Miami Dolphins fantasy football options

The NFL 2017 season is still a long ways away but already fans of the fantasy realm are gearing up for the 2017 fantasy football season. Which of course means you will start grading out your Miami Dolphins.

When it comes to the Dolphins and your fantasy football plans, there isn’t much high-end options. Jay Ajayi will go higher than he should and Jarvis Landry will be taken in PPR leagues way before you opt to draft him. Inevitably Ryan Tannehill will also be drafted before you can steal him as a one week fix for a bye week or a sneaky option as a breakout starter.

Here is a look at the players who will draw attention in this years fantasy drafts and why you should simply focus your attention elsewhere.

Jay Ajayi

No one had a better fantasy season in 2016 on the Dolphins roster. Ajayi was a breakout hit and because of that notoriety will be drafted far earlier than most will expect. In fact you can anticipate Ajayi being drafted in the 2-3 round range and if you’re in a league with Dolphins fans, that could go higher.

Ajayi is going to have a productive year but don’t expect three 200 yard games. Questions about the Dolphins offensive line, especially center Mike Pouncey are legitimate concerns and if Pouncey misses time, Ajayi’s production will falter. A very good season is on tap for Ajayi but it may not equate to a fantasy standout season.

Jarvis Landry

Landry is a great receiver in PPR leagues and not a great receiver in standard leagues. You can expect to draft him in the 4th round in most PPR leagues and if it’s a standard league with a bunch of Dolphins fans, the 4th round is likely the spot as well. In a standard league it’s better to wait until 5 or even 6 as Landry is not a touchdown machine.

DeVante Parker

Many believe Parker will breakout this year. For Dolphins fans that’s a great hope to have but what does that translate to FF? Not much. Parker isn’t on the radar for most NFL fans who play FF and therefore you can probably draft him late in the draft but keep an eye on his pre-season production because if he is going to breakout you will get early glimpses of his play during that time.

Kenny Stills

Stills is the deep threat Miami needs but in most leagues deep threats are not rewarded. In 2016 Stills led the team in touchdowns with 10 but it’s hard to imagine him getting that many again in 2017. The Dolphins simply have a lot of offensive talent and not enough balls to go around. Mid-round is a good place to get him provided you are looking at bye week fillers or leagues that reward yardage and touchdowns specifically. He will be hit or miss most weeks.

Ryan Tannehill

If you draft Ryan Tannehill to be your starter, your likely going to lose your league. You would be banking on a huge turnaround for the quarterback who did show a lot of production improvement in 2016. It’s not enough to get other teams to notice so you will likely find him really late in the draft. He could very well be a steal but more likely he will statistically, fantasy football speaking, fall somewhere in the middle of the FF QB’s.

Julius Thomas

Thomas could be a big FF producer from the TE spot. He should receive a lot of looks from Tannehill and could produce in the redzone and bogart touchdowns from Jay Ajayi. In addition, he could take receptions away from Landry as well. The problem? His health concerns. Thomas’ injury history means that you shouldn’t be drafting him as a starter but instead he could be the guy you get late to fill in your roster. Don’t bank on Thomas to be your guy or you could be scanning the waiver wire each week.

Andrew Franks

There is no reason to draft Franks. At best he is a bye week filler that you will be able to get off the free agent list.

Dolphins D

After spending 2016 ranked 2nd to last against the run it’s hard to believe that Miami will turn it around. Considering most FF defenses are awarded points for takeaways, sacks, yardage given up, and points against, the Dolphins shouldn’t be at the top of the list for your defensive plans but if you have to have one Dolphins player on your FF roster, DEF may not be a bad one to have because you can flex them out against tougher teams.

Overall

It’s hard to choose what players the Dolphins will have that carry fantasy value. The reason is because the #NewMiami team is exactly that, a team. Miami is more focused on team concepts than individual ones and since each FF caliber player stands to either lose production to another player or could be stifled by another’s injury, it’s best to draft smartly and not with your heart.