During Sunday’s games, my dad and I started discussing Davone Bess, who is quickly becoming not only one of my favorite fantasy players, but one of my favorite football players period.
I told him I couldn’t understand how a guy like Bess, who was so productive in college, could have been so unheralded entering the NFL. My dad, who has a personnel background, said that Bess was too slow and too small despite being a really good football player. I countered by saying that the concept of someone being a “good football player” is, ironically, far too often underrated when evaluating who will ultimately become a good football player at the NFL level.
To this, he agreed. He also said two interesting things:
- More personnel mistakes are made overrating speed at the wide receiver position than at any other position
- Guys who go undrafted often do a few things very well but have flaws – often in measurables – that scare teams away. In the right system and if given a chance, many of these guys can succeed. Guys like Davone Bess and Wes Welker are proof of this.
So just a few minutes ago my dad called and said he’d been thinking about our conversation, and he suggested that it might make for a fun post to put together a fantasy football all-star team of guys who went undrafted. I agree. And since I’m lucky enough to have a job that affords me freedom to write about this stuff during the day, I am dropping everything to come up with my All-Undrafted Fantasy Football Team.
As you might expect, there is just one rule: the player must have been a undrafted free agent coming out of college. As I write this, I don’t know yet who is going to make it onto the team, but I think we’re all going to be surprised by how good this team ends up being.
The All-Undrafted Free Agent Fantasy Football Team Quarterback
Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys (UFA out of Eastern Illinois)
Before going down with a shoulder injury, Romo was putting up nice fantasy stats despite his team’s struggles in real life. And this was nothing new for Romo, who has been an annual top-10 fantasy quarterback option since 2007.
Not only has Romo had a QB rating of at least 91.4 in every one of his NFL seasons, but he’d thrown at least 26 TDs for three straight seasons until this one. And he was on pace to do it again.
Now, obviously we’d be a bit screwed this season since Romo will likely miss the balance of the 2010 schedule, but there is another starting quarterback who also went undrafted and could serve as our backup: Matt Moore of the Carolina Panthers. While Moore’s numbers have been underwhelming this year (5 TDs, 10 INT), he did throw 8 TDs and 0 INTs over the final four games of 2009.
The All-Undrafted Free Agent Fantasy Football Team Running Back
Arian Foster, Houston Texans (UFA out of Tennessee)
After finishing strong in 2009, Arian Foster was given the Texans’ starting running back job this season. All he did was burst out of the gates in Week 1 with 231 yards and 3 TDs in the Texans’ biggest win in franchise history over the Colts. He’s followed that up with two more 100-yard games and three more touchdowns, and has been a dud only once so far this season.
BenJarvus Green-Ellis, New England (UFA out of Mississippi)
The Lawfirm has been an absolute revelation for the New England Patriots this year, and for fantasy owners. Though his yardage totals have fluctuated wildly (76, 20, 24, 112 the last four weeks), his TD production has not. BJGE has scored at least one touchdown in five straight games, punctuating this fine stretch with his 112-yard, 2-TD performance against the Vikings in Week 8.
While these two guys are your starters right now, as we all know a good fantasy football teams needs depth at running back. Well guess what? Our All-Undrafted team has more than just these two runners.
Fred Jackson, Buffalo (UFA out of Coe College)
Jackson is much more valuable in yardage leagues than he is in TD-based leagues, but he is a valuable flex and/or backup option now that he has regained the starting role in Buffalo. FJax, as I like to call him, has run for at least 64 yards in the last three games since Marshawn Lynch was jettisoned from Buffalo. In 2009, Jackson accumulated 1,400+ total yards and scored 4 TDs. That is far from spectacular, but it’s solid.
Pierre Thomas, New Orleans (UFA out of Illinois)
Pierre Thomas would have been #1 on this list coming into 2010. Unfortunately, the injury bug has bitten the PT Cruiser quite hard, forcing Thomas to miss every game since left Week 3 early. Before going down, however, Thomas had already scored one TD this season and had caught 17 passes. This comes on the heels of a 2009 season in which Thomas scored 8 total TDs and accounted for over 1,100 yards.
In PPR leagues, Thomas has always been golden, and this was the season many thought he could finally break 1,000 yards on the ground. Once healthy, Thomas probably starts right alongside Foster on this team.
The All-Undrafted Free Agent Fantasy Football Team Wide Receiver
Miles Austin, Dallas (UFA out of Monmouth)
This guy exploded onto the fantasy scene last year with his 10-catch, 250-yard, 2-TD performance against the Chiefs. He then followed that up with 171 more yards and two more TDs the next week. Ever since, Austin has been generally regarded as one of the best receivers in fantasy football. This season has been a bit up and down for Austin, but his overall numbers are still very good: 43 catches, 641 yards, 2 TDs through 7 games.
Wes Welker, New England (UFA out of Texas Tech)
Welker has already caught 40 balls in 2010 and has scored three times, which puts him on pace to approach his career high of 8 TDs in 2007. Still, many people are disappointed in Welker’s production because, let’s face it, we’re used to more 8- or 9-catch games from Tom Brady’s favorite slot receiver. That is a testament to just how good Welker has been throughout his career. From 2007 through 2009, Welker averaged a 115.3 catches per season. In PPR leagues, it just doesn’t get more valuable than that. And even during his current “slump”, Welker is a still a guy you start every week.
Davone Bess, Miami (UFA out of Hawaii)
After the 2006 season, Miami let New England get its hands on Wes Welker, which is one of the dumbest transactions in the history of the AFC East. Luckily for the Dolphins, they were able to find the Welker-like Bess a year later.
While Bess has yet to post the astronomical reception numbers Welker has with New England, he has quietly emerged into one of the more reliable targets in the NFL now that Brandon Marshall is drawing double coverage on the outside. In fact, Bess’ numbers are almost identical to Welker’s so far this year: 39 catches, 401 yards, 3 TDs. Welker you had to draft early though; Bess was most likely a free agent acquisition in your league.
Malcom Floyd, San Diego (UFA out of Wyoming)
Floyd played in the shadow of Vincent Jackson the past few years, but he was finally showing his potential in 2010 with VJax holding out. Through 5+ games, Floyd had caught 24 balls and 3 TDs before an injury sent him to the bench. Seeing as how his quarterback is on pace to shatter the single-season passing record, it’s safe to say Floyd will resume his terrific production once healthy.
Lance Moore, New Orleans (UFA out of Toledo)
The diminutive Moore already has a 10-TD season on his resume (2008). Injuries cut his 2009 short, but he is back with a vengeance in 2010, already grabbing 5 TDs through the season’s first 8 games. I think we can safely say that Moore’s lack of size isn’t hurting his TD production, and he clearly is one of Drew Brees’ favorite targets when he’s playing. Though Moore isn’t catching as many balls for as many yards this year as he did in 2008, the TD production still makes him valuable.
Danny Amendola, St. Louis (Texas Tech)
Well look at that, a couple of Red Raiders have made it onto our All-Undrafted Fantasy Football Team. Amendola has always been a nice value in leagues that count return yards, but the addition of Sam Bradford this season has made Amendola valuable period. He already has more catches, yards, and TDs than he scored all of last year, and with both Donnie Avery and Mark Clayton out for the season, Amendola has become the favored target of Bradford, which bodes well for the future.
The All-Undrafted Free Agent Fantasy Football Team Tight End
Antonio Gates, San Diego (UFA out of Kent State)
This wasn’t a hard choice, now was it?
Forget just at tight end, Antonio Gates has been one of the best and most consistent fantasy football players at any position this decade. Want to know why people spend high draft picks on Gates? Look at his career numbers. That kind of consistency, especially at tight end, is extremely rare. And somehow, Gates is eclipsing even his own high standards this year. He has 40 catches, 663 yards, and 9 touchdowns already. That is remarkable at any position. From a tight end, it’s extraordinary. Come to think of it, that is probably the best word there is to describe the career of Antonio Gates.
The best part about Gates? Despite some nagging injuries along the way, he’s missed a grand total of three games during his career. So you need a backup only during his bye week. When that time rolls around, grab fellow former undrafted free agents Evan Moore (Cleveland) or Daniel Fells (Carolina).
The All-Undrafted Free Agent Fantasy Football Team Kicker
Dan Carpenter, Miami (UFA out of Montana)
Top kicker awards often fluctuate from year to year, but Carpenter is undoubtedly the best former undrafted free agent kicker this year. Heck, he may just be the best kicker period in 2010. Carpenter is making 90% of his field goal attempts this year, and has kicked 10 in just the last two weeks. Oh, and he also nailed the game-winner in Green Bay two weeks ago.
Other guys like Rob Bironas and Matt Bryant (both undrafted) have been around longer, but neither can touch what Carpenter is doing right now. And then there is Matt Prater and Graham Gano, both of whom are having fine seasons as well.
Come to think of it, kicker is the one position each year where there are plenty of options who originally were not wanted by any NFL team. Hopefully this post has shown you there are also some pretty good options at the other positions as well.
So here is my team of former undrafted players. I’d put this up against anyone (before the Romo injury) and feel pretty good about my chances for success.
The All-Undrafted Fantasy Football Team
- QB – Tony Romo
- RB – Arian Foster
- RB – BenJarvus Green-Ellis
- WR – Miles Austin
- WR – Wes Welker
- Flex – Davone Bess
- TE – Antonio Gates
- K – Dan Carpenter
- Bench: QB Matt Moore, RB Pierre Thomas, RB Fred Jackson, WR Malcom Floyd, WR Lance Moore, WR Danny Amendola TE Evan Moore, TE Daniel Fells, K Rob Bironas
