Fantasy Football Steals 2021

Every year, there are tons of players that are rated lowly by the so-called experts who break out and create huge advantages for their real-life and fantasy teams. After these breakouts happen, it’s easy to find the justification for why we should have known this all along. I’m going to help you all out and give you a team of underrated players so you can reap the benefits in your 2021 fantasy football season.

Quarterback – Trevor Lawrence

I don’t know how this happened, but somehow Trevor Lawrence seems to have the least hype around him out of the first round rookie quarterbacks. Mac Jones is already the next Tom Brady. Zach Wilson the next Joe Namath. Justin Fields and Trey Lance are both going to be franchise saviors once their coaches stop holding them down. Then there’s little known quarterback out of a small school in South Carolina who seems to have been overlooked. Is Urban Meyer a mad genius in that he has created so many distractions that nobody has time to pay attention to Lawrence? I don’t think so, but congratulations to Meyer on unintended benefits of incompetence.

Still, Meyer knows offense, and this team has enough weapons to put up points. They will have to put up points with a less-than-stellar defense. Despite being a white guy, Trevor Lawrence can move very well. He’s likely to put up pretty solid rushing stats and steal a few touchdowns that way. He’s not likely to be a top-five quarterback. However, if he stays healthy I see no reason why he couldn’t be a top-10 guy at the position.

Running Back – Javonte Williams

Javonte Williams was my favorite running back in this last draft class. He is just an incredible talent with explosiveness and vision. Melvin Gordon is not a roadblock stopping Williams from getting carries; he’s a speed bump. Not even a fresh speed bump, like a 20-year-old speed bump that is more optional to slow down while going over. I’m actually very high on the Broncos this season overall as I think they are a playoff team with Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback. That defense is stacked. The Broncos are going to want to control the clock with a running game. This should greatly help Williams put up big numbers this season.

Running Back – Ronald Jones

This one is going the other way as Ronald Jones has lost all of his hype. However, Jones was very good last year, falling just short of 1,000 yards rushing. He was more of a threat in the passing game early on in the year, and I don’t think Gio Bernard is going to be that much of a hindrance in his effectiveness. I also am not buying into the Leonard Fournette hype. He was very good in the playoffs, but Fournette has always had good stretches followed by general incompetence. I was impressed with Jones when watching their games, and I believe he will emerge as the lead back in Tampa this season.

Wide Receiver – DJ Moore

This was my number one “must have” guy for 2021. I love DJ Moore. Every time I watch him, I wonder how in the hell he is ever stopped. The only thing stopping him from already being seen as a top-10 receiver is a lack of touchdowns. Considering how this guy can get open and catch the ball in traffic, there is no reason he shouldn’t score more touchdowns finally. He has the ability to attack the ball with his hands and definitely has traits that resemble former Panther great, Steve Smith. He’s incredibly underrated, and I’m very excited to see what he does this season.

Wide Receiver – Laviska Shenault

Now we talk about one of my favorite prospects of all time. I loved Shenault coming out of college and still believe he may become the best wide receiver out of an absolutely loaded class. Is that slightly delusional considering the rookie year that Justin Jefferson had and the reports coming out of Cowboys camp regarding CeeDee Lamb (another player I LOVE this year)? Yes, it might be, but Shenault’s versatility makes him so dangerous. He brings to the table what Percy Harvin was able to do in his prime. They are different players as Shenault is much more of a bruiser, and Harvin was more of a speedster, but there are so many ways to get the ball in his hands that he is going to stress defenses. Most people jumped on James Robinson when Travis Etienne went down with an injury. Shenault may be just as big of a benefactor in the Jaguars offense this year.

Tight End – Kyle Pitts

Not much of a sleeper, I’ll admit. But why isn’t he going to come in and be an elite tight end right off the bat? Like, who is really saying they’d rather have boring-ass Mark Andrews over state-of-the-art, Kyle Pitts? Now, here come the nerds running from their one-bedroom apartment where they sleep in the living room so they have room for their action figures in the bedroom (just saying Mom’s basement is very tired) screaming about how no rookie tight end has ever put up big fantasy stats. Well, guess what, NERD, Kyle Pitts is unlike any tight end prospect that has ever existed. In fact, he’s closer to Calvin Johnson coming out than he is to any tight end prospect. That is how special Pitts is. Is he going to reach peak domination in his first year? No, but he is going to be a top-five tight end, and I wouldn’t be shocked if he was top-two.

Flex – Sammy Watkins

I thought about a ton of people for this final spot. Elijah Moore seems like a decent bet to have the best rookie year of any receiver from this draft. Speaking of Moore, anyone who watched Big Ten football absolutely loves Rondale Moore (although I worry about what type of share he’ll get of the offense this season). Antonio Brown kind of looked like ANTONIO BROWN late last year. To show some love to the Bears, I think Darnell Mooney could have a 1,000 yard season.

But I went with Sammy Watkins. I will never stop loving Sammy Watkins, and it is because he had the most dominant game of any player I have ever seen in person when he tore up the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2014 Orange Bowl. The man had 16 catches for 227 yards and two touchdowns. It was so amazing that I still can’t get over it seven years later. The Ravens have to throw to somebody and Marquise Brown isn’t a consistent receiver. Rashod Bateman looked great, but he’s hurt. This opens the door for Watkins to establish a rapport with Lamar Jackson and be a nice fantasy contributor again. I love you, Sammy, and I’ll never stop loving you.

Defense – Los Angeles Chargers

This is the defense that comes from out of nowhere to produce a top-five season. They have Joey Bosa as the big-time sack producer. They also have Drue Tranquill coming back at linebacker after showing a ton of promise in 2019. Even bigger than that is getting Derwin James back. Just thinking about Derwin James, can you say you are sure that he’s not the best safety in the league? Pairing him up with Nasir Adderly in the backend could produce some major turnover numbers. They are one of the lowest rated defenses out there, but if you’re looking to piece things together, this is the defense to target. Just don’t start them against the Chiefs.

Kicker – Matt Gay

Any kicker will work. I ended up panicking when I had to put someone up for auction late in my draft and went with Gay. He is now my ride-or-die kicker. This is how all kicker decisions should be made.

Below is my actual 12-team auction roster. I obviously did not get all of the guys on my list, but I feel good about everybody on my team (except Deshaun Watson, I don’t feel good about that one at all).

Share your thoughts in the comments.

Author: Joe Loncarich