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Fantasy owners are starting to quietly warm up to some NFL Preseason stars, like Detroit wide receiver Kenny Golladay. The 6-foot-4 rookie out of Northern Illinois had a strong training camp and a solid debut in his first preseason game, catching three passes for 53 yards and two touchdowns at the Colts.
It’s that preseason effort that had him skyrocket up the Average Draft Positions on various websites, including FantasyFootballCalculator.com.
![Fantasy Football ADP for Kenny Golladay]()
I’m here to tell you to remain cautious! Sure, Golladay is off to a great start, but let’s see how this goes for the next few weeks. Even then, let’s remember some former NFL Preseason stars that have tricked Fantasy Football owners in the past.
Remember Brian Manning? He was a rookie with the Dolphins in 1997. He had a stellar to his professional career, and the rookie out of Stanford was in the same locker room with Dan Marino one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks ever! He was one of the top NFL Preseason stars that August, tricking me into drafting him ahead of such rookies as Derrick Mason and Rae Carruth. Not cool.
We’re going to keep you from making that same mistake!
5 NFL Preseason Stars That Fooled Fantasy Football Owners
Don’t overreach for any of the hot NFL Preseason stars – they could just be the current version of these five guys!
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Lorenzo Taliaferro, RB, Baltimore Ravens -- 2014
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Ahhh, the summer of 2014 in Baltimore. You might remember it as the insane time period in which the Ray Rice domestic abuse video came out, causing him to go from having a two-game suspension all the way to being suspended for the year – and eventually kicked out of the league.
Rice led the Ravens in rushing the previous season, but even then Fantasy owners were looking for his replacement. Baltimore drafted Taliaferro in the fourth round out of Coastal Carolina in 2014, so it stood to reason he’d be someone they leaned on.
Taliaferro led the Ravens – and all the NFL – with 243 rushing yards in the 2014 NFL Preseason. While he wasn’t necessarily snatched up in drafts that summer, he was definitely the first player grabbed when Rice’s suspension was official. But the Ravens rediscovered Justin Forsett instead – and he went on to have a huge, breakout season, with 1,266 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.
Tajae Sharpe, WR, Tennessee Titans -- 2016
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We don’t have to go too far back in time to find a preseason star that turned into a regular season also-ran.
Sharpe was a shiny new rookie out of UMass, and he wowed us early on the Titans, a team that was desperate for receiving stars to step forward!
Thirteen wide receivers were drafted before Sharpe in the 2016 NFL Draft, so he was barely on the radars of any Fantasy owners outside of dynasty leagues before the preseason began. But he caught nine passes for 163 yards during the exhibition season, without any touchdowns, and that was good enough to shoot him up to an ADP of 11.09!
Unfortunately, he had just three decent games last year, and now the Titans have added Corey Davis, Eric Decker and Taywan Taylor, making Sharpe’s 2017 potential murky.
Rod Streater, WR, Oakland Raiders -- 2012
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In Carson Palmer’s first season with the Raiders in 2011, the team’s top wide receiver was Darrius Heyward-Bey, which has to be a phrase everyone in the world besides DHB’s parents would be surprised to read. “The team’s top wide receiver was Darrius Heyward-Bey”!?! Going into 2012, there was room for someone to make some in-roads,
Streater was an undrafted free agent out of Temple, and he starred in the 2012 NFL Preseason, catching more balls (18) than any wide receiver, to go with 165 receiving yards. Alas, he started just two games that year, catching 39 passes for 584 yards and three touchdowns.
Kenbrell Thompkins, WR, New England Patriots -- 2013
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In 2012, the Patriots passing game worked through their star tight ends, Wes Welker and Brandon Lloyd. But one year later, both wide receivers were gone, and people were wondering who Tom Brady would target? They brought in Danny Amendola, and they drafted Josh Boyce and Aaron Dobson. But who was the NFL Preseason star for the Patriots? It was an undrafted rookie free agent out of Cincinnati named Kenbrell Thompkins!
Tompkins led the NFL in preseason catches with 15, and Fantasy owners were happy to burn their sleeper picks on Brady’s next unknown superstar!
Little did we know, Julian Edelman would turn into Brady’s next superstar receiver in his fifth season with the Pats, going for over 1,000 receiving yards in 2013. Thompkins, meanwhile, finished with 32 catches for 466 yards (and four touchdowns!), but that was his best season as a pro.
Lance Kendricks, TE, St. Louis Rams -- 2011
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Picture this: the 2010 NFL Draft had just flooded rosters with the best rookie tight end class in NFL history. Players like Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and Jimmy Graham came into the league together that season, along with Jermaine Gresham and Dennis Pitta. That was one of the very few times a rookie tight end would finish with top-12 Fantasy stats, much less TWO of them doing it – on the same team, no less (Patriots).
Kendricks, meanwhile, is the hot-shot second-round pick of the Rams in 2011, and he was the second tight end drafted in the NFL that year, just five slots behind Kyle Rudolph.
During the 2011 NFL Preseason, Kendricks caught 11 passes for 155 yards and THREE touchdowns for the Rams. While people weren’t killing themselves to draft the young tight end, he did end up with a Round 15 ADP that summer. Unfortunately, he finished with just 28 catches for 352 yards that regular season (no touchdowns) and Fantasy owners haven’t forgiven him since.
1/5
Lorenzo Taliaferro, RB, Baltimore Ravens -- 2014
Ahhh, the summer of 2014 in Baltimore. You might remember it as the insane time period in which the Ray Rice domestic abuse video came out, causing him to go from having a two-game suspension all the way to being suspended for the year – and eventually kicked out of the league.
Rice led the Ravens in rushing the previous season, but even then Fantasy owners were looking for his replacement. Baltimore drafted Taliaferro in the fourth round out of Coastal Carolina in 2014, so it stood to reason he’d be someone they leaned on.
Taliaferro led the Ravens – and all the NFL – with 243 rushing yards in the 2014 NFL Preseason. While he wasn’t necessarily snatched up in drafts that summer, he was definitely the first player grabbed when Rice’s suspension was official. But the Ravens rediscovered Justin Forsett instead – and he went on to have a huge, breakout season, with 1,266 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.
2/5
Tajae Sharpe, WR, Tennessee Titans -- 2016
We don’t have to go too far back in time to find a preseason star that turned into a regular season also-ran.
Sharpe was a shiny new rookie out of UMass, and he wowed us early on the Titans, a team that was desperate for receiving stars to step forward!
Thirteen wide receivers were drafted before Sharpe in the 2016 NFL Draft, so he was barely on the radars of any Fantasy owners outside of dynasty leagues before the preseason began. But he caught nine passes for 163 yards during the exhibition season, without any touchdowns, and that was good enough to shoot him up to an ADP of 11.09!
Unfortunately, he had just three decent games last year, and now the Titans have added Corey Davis, Eric Decker and Taywan Taylor, making Sharpe’s 2017 potential murky.
3/5
Rod Streater, WR, Oakland Raiders -- 2012
In Carson Palmer’s first season with the Raiders in 2011, the team’s top wide receiver was Darrius Heyward-Bey, which has to be a phrase everyone in the world besides DHB’s parents would be surprised to read. “The team’s top wide receiver was Darrius Heyward-Bey”!?! Going into 2012, there was room for someone to make some in-roads,
Streater was an undrafted free agent out of Temple, and he starred in the 2012 NFL Preseason, catching more balls (18) than any wide receiver, to go with 165 receiving yards. Alas, he started just two games that year, catching 39 passes for 584 yards and three touchdowns.
4/5
Kenbrell Thompkins, WR, New England Patriots -- 2013
In 2012, the Patriots passing game worked through their star tight ends, Wes Welker and Brandon Lloyd. But one year later, both wide receivers were gone, and people were wondering who Tom Brady would target? They brought in Danny Amendola, and they drafted Josh Boyce and Aaron Dobson. But who was the NFL Preseason star for the Patriots? It was an undrafted rookie free agent out of Cincinnati named Kenbrell Thompkins!
Tompkins led the NFL in preseason catches with 15, and Fantasy owners were happy to burn their sleeper picks on Brady’s next unknown superstar!
Little did we know, Julian Edelman would turn into Brady’s next superstar receiver in his fifth season with the Pats, going for over 1,000 receiving yards in 2013. Thompkins, meanwhile, finished with 32 catches for 466 yards (and four touchdowns!), but that was his best season as a pro.
5/5
Lance Kendricks, TE, St. Louis Rams -- 2011
![]()
Picture this: the 2010 NFL Draft had just flooded rosters with the best rookie tight end class in NFL history. Players like Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and Jimmy Graham came into the league together that season, along with Jermaine Gresham and Dennis Pitta. That was one of the very few times a rookie tight end would finish with top-12 Fantasy stats, much less TWO of them doing it – on the same team, no less (Patriots).
Kendricks, meanwhile, is the hot-shot second-round pick of the Rams in 2011, and he was the second tight end drafted in the NFL that year, just five slots behind Kyle Rudolph.
During the 2011 NFL Preseason, Kendricks caught 11 passes for 155 yards and THREE touchdowns for the Rams. While people weren’t killing themselves to draft the young tight end, he did end up with a Round 15 ADP that summer. Unfortunately, he finished with just 28 catches for 352 yards that regular season (no touchdowns) and Fantasy owners haven’t forgiven him since.
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