By SCOTT FELTS
You know the terms and lingo of fantasy football.
You know who to have on your must-draft list.
Now, as we enter the biggest fantasy football draft weekend of the year, we tell you the five players you most want to avoid drafting on your fantasy team this season.
RB De’Von Achane, Miami
A lot of avoiding Achane is tied to having to overpay for him based on where you have to draft him. His current ADP is for a top 10 running back, but he is now a player on a team with a crumbling offense. The Dolphins cut Tyreek Hill and Tua Tagovailoa and traded Jaylen Waddle in the offseason. There aren’t many weapons around Achane to take the pressure off and while Malik Willis won’t be a high-performing quarterback, his mobility will limit check downs and hurt Achane’s PPR appeal.
WR Rashee Rice, Kansas City
This is a no-brainer due to Rice’s off-field issues that have been a problem since the spring of 2024 when he caused a serious wreck while street racing. He spent part of this offseason serving a 30-day jail sentence for a probation violation tied to that incident. You definitely don’t want one of your players that you spend high draft capital on serving an NFL suspension in the middle of your fantasy season.
In addition to his legal woes, Rice has chronic knee problems that have caused him to finish each of the last two seasons on injured reserve. Last season, specifically while he was out, Chiefs receivers Cyrus Allen and Xavier Worthy both built stronger chemistry with Patrick Mahomes, and so target share could also be a problem for Rice on the field.
Speaking of Mahomes …
QB Pat Mahomes, Chiefs
While Mahomes historically provided elite fantasy baseline with his legs, he is now returning from a devastating torn ACL and LCL injury and has said out loud he wants to run less. The front office heard him and brought in running back Kenneth Walker to handle a heavy workload on the ground.
With Mahomes grounded to more of a pocket passer later in his career, you’d be much better off with a healthy, dual threat quarterback, the type of player that you could even get a couple rounds later than Mahomes. Use those rounds to stock up on running backs or receivers.
TE Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia
As we move to the tight end position we focus on a player in Goedert that is remarkably being drafted ahead of names like George Kittle, Isaiah Likely, and even Travis Kelce. Goebert is going in the early to midround range as a TE9 in the eighth round. For that draft capital in a full PPR format you need high target volume or a tight end with dominant red zone abilities and/or high touchdown totals. Goedert has none of that. It also doesn’t help that the Eagles have too many other options in new receiver Dontavion Wicks from Green Bay, rookie Makai Lemon and now a healthy DeVonta Smith, as well as Saquon Barkley out of the backfield. Skip over Goedert for other skill position players or even snag a top-tier defense and get a younger, more athletic TE a couple of rounds later.
D/ST, Chicago Bears
The Bears will likely be in a lot of shootouts, which will push the points allowed too high for the Bears to be productive. Last season, the Bears allowed a ton of yards and even though they were extremely lucky in the turnover department, they still did not finish as a top 12 defense. Nothing should change this season, except for inevitably less turnovers created. Bypass the Bears.
Continue following I-81 Sports and our extensive fantasy football coverage with a couple of more articles leading up to the season, and our weekly “Sit, Start, and Snipe” article once the NFL campaign kicks off.