Arizona Cardinals found fantasy football draft steals based on draft position rankings
Fantasy experts do a great job of letting everyone know who the top guys are every year. But it is a common occurrence for draftees to suffer increasing difficulty finding meaningful players creating the legend of draft steals. You pick Player A over Player B knowing there is not much difference. We all think we picked a few draft steals. Unfortunately, your picks are stolen by the dud players.
There are few yearly options that can make or break a league. There is the highly touted, lowly drafted rookie could come in to take everyone by surprise. Sometimes, you get a hunch about your team just from watching them on Sundays. Sometimes, you swear by your team’s new rookie and just know that he’s going to be big.
The Arizona Cardinals have only two fantasy options that can help carry a team, David Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald. Fantasy players can not depend on any other player on the Cardinals to carry a season long roster.
According to Sleeperbot’s Fantasy ADP Draft board, David Johnson (4.7) and Larry Fitzgerald (39.8) are the only two Arizona Cardinals inside of the top 50 for ADP. The next closest Cardinal in the rankings? Rookie Christian Kirk with a ADP of 156. That means there are only two Cardinals worth drafting this year for fantasy players. I see three steals for fantasy on the Arizona Cardinals that are smaller names nationally but are ready for the big stage.
Average Draft Position rankings (ADP) provided by SleeperBot.com
Wide Receiver Christian Kirk, ADP: 156
Christian Kirk is electric. That’s the only way to describe him. According to Sports-reference.com, he led Texas A&M with 71 receptions for 919 yards and 10 touchdowns averaging 12.9 yards per reception. Also, on special teams, he returned one kickoff and one punt for touchdowns. Players who return kicks are always quick twitch agility and blazing fast, Kirk has shown those skills and number 2 wide receiver skills. Now, he returns home for his hometown Cardinals, ready for a repeat performance of his heroics in the SEC. I do expect for Kirk’s ADP to rise once training camp starts, so you should keep a close on his position.
Quarterback Sam Bradford, ADP: 260
I know, I know. Sam Bradford’s knees more than likely will not last 16 games. But I’m intrigued by Bradford for an early season option because of his success when he does touch the field. The last time Bradford survived the season in 2016, he went for 3,877 yards and 20 touchdowns to 5 interceptions. According to FantasyData.com, that year Bradford ranked 23rd for quarterbacks in overall fantasy points. That doesn’t sound like a steal, but if you consider he did not have a 1,000 yard receiver in 2016, that’s an admirable performance. If Bradford’s knees can hold for 8-10 games, he will be a viable pickup with future Hall of Fame receiver catching passing from him.
Tight End Ricky Seals-Jones, ADP: 280
Seals-Jones is an incredible, tantalizing tight end with the size to be 10 touchdown red-zone target. Pro-football-reference.com has Seals-Jones at 6’5, 245 pounds presenting a puzzling match-up for opposing defenses. Unfortunately, we only saw two games where potential flashed, where he caught 7 passes for 126 yards and 3 touchdowns. In both of those games, his catch percentage, according to pro-football-reference.com, was over 60 percent. In all other games last season, the catch percentage was 40 percent or lower. If Seals-Jones figures how to convert his targets into yards and touchdowns, he will be on a list of draft steals.