a wide receiver in the first round of the upcoming draft or even project them signing free-agent Jarvis Landry. Either of those things could happen, but history tells us Lazard will be the guy. That’s no small role in a Rodgers-led offense. Davante Adams has finished as a WR1 in six of the last eight seasons, missing the mark only due to injury-shortened campaigns. Lazard would likely have already been in the WR1 conversation had he not spent his first four seasons behind a generational talent. His time is now, and with his current ECR of WR66 (Overall 167), he will be the biggest steal in any redraft leagues come August.
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Nate Polvogt is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Nate, check out his archive and follow him @NatePolvogt.
