Welcome to our 2019 Player Profiles series. We are going through the top 100 in the consensus PPR rankings of Heath Cummings, Jamey Eisenberg and Dave Richard to give you the case for and the case against drafting each player. By the time you're done, you'll know everything you need to know for drafting in 2019.
You can find some breakout candidates among players 60-51, plus the top quarterback options:
60. Robby Anderson, WR, NYJ
The Case For: Anderson has already been a top-25 receiver once in his career and looked like one again after he formed a bond with Sam Darnold. On a team full of slot receivers, Anderson stands out as the big-play threat, and he's hinted this offseason that the Jets plan on using him as a more complete receiver instead of just sending him deep on every snap. If Sam Darnold takes a step forward in his sophomore season, Anderson figures to be the main beneficiary as the No. 1 receiver in New York.
The Case Against: The only receiver we saw put up big numbers under Adam Gase in Miami was Jarvis Landry, and it's hard to imagine a receiver less like Anderson than Landry. The Jets signed Le'Veon Bell and Jamison Crowder in the offseason, which will put a serious dent in Anderson's target upside. He looks like a very good third receiver in best-ball leagues, but he'll be maddening to own in a league where you have to choose when to start him.
59. Aaron Rodgers, QB, GB
The Case For: He's arguably the best quarterback in the history of the game and he's been freed from Mike McCarthy's offense. Even in a down year for Rodgers he had an 8.1 AY/A and threw for more than 4,400 yards.
The Case Against: It's a new offensive philosophy and his coach says he wants to run the ball more. The team added no help at receiver and Davante Adams is the only proven receiver on the roster. If his pass volume drops and none of the young receivers improve, 2019 could actually be worse than 2018.
58. Andrew Luck, QB, IND
The Case For: Luck's return from his shoulder injury couldn't have gone much better from a Fantasy perspective. His Y/A, TD% and quarterback rating were all at or above his career norms. He also threw more passes than ever. Luck's weapons got even better in the offseason, with the addition of Devin Funchess and Parris Campbell. It's all systems go heading into 2019, and Luck looks like a sure-fire top-five quarterback.
The Case Against: There is probably still a slightly elevated re-injury risk for Luck. But the case against him comes down to whether you want to use a pick in the first five rounds on a quarterback not named Aaron Rodgers or Patrick Mahomes. There are just too many running backs and receivers you should take instead in this range. The difference between a top-five quarterback and a streamer isn't that great.
57. Mark Ingram, RB, BAL
The Case For: Ingram left the Saints for the Ravens, which means he'll no longer be playing second fiddle to Alvin Kamara. It also means he'll be involved the the most run-heavy offense in football. The Ravens are expected to run the ball more than 60 percent of their offensive plays with Lamar Jackson under center. Ingram brings a veteran presence and a history of an efficient running back to Baltimore. He should get ample opportunity to prove he can still handle a feature role as he turns 30 in December. The threat of Jackson as a runner should open up big holes for Ingram.
The Case Against: The case against Ingram has to start with his age, but that's not all. It will also be really interesting to see if he can be as efficient in Baltimore's system as he was with Drew Brees under center. Gus Edwards was very efficient last year, but now defensive coordinators will have a full season to digest the Ravens offense. We saw what happened in the playoffs when the Chargers saw it for a second time. It's also good to remember the feature role isn't quite the same in Baltimore. There is going to be a committee of sorts, and Jackson is likely to account for at least a quarter of their rush attempts.
56. O.J. Howard, TE, TB
The Case For: Howard is legitimately a star in the making. He's one of the most talented tight ends in the NFL, averaging better than 16 yards per reception two years in a row. We often see tight ends take a little longer than other positions to make a Fantasy impact, but 2019 should be Howard's year with DeSean Jackson and Adam Humphries out of the picture. We know how much Jameis Winston leans on his tight ends.
The Case Against: Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Cameron Brate are all still there. And in a Bruce Arians's offense you'd expect there's going to be a running back involved in the passing game as well. Speaking of Arians, when's the last time you can remember a breakout tight end in his offense? Maybe Heath Miller, but that was 2009.
55. Tyler Boyd, WR, CIN
The Case For: Despite missing two games due to injury, Boyd was one of the best examples of a third-year breakout wide receiver last year. He caught 70 percent of the balls thrown to him and topped 1,000 yards for the first time in his career. On a per-game basis he was better than Brandin Cooks. The Bengals should be in plenty of games where they're chasing the score, so the volume should be there for Boyd again in 2019, even with A.J. Green back.
The Case Against: There aren't a lot of teams that support multiple startable wide receivers consistently, and it's kind of hard to believe a Bengals squad led by Andy Dalton is going to be one of those teams. If you really think Boyd, A.J. Green and Joe Mixon are all going to be starting options, you probably need to have higher expectations for Dalton.
54. Chris Carson, RB, SEA
The Case For: As much as we keep trying to give the Seahawks' starting job to someone else, Carson has been pretty fantastic. He's an aggressive runner who goes forward and is hard to bring down. That's going to play well on a team like the Seahawks, who want to run the ball more than they pass it. In 18 career games he has nearly 1,600 total yards and 10 touchdowns. The Seahawks have established their team identity, and Carson should be a big part of it again in 2019.
The Case Against: They did use a first-round pick on Rashaad Penny last year. Yes, Penny was dreadful at the start of the year, but he started to show something down the stretch. This looks very much like it will be a committee approach in 2019, and if Penny learns to run with the same intensity as Carson, the second-year back could easily take a larger share of the workload in the second half of the season.
53. Tyler Lockett, WR, SEA
The Case For: The Seahawks didn't throw it often in 2018, but when they threw it to Tyler Lockett good things happened. He caught more than 80 percent of his targets, averaged almost 17 yards per reception and scored once every seven targets. It was arguably the most efficient wide receiver season of all time. The only reason Lockett isn't being drafted like a No. 1 receiver is because of his low target volume (70), but that should change with Doug Baldwin no longer on the team
The Case Against: It's hard to explain just how few targets Lockett had. Every other top-18 receiver from 2018 had at least 75 catches. This Seahawks offense is just too run-heavy to produce a reliable Fantasy option at wide receiver. Lockett is best left for best-ball leagues where you don't have to decide when to start him.
52. Calvin Ridley, WR, ATL
The Case For: Just like last season, Ridley has a perfect situation. He's on a good offense with a veteran quarterback and Julio Jones on the other side of the field to draw all of the attention. He's also a very talented young receiver who should continue to improve.
The Case Against: Ridley only had six games last season with more than five targets. He had 10 games where he didn't top 50 yards. And that was on a team that became much more pass-heavy than planned because its defense was ravaged by the injury bug. Assuming the defense bounces back, the pass volume could decrease for the Falcons this season, which would make Ridley even more touchdown-dependent. That's a frustrating player to count on in PPR.
51. Patrick Mahomes, QB, KC
The Case For: He just gave us the single greatest season ever for a first-year starter. Isn't that enough? Mahomes has arguably the best set of weapons in the league, an offensive mastermind for a head coach and makes throws that most quarterbacks wouldn't even dream up. He outscored the No. 2 quarterback by almost six points per game in 2018. The difference between him and No. 12 (Kirk Cousins) was 11 points, or a good week from your flex. Rostering Mahomes is like starting an extra player each week.
The Case Against: Mahomes is awesome, and he's my No. 1 quarterback in 2019, but he's going to regress. He has to. He had an 8.6% touchdown rate in 2018. You shouldn't expect better than 6.5%, which would have cost him 12 touchdowns last year. He probably won't average 8.8 Y/A again either. No one does. If we expect 8.0 Y/A, we're taking away almost 500 yards from last year. A projection of 4,600 yards and 37 touchdowns is still better than you'd project for any other quarterback, but it might not be worth a second- or third-round pick. If he doesn't have Tyreek Hill, he should fall even further than that.
