Fantasy Football Rankings: 3 Boom and 3 Bust Players for 2021

With every season, new stars appear out of nowhere while others fail to live up to expectations. This can not only hurt your team on Monday, Thursday, and Sunday, but it can also hamper your fantasy football lineup if you choose the wrong player. There are a vast amount of players to pick from for your fantasy football team, so who should you covet or avoid? Here are three players to pursue and three to stay away from.

Avoid – Dallas Goedert

Dallas Goedert is a fine young, emerging tight end and has a bright future in the NFL. For your fantasy team, however, he is a player you must avoid. He’ll be sharing TE duties with Zach Ertz, which will drastically impact his production compared to other tight ends who don’t share snaps. Goedert should be a good fantasy tight end next year, but he is on the “don’t draft early” list this year.

Pursue – Donovan Peoples-Jones

Peoples-Jones is a player who should be high on your draft boards. He finished with only 14 catches for 304 yards, but those numbers fail to demonstrate his and Mayfield’s chemistry on the field. With Odell Beckham Jr. never seeming to click with Baker Mayfield, and Jarvis Landry heavily utilized in the slot, expect DPJ to be used opposite Beckham Jr. and have a lot of single coverage given the attention relegated to Landry and Beckham Jr.

Avoid – Any Patriots Receiver

With Cam Newton lacking accuracy and Mac Jones being a rookie, I’d look for other options at receiver. The Patriots will look to establish the run to set up the pass this year. The Patriots already lack premier talent to begin with, so this should be a no-brainer.

Pursue – Dan Arnold

Arnold had a little bit of a breakout season last year. He should benefit from a team that should look to feature him more as a receiver in Carolina than in Arizona. 438 receiving yards last year isn’t awesome, but it gave a glimpse of his potential.  With Sam Darnold in the fold this year, a safety net underneath should be essential to his success, and that should help Arnold thrive. Doubling his stats from last season is extremely feasible. Look to draft Dan Arnold in the mid rounds with pleasant results.

Avoid – The New Orleans Starting QB

Drew Brees is no longer the quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, and that should have fans sad but excited for the future. The Saints seem to have two options under center that offer two different styles of play that could make for a fun, energized offense this year. 

Don’t be fooled by this. Jameis Winston looks good in the preseason versus vanilla schemes, and we know he has a mindset and tendency to take risks. This should make for plenty of turnovers for him, which could make the difference depending on the week and your match-up. 

Taysom Hill isn’t as much of a starting quarterback as he is a gadget player. Expect low touchdown numbers from both, but especially from Hill. The Saints quarterback for this season shouldn’t be on your draft board.

Pursue – Ja’Marr Chase

The last time Ja’Marr Chase was on the football field, he lit the world on fire while receiving passes from Joe Burrow. New team + same quarterback = recipe for success. 

Chase has undeniable chemistry with Burrow dating back to LSU, and they will rekindle the magic from college, and it will translate to the NFL. 1,000 yards from Chase is highly likely. Chase should not be a top-tier receiver in fantasy drafts, but at the end of the year, you will be pleasantly surprised how great of a season he has.