It's late July, and that can only mean one thing. Fantasy Football season is only about a month away, and that means fantasy football draft dates are coming up quickly. With drafts quickly approaching, fantasy owners need to research players and determine which players they want to target and avoid. In this article, I'll take a look at four of the most overrated fantasy players in 2017.
1. Michael Thomas (New Orleans Saints WR)
Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas seems to be one of the most popular draft targets this season. I understand that Brandin Cooks is gone now, but is Thomas really worth the 2nd pick that you would have to spend on him?
He does play with Drew Brees, one of the best quarterbacks in the league, but Cooks was the Top receiver last season, and he was drafted in the 3rd round. So why is Thomas being drafted over players like Jordy Nelson, who led fantasy football in points scored among wide receivers last season? Dodge Thomas and pick someone else instead at the wide receiver position.
2. Marshawn Lynch (Oakland Raiders RB)
You want to take the risk and draft Lynch in the 3rd round? He's been out of football for more than a year, and we still don't know how he'll look when he gets back. There's no guarantee that he'll play at a high level, especially at the age of 31. In addition, Derek Carr and the Raiders seem to hate running the ball and that limited Latavius Murray last season.
That won't change this season, and Lynch isn't even as good of a receiver as Murray. To me, Lynch is definitely not worth the second or third round pick that you would have to spend on him.
3. Travis Kelce (Kansas City Chiefs TE)
Kelce finished the season with the highest number of fantasy points among all tight ends last season.
He was one of Alex Smith's favorite targets, and there's no reason to think that will change. However, Kelce is currently being drafted at about the 38th overall pick, which is far too high for the talented tight end. Tight ends simply aren't as valuable as wide receivers and running backs, because they don't score as many points.
Only Rob Gronkowski is really worth drafting early. Avoid Kelce this fantasy football season, in spite of his great performances last season.
4. Andrew Luck (Indianapolis Colts QB)
Andrew Luck made numerous appearances on overrated lists last season, and fantasy owners are again overvaluing his production. He always seems to finish the season with good numbers, but his fantasy performances are anything but consistent, and that is what owners should be striving for. Instead, there were nine games last year where Luck scored less than 20 fantasy points. To me, that's not good enough for the 50th overall pick.
Agree with the players listed? Disagree? Feel free to post a comment. For more fantasy football updates, and for all updates during the regular season, check out and like the Facebook page Fantasy Football Weekly (FFW).
