Doug Baldwin, WR



I’m a bit biased on this pick because Dougie Fresh is a home town player for me. Over the last two seasons, Baldwin has had over 1000 yards and been in the top 10 in standard scoring for his position. Not too shabby. However, his ADP is always lower than his numbers reflect. For instance, last year, coming in as the 7th best receiver the year before, his ADP was around 50. Almost 20 receivers were taken before him. Early consensus rankings have him at about the 12 spot for wide receivers going into next year. I expect that he will fall in most drafts again this year which will make him a steal.

Season GP GS Recs Rec Yds Rec TD Trgt FP Pos Rank 2016 16 15 94 1128 7 125 159.60 10 2015 16 16 78 1069 14 103 190.90 7

Brandon Marshall, WR



Brandon Marshall is an interesting player for next season. He was pretty bad last year, but he did not have competent quarterback play all season. The year before, he had a magnificent season and won many people championships. This upcoming season, he’s moved to the Big Apple, will play opposite of Odell Beckham Jr. and will have a (mostly) competent quarterback. I really like Marshall next season and will be targeting him in all my leagues. Early consensus rankings have ranked him at 32 for his position. He will be a steal in most drafts. Plus, if you’re into these kinds of stats, the last 4 years he’s had a great year, followed by a bad year, followed by another great year, which followed with another bad year. So, he’s due for a good year right?

Season GP GS Recs Rec Yds Rec TD Trgt Fantasy Points Pos Rank 2016 15 15 59 788 3 128 96.80 52 2015 16 16 109 1502 14 173 230.20 3 2014 13 13 61 721 8 106 118.10 34 2013 16 16 100 1295 12 164 205.50 6

Bilal Powell, RB



Powell really came on in the second half of the season when an often injured Matt Forte was unable to play. Forte will be another year older this coming season and the injury bug may continue to plague him. Where he really shines as a fantasy player is PPR leagues. Last season, he was a top 20 RB in PPR leagues ahead of players like Lamar Miller, Carlos Hyde, and Spencer Ware. I will be stashing him in my PPR leagues as he will likely fall in most drafts because more people will be wanting the bigger name in Matt Forte. You can see by the graph below that he’s very boom or bust but when he’s on, he’s on.

Week Rush Yds Rush TDs Recs Rec Yds Rec TD Fantasy Points Pos Rank 10 37 0 7 52 1 21.9 8 12 36 0 1 7 0 5.3 45 13 3 0 0 0 0 0.3 78 14 145 2 5 34 0 34.9 2 15 84 0 11 78 0 27.2 5 16 60 0 2 14 0 9.4 35 17 122 0 3 15 1 22.7 9

Carlos Hyde, RB



With Kyle Shanahan in town running the offense, I’m super excited for Carlos Hyde going into next year. If he is used in the same way Devonta Freeman was used with the Falcons, he will be a RB worth taking a shot on. He’s currently ranked as a 3rd tier RB just outside the top ten for running backs. I believe in this offense, he can be a top 10 RB easily, especially if he is used in the passing game. Devonta Freeman has twice as many receptions (54) as Carlos Hyde last year (27). Hyde is more of a bruiser and Freeman is lighter on his feet, but I believe next year we will see an uptick in his receptions, which makes him an intriguing play.

Marcus Mariota, QB

Marcus is recovering a pretty gruesome broken leg but before he got hurt, he was torching the league. He was off to a slow start but from weeks 5-12, right before the bye week, he was a top 10 QB week to week. Current rankings have him tier 3 RB, just outside the top ten QBs. He is likely to slip while people pass on him and draft players like Cam Newton. Assuming he recovers from his injury, he will finish the season as a top 10 QB next year.

Week Pass Yds Pass TDs Ints. Rushing Yds Rushing TDs Fantasy Points Pos Rank 5 163 3 1 60 1 30 1 6 284 3 0 64 0 27 5 7 232 2 0 14 0 16 12 8 270 2 0 11 0 19 12 9 313 3 2 14 1 25 5 10 295 4 0 0 0 27 2 11 290 2 0 29 0 21 6 12 226 2 0 26 0 21 8

All stats courtesy of ESPN and Fantasydata.com