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NFL rookies who made an impact in the 2017 fantasy football season. Martin Konstantinov identifies sleepers and future fantasy football stars to watch in the 2018 fantasy football season.
With another fantasy football season in the books, it can be said that the rookie class showed up in a big way for fantasy owners. With several running backs taking the league by storm and options at other positions, the 2017 rookie class did not disappoint.
This article is supposed to review the 2017 class and their performances as well as look forward to the 2018 season and see some of the outlooks for the young stars of this league.
Let's get to it.
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Rookies Worth Your Attention: Year In Review
The Stud Youngster
Leonard Fournette, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Despite only playing in 13 games this season and being plagued by a small ankle injury, Leonard Fournette dominated the NFL in his first season, racking up over 1,300 all-purpose yards as well as ten touchdowns in the regular season. Although Fournette averaged 3.9 yards per carry, teams specifically game-planned to stop him and set up defensive formations specifically designed to stop the Jacksonville run. Regardless, with the Jaguars expected to upgrade their offensive line in the upcoming offseason and maintain many of their key defensive contributors, expect Fournette to continue his dominant performances and provide for fantasy owners as a high-end RB1 for the 2018 season.
The One-Year Wonder
Jamaal Williams, RB, Green Bay Packers
Despite having over 800 all-purpose yards and leading the team in rushing attempts as well as scoring six touchdowns on the season, Williams averaged around 3.6 yards per carry and had to share time with incumbent starter Ty Montgomery as well as fellow rookie Aaron Jones. With the Packers run game seemingly disappearing at times, Williams was underwhelming despite receiving a high volume of carries and receptions when he got the opportunity. It is difficult to imagine Williams as the undisputed starter next year; the best case for the youngster is a competition that he is able to come out on top of. In that case, view Williams as a solid RB2 on a high-scoring offense.
The Locked-In Starter
Evan Engram, TE, New York Giants
In another down year for the tight end position, rookie tight end Evan Engram surprised fantasy owners with over 700 yards and six touchdowns en route to a TE1 finish. It is rare for rookies to finish high up on the TE leaderboards; however, Engram defied expectations and ended up as second on the team's stats sheets for yards on the season. With the second year usually coming with an improvement in the performances of tight ends, expect Engram to go with the trend and produce perhaps even better numbers than what he was able to produce this season. Consider Engram as a high-upside TE1 with game-breaking potential at the position.
The Under-The-Radar Sleeper
JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
Defying the odds of USC receivers falling flat at the next level, rookie wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster had an extremely impressive season, totalling 917 yards to go along with seven touchdowns. After replacing Martavis Bryant as the second receiving option on the depth chart, Smith-Schuster exploded opposite wide receiver Antonio Brown and was able to help the Steelers reach the playoffs in a difficult division. Smith-Schuster ended the regular season in a hot vain of form, having either 100 yards or a touchdown in his last three games. Although he was bottled up in the playoff game except for his touchdown reception, consider Smith-Schuster an exciting option going forward and a high-upside WR2/3 next year.
The One To Stash (That Everyone Knows About)
Deshaun Watson, QB, Houston Texans
Despite getting off to a slow start and only playing in seven games this season, Deshaun Watson took the league by storm. With 19 touchdowns and only eight interceptions to go along with almost 1,700 passing yards, Watson lit up the early parts of the season before suffering a devastating injury in practice. Watson also had over 250 rushing yards and three rushing scores, setting up a nice floor for himself to work off of. Watson looked every bit like the franchise quarterback he was drafted to be despite receiving criticism in the buildup to last year's draft. If you own Watson in dynasty leagues or you picked him up in the late rounds of redraft formats, consider yourself lucky as Watson should be viewed as a borderline QB1 with relative risk but potentially league-winning upside.
That's all for this season in terms of rookies to watch. With the upcoming NFL offseason already underway despite the Super Bowl still to come and an intriguing rookie class next year, we wish you luck in the upcoming months as you look alongside us to identify potential future stars for the next season on the football field as well as the fantasy gridiron.
