The Poachables

A team by team look at rising sophomores and juniors on taxi squads. These are players that if not signed by the team currently owning their rights will become poachable or free agents next year. As a reminder, 2nd year rookies on the taxi squad become eligible for poaching the day after all contract decisions need to be made prior to the free agent auction. Owners will need to sign these players or leave them open to a poach. For third year rookies the poaching period will open following the Super Bowl until the start of the free agent signing period. Any of these players not poached by then can either be signed by the owning team or will become free agents and eligible for the free agent auction.

Note: # is the Fantasy Pros Dynasty ranking at that position.

CAB

Jameson Williams, WR, DET (2nd Year, $8, #23) – Projected to have a solid role on the Lions. Was recovering from a torn ACL for most of 2022. Expect him to be signed by CAB to a 4-yr deal.

James Cook, RB, BUF (2nd Year, $9, #29) – Earned more snaps than Devin Singletary for the first time in Week 18. We’ll see how he performs in the playoffs but expect him to also be signed by CAB to a 4-yr deal.

D’Wayne Eskridge, WR, SEA (3rd Year, $7, #117) – Always a long shot, this wideout has not performed well enough to earn a DFFL contract. He’ll probably go unsigned, unpoached and not selected in the FAA.

Isiah Spiller, RB, LAC (2nd Year, $8, #55) – The first difficult decision on CABs roster. With Ekeler and Kelley on contract through 2023 he’ll probably be third on the depth chart in LA. Still, this is a position where we’ve seen a lot of RBs break out from in the past. A lottery ticket for sure, but one that’s worth a minimum of $8 over three years? Would he be poached? My thinking is that he probably escapes day one poaching and sticks on Taxi to start the season.

Wan’Dale Robinson, WR, NYG (2nd Year, $6, #49) – Showed WR3 potential but was often injured in his debut season. Probably a guy CAB would like to take into the season on Taxi, but I don’t think that happens as someone will likely poach forcing CAB to sign him to 3 Yr at $6. Relatively low risk for someone that has good upside.

DMM

George Pickens, WR, PIT (2nd Year, $7, #25) – Looking like a WR1 for Pittsburgh. No doubt that he’ll be signed to a full term DFFL contract.

Jelani Woods, TE, IND (2nd Year, $6, #21) – An interesting player. Indy has a crowded TE room with Woods, Granson and Alie-Cox all signed through at least 2023. Woods certainly has the highest upside of any of them even earns #21 Dynasty ranking at TE from FPros. He also showed some potential with 2TD in week 3 and 8 rec for 98yds in week 12, but no more than 3 rec in any other week. TEs across the league are a dart throw and with decent upside and being on the DMM favorite Colts, expect he’ll be signed prior to poaching and if not a forced signing by poach.

Hassan Haskins, RB, TEN (2nd Year, $6, #63) – Possible Handcuff to an aging Derrick Henry (29 is old for an RB), he maintains some value but not worth $6. He makes the most sense as a Taxi stash if he doesn’t get poached by Titans Insider and Hank owner DNF. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a trade between DMM and DNF as well.

DNF

Christian Watson, WR, GB (2nd Year, $8, #26) – Who’s his QB going to be in 2023? Regardless, he showed enough to be a surefire signing by DNF. I could also see him as a viable trade option.

Malik Willis, QB, TEN (2nd Year, $7, #32) – Let’s be honest, #32 is pretty generous for a guy benched for a practice squad guy. Malik may be a good QB someday, but he’s terrible right now and I don’t see him getting any better in 2023. DNF has lmited draft picks this year, so he’ll probably just hang around on the Taxi squad another year before being cut. Of course, any starting QB can suddenly gain value in a bye week or other extreme situation so there is some risk that he gets poached in season if he gets a spot start in 2023

Chris Evans, RB, CIN (2nd Year, $6, #75) – With zero carries in 2022, not a lot of fantasy hope for this player heading into his third NFL season, but the current backup, Samaje Perine is a UFA this summer. If Evans becomes the back-up to Mixon, he could see his stock rise some, especially when the inevitable puff piece out of the Cinci camp is that Evans is looking good, really hit the gym this summer and Coach said they need to get him some more touches this season. Is any of this worth a 3yr $6 deal? Nope, I’m guessing he goes for at most $1 in auction, if he’s even chosen. Prediction here is that he goes unsigned by DNF and then snagged by RAF for $1 at auction.

JWW

Matt Corral, QB, CAR (2nd Year, $7, #49) – JWW never met a QB he didn’t like, but I can’t see a path to fantasy relevance for Corral who was injured for all of 2022 with a foot injury. Carolina will have a new Head Coach and probably a new rookie QB fresh out of the 2023 draft making it a struggle for Corral to even stay on the team. The hope for JWW is that he impresses enough in pre-season to get traded into a QB competition, but even that is unlikely. JWW also has a few draft picks this season, so he won’t be able to stash all of his 2nd year rookies on Taxi. Is he worth keeping over Ridder? Well…

Desmond Ridder, QB, ATL (2nd Year, $6, #26) – Another rookie QB for JWW, go figure. In this case we actually have live NFL tape on this player and he’s not bad, but he’s also not great either. Is it enough to give him a run at the ATL starting job next year? Maybe. Good thing JWW has time to make a decision on this one. If he’s named the week 1 starter, expect JWW to start him, or he’ll be poached. If not, he’ll hang around the taxi for a little bit longer. If he does hang around on taxi to start the season, that probably means its cutsville for Corral.

Pierre Strong, RB, NE (2nd Year, $6, #60) – An exceptional college career and strong combine made him a trendy pick coming into 2022. Coming out of the season he is the clear #3 to Stevenson and Harris in NE both of whom are signed through 2023. This makes his path to relevance murky, but as discussed earlier, an RB doesn’t need much to gain relevance. In this case though, it’s hard to trust RBs on a Belichik led team. In the end if JWW has a taxi spot available, he’s unlikely to be poached and keeping him as low risk lottery ticket makes sense.

KED

Rookies? Who needs 'em. KED has an empty taxi squad.

MTT

Terrace Marshall, WR, CAR (3rd Year, $7, #72) – A WR who has had plenty of time on the field with not much to show for it. Have his QBs sucked? Absolutely, but even if they get a competent QB, I see little to justify a DFFL contract. He can be had for $1 at FAA, but expect to see him on the waiver wire in 2023.

Skyy Moore, WR, KC (2nd Year, $8, #48) – Still behind Hardman on the depth chart and KC traded for Toney. Moore’s best hope for success is in the slot and as long as Kelce is in KC, the slot will never get the volume needed. Still, he has talent and is unlikely to be poached so MTT will probably find a spot to squeeze him in on his taxi roster.

Kenny Pickett, QB, PIT (2nd Year, $7, #19) – A decent QB will always have DFFL value. Kenny Pickett looks decent. He’ll be signed or traded by the Free Agent Auction.

David Bell, WR, KC (2nd Year, $7, #67) – Not a lot to be excited about here but he did have modest rookie production on a team with poor QB play all season. A return to form for Watson might make him worthy of a DFFL contract, but the best bet his to let him marinate on Taxi to start the season. The problem is that MTT has 5 draft picks in 2023, they have to go somewhere and they’re not all starting the season on MTTs roster. The Bell does not toll for thee, and he’s cut by MTT before the FAA.

Tyquan Thornton, WR, NE (2nd Year, $6, #69) – He’s fast and like Bell had some modest production on a bad offense. Like Bell, there’s probably no space for him here. Welcome to the waiver wire.

NUT

Kyle Trask, QB, TB (2nd Year, $6, #54) – The cupboard is pretty bare for NUT with Trask as the only rookie on his Taxi. That’s like that box of Cream of Wheat on your shelf. Pretty useless and who’s idea was it to buy that anyways? It sticks around simply because the cupboard is bare and has a long shelf life and that will be the case with Trask. NUT only has first round picks and they’re pretty high so likely will go straight to the active roster. This leaves plenty of room for Trask on Taxi for another year.

PTS

Tyrion Davis-Price, RB, GB (2nd Year, $6, #61) – Stuck behind the 3M tape of McCaffrey, Mitchell and Mason, TDP got some playing time at the end of the season and looked ok but I don’t see him being a DFFL contributor in the near future. Since he’s on PTS fave SF, expect to see him stick with PTS for another year on Taxi.

RAF

Trey McBride, WR, ARI (2nd Year, $7, #14) – RAF grabbed McBride because of the Colorado State connection and his success in college. He started showing fantasy potential at the end of the season and comes in at Dynasty Rank 14 for TEs. While I don’t believe he has the athleticism to be Tavis Kelce like, it’s not inconceivable he could put up Mark Andrews like numbers someday. The biggest question mark though is Ertz who is under contract with ARI through 2024 and would be $10 Million Dead Cap Space if cut. His injury makes a trade very unlikely and he was playing well before he got injured. A healthy Ertz at best cuts into McBride’s playing time and at worst puts him on the bench. It be nice to keep him on Taxi but that’s not going to happen. I don’t think Ertz will be ready for the season and that makes McBride the Week 1 starter. A week one starter with upside is very poachable at the TE position. Because of this RAF will sign him at 3YRS/$7 or more likely knowing his proclivity to trade will be reading about him in offseason Deck Chairs…

TIU

Tylan Wallace, WR, BAL (3rd Year, $5, #131) – Nothing to see here. Couldn’t find the field in WR starved Baltimore and he won’t find his way on to a DFFL roster either. He’ll be on the waiver wire, but you’re not going to see him because nobody scrolls that far down.

Dyami Brown, WR, WAS (3rd Year, $5, #93) – He had 105 Yards and 2TD in week 5, that’s encouraging. He had two catches on six targets the rest of the season which is good enough for him to be better than Wallace. You’ll actually see his name on waivers when you scroll down for a little bit.

Alec Pierce, WR, IND (2nd Year, $7, #52) – Decent playing time and modest production on the Train Wreck Colts. The lack of clarity on coach and QB in Indy make it hard to predict the future for Pierce, but my bet is he turns into a bench player in DFFL who gets spot starts. Is that worth 3YR/$7? Maybe. Will TIU sign him? Probably not, as he’ll try to sneak him by on Taxi to start the year. If the situation becomes better in Indy and/or Pierce gets some camp buzz, that might force his hand.

Khalil Shakir, WR, BUF (2nd Year, $6, #67) – Despite Buffalo’s high flying passing attack, they’re second in the league in dropped passes. You might say, that’s because they pass so much, well they’re 14th in the league in receptions. What does this have to do with Shakir? Well the guy in front of him, Isaiah Mckenzie, hasn’t been great and they also resigned Cole Beasley to play slot as well. That doesn’t bode well for his future, but he’s just completing his rookie season and slot guys need experience to find those holes in zone coverage. Regardless, nobody is poaching him, and Bills Superfan TIU certainly isn’t dropping him. He’ll begin the year on taxi.

TMW

Rachaad White, RB, TB (2nd Year, $7, #23) – His receptions in the last half of the season make White a DFFL Flex Starter. Does he continue this production without late career dump-off king Tom Brady? Probably, as he was known for his pass catching prowess coming out of college. There’s no question that he’ll be signed by TMW.

UGG

Zamir White, RB, TB (2nd Year, $7, #48) – Stuck this year behind bell cow Jacobs and Fantasy Tease Abdullah, things likely get a little better for White as Abdullah is a UFA in 2023. With all of the other problems on Las Vegas its unlikely they waste any more money or draft picks at RB. They’ll probably use the 5th year option on Jacobs which will leave White as the de facto #2. That’s not worth a DFFL contact if Jacobs continues to get the bulk of the carries, but it’s getting closer. Keeping White on taxi makes sense and is a free handcuff for UGG who I expect to franchise Jacobs in 2022.