Fantasy Football Rankings 2021: Sleepers, breakouts, busts by proven model that nailed Allen’s huge year

Fantasy football injuries are inevitable, which is exactly why you want to draft the proper Fantasy football handcuffs in your 2021 drafts. The 2021 Fantasy football rankings saw a major shakeup after Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins suffered a season-ending knee injury in Baltimore’s final preseason game. Gus Edwards is expected to see his stock rise in the Fantasy football rankings 2021 as a result, but which other backups have the potential to outperform their 2021 Fantasy football ADP?

A proven set of Fantasy football 2021 rankings will help navigate those tough questions and identify the top 2021 Fantasy football sleepers, breakouts and busts. Before setting your 2021 Fantasy football draft strategy, be sure to check out the 2021 Fantasy football cheat sheets from the proven computer model at SportsLine.

Last year, the model accurately predicted that Bills quarterback Josh Allen was being drastically undervalued. His Fantasy football ADP was barely in the top 70, but the model pegged him as a top-five Fantasy quarterback, a QB1 who would finish well ahead of players like Kyler Murray, Tom Brady and Drew Brees. Allen ended up being the No. 2-scoring Fantasy QB, outscoring all three of those other quarterbacks and even surpassing Patrick Mahomes. Fantasy players who followed SportsLine’s advice reaped plenty of value with that pick. 

The same model has a proven track record providing Fantasy football tips, also identifying A.J. Brown as another sleeper in 2020 and players like Devin Singletary and JuJu Smith-Schuster as busts last season. Additionally, it’s called past Fantasy football sleepers like Derrick Henry in 2019, Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara in 2018, and Davante Adams in 2017. Anybody who banked on players like those made a run at their league title.

The model is powered by the same people who generated projections for all three major Fantasy sites, and it beat human experts last season when there was a big difference in ranking. The projections update multiple times daily, so you’re always getting the best Fantasy football advice.

Now, SportsLine has simulated the entire NFL season 10,000 times and released its latest Fantasy football rankings 2021, along with plenty of sleepers, breakouts and busts. Head to SportsLine now to see them. 

Top 2021 Fantasy football sleepers 

One of the 2021 Fantasy football sleepers the model is predicting: Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. Minnesota’s signal-caller finished last season with 4,265 passing yards, which ranked eighth in the NFL. He also set a career-best mark in touchdown passes with 35.

Cousins leads a Minnesota offense that averaged 393.3 yards per game last season, which ranked fourth in the league. In addition, Cousins has finished as a top-12 Fantasy quarterback in five of the past six seasons. That’s a big reason why the model ranks Cousins, who’s being drafted in the 13th round according to the latest 2021 Fantasy football ADP, ahead of both Matthew Stafford (ninth-round ADP) and Joe Burrow (11th).

Top 2021 Fantasy football breakouts 

The model is also projecting Titans tight end Anthony Firkser as one of its top 2021 Fantasy Football breakouts. Tennessee stayed in-house for Jonnu Smith’s replacement, as Firkser has ascended to the top of the depth chart. He posted 39 catches for 387 yards and one touchdown in 2020 while playing under one-third of the offensive snaps.

Firkser had just two fewer catches than Smith despite playing fewer than half as many snaps as the new Patriots‘ tight end. With Firkser absorbing many of the snaps and targets that Smith had, he is poised to have the biggest season of his career in 2021. He doesn’t even have a 2021 Fantasy football ADP because so many Fantasy owners are ignoring him, but SportsLine’s model sees his potential. The model ranks him on par with Eric Ebron and Evan Engram, both of whom have 13th round ADPs in 14-team leagues.

Top 2021 Fantasy football busts

As for players to avoid, the model lists Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert as one of its biggest 2021 Fantasy football busts. After serving as a valuable No. 2 tight end behind Zach Ertz his first two seasons, Goedert was supposed to take over as the clear No. 1 option in 2020, but a combination of injuries and an inability to find a trade partner for Ertz left them jockeying for reps.

Both appeared in 11 games in 2020, with Goedert playing 74.0 percent of snaps and Ertz playing 80.2. With a similar dynamic likely to play out in 2021 and the Eagles likely shifting to a more run-oriented offense with Jalen Hurts at the helm, neither will have a predictable workload in a given week. That’s why the model ranks Goedert (10th-round ADP) behind 12th-round options like Mike Gesicki.

How to find proven 2021 Fantasy football football rankings

SportsLine is also extremely high on a surprising quarterback you aren’t even thinking about being drafted in the middle rounds of 2021 Fantasy football drafts. This quarterback is listed as a shocking top-five option ahead of superstars like Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson. You can only see who it is, and the 2020 Fantasy football rankings for every player, at SportsLine.

So which 2021 Fantasy Football sleepers, breakouts and busts should you target and fade? And which QB shocks the NFL with a top-five performance? Visit SportsLine now to get 2021 Fantasy Football cheat sheets for every single position, all from the model that called Josh Allen’s huge season, and find out.