2018 NFL Predictions: Fantasy Studs and Duds at Every Position

We are at the point of the summer where NFL fantasy football drafts are right around the corner, so the smart owner is doing as much scouting as possible to make the best decisions on draft day.

The key to getting ahead in your league is filling the roster with stars and productive players and avoiding the bad mistakes that end up as duds. It's great to have a superstar or two, but you may be better off with several good-to-very-good players and avoiding the major disappointments.

Here's our take on fantasy studs and fantasy duds for the upcoming fantasy season.

Quarterbacks

Stud

Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings

Don't take the selection of Cousins as a vote for the Vikings quarterback as the best in the league. No, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees still have the edge in that argument, but there's no point in endorsing those superstars at this point since 99.9 percent of all fantasy football players know that.

The belief here is that Cousins will be a perfect fit on a team that many preseason publications tab as having legitimate Super Bowl potential. Cousins is now with an organization that has full faith in him, something the Washington Redskins did not.

Cousins will reward the Vikings with a brilliant season. He threw for 4,917 yards and 25 touchdowns two years ago and had 4,093 yards and 27 touchdowns last year. He should easily exceed 30 TD passes with the Vikings and play like one of the top five quarterbacks in the league.

That will make him a bargain, because his average draft position is eighth among quarterbacks, according to Fantasy Football Calculator. He is just behind Cam Newton and just ahead of Andrew Luck.

Dud

Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks

We'll go out on a limb and say a player who has been nothing but a consistent fantasy football star throughout his career will be a dud this season. 

Wilson is a great athlete and a tough-minded competitor, but the Seahawks are just a shell of the team they once were. Their defense will get pushed around and the offense just doesn't have any legitimate weapons outside of Wilson and wide receiver Doug Baldwin.

Opposing defensive coordinators are not going to be overwhelmed coming up with a game plan. All they have to do is keep Baldwin from getting free in the secondary and contain Wilson. 

The quarterback is not going to get the job done by himself. His average draft position is fourth among quarterbacks, and the recommendation here is to let him pass by and allow one of your competitors to make the mistake of drafting him.

Running backs

Stud

Melvin Gordon, Los Angeles Chargers

There is no reason to recommend Le'Veon Bell, Ezekiel Elliott or Todd Gurley because those three are established superstars and fantasy players are well aware of their worth.

There is reason to believe that Gordon will join the elite backs in the game this season. Gordon has gotten better each year he has been in the league, and while he was disappointing as a rookie in 2015 with 614 yards and no rushing TDs, he has been climbing the charts since then.

He had a solid season in 2016 with 997 yards and 10 touchdowns, and his rushing total improved to 1,105 yards and eight touchdowns last year.

Nobody is more grateful for Gordon's production that Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, who enjoys the benefit of having a ground game that was basically non-existent prior to the speedy Gordon's arrival.

Gordon's average draft position is eighth among running backs, and he could be the fourth- or fifth-best running back in the NFL.

Dud

Kareem Hunt, Kansas City Chiefs

This may look like an insult to Hunt, but a deeper look makes it an insult to the Chiefs. The decision to send Alex Smith to the Washington Redskins and hand the quarterback position to Patrick Mahomes looks risky.

If Mahomes can't make a smooth transition to the starting position, it will be difficult for the rest of the Kansas City offense to get untracked. Hunt is fast and tough to bring down, but opposing defenses will concentrate on stopping him.

Hunt had eight rushing TDs and three more as a receiver last year, but he may be held to five touchdowns or fewer this season. 

He will not be the ninth-best running back to come off the board.

Matt Ludtke/Associated Press

Wide receivers

Stud

Davante Adams, Green Bay Packers

Adams is Rodgers' No. 1 receiver, and he should produce big numbers from Week 1 through Week 17.

As long as Rodgers stays healthy, the Packers should be on a mission this year since they finished third in the NFC North last year behind the Vikings and the Detroit Lions. That motivation should ensure a productive offensive year, and Adams is a gutsy and willing receiver who has caught double-digit touchdowns in each of the last two years.

Adams caught 75 passes for 997 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2016 and he followed that with 74 receptions for 885 yards and 10 touchdowns last year. The Packers clearly believe in Adams as they gave him a four-year, $58-million contract. 

He will live up to his status as the sixth receiver to come off the board.

Dud

A.J. Green, Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals are a depressing organization when it comes to fulfilling promise and winning key games, and with the same head coach-quarterback combination of Marvin Lewis and Andy Dalton once again, why should anything change this year?

The Bengals players know this, and most of the veteran players understand what their fate will be even though they would never say it publicly. Green has been a productive and often explosive player throughout his career, but his per-game production numbers have come down. 

This could be the year that Green falls off the cliff, and his production will not be commensurate with his status as the eighth receiver to come off the board.

Tight end

Stud

Zach Ertz, Philadelphia Eagles

The defending Super Bowl champions have a ton of offensive weapons, but there may not be a more dependable skill-position player on their roster than Ertz.

He knows how to get open even when he is facing tight coverage, and he will fight for every pass that is thrown his way.

Head coach Doug Pederson and the Eagles quarterbacks know how dependable he is on an every-game basis. Ertz has caught 75, 78 and 74 passes the past three seasons, and he had eight TD receptions a year ago. 

Ertz should be the third tight end to come off the board after Rob Gronkowski and Travis Kelce, and he is deserving of that status.

Dud

Jimmy Graham, Green Bay

Graham's athletic ability has never been in question, but he had a difficult time adjusting to a new environment when he left New Orleans and signed with Seattle. Graham had a 10-TD reception year with the Seahawks a year ago, but it may take him a while to adjust to the Packers.

He needs to show Rodgers how productive and athletic he can be, but we don't see that happening until the second half of the season.

His average draft position is fourth among tight ends, but he may not come close to producing at that level for the majority of the season.

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Average draft position rankings provided by fantasyfootballcalculator.com.