The Ones I Love: 3 Players I'm Unhealthily Obsessed With This Draft Season

My favorite part about the offseason is finding a few players that I absolutely have to draft in every one of my leagues, and then shouting at people to do the same. It’s how I make friends. (It’s working great, thanks for asking. Also would you like to come hang out sometime? My schedule is wide open.)

Some people call this “planting a flag” on players. Other people who live in my house and sleep next to me might call it "unhealthily obsessing” or “a cry for help.” Either way, here are three players I desperately want on my fantasy rosters this year. AND YOU SHOULD TOO!

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Alvin Kamara

Did you know…

• Alvin Kamara finished as the RB6 in Points Per Game last year (half PPR)?
• Or that he had the highest Utilization Score of any running back in the league?
• Or that he’s only fallen outside the Top 10 once since he came into the NFL?

If you didn’t know those things, please use that information in good health going forward. If you did know but still aren’t scooping him up in the 4th round of drafts…well I think we need to have a serious conversation about why you choose to inflict this kind of pain on yourself.

Okay, maybe that was a bit much…but I need to stress that Kamara is one of the safest picks you can make at the position. I know he’s 30 years old, but pass-catching specialists don’t age the same way that between-the-tackles bruisers do. The Saints' new head coach, Kellen Moore, doesn’t have many consistent options on offense to turn to. Couple that with a first-year starting quarterback – whether it’s Tyler Shough or Spencer Rattler – and you’ve got a recipe for the fourth 100-target season of Kamara’s very impressive career (note: our more bear-ish rankers have him at 83.5 in our official Kamara projections).

I’ve been leaning heavily into wide receivers at the start of drafts, and Kamara has been an auto-click as my RB1.

Ricky Pearsall

What more does this man have to do to earn your love??

Last year, we were smashing the draft button on Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk in the third and fourth round. With Mr. Samuel gone to Washington and Aiyuk projected for a multi-week absence, it’s baffling to me that I’m still able to nab Ricky Pearsall (and Jauan Jennings, for that matter) in the 8th round of drafts.

I understand that Pearsall doesn’t have the fantasy history of Samuel or Aiyuk. But he still has Kyle Shanahan and a 49ers offense that consistently produces top-end fantasy finishes at every position. Way back in 2023, both Samuel and Aiyuk finished as Top 15 receivers. That same year, Christian McCaffrey ran away with the RB1 title by a mile. Oh, and George Kittle was once again a Top 5 tight end.

So why are we basically ignoring a receiver with Day 1 draft capital, in a proven offense, who had a monster game in Week 17 to the tune of eight catches for 141 yards and a touchdown? Especially when there are so many question marks hovering over the rest of the pass-catchers in San Francisco. It doesn’t make sense to me, but I’m happy to continue reaping the rewards of this madness.

RELATED: Check out Jake and Cooterdoodle on Wednesday's "Fantasy Life With Ian Hartitz"

Drake Maye

If you can’t get yourself to draft an elite quarterback in the first few rounds and you have trust issues with Justin Fields or Caleb Williams because of their prior or current association with the Bears…I get it. (Even though I think the former will be a fantasy stud this year with the Jets.) 

I think I have a solution for you.

I find myself kicking the QB can further and further down the road in drafts these days, which usually leads me right into the waiting arms of Drake Maye. And although last season’s counting stats might not jump off the page, there’s plenty of reasons to believe in a big Year 2 jump.

In 10 full starts last season, the future of New England proved he can do a whole lot with very little, averaging 220+ passing yards and 35+ rushing yards per game. That’s a feat that puts him in rarefied air with the likes of Cam Newton, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, and Michael Vick.

But that’s not even the impressive part. What’s really impressive is that he did this with a wildly unproven receiving unit that was headlined by Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper. No disrespect to those dudes, but I don’t think they’ll go down in history as a legendary Patriots tight end duo.

Meanwhile, the actual wide receivers looked like a bunch of guys who’d won a radio contest to play WR for the Patriots. Respectfully. They had the 2nd-worst separation stats in the league. Going into the 2024 season, they’d averaged just 34 receptions per season as a group. And Ja’Lynn Polk’s rookie season was one of the most disappointing in modern history.

With a new (and experienced) coaching staff in New England, a true WR1 in Stefon Diggs, and a rookie running back that can take just about any screen pass to the house, I’m expecting league-winning upside out of Maye in 2025.