In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by BetMGM:

It's alarming how many men are completely disinterested in personal grooming. Not hygiene, mind you, but grooming. There's a distinction. Guys, when was the last time you plucked an eyebrow? Are your ear hairs making a quick getaway down your ear canal? Could you shave the words "Help Me" into your back? 

Obvious to everyone, women do a far better job of personal grooming. As one example, my wife is a fastidious slougher. Feet. Toes. Even elbows, when necessary. I defy you to find a callus on my wife. Which, readers, is not an actual challenge. Don't come to our house.

A dedicated slougher, she owns an 80-horsepower, diesel-powered slougher, which looks like an industrial belt sander. When she fires it up, the lights in the house go dim. It comes with six different head attachments, with grit strengths ranging from "super fine" to "chain saw."  But for bunions, you need to put the slougher into "sport mode" and watch the sparks fly.

Despite the fact that she sets an ideal example for me, I don't slough. My heels could scrub the barnacles off the keel of the USS Gerald Ford. 

Waiting At Quarterback

The one place that I do slough: The quarterback position in my fantasy drafts and auctions.

There comes a point in every fantasy player’s career journey when they convince themselves that they’re so smart, they don’t need to select a quarterback until the end of the draft. In auction parlance, that means refusing to pay more than about $2 for a quarterback.

The premise makes some sense. There are 10, 12, or 14 teams in your league, and there are more than 14 fantasy-viable quarterbacks in the draft. So, why bother taking one early?

That sounds like a rhetorical question, but I’m going to give you an answer to “why bother?” Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels, and Jalen Hurts. Those guys can power you through the fantasy playoffs with monster boxscores that other quarterbacks simply can’t achieve with the same consistency.

But with best ball ADPs of 34.2, 36.4, 42.3, and 50.3, respectively, not everyone can (or wants to) draft one of those multi-faceted superstars in the early rounds. 

So, let’s assume you’ve let those guys pass in your draft or auction.  

Now you've got the decision about whether to invest mid-round equity into a second-tier passer who can rush and can pass, but often fail to do one or the other, or both. I'm talking about guys like Bo Nix, Kyler Murray, Justin Fields, and Caleb Williams. You've already seen games where they look like fantasy titans and other times like fantasy titmice.

I rarely take a quarterback at that tier. The cost is too high for inconsistent production. A few rounds later, I can find guys with similar upside and/or consistency. Below are some of the more intriguing options.

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Sloughers Unite Behind These Late-Round QBs! 

So, let's advance further down the draft to check out some quarterback options in double-digit rounds who can be your first quarterback rostered.

Round 11: Packers QB Jordan Love
You can get Jordan Love at a four-round discount compared to this time last year, despite the addition of first-round receiver Matthew Golden. Love is coming off a difficult season, with a nasty leg injury that affected his rushing significantly and even his passing. That injury, plus the addition of Josh Jacobs, syphoned 150 passing attempts away from Love compared to the previous year. 

But, Love is ripe for a bounceback season. Even without Christian Watson (ACL) for this season, Love has one of the league's deepest roster of receiving options. When he's not laboring under a gruesome groin injury, Love is a fairly mobile quarterback. He ran for just 83 yards last year, but healthy in 2023, he ran for 247 yards and 4 scores. Add that together and we've got a bargain in Round 11.

Round 12: Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy
In the entire history of the league, has any first-year starting quarterback dropped into a better spot than J.J. McCarthy?  He'll be throwing passes to Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, and Aaron Jones. His head coach has produced career-best results from Kirk Cousins, Nick Mullens, Josh Dobbs, and Sam Darnold. As a first-year starter, McCarthy will almost certainly see less volume than Darnold, who finished last year as QB11. But McCarthy can make up for that with his legs—a dramatically under-discussed aspect of his game. In his last two years at Michigan, he ran 134 times for 500 yards and 8 touchdowns. In the past, Kevin O'Connell hasn't asked his quarterbacks to run. But other than Dobbs, they couldn't run. 

Round 13: Rams QB Matthew Stafford
If you're dismissing Matthew Stafford's meager 2024 fantasy finish, QB19 across the full season, remember he was missing Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua for much of the first third of the season. Once those two returned healthy, from Week 8 forward, including the playoffs, Stafford averaged 242 passing yards (QB13 per game) and 1.8 touchdowns (QB6). Despite a significant talent upgrade from Kupp to Davante Adams, Stafford is going off the board as best ball QB24. That's a mistake.

Round 15: Seattle QB Sam Darnold
Overall, I'm pretty nervous about the Seattle offense, but Sam Darnold's best ball ADP is absurdly low, QB28. That’s one spot behind Cam Ward, a player with a far tougher path to fantasy relevancy. Granted, in a better situation in Minnesota last year, Darnold finished at QB11 and earned the Comeback Player of the Year award. New offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak has plenty of question marks, but perhaps Kevin O'Connell coached up Darnold so well that he'll carry over some of that mojo in Seattle. The loss of DK Metcalf hurts, and Cooper Kupp won't replace his productivity. But the team invested in the offensive line with first-round guard Grey Zabel, which should pay early dividends.

Round 14: Colts QB Anthony Richardson
It's Round 14, so let's throw a dart at the only available quarterback who has a viable pathway to be a top-five fantasy passer. Heck, Fantasy Life's beloved contributor Coach Gene Clemons would tell you that Richardson already is a top-five fantasy quarterback. The Colts will give Richardson every opportunity to succeed, because his dual-threat upside is freaky—if he can simply become a functional passer. His 50% career completion rate is dreadful. But Week 1 will be just his 16th NFL start, so there's plenty of opportunity for the 23-year old to settle into the role. 

APPLYING THIS LATE-ROUND QB STRATEGY IN BEST BALL IS KEY

Is Jameson Williams Ready For The Next Step?

We’re in OTAs and coaches are actually talking about football. Yay! That means it’s time to dissect and overanalyze what they are saying with the faint hope that this could give us an edge come draft time. We can dream, right?

Kendall Valenzuela takes her weekly spin through the NFL headlines to see which ones have a fantasy football angle to them. Jameson Williams may have another step up to make after his first 1,000-yard season. Could Audric Estime get more carries even with RJ Harvey giving him company in the Denver backfield? Ricky Pearsall’s absence from OTAs is explained. Check it out here. ⬇️

DAN CAMPBELL IS PLENTY CONVINCING

Dynasty Fantasy Football Rankings: Shedeur Sanders On The Move

The freefall was unexpected and significant. It was only a little more than a month ago, but Shedeur Sanders dropping to the fifth round in the NFL Draft shook those who cover and follow the NFL. Though now that OTAs are happening, it’s looking like Coach Prime’s son could be a draft-day find for the Browns.

Sam Wallace explored moving up Sanders in his updated dynasty rankings, where workouts in shorts and no pads seem to have caused a frenzy for the rookie in an open QB competition. But Sanders is not the only player getting attention. The varying outlooks for 2022 NFL draftees Garrett Wilson and Drake London must be explored. The same for the renewed optimism for George Pickens playing with Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. Should he be a target before a potential big season in Big D? Check out the latest rankings.⬇️

THE GEORGE PICKENS EXCITEMENT IS REAL

Around the Watercooler

The latest fantasy nuggets, silliness, and NFL gossip from our merry band of football nerds.

🔮 Is Malik Nabers actually quarterback proof? We look into the crystal ball.

🏈 ICYMI: Look to the North, er, NFC North Team Previews: Lions, Vikings, Packers, and Bears.

✈️ Seriously, who else is there to throw to other than Garrett Wilson?

🏆 Take a look at Week 1 Rankings vs. Current ADP. Makes ya think.

🐆 Who will be the Panthers’ WR2?

🌕 If T-Law hits his average PROE, it could be BTJ to the moon.