We are always searching for the next guy that no one expects to go off but possesses that hidden ceiling to go absolutely NUCLEAR. These guys can be league winners for your fantasy squads. Think of players like Ashton Jeanty, Cody Schrader, Blake Watson, and LaJohntay Wester last year.
All guys that were going post-round ten in most drafts had signs of talent and/or system indicating the “Nuclear Button” was an available option to them. They just needed something to break their way. Here are some guys going later in drafts that could go NUCLEAR.
Dean Connors- RB, Rice
RB36; ADP 92.1
Connors isn’t quite going over round 10+, but he’s close. He is someone we discussed back in February with the Best RB You Have Never Heard Of article. Who is the Rice head coach? Mike Bloomgren. Who was the Stanford OC when Christian McCaffrey averaged 296-1811-10 rushing and 41-478-4 receiving over a two-year stretch? Mike Bloomgren. Not to mention Bryce Love went for 263-2118-19 rushing under Bloomgren after McCaffrey moved on.
Now, Rice isn’t likely to be playing downhill, thus allowing Connors to get 250+ carries like those Stanford teams, but Connors has proven to be an elite pass-catching RB with 43-403-3 receiving in 2023. Rice loses its top three rushers behind Connors, so it’s not crazy to think he could smash the NUCLEAR button should those 140 vacated carries go his way.
Jaydon Blue – RB, Texas
RB49; ADP 139.3
CJ Baxter has an ADP of 29.9. On average, Blue can be had much later than Baxter in round 12. Blue’s ADP would probably be even lower if it weren’t for all the Baxter owners handcuffing him (which they are wise to do). Death, taxes, and Sark RBs going for 1K. Yes, Baxter is very likely to start week one. But what happens if he gets hurt or struggles early on?
Well, we got to see this exact scenario play out last September. Baxter, not Jonathon Brooks, was the week one starter. However, Brooks was a top-8 CFF RB before his season-ending injury. Blue was the talk of the Forty Acres throughout the spring. Don’t be surprised if this is a 50/50 split early before Sark settles on a workhorse option. Take the discount on Blue and see if he goes NUCLEAR like Brooks.
Kaytron Allen – RB, Penn State
RB63; ADP 179.3
Would you believe me if I told you that it’s Allen, not Singleton, who has led Penn State in carries each of the last two seasons? And while Singleton has been more productive, it’s a marginal difference of just 50 yards and three touchdowns over that stretch. Despite their near-identical stats, Singleton goes in Round 6, while Fatman can be had back at Round 15.
Yes, Singleton certainly has a higher ceiling. No debating that. But Allen has averaged 1,000 yards from scrimmage with nine TDs the last two seasons. The intriguing thing for him is that he is just one pulled hammy away from becoming the clear feature back in an Andy Kotelnicki offense that has produced Devin Neal and CFF Legend Jaret Patterson. The latter is the definition of going NUCLEAR with 2,008 yards and 20 TDs in 2019 and 1,072 yards and 19 TDs in just six games in 2020!
Jayden Maiava – QB, USC
QB80; ADP 346.4
All signs point to Miller Moss starting. That’s likely happening. However, that doesn’t mean he will keep it. We have talked ad nauseam about how difficult the USC schedule is – LSU, at Michigan, Wisconsin, at Minnesota, and Penn State all in their first six games.
Maiava, the UNLV transfer, had numerous P5 offers as a recruit, looked great as a redshirt freshman last season, and outplayed Moss in the spring game. Maiava costs nothing, but his owners could hold the next Lincoln Riley QB to go NUCLEAR if Moss struggles early. The schedule lightens up in the second half of the season, and Maiava could be the beneficiary.
Devin McCuin – WR, UTSA
WR58; ADP 195.2
Gone are the Roadrunners’ top two receivers in Cephus and Ogle-Kellogg. They leave behind 183 targets, 1,726 yards, and 17 TDs for Jeff Traylor and staff to replace.
McCuin, after a stellar true freshman campaign, is the primary candidate to consume that vacated volume. The top two receivers for UTSA have combined to average 213 targets/season over the last three seasons. There hasn’t been much buzz from the transfers (JJ Sparkman and DJ Allen) or the prospect of a healthy JT Clark. Without a strong WR2 option here, there is a real chance that McCuin is hyper-targeted early and often—a sneaky NUCLEAR option with a friendly ADP of 195.
