Fantasy Football Guide 2021: NFC sleepers, targets, busts, strategies
By Zach Cohen
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Fantasy Football Guide
Despite averaging 21 points per game, Tom Brady finished as QB8. This year, you can probably get him as QB10. This ties back to what I said about Patrick Mahomes and the opportunity cost of drafting quarterbacks too high. You can wait for a guy like Brady who you know can put up numbers each week. Of course, I prefer quarterbacks with rushing upside. Just because you throw the ball 40+ times every week, doesn’t mean you’re scoring a lot of fantasy points every week. I’d rather have Ryan Tannehill. (There I said it.)
The only Tampa Bay running back I will consider drafting this year is Giovani Bernard. He was signed for one reason and one reason only: To catch passes. That leaves Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette competing for the same job. And even if one of them becomes the team’s primary back, this is still an offense that favors throwing the ball. You will not catch me drafting Jones or Fournette unless they fall to my last three selections. That has yet to happen.
Just like with the Bucs’ running backs, I’m targeting the Bucs wide receiver that is going the latest. After Antonio Brown joined Tampa Bay in Week 9, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin saw an expected dip in targets and therefore, production. From that time on, Evans led the three in points per game with 17.4. However, Brown wasn’t far behind with 14.6, and Godwin averaged 15.8.
Take out Brown’s first game back and the trio were top-18 receivers to end the season. So why do I prefer Brown? You can get him nearly five rounds later. I’m not saying Brown will be the team’s best receiver, but his value is too good to be true. As for Evans, he’s a bit too touchdown-dependent and inconsistent for me at his ADP, though he’s not a bad pick by any means.
I love Godwin’s talent, but I prefer Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp in that range over him and Evans. I’d possibly take Tyler Lockett over them, too. The only value Rob Gronkowski has at this point is in best ball because you know he’ll put up massive points some weeks and drop duds in others. I’d be very shocked if O.J. Howard becomes a post-hype success story.