George Pickens Will Be A League Winner In Round 5 Of Fantasy Football Drafts
In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Renegade Fantasy Sports, George Pickens as a league winner, team names, the best ball portfolio, and more.
I whiffed on a lot of things last year, but none of them haunt me as much as the veteran RBs who changed teams.
I completely undervalued the change of scenery for Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Joe Mixon, and Josh Jacobs—all of whom smashed their ADP.
This year we don’t have any comparable RBs changing teams, but we do have a very intriguing veteran WR in George Pickens who is moving to much greener pastures.
Dwain got me hyped on what the change of scenery from Pittsburgh to Dallas could mean for him in his recent late-breakout piece:
“Arthur Smith's teams have an average dropback rate of 53% over the last three years versus 62% for Brian Schottenheimer (under Mike McCarthy). I have the Cowboys projected for 66 more dropbacks than the Steelers this year—the equivalent of two extra games' worth of pass attempts.”
Drafters generally dislike taking “WR2s” on their own team … until they smash, like Tee Higgins did last year.
It’s actually pretty interesting to compare Pickens’ stats to Higgins, which you can do via our slick Utilization Report comparison tool.
Their routes, targets per route run, and end zone targets are nearly identical. The only difference, of course, is Higgins was catching balls from Joe Burrow last year while Pickens was dealing with prayer balls from the husk of Russell Wilson.
Combine all of that with some recent, extremely bullish quotes Brian Schottenheimer and you have all of the ingredients for a late-career, post-hype breakout.
Don’t be surprised when we are all selecting Pickens two rounds earlier next year … in the exact same spot Higgins goes now.
Your Athlete. Their Future. Our Mission.
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Manage Your Portfolio With The Best Ball Hub
So you’ve drafted all these best ball teams on Underdog all summer, now what? Well, the work is far from done, because there’s more drafting to do, and Fantasy Life has the way to best review those teams to make future decisions to assure you have better player exposure and combinations.
Pete Overzet has a thorough overview on how to use the Best Ball Hub to your best advantage. Learn about the all-important Week 17, where you’ll want players going nuclear to win big bucks. Even better, you can use this tool to see how YOUR TEAMS are looking ahead of the 2025 season. ⤵️
The Possibilities Are Endless …
A fantasy football team name is more than an identity for a fake football team. It can be anything from a statement to a tribute to a favorite player. It can also be:
- Funny: That’s What Shaheed Said (Rashid Shaheed)
- Movie reference: The Princess McBride (Trey McBride), Kupp Fiction (Cooper Kupp)
- Clever: Saquon for the Team (Saquon Barkley)
- More Clever: LaPorta Potty (Sam LaPorta)
- NSFW: ...let's save that for later. Avert the eyes of your children!!
As you can imagine, the possibilities are endless. With that, Cooterdoodle submits the best ...
Around the Watercooler
The latest fantasy nuggets, silliness, and NFL gossip from our merry band of football nerds.
👀 New passer in new place, but still going to be a QB1? We’ve got this and more superlatives for players on the move in 2025.
📚 The Commissioner’s Playbook reminds us why we play this wonderful game.
👀 Where will Keenan Allen land? Here’s the latest.
🤗 Trouble in Miami? The fellas are working it out.
📝 NFL Training Camp updates. Kendall has you covered.
🚫 I don’t think Kyle Pitts has earned this strut. Let’s score some TDs first.
🐶 Stefon Diggs only avoided one PUP list … but not this one.
😆 So much for a simple helmet reveal. Man down!
🗣️ J.J. McCarthy with the deep ball. What say you, Thor?
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