Seemingly everyone has a fantasy football draft this week and next, but this year feels different.
Rookies are the talk of the town, and teams are making trades left and right in order to stack their rosters up with the best players in an attempt to grab bragging rights against their friends through January.
In steps NBC Sports’ lead NFL fantasy analyst and Fantasy Life founder Matthew Berry, who has a wealth of knowledge to help you win your league from those in low-stake competitions to those in high-stakes saga and everything between.
Berry tells The Post that preseason player movement has opened opportunities for players to catch their friends sleeping at the wheel and buy low on players that teams made room for in their rotations.
Average draft positions (ADP) listed are via Guillotine Leagues‘ online rankings and Sleeper.
Jalen Coker WR (ADP Guillotine Leagues: 228 | Sleeper: 170)
The Panthers traded Adam Theilen and while everyone is excited about his prospects for volume back in Minnesota, many are missing the boat on Carolina’s rising receiver.
“The most interesting thing of this trade is in Carolina,” Berry said. “Coke Heads unite, it’s Jalen Coker time. All of us that are fans of Jalen Coker, we call ourselves the ‘Coke Heads.’ So I’m a ‘Coke Head.’ Coker is going to be the big slot. I think candidly it was an uneven rookie year from Xavier Leggette. So if he doesn’t take another step this year, there’s a scenario where he could easily overtake Leggette for the No. 2 role in Carolina.”
Berry adds that while the Panthers’ offense isn’t sexy, Bryce Young showed improvement down the stretch last season.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt (ADP Guillotine Leagues 148.3 | Sleeper: 99)
Berry is massively invested in the rookie seventh-round pick — nicknamed Bill — who was so good in the preseason that Washington traded starter Brian Robinson Jr., to make room for him.
“I think he’s the head of the committee, but it’s still a committee,” Berry said. “I think he’s definitely a top-30 overall running back. He’s a top-50 overall player. I think he’s in the 20s among the running backs. So, I have him as a high-end flex and low-end RB2.”
Berry adds that among rookie running backs, he could be ranked higher than Broncos running back RJ Harvey.
While you shouldn’t expect Croskey-Merritt to usurp Austin Ekeler in passing downs, he could get goal-line work as the Commanders want to maintain Jayden Daniels’ health for the whole season.
Berry’s projection of a top-50 player implies a massive value on draft day; his ADP has dropped from the 200s to 148.3 at the time of writing.
Betting on the NFL?
Sean Tucker (ADP Guillotine Leagues 219 | Sleeper: 635 )
Tucker would appear to be the third running back in Tampa Bay behind Bucky Irving and Rachaad White, but Berry has the inside scoop on that backfield.
“I mention Sean Tucker because I talked to a pretty good source from Tampa Bay, and he said internally, they believe that Sean Tucker is good enough to be an RB1 in this league,” Berry said. “He’s just stuck behind Bucky Irving because Bucky Irving is also really good. I don’t know that they love Rachaad White. When it was his rookie year, when he broke out, it was all volume. He wasn’t particularly efficient.”
Tucker, who was productive at Syracuse, had a strong rookie campaign and could break out if Irving gets banged up this year.
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Erich Richter is a brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt but he has a black belt in MMA betting. During the football season he’s showcased massive profits at The Post in the player prop market the last two seasons. While constantly betting long shots, his return on investment is 30.15 percent since 2022.
