The Top Draft Target in Each of the First 10 Rounds

Andrew Erickson shares which player he is targeting in each of the first 10 rounds of fantasy football drafts. Tune in as he goes round-by-round breaking down why each of these players offers the most value at their current draft price.

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome fantasy football gamers. I'm Andrew Erickson, and today we're
going to be exploring my top targets in the first
ten rounds of drafts who are poised to make a
significant impact in twenty twenty three. From round one to
round ten, will break down all the names you need
to know in the hidden gems you don't want to overlook.
So buckle up and get ready to learn about the
top targets that should be on your draft radar. Let's
get started with our first player target, Round one. Running

(00:22):
back Bijon Robinson Atlanta Falcons ECR seven. The highly tighted
rookie running back from Texas was selected eighth overall in
the twenty twenty three NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons,
and his fantasy football ceiling is sky high. And his
final college football season, Robinson was the second highest grade
rusher in the FBS per PFF and posted a staggering
thirty seven percent dominator rating with eighteen rushing touchdowns at

(00:43):
over fifteen hundred rushing yards. His impressive forty percent broken
tackle rate and one hundred and four misstackles forced demonstrate
his ability to thrive at the NFL level and Arthur
Smith's run heavy offense. Last season, Tyler Algier, a former
fifth round pick, finished as PFF's highest grade rookie running
back and ranked sixth in rushing EPA as your average
nearly eighteen carries and ninety six rushing yards per game
from week thirteen nine ward in twenty twenty two. Given

(01:05):
robinson superior town and size compared to Alger, the first
year rusher is primed to be a three down back
for the Atlanta Falcons. Considering the offense ranked first and
early down run rate last year, Robinson has the potential
to eclipse three hundred carries and fifteen hundred rushing yards
and making him a top three ranked running back in
season long formats. Round two wide receiver, I'm on ross
Saint Brown Detroit Lions, ECR twenty Amon Roussaint Brown is

(01:26):
one of my favorite targets in this range. I feel
so comfortable pushing the draft button on him in round
two with zero hesitance to speak of. His thirty two
percent target rate per route run trailed only Tyreek Hill
last season. The Lions also own a top ten schedule
for the entire season and through the first six weeks
of the year, with no Jameson Williams and a slight
of favorable defensive matchups, there will be no stopping the
burn from the sun God himself. Detroit is ty with

(01:48):
Jacksonville with the most favorable strength of schedule for fantasy
wide receivers this season. Round three tight end Mark Andrews
Baltimore Ravens ECR twenty six. Mark Andrews was nearly matching
Travis Kelsey's expected fantasy point output last season before Lamar
Jackson's injury. Season long twenty nine percent targets hair led
all tight ends in twenty twenty two, and only four

(02:08):
other Titans scored fewer fantasy points under expectation than Andrews.
They're all reasons to buy into Andrews having a bounce
back season, because even if Andrews's fewer targets after the
wide receiver additions the Ravens have made this offseason, I
bet it ends up being a net positive with a
boost and overall efficiency, which was severely lacking last year.
Round four running back JK. Dobbins of Baltimore Ravens ECR

(02:32):
forty one. Dobbins twenty twenty two campaign got off to
a sluggish start. As he was covering from major knee
surgery and missed the first two weeks of the season. However,
when Dobbins finally returned later in the year, he showed
why he's such a highly regarded talent. In his last
five games, including the playoffs, he averaged an impressive six
point six yards per carry, ninety two rushing yards and
fourteen carries per game. The strong finish is a promising
side for his prospects next year in an offense that

(02:53):
should light the League of Blaze under QB offensive coording
in their combination of Lamar Jackson slash Todd Munket and
although he continued to split carries with Gus Edwards, dobbins
explosive running style and effectiveness in the Ravens offense makes
him the best fantasy asset. Despite the presence of Edwards
and Justice Hill in the backfield, Dobbins is the clearer
lead back for the Ravens that should be viewed as
a top tier fantasy option. Baltimore could ride him into

(03:14):
the ground as an impending free agent Round five wide receiver.
Jerry Judy Denver Bronco's ECR fifty five Jerry Judy impressed
tremendously down the stretchment healthy. No player scored more Fantasy
points in PPR with the sub seventy five percent overall
route participation or posted the higher yards per route run
versus man coverage than Judy. Last year, he also finished
thirteenth in target rate per route run, and Judy's last

(03:34):
six games he earned a twenty five percent targets chair
and finished fifth in receiving yards overall from week to on,
where the Broncos wide receiver led the NFL in yards
per route run. Obviously, any upgraded quarterback play next year
is great for Judy because he easily projects as the
number one receiver on the offense from a volume perspective,
and last year he finally showed that he could score
Fantasy points, finishing as a wide receiver twenty one after
failing to crack the top forty five in his first

(03:56):
two years in the league. With a great route running
and separation skills to boot, Judy's stocks should continue to rise.
Before I get to my top draft targets in each
of the next five rounds, I want to tell you
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dollars off your entry. Good luck and happy drafting. Round
six quarter Justin Fields, Chicago Bears ECR sixty three. Looking

(05:03):
ahead to this season, it's highly anticipated that Bears quarterback
Justin Fields will make a significant leap in his performance.
Not only did he finish last season as the QB
six and points per game with twenty point six, but
during his eleven games played from weeks five through seventeen,
he ranked as a QB five in points per game
with a twenty four point one per game mark. Moreover,
the Bears have made it significant improvements to their supporting
cast in the offseason, highlighted by the additions of DJ

(05:25):
Moore and Darnell Wright, which sets the stage for Fields
to continue his upward trajectory and become a super nova
fantasy producer in year three. Round seven wide receiver Deontae
Johnson Pittsburgh Steelers ECR seventy seven. I am firmly planning
my flag on Steelers wide receiver Deontay Johnson have a
massive bounced back campaign. He didn't score last season, which
is likely a fluke, and second year wide receiver George
Pickets is a darling in the fantasy football community, but

(05:47):
even though DJ is still the more proven asset, Picketts
is consistently drafted ahead of him. Johnson's ability to commanding targets,
based on his twenty eight percent target share in seventh
ranked one hundred and thirty seven targets last season, suggests
he's a prime candidate for positive regression in many facets.
His combined downfield targets and red zone targets were the
most of any player to not score a touchdown last season.
Those trends don't tend to carry over a year from

(06:09):
year five. Low on the wide receiver fifteen expected fantasy
points per game from the last season. Round eight Wide
receiver Jordan Adison Minnesota Vikings ECR ninety one. I love
targeting first round rookie wide receiver Jordan Addison in this range.
He tends to be cheaper than fell first rounder of Jackson,
Smith and Jigba, despite the former having the much better
landing spot as the number two wide receiver alongside Justin

(06:29):
Jefferson in the Vikings offense. It's Addison's NFL team in
college profile that had me fully expecting him to hit
the ground running in year one. Recall that Addison broke
out as an eighteen year old freshman in twenty twenty
with sixty catches six hundred and sixty year receiving yarts
and four receiving touchdowns. The early age production is a
sign of an elite prospect and clearly foreshadowed Adison's rise
to become one of the best wide receivers in college football.

(06:50):
He transferred to USC from Pittsburgh this past year and
led the Trojans with fifty nine catches for eight hundred
and seventy five yards and eight receiving touchdowns. But most importantly,
the five foot eleven, one hundred and seven three pound
wide receiver proved that he could play more outside after
spending most of his time in the slot at Pittsburgh.
Round nine running back Antonio Gibson Washington Commander's ECR ninety seven.
Tonio Gibson had a polarizing twenty twenty two season, splitting

(07:12):
work in the Commander's back filled with rookie Brian Robinson, whoever,
Gibson's proven track record of production, ideal size and pass
catching chops making him enticing by low running back target.
Despite operating as an RB three for much of the
second half of twenty twenty two, Gibson remained much more
involved to the passing game than Robinson, with an impressive
fourteen percent targets here in eighty point five PFF for
Stephen Gray. The release of Jad mcisock further solidifies Gibson's

(07:33):
role as the primary receiving back for Washington. As a
free agent at the end of the year, the team
could ride Gibson to the wheels fall off. Additionally, new
offensive coordinary Eric Beenemy's arrival may lead to more opportunities
for Gibson, as he has no prior commitment to the
hierarchy of the backfield from last year. We could easily
see Gibson and the Jack McKinnon s role in Washington.
The commander's tough schedule also foreshadows negative game scripts, which

(07:53):
favors Gibson's pass catching abilities. Round ten tight end Chigaconquo
Tennessee Titans ECR one hundred and twenty one. My favorite
late round tight end is Chickakonquo. He started the last
two games of the season for the Tennessee Titans and
flashed uber efficiency in the receiving game. The rookies twenty
six percent target rate per route run ranks second among
all tight ends with at least forty targets. He finished
third and PFF receiving grade first in arts per reception

(08:16):
and first in arts per ute run among all tight ends.
More So, both Austin Hooper and Jeff Swain both departed
in free agency, and the Titans neglected to add any
more receiving competition through the NFL Draft or through NFL
free agency.

Speaker 2 (08:27):
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