Fantasy Football Guide 2021: NFC sleepers, targets, busts, strategies
By Zach Cohen
Atlanta Falcons Fantasy Football Guide
You know what you’re getting with Matt Ryan. He won’t be that good every week despite a constant barrage of pass attempts. If you draft him, you’re banking on his volume to launch him into a low-end QB1 finish. He’s better in best ball, which automatically sets your lineup based on your highest-scoring players.
Where to start with Mike Davis? He played surprisingly well as Christian McCaffrey‘s replacement last season, which included the fifth-most targets among all running backs. He nearly matched his career total of targets in one season. Some say it was simply a product of Carolina‘s offense, while others say Davis is just good. I think both can be true, so I’d be fine with Davis as my RB3. I don’t expect Atlanta to use him nearly as much as a receiver, but it’s nice knowing he has that capability. Their offensive line isn’t doing Davis any favors, either. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Cordarrelle Patterson carve out a role, too.
I love Calvin Ridley. Unless the other top-five receivers drop far below their ADP, then Ridley is the only one of them who I’d strongly consider drafting at his ADP. He’s currently going in the middle of round two in 12-team leagues. My only concern with Ridley is Kyle Pitts’ role. Even if Pitts is mostly used as an outside receiver, history shows the two can co-exist if Pitts is used like a traditional in-line tight end more often than not. Ridley has legit potential to be the highest-scoring wideout in fantasy.
At first glance, Russell Gage seems like a fine breakout candidate. However, his role may not expand too much — and it all depends on Pitts. Pitts and Gage both have the skillsets to line up anywhere. So to make this forecast easier, consider Pitts as WR2 and Gage as WR3. Gage was WR3 in the Falcons’ offense last season, so unless Arthur Smith whips out some new concepts, we can expect Gage to finish around WR37 again. Pitts is an anomaly in that rookie tight ends rarely finish remotely high. Draft him with caution, but also draft him as a top-six tight end.