Imagine for a second an all-inclusive look into the minds of some of the top fantasy analysts in the industry and their thinking about the 2021 NFL draft.

Well, no need to imagine anymore: you’re here.

I recently polled 16 of what I would consider some of the smartest fantasy players in the industry to pick their brains on this 2021 class. I wanted to see what kind of consensus and differing opinions we would get from them which could help shape how we view the class

Huge thank you to the following analysts for participating in this poll:

Curtis Patrick – @CPatrickNFL

Mike Braude – @BraudeM

Jared Smola – @SmolaDS

Drew O. – @DFBeanCounter

Peter Howard – @pahowdy

Marvin Elequin – @FF_MarvinE

AngeloFF – @angelo_fantasy

Cody Carpentier – @CarpentierNFL

Fantasy Scouts 24/7 – @FFBallAllDay

Josh Larky – @jlarkytweets

Noah Hills – @noahmoreparties

Cory P. – @FF_Guitarist

Amr Gabr – @amrgaabr

Jerrick Backous – @JerrickBackous

Miguel Chapeton – @ProFootballPSI

Make sure to follow them on Twitter as they all have unique profiles in which they bring excellent knowledge that I promise will make you a better fantasy football player.

All of the questions were open-ended in order to eliminate any of my personal biases. Let’s see what they had to say:

Question 1: Who is the best quarterback in the 2021 NFL draft?

12 – Trevor Lawrence (75%)

1 – Justin Fields (6%)

1 – Tie between Lawrence, Fields, and Wilson (6%)

1 – Not sure

1 – Abstained

This goes along with the common consensus that Lawrence is the best QB in the draft. It was interesting to see a couple of people mention Justin Fields in there and it should show that Fields in of himself is a phenomenal QB prospect.

Question 2: Who is the most undervalued quarterback in this draft?

5 – Justin Fields (31%)

5 – Mac Jones (31%)

4 – Trey Lance (25%)

1 – Ian Book (6%)

1 – Abstained

This was interesting to see three names almost equally brought up here.  Despite Justin Fields currently being drafted as the 1.02 in SuperFlex rookie drafts according to DLF, five people thought he was undervalued. This likely alludes to his 1.01 type profile and him being in the shadow of Trevor Lawrence.

Mac Jones is usually thought of as the QB5 in this class and that’s where he’s currently going in early rookie drafts. After breaking Tua Tagovailoa’s records at Alabama, maybe Mac Jones is someone who should be in the conversation with some of these other QB prospects.

Trey Lance right now is the QB4 in rookie drafts and we know how important a “Konami Code” QB is in fantasy. After a sophomore season in which he threw 28 TDs with no INTs and also ran for 1,100 yards on the ground, he could be a massive asset to teams.

Question 3: Who is the most overvalued quarterback in this draft?

6 – Mac Jones (38%)

4 – Zach Wilson (25%)

2 – Kyle Trask (13%)

2 – Trey Lance (13%)

1 – Not Sure

1 – Abstained

This was really interesting to see Mac Jones tied for the most votes for undervalued QB, but also leads the votes for the most overvalued QB. This likely shows us the wide range of opinions we will continue to see on him as the community may have a hard time grasping who Mac Jones really is. Expect him to be a polarizing asset in fantasy.

Zach Wilson getting four votes here is likely due to him being propped up as the consensus QB3 in drafts after one big season. He has potential, but these analysts may be concerned about going all-in on a QB with only one good season on his resume.

Question 4: Who is the best running back in the 2021 NFL draft?

11 – Najee Harris (69%)

5 – Travis Etienne (31%)

This was a two-headed race as roughly 2/3 of the votes came in for Najee Harris. Those who voted Harris are likely opting for him due to his impressive junior and senior seasons and offering a true three-down workhorse role. The Etienne votes are likely valuing his earlier age-adjusted production and speed higher.

Question 5: Who is the most undervalued running back in this draft?

5 – Jermar Jefferson (31%)

3 – Michael Carter (19%)

3 – Javonte Williams (19%)

3 – Kenny Gainwell (19%)

1 – Jaret Patterson (6%)

1 – Chuba Hubbard/Michael Carter

It was great to see 4 guys really come up as “undervalued”. The likes of Williams, Jefferson, Gainwell, and Carter are all being picked at pick 12 or later in early SuperFlex rookie drafts. There should be value here for these guys as all four offer intriguing skillsets as receivers on top of rushing production.

Question 6: Who is the most overvalued running back in this draft?

4 – Travis Etienne (25%)

3 – Najee Harris (19%)

2 – Kenny Gainwell (13%)

2 – Javonte Williams (13%)

2 – Trey Sermon (13%)

1 – Michael Carter (6%)

1 – Chuba Hubbard (6%)

1 – Most of them

Seeing the top five RBs in rookie ADP so far according to DLF as the top five answers in this was very interesting. This may give us a potential feeling that these analysts think this RB class as a whole may be overvalued compare to the other positions.

Question 7: Who is the best wide receiver in the 2021 NFL draft?

13 – Ja’Marr Chase (81%)

2 – Rashod Bateman (13%)

1 – Chase/Bateman

Ja’Marr Chase is the runaway favorite here as he was mentioned by 14 people as being the best WR in this class. His monster sophomore season outproducing rookie record holder Justin Jefferson has him as one of the better WR prospects in recent memory. The fact that Rashod Bateman got some love here may be due to his very impressive analytical profile and says a lot with a premium prospect like Chase in this class.

Question 8: Who is the most undervalued wide receiver in this draft?

3 – Rashod Bateman (19%)

3 – Dyami Brown (19%)

2 – Rondale Moore (13%)

2 – Elijah Moore (13%)

1 – Tamorrion Terry (6%)

1 – Tylan Wallace (6%)

1 – Amari Rodgers (6%)

1 – Kyle Pitts (6%)

1 – Amon-Ra St. Brown (6%)

1 – Mike Strachan (6%)

The answers here were all over the place but we did see a few names pop up multiple times. Ironically (or maybe not) all of those with multiple votes offer strong age-adjusted production profiles and are likely being undervalued right now.

Question 9: Who is the most overvalued wide receiver in this draft?

7 – Kadarius Toney (44%)

5 – Devonta Smith (31%)

1 – Terrace Marshall (6%)

1 – Rondale Moore (6%)

1 – Jaylen Waddle (6%)

1 – Abstained

Seeing the likes of Kadarius Toney and Devonta Smith combine for 75% of the votes was interesting. Toney is an undersized non-early declare with an underwhelming production profile, but is currently being mocked in the first round by CBS Sports.

Devonta Smith seems like a first-round lock and is currently the WR2 in rookie ADP behind Chase right now. His size and not being an early declare offer potential red flags in an otherwise good profile.

Question 10: Who is the best tight end in the 2021 NFL draft?

14 – Kyle Pitts (88%)

1 – Pat Freiermuth (6%)

1 – Abstained

It should be noted that the Freiermuth voter had Pitts listed as the most underrated WR in a previous vote. This is basically as consensus as it gets for Kyle Pitts being the best TE in the class and these analysts agree.

Question 11: Who is the most undervalued tight end in this draft?

9 – Brevin Jordan (56%)

2 – Pat Freiermuth (13%)

2 – Hunter Long (13%)

1 – Kenny Yeboah (6%)

1 – Not Sure

1 – Abstained

Seeing Brevin Jordan as the runaway favorite here really piqued my interest. He’s currently going in the third round of SuperFlex rookie drafts right now but offers the profile of a TE1 and is being overshadowed by Pitts. These analysts are mostly in lockstep about this which may suggest Jordan may be one of the best values this offseason in both startups and rookie drafts.

Question 12: Who is the most overvalued tight end in this draft?

7 – Kyle Pitts (44%)

1 – Hunter Long (6%)

1 – Pat Freiermuth (6%)

1 – Tre McKitty (6%)

1 – all of them

5 – Abstained

Of the 10 voters to actually name a player a whopping 70% of them chose Kyle Pitts as the most overvalued TE. Now we know these voters also think he is the best TE in this class which means they likely don’t agree with his current SuperFlex rookie ADP of 1.10. Pitts has been put on a pedestal as the next big thing at TE and these analysts think the hype may be getting a little bit out of control in terms of the current cost to acquire him in leagues.

Question 13: Who do you think is going to be the biggest riser in rookie ADP by the 2021 NFL draft?

2 – Rhamondre Stevenson (13%)

2 – Dyami Brown (13%)

2 – Michael Carter (13%)

2 – Amari Rodgers (13%)

2 – Terrace Marshall (13%)

1 – Trey Sermon (6%)

1 – Devonta Smith (6%)

1 – Elijah Moore (6%)

1 – Jermar Jefferson (6%)

1 – Jaret Patterson (6%)

1 – Jaylen Waddle (6%)

These answers were all over the place which shows how much uncertainty there is. With that being said, every year we see massive risers like Antonio Gibson last year and Miles Sanders in 2019. If we can get ahead of the curve on these guys in startups before then there’s a massive edge to be gained. Five players got multiple votes so it’s possible one or multiple of them are the talk of the draft sphere come draft day and can be relatively cheap acquisitions now.

Conclusion

This was so interesting to see the results of this poll and to learn about what some of these guys are saying versus the consensus. Listening to these smart analysts can help us gain an edge in drafts by seeing which players are likely being overvalued/undervalued.

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. Again a massive shoutout to everybody who participated in this poll.

Make sure to follow me on Twitter at @DaltonGuruFF for fun tweets coming up about this class.

Also, make sure to follow me on Clubhouse @DaltonKates as I will be having weekly discussions with other top analysts about various topics to help you crush your leagues.