2021 Rookie Tiers

[CGW]

In SF, there is a clear T5 to me making up the first tier: Lawrence, Fields, Harris, Etienne, and Chase.

In SF Lawrence is tier 1 by himself.

Yep. Lawrence in T1. It might then skip T2 as no1 is very close to Lawrence. You can then lump the other 4 in T3 together.

Despite the little hype beginning to roll, I'm not super excited about this class beyond QB and chase/smith. Hopefully the combine and draft change that for me. I normally dont dig into the WR until later, but the RBs are not impressing me much in comparison to 2020(nothing but eye test to back it up). Landing spot is really going to matter.

[ThunderTung]

In SF, there is a clear T5 to me making up the first tier: Lawrence, Fields, Harris, Etienne, and Chase.

In SF Lawrence is tier 1 by himself.

Yep. Lawrence in T1. It might then skip T2 as no1 is very close to Lawrence. You can then lump the other 4 in T3 together.

Despite the little hype beginning to roll, I'm not super excited about this class beyond QB and chase/smith. Hopefully the combine and draft change that for me. I normally dont dig into the WR until later, but the RBs are not impressing me much in comparison to 2020(nothing but eye test to back it up). Landing spot is really going to matter.

Its funny you say that, the more I see of this RB class the more excited I get lol. I think its incredibly underrated (only the eye test for me as well)

I think if we had a normal season there would be a lot more hype surrounding the RB's

[CGW]

In SF Lawrence is tier 1 by himself.

Yep. Lawrence in T1. It might then skip T2 as no1 is very close to Lawrence. You can then lump the other 4 in T3 together.

Despite the little hype beginning to roll, I'm not super excited about this class beyond QB and chase/smith. Hopefully the combine and draft change that for me. I normally dont dig into the WR until later, but the RBs are not impressing me much in comparison to 2020(nothing but eye test to back it up). Landing spot is really going to matter.

Its funny you say that, the more I see of this RB class the more excited I get lol. I think its incredibly underrated (only the eye test for me as well)

I think if we had a normal season there would be a lot more hype surrounding the RB's

It could have a lot to do with the strange season, I just dont see the dynamic players I did last year out of Taylor, Dobbins, and Swift. Again, maybe the combine and landing spot will change that for me.

[ThunderTung]

Yep. Lawrence in T1. It might then skip T2 as no1 is very close to Lawrence. You can then lump the other 4 in T3 together.

Despite the little hype beginning to roll, I'm not super excited about this class beyond QB and chase/smith. Hopefully the combine and draft change that for me. I normally dont dig into the WR until later, but the RBs are not impressing me much in comparison to 2020(nothing but eye test to back it up). Landing spot is really going to matter.

Its funny you say that, the more I see of this RB class the more excited I get lol. I think its incredibly underrated (only the eye test for me as well)

I think if we had a normal season there would be a lot more hype surrounding the RB's

It could have a lot to do with the strange season, I just dont see the dynamic players I did last year out of Taylor, Dobbins, and Swift. Again, maybe the combine and landing spot will change that for me.

oh yea im not gonna argue against that, last years class was incredible. I just think there will be some solid value in the middle-late first, interesting how different people see things when looking at the same thing though lol

[Hankybro21]

Najee scares me a bit. Hoping he has more of a Henry start to his career so I can get him for cheap later on lol

What about him scares you?

[ThunderTung]

Najee scares me a bit. Hoping he has more of a Henry start to his career so I can get him for cheap later on lol

What about him scares you?

I don't see the explosiveness. He's got great contact balance, and vision but he just doesn't wow me.

Really interested to see what he runs at the combine because he just looks so sluggish to me. But its mostly a gut feeling tbh...and I always trust my gut

[briank]

Najee scares me a bit. Hoping he has more of a Henry start to his career so I can get him for cheap later on lol

What about him scares you?

I don't see the explosiveness. He's got great contact balance, and vision but he just doesn't wow me.

Really interested to see what he runs at the combine because he just looks so sluggish to me. But its mostly a gut feeling tbh...and I always trust my gut

It sounds like he's expected to run a sub 4.5 40. If that happens, he's going to be the consensus 1.01 in non superflex.

[hoos89]

What about him scares you?

I don't see the explosiveness. He's got great contact balance, and vision but he just doesn't wow me.

Really interested to see what he runs at the combine because he just looks so sluggish to me. But its mostly a gut feeling tbh...and I always trust my gut

It sounds like he's expected to run a sub 4.5 40. If that happens, he's going to be the consensus 1.01 in non superflex.

Pre-draft, maybe. Situation between Harris, Etienne and maybe Chase will determine 1.01.

[failblazer]

Najee scares me a bit. Hoping he has more of a Henry start to his career so I can get him for cheap later on lol

What about him scares you?

I don't see the explosiveness. He's got great contact balance, and vision but he just doesn't wow me.

Really interested to see what he runs at the combine because he just looks so sluggish to me. But its mostly a gut feeling tbh...and I always trust my gut

I don't think he has elite burst or top end speed to run away from defenders. That's where I think the Henry comparisons are lazy, as I don't see him going off for 90 yard runs. To me, he has very good vision and ability to pick through traffic, very good lower body strength and very good catching ability, especially outside of his frame. He's a better version of James Robinson. I think Etienne probably has the higher upside as an athlete but Najee just seems to be rock solid in so many areas that I can see him being super consistent and translating to NFL play very quickly. He'll be a top end RB2 and that has a lot of value.

[-THE DUDE-]

Najee scares me a bit. Hoping he has more of a Henry start to his career so I can get him for cheap later on lol

What about him scares you?

I don't see the explosiveness. He's got great contact balance, and vision but he just doesn't wow me.

Really interested to see what he runs at the combine because he just looks so sluggish to me. But its mostly a gut feeling tbh...and I always trust my gut

Might be his running style though...he seems to kind of hop and skip through the holes...has patience and then kicks it into gear. He’s definitely a 3 down back too...would draft him 1.1 right now I think.

[briank]

I don't see the explosiveness. He's got great contact balance, and vision but he just doesn't wow me.

Really interested to see what he runs at the combine because he just looks so sluggish to me. But its mostly a gut feeling tbh...and I always trust my gut

It sounds like he's expected to run a sub 4.5 40. If that happens, he's going to be the consensus 1.01 in non superflex.

Pre-draft, maybe. Situation between Harris, Etienne and maybe Chase will determine 1.01.

Excellent point. I just expect him to be the first off the board in the NFL draft to a good situation if he runs sub 4.5.

[briank]

What about him scares you?

I don't see the explosiveness. He's got great contact balance, and vision but he just doesn't wow me.

Really interested to see what he runs at the combine because he just looks so sluggish to me. But its mostly a gut feeling tbh...and I always trust my gut

I don't think he has elite burst or top end speed to run away from defenders. That's where I think the Henry comparisons are lazy, as I don't see him going off for 90 yard runs. To me, he has very good vision and ability to pick through traffic, very good lower body strength and very good catching ability, especially outside of his frame. He's a better version of James Robinson. I think Etienne probably has the higher upside as an athlete but Najee just seems to be rock solid in so many areas that I can see him being super consistent and translating to NFL play very quickly. He'll be a top end RB2 and that has a lot of value.

I agree that the Henry comp is lazy, but Najee does things Henry doesn't. He makes people miss like Henry can't. I'm not sure if he has the same top end speed, but I'm not seeing him get caught from behind. Like I mentioned above, he is expected to run sub 4.5. I don't think he'll have a problem running away from defenders like he did at the end of this highlight:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm6AZ4nT6vA

He's also a much bigger threat as a receiver. I'm no expert, but I'm impressed by watching him. He seems like he can do it all.

[Mike11]

I have a weird feeling we’re going to see Hubbard blow the roof off the combine and he’ll wedge himself in with Javonte Williams as either Tier 2 or the four all land in good spots. I need to watch more tape, Williams tape legitimately pops to me in a huge way. If a team gives him day 2 capital (more importantly round 2) I feel good with him if I need a rb.

I’m in an interesting spot. I have 1.04, I know Lawrence is going 1.01 but Fields will not go 2 or 3. I have Dak and Burrow so I’m not interested in Fields there, it’s a 10 team 2 QB league but I also have 13 and 17.

I’d much rather get a rb at 4 than take chase but it’s likely Harris and Etienne leave. That means I might need to determine if Williams is worth taking over chase. I could then go to a tier 2/3 wr at 13 or a tier 2 QB if one falls. I think like most leagues you just can’t get an rb if you don’t have a top 5 pick.

[wheath.sharp]

I have a weird feeling we’re going to see Hubbard blow the roof off the combine and he’ll wedge himself in with Javonte Williams as either Tier 2 or the four all land in good spots. I need to watch more tape, Williams tape legitimately pops to me in a huge way. If a team gives him day 2 capital (more importantly round 2) I feel good with him if I need a rb.

I’m in an interesting spot. I have 1.04, I know Lawrence is going 1.01 but Fields will not go 2 or 3. I have Dak and Burrow so I’m not interested in Fields there, it’s a 10 team 2 QB league but I also have 13 and 17.

I’d much rather get a rb at 4 than take chase but it’s likely Harris and Etienne leave. That means I might need to determine if Williams is worth taking over chase. I could then go to a tier 2/3 wr at 13 or a tier 2 QB if one falls. I think like most leagues you just can’t get an rb if you don’t have a top 5 pick.

I'm in the same boat. Team 1 in sig - I have the 1.03 in a 1QB and am grappling with whether I can pass up Chase for Javonte. Obviously a lot still to play out with the combine/draft but would be curious to see what you end up deciding to do.

[Mike11]

I have a weird feeling we’re going to see Hubbard blow the roof off the combine and he’ll wedge himself in with Javonte Williams as either Tier 2 or the four all land in good spots. I need to watch more tape, Williams tape legitimately pops to me in a huge way. If a team gives him day 2 capital (more importantly round 2) I feel good with him if I need a rb.

I’m in an interesting spot. I have 1.04, I know Lawrence is going 1.01 but Fields will not go 2 or 3. I have Dak and Burrow so I’m not interested in Fields there, it’s a 10 team 2 QB league but I also have 13 and 17.

I’d much rather get a rb at 4 than take chase but it’s likely Harris and Etienne leave. That means I might need to determine if Williams is worth taking over chase. I could then go to a tier 2/3 wr at 13 or a tier 2 QB if one falls. I think like most leagues you just can’t get an rb if you don’t have a top 5 pick.

I'm in the same boat. Team 1 in sig - I have the 1.03 in a 1QB and am grappling with whether I can pass up Chase for Javonte. Obviously a lot still to play out with the combine/draft but would be curious to see what you end up deciding to do.

My team is as follows rn:

Start 2 QB: Dak, Burrow, Fitz, Rivers, Mariota
Start 2 RB: CEH, Swift, McKinnon, DeeJay Dalla
Start 3 WR: MT, Chark, Jeudy, Claypool, B Edwards, Hollywood; AB, Higgins, Cephus, Collin Johnson, Tyler Johnson
Start 1 TE: Kittle, Tonyan
2 Flex (RB, WR, TE)

So long story short I am THIN at RB. I think I’ll need to go RB, so I really hope someone sneaks in with Etienne, Harris. Harris looks like he’s legit, Etienne outcomes look more varied to me. As you said we gotta see how it shakes out but I’ll be hard pressed to take Chase unless those other rbs go round 3 late.