5 Under the Radar Fantasy Football Picks in the Later Rounds
One of the best feelings in fantasy football is when you get a diamond in the rough in the later rounds of your draft. I personally drafted Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua last year with the final pick in both of my drafts, and reaped two championships with his help. These are five players that you should be looking at in the late rounds of your next fantasy football draft.
5. Anthony Richardson, QB, Indianapolis Colts
Richardson was just starting to get into his rhythm when he suffered a season ending shoulder injury. The Colts bolstered their receiving core even more with their second round pick, wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, out of Texas. Richardson was showing how much of a dual threat he was, racking up fantasy points last year both through the air and on the ground. The biggest drawback to this pick is just the risk of another injury, which many dual threat quarterbacks deal with on a more frequent basis. He is only at the top of the list due to the possibility of him being a potential early round pick for some, even with his injury history.
4. Jayden Reed, WR, Green Bay Packers
When Christian Watson went down with injury last year, Jayden Reed was one of the players who stepped up to help fill the hole that the loss of Watson left. Reed put up nearly 800 yards receiving, even outperforming Romeo Doubs who many view much higher than Reed. Reed could be a great late round pick to add a receiver that could catch on fire at any moment during the season.
3. Jermaine Burton, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
Burton was taken in the third round of this year’s draft and will be hoping to replace Tyler Boyd in his role as wide receiver three. Burton fell due to some off-the-field concerns in college, and the Bengals seem to be happy with their pick so far throughout training camp. Burton should fill in the slot receiver role and become a good safety net for Joe Burrow to throw to.
2. Troy Franklin, WR, Denver Broncos
Franklin may have dropped drastically to the fourth round, but he fell into the best situation he could have been, paired with his college quarterback Bo Nix on the Broncos. Franklin is buried in the depth chart at the moment, but he will get playing time, and can easily leap over the players in front of him to get into the wide receiver three or two positions. The Broncos need a receiver to emerge that will complement Courtland Sutton, and Franklin looks like the best option out of the entire receiving core the Broncos currently have.
1. Rico Dowdle, RB, Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys running back room is not very stacked, being topped by an Ezekiel Elliott who is clearly past his prime. The last time Elliott was in Dallas, we saw a drop in his production and an emergence in Tony Pollard. Rico Dowdle could easily pull off a similar season to the one a few years back when Pollard took over for Elliott production wise by the halfway point of the season.