SCFE Staff 2018 Fantasy Football Predictions: Sleepers, Busts, Breakouts and Tops

With Fantasy Football draft season in full gear, it’s time for the senior football writing staff to put our money where our mouths are with some 2018 Fantasy Football Predictions. We have given our 2018 Fantasy Football Predictions at each position for different sleepers, busts and breakouts. Now let’s compile them all in one place so we can look back in December at how incredibly genius we are. Or at how dumb we look.

Either way, this will be fun. Check out how we did last year. Whoof. As bad as my David Johnson-bust pick was, I did nail a few others (Tevin Coleman and Matthew Stafford as sleepers, Alshon Jeffery and Cam Newton as busts, and Derek Carr as a breakout).

So each of our senior writers, myself, John La Presto and Mark Strausberg made 2018 Fantasy Football Predictions for sleepers, busts, breakouts and top scorer for each of the main Fantasy Football positions. Sorry, team defenses and kickers are not making the cut on this one.

We chose our sleepers based on the following criteria: outside of the Top 40 in ADP for running backs and receivers, outside of the Top 15 ADP for quarterbacks and tight ends. Busts needed to be currently drafted as top-half starters at each position. Breakouts were players in the middle. Guys that were being drafted as starters but will move up a tier.

As far as the top picks, well that is simply who we will think lead the position in scoring by the end of the season.

So let’s get to our2018 Fantasy Football Predictions for sleepers, busts, breakouts and tops!

2018 Fantasy Football Predictions: Sleepers, Busts, Breakouts and Tops

Quarterbacks

• La Presto and Strausberg are seeing eye-to-eye on their quarterbacks this year, with the same sleeper, bust and top picks.
• As much as I hit on Carr being a breakout last year, I think regression is due for the Raider this season. Combine that with a higher draft status and I see him as a “bust” if you are expecting higher-end QB1 production.
• As hard as it is to pick against Aaron Rodgers, Brady was almost as good on a per-game basis last season. I think the Edelman injury will actually spur Brady to dominate even more.
• All three of us like the top two picks from 2015 draft to break out this year.

Running Backs

• My fellow writers are going head-to-head with their sleeper picks of Eagles’ running backs. I honestly think that LeGarrette Blount is now getting under-rated by everyone calling him over-rated all pre-season. La Presto breaks down his logic here.
• La Presto and Strausberg are back to (somewhat) agreeing though with the Titans’ backfield. John is seeing DeMarco Murray bust, and Mark thinks Derrick Henry will break out because of it.
• I think everyone is sleeping on Dion Lewis as the biggest beneficiary of the Edelman injury. His and Danny Amendola’s skill sets are most similar to Edelman, and we all know Amendola has trouble staying on the field.
• I just do not see how Beast Mode comes back at anywhere near the level he is being drafted at.
• All three of us think David Johnson leads all backs, but I think the gap between him and LeVeon Bell is closer than most are giving them credit.

Wide Receivers

• I’ve already preached about Adam Thielen in my WR Sleepers post, and ironically both La Presto and Strausberg selected guys off of my sleepers’ list as well.
• I would not have had Hilton as a bust until now, but I just am not trusting the Andrew Luck situation in Indy.
• John is seeing what a lot of us analysts are coming around on with Jay Cutler at quarterback for Miami. He loves going over the top to big-bodied guys like Parker.
• Strausberg did NOT read my WR Busts post with his pick of Tyreek Hill as a breakout. He should have just took heed of my breakouts post with Terrelle Pryor.
• Strausberg is falling for the Hard Knocks’ bump picking Mike Evans to lead all wide receivers, while John and I took the safer option of Antonio Brown.

Tight Ends

• We were definitely all over the board with our tight end picks with not a single agreement.
• As much as I agree with Mark’s bust pick of Bennett, I disagree with John’s selection of Walker. Delanie is about as consistent as they come at the position.
• I do like John’s breakout pick of Eric Ebron, as I noted his starter consistency earlier this summer. Strausberg agrees with the Ebron pick as well as his own here.
• Jack Doyle will have an impact whether Andrew Luck plays or not. The offense is too tight end-centric and he is  too efficient to not produce.
• Mark thinks someone besides Gronk will lead tight ends in scoring, John thinks it will be Gronk and I am pushing all in on Greg Olsen. I have drafted him on almost every one of my teams so far.

That is it for all of my pre-season content! Be sure to check out my Value-Based Drafting outline as well as my Single-RB Theory!

If you are looking for a place to conduct a mock draft or need assistance with drafting in general, check out the Fantasy Pros Draft Wizard. This is a terrific tool that will help you dominate your league, along with So-Called
Fantasy Experts, of course.

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Michael Tomlin

Michael Tomlin is an ESPY-nominated, former college football player who stays associated with the game through Fantasy Sports. He has been writing his personal blog, Dirkland.blogspot.com, for three years and it focuses on Fantasy Sports, as well as handicapping. He was born and raised in the DFW Metroplex, and he follows all of the Dallas teams, along with Texas Tech athletics and Manchester City F.C.

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