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We got together with our Footballguys staff members and asked a simple question: Which player -- generally taken in the sixth round -- do you most-like having on your team?
Here are their answers.
Jason Wood
There are a lot of players in this tier I'm not a fan of, which makes choosing my favorite easy. It's Russell Wilson. There's very little separating Wilson from the likes of Deshaun Watson, Kyler Murray, and Dak Prescott on most draft boards, which means taking the last one in the tier is the smartest play. Wilson's supporting cast looks better than it has in a long time, and he can be a key part of a fantasy championship roster.
Jeff Pasquino
I'm at the polar opposite in this one, Jason. I like at least three other names: Evan Engram, T.Y. Hilton, and DeVante Parker. Parker's a little bit overpriced in Round 6, but here are my comments from earlier this year on him as to why I do like his upside:
Parker was overlooked entering last season as Miami was considered to be an offense to avoid. Once Ryan Fitzpatrick took over, however, the passing game improved greatly, and Parker became fantasy relevant with over 1,200 yards receiving and nine touchdowns. Parker is the clear top target for Miami once again this season, and the expectations are reasonable for him to once again put up lower-WR2 or higher-WR3 type numbers. With a newly inked $40M contract for four years, Parker should be a big part of the plan in Miami for the next few seasons.
Now with that in mind, I'm not picking him as my favorite. Engram is a close second as I think he also has great value and is a top pick if I don't land a Top 4 tight end, but I"m going with T.Y. Hilton. Similar to my arguments for Keenan Allen in Round 5, you are getting a WR2 with WR1 upside at a bargain price due to recency bias. Looking at his career, he's always been a Top 25 wideout aside from last year, and that was due to the calamity at quarterback after Andrew Luck called it a career in August. Granted Hilton missed six games last season with a torn calf, but he was back before the end of the year and he is at full strength, ready to put in a full season with new quarterback Philip Rivers. I'll gladly take Hilton in Round 6 at this discount.
Ryan Hester
This is Terry McLaurin, and it's not particularly close. What he did as a rookie was outstanding. Sure, his quarterback situation is horrific, but it was the same last season. And now he has less target competition. If McLaurin scores eight or more touchdowns this season, he'll be a high-end WR2 at worst.
But since I mentioned McLaurin as early as our Round 4 version of this exercise, he's already on my team. From the remaining bunch, it's either T.Y. Hilton if picking early in the round or Jarvis Landry if picking later. Hilton is known as a speedster, but he has shown that he can be technical and smart in his route-running as well. Both of those types of receivers align well with receivers that Philip Rivers has utilized in the past. With Landry, you get Cleveland's WR1 from last season three or more rounds lower than the teammate he outproduced in 2019.
Chad Parsons
Plenty of names I would consider drafting in this range, especially Evan Engram, Ronald Jones II, T.Y. Hilton, and A.J. Green. I am a wait-on-tight-end drafter at heart and Jared Cook, among others, stand out decently later than this, making it more of a luxury selection. If already with three preferred running backs, Engram would be my selection. If still looking for RB2, Ronald Jones II is the play.
Jordan McNamara
The disrespect for Jarvis Landry is real. He finished as WR12 last year but is getting tainted by the bad narrative that Cleveland was a disappointment in 2019. Baker Mayfield and Odell Beckham Jr were but Landry was anything but a disappointment in 2019. By way of comparison, the last time A.J. Green outperformed that finish was in 2017. The only concern I have is the recovery from his offseason surgery, but reports are positive so far. If there is negative news as August progresses, I'll be reconsidering this selection.
I also like Evan Engram and Ronald Jones II at this cost if I was addressing their respective positions.
Andrew Davenport
I'm with Jordan here, the Landry disrespect happens every summer. He has finished as the PPR WR5, 18, and 12 over the last three seasons and yet he's almost a seventh-round draft choice. I actually believe that the changes the Browns made before the season are going to benefit the offense as a whole. Having a better coach, and structure, for Baker Mayfield should allow for some increased efficiency. They are loaded with players so it's not a guarantee Landry can be WR12 again, but where he is going you don't need him to be. His low price gives him plenty of room to deliver value even if he falls into the WR2 territory.
Andy Hicks
Jason’s mention of Russell Wilson is sound and I’m with Jordan and Drew that Jarvis Landry is fantastic value here, but I have one player higher than both of them and that is DeVante Parker.
There was no happier man in Miami following the departure of Adam Gase than Parker. He was almost traded for minor draft capital while the current Jets coach was around, but once Gase left Parker turned into the WR1 he was drafted to be with the 14th overall pick in 2015. How undervalued is Parker this year? Let’s play a game. One receiver had 802 yards and five touchdowns over their last eight games, while another had 850 yards and five touchdowns. One is the first wide receiver off the board in Michael Thomas. The other is being drafted In the sixth round. The Dolphins have reasonable continuity on offense and no logical reason for assuming Parker will regress. One of the easiest picks to make this year.
Matt Waldman
Although I have plyers like Hilton, McLaurin, and Parker higher on my boards, Wilson is my favorite here because I expect the trio above to be drafted earlier. If my competition doesn't take them 1-2 rounds earlier, I will.
Wilson is the most appropriately ranked option here and he has an elite upside to his game. He's arguably the best quarterback in football and when you examine the stats beyond the box score, it holds up. The Seahawks have given him great options on the outside and a real tight end in Greg Olsen.
Wilson is already among the most efficient passers in the league, especially with the deep ball. Look for Wilson to have a career-year.
Jeff Haseley
The biggest reason why McLaurin is such a great pick in the 6th round is that he is capable of much more than he showed last year, which is still pretty impressive. We see receivers emerge and then explode the next year often and McLaurin is in a perfect setting for that to occur. He is the clear receiving threat on Washington and let's not forget Dwayne Haskins knows him since their days at Ohio State. There is virtually no tight end threat to minimize McLaurin's targets. Washington may not have the best offense, but it would be shocking in McLaurin wasn't targeted at least eight times per game, if not more. He has the top-15 upside that you can draft at a discount in the 6th round.
Phil Alexander
Russell Wilson is a defensible pick here, but generally, if you're not targeting wide receivers at this point in the draft, you are doing it wrong. T.Y. Hilton, A.J. Green, and Terry McLaurin each have low-end WR1 potential at their respective borderline WR3 price points. I'm happy drafting whichever one slips to me. Click here https://subscribers.footballguys.com/players/player-all-info.php?id=McLaTe00&ref=s for my fully-formed take on McLaurin, who has nothing standing between him and 130+ targets.
Dan Hindery
I am targeting Terry McLaurin in the late-4th round and A.J. Green in the 5th round, so I would be absolutely ecstatic to get either one of them in the 6th round.
If both McLaurin and Green are gone, I like Marquise Brown in the 6th round. Including the playoffs, Brown had 53 catches for 710 yards and 7 touchdowns in 15 games. He put up those numbers as a rookie who missed almost the entire 2019 offseason due to injury and was hobbled throughout most of the season. He played just 51% of the snaps last season. I would be shocked if he does not improve on his rookie numbers in year two. He is fully healthy, has spent a lot of time this offseason working with Lamar Jackson, and is going to play way more snaps. The floor is higher here than many seem to think and the ceiling is also higher than many are crediting.
Justin Howe
This is a prime position for both Diggs and McLaurin, two ultra-talented No. 1 wideouts that would be third-round prospects in better situations. McLaurin's floor is probably safer than most think: he's virtually the only game in town. On most snaps, Dwayne Haskins will drop back and scan through the likes of McLaurin, Steven Sims Jr, Trey Quinn, Jeremy Sprinkle, and a handful of rookies. McLaurin boasts the top-tier size, speed, athleticism, and downfield instinct to dominate targets, and he'd be all but assured a WR2 finish with 130+ targets. And any gravy beyond that would be well within his capabilities.
Bob Henry
The commentary for these is like a pick-your-own-adventure book which makes me think about how I'm building my rosters in the draft and what scenarios are most likely with more and more of them as the rounds pass. I don't typically see quarterbacks go as early as the ADPs listed (Prescott, Watson, Murray often available well into the 60s or even 70s). I may be a contrarian to popular logic from my peers across the industry. I like to get one of the two elites, or one of the next four, with my preference being either Dak Prescott. (without reaching) or the last one available, especially if it's Russell Wilson. He is proven as an elite QB1 even without volume due to his insane efficiency.
While Wilson would be my choice, I'm often waiting until the next round and still getting Wilson, Watson or Murray, so I'm going to with Terry McLaurin instead. The caveat is that he's usually not available this last, while the QBs usually are. If McLaurin falls to me in this round, especially if I go the route of two RBs early, one of the top 4 TEs and then fill WRs later, or get a top 6 QB, then McLaurin would likely be my target regardless (as would A.J. Green and DeVante Parker). McLaurin still has upside as Washington's offense takes shape anticipating continued improvement from Dwayne Haskins and an offense that supported an 87-1175-4 for D.J. Moore despite bottom-of-the-league quarterback play.
If my roster build goes in a different direction and I'm chasing running backs, then Kareem Hunt and Ronald Jones II are definitely targets I prefer over others in this range.
