It’s been a long, thorough dream football offseason, yet the opportunity has, at last, arrived to put my blessing on a chosen handful of players to focus on across all classes.
I will be attempting to obtain however many of these players as could reasonably be expected in my impending drafts — regardless of whether it implies picking one somewhat in front of their normal draft position (ADP) — in light of the fact that they are awesome.
Last season, Calvin Ridley, David Montgomery, Will Fuller, and Brandon Aiyuk were players I focused on habitually, and they took care of for sure.
This gathering of “my folks” are set up to surpass assumptions and will assume significant parts in driving your group to a dream football title. So with the best joy, let me present my #1 dream football picks for the 2021 season. #GiddyUp.
RB JOE MIXON, CINCINNATI BENGALS | ADP RB12
Four running backs saw no less than 300 contacts in 2020, and they all completed as top-eight dream running backs. Through the initial a month and a half of the 2020 season, Mixon was on pace for more than 370 contacts.
The Bengals running back positioned second in the class in conveys (20 for each game), 10th in courses run (21 for every game) and fifteenth in targets (four for each game). His generally contacts per game (23.3) during the normal season positioned fourth-most noteworthy among every single running back.
The substantial responsibility assisted him with completing eleventh in dream focuses per game (16.9) and fifth in expected dream focuses per game (18.1).
Mixon’s helpless yards per convey figure (3.6) and absence of dangerous runs (just three runs of 15 or more yards) discolored his productivity measurements in 2020, however the 25-year-old is a long way from washed. Breakaway run rate is very unstable, and there’s no question Mixon would have severed all the more large runs in the event that he prepared for additional games.
In 2018 and 2019, the ex-Sooner positioned second and fourth, individually, in 15 or more yard surges.
The previous second-round pick has bob back composed all over him for 2021, as Joe Burrow is set to lead a top-scoring hostile unit. Cincinnati’s hostile line is improved, and Giovani Bernard’s days taking targets are a distant memory. During a four-game stretch in 2018 with Bernard out of the setup, Mixon found the middle value of five targets, 30 courses run and 20 contacts for each game.
With a helpless protection on paper, the Bengals are turning out to be a dream treasure trove — shootouts and hostile firecrackers as should be obvious. On the off chance that that winds up being the situation, Mixon will more than take care of his late second-round ADP since his responsibility will be gigantic.
Also, don’t simply trust me. Bengals.com senior author Geoff Hobson as of late showed up on the Pro Football Focus dream football program on Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio and said that he anticipates that Mixon should see more work than last season. He likewise said that it’s not simply Burrow’s group — it’s Burrow and Mixon’s group.
So stop the disdain, get over that he got injured last season, and draft Mixon in light of the fact that 2021 is his year.
RB EZEKIEL ELLIOTT, DALLAS COWBOYS | ADP RB5
Elliott will get the fed as a rusher this year — the Cowboys rank eleventh in surges per game (26) since 2019. But at the same time he’s more associated with the passing game than most acknowledge — his 135 courses race to begin last season positioned No. 1 among every single running back and aided vault his dream focuses per game (22.6) to third generally. With quarterback Dak Prescott under focus, Elliott was his typical self — a world class dream resource.
Elliott’s hostile line was additionally sound during the initial five rounds of the period, which helped his numbers. Entering 2021, the Cowboys’ hostile line is PFF’s 6th most noteworthy positioned bunch, a huge improvement from its 2020 completion as the association’s fourth-least reviewed run-obstructing unit.
The Cowboys’ thinned down running back is prepared for a bob back 2021 mission as the included sprinter and objective line back in a powerful offense, as he drove the NFL in conveys inside the five-yard line (26) last season. He’s likewise due for some sure score relapse subsequent to changing over only five of his objective line conveys into scores. Dallas positioned fourth in objective line plays per game last season (3.5).
Zeke’s dream focuses scored under assumption in 2020 (49.8, most among all RBs) was a lingering effect of his shocking conditions and is an indication that 2021 will deliver more sure outcomes.
Tony Pollard truthers may dissent, yet Dallas has $90 million motivations to #FeedZeke. Regardless of all the disturbance that followed after Prescott went down, Elliott kept up with his top of the line use, averaging just shy of 20 contacts for every game in 2020.
Furthermore, we should not fail to remember that when Elliott split snaps the most with Pollard (54% snap share in Week 16 post-injury), he balled out. He incorporated 23 contacts for 139 yards from scrimmage and a season-high 5.5 yards per convey versus a strong Philadelphia Eagles guarded front.
