Fantasy Football Rookies to Watch 2017

By Chad Stapley

Leonard Fournette – RB – Jacksonville Jaguars
Fournette comes in right away and offers starting RB capabilities coming off two monster seasons at LSU. Most of the time Fournette was unstoppable while at LSU, and the Jaguars are hoping he can bring that type of production to the NFL. He should get carries early and often so he is an early candidate to be a starter at the FLEX or RB position.

Christian McCaffrey – RB – Carolina Panthers
McCaffrey does a little bit of everything as he can run, catch, and return balls on special teams. He offers a special value at the FLEX position as the Panthers don’t have a ton of offensive weapons in general. While at Stanford he was a do-it-all type of RB that simply couldn’t be stopped, look for him to have early productive games as opposing team will be searching for an answer to stop him.

Joe Mixon – RB – Cincinnati Bengals
Mixon offers a rare combo of speed and agility that you don’t see from many RBs these days. He would have been a 1st round draft pick and possibly the first RB selected if he didn’t have off-field problems in college. He can be your workhorse RB or he can be your scat-back out of the backfield. He is coming in as the backup RB, so he might be someone to watch and keep on your bench through the opening weeks of the season.

Evan Engram – TE – New York Giants
Engram is as athletic as TEs come these days, he has game breaking speed, and he has WR like hands. The Giants don’t have much standing in front of him at the TE position so he can come in right away and make a serious impact. Engram also has a gunslinger in Manning throwing him the ball, so he should have plenty of opportunities.

ArDarius Stewart – WR – New York Jets
Stewart is an Alabama product that did nothing but produce at a high level over the last two seasons. There were games at Alabama where he absolutely took over the game and was unstoppable. Stewart is only 5’11 but he runs great routes, has good body control, and above average pass catching ability. The Jets basically have nothing at the WR position so look for him to produce early and often.

Ryan Switzer – WR – Dallas Cowboys
Switzer is pint size compared to some of the other WR in this draft class but he runs routes better than most and his hands are better than most people in his draft class. Switzer can be the perfect slot WR for the Cowboys or line up on the outside and beat DBs with his speed. He might be a guy that you want to sit on your bench on watch his progress but he does have the ability to contribute right way and he can return kicks.

Jake Butt – TE – Denver Broncos
Butt is coming off an ACL tear in the bowl game so he might not be 100% to start the season but he is a steal for the Broncos. Butt had first round potential before the injury. He probably has the best hands out of all the drafted TE’s, he may not be as athletic as the others but if you throw it to him in the end zone he is most likely going to catch it. He is a nice security blanket for the young Denver QBs to have.