NFL
Dynasty Fantasy Football: Is Kelvin Harmon Worth Taking in the Second Round of Rookie Drafts?

In redraft leagues, there isn't much that you want to do with the Washington offense. In dynasty leagues, though, things are a lot different.

While Washington could struggle offensively in 2019, they have some intriguing young pieces for fantasy football. Derrius Guice should be ready to roll after sitting out his rookie season, and first-round quarterback Dwayne Haskins is the key to the whole thing. Haskins isn't a lock to start the season over Case Keenum, but Haskins will likely see the field at some point, and if he thrives, this offense becomes a lot more interesting in fantasy.

One of the players whose appeal is tied directly to Haskins is rookie wideout Kelvin Harmon, whose fall in the NFL Draft was halted by Washington in the sixth round. What kind of prospect is Harmon, and how should you be handling him in both dynasty formats and early best-ball redrafts?

Let's take a look.

Opportunity

While Harmon didn't land in a high-flying offense, he doesn't have to contend with a super stout depth chart at receiver in Washington.

Position Starter Backup
Outside WR Josh Doctson Kelvin Harmon (6th Round, 206th Overall Pick)
Outside WR Paul Richardson Brian Quick
Slot WR Trey Quinn Terry McLaurin (3rd Round, 76th Overall Pick)


Yikes. That's not pretty.

From the way this receiving corp is shaping up, it doesn't seem like any one guy is cemented into a role.

Let's be honest here -- Josh Doctson has not panned out. Whether it has been health or production, he hasn't produced and didn't have his fifth-year option picked up. This is a make-or-break year for Doctson, but he's done nothing in the pros to make us feel great about him delivering on the promise he once held.

Trey Quinn plays in the slot and is the leading candidate to step in and replace the role of the departed Jamison Crowder. Paul Richardson was a big free-agent signing last offseason, but he totaled just 20 catches for 262 yards and a pair of scores in an injury-shortened nine-game season in 2018. Brian Quick is a backup who isn't going to stand in the way of any promising youngsters.

In short, McLaurin and Harmon, the team's two rookie wideouts, will likely get every chance to earn playing time in 2019 as Washington builds for the future. That's great news for Harmon as his path to fantasy relevance is clearer than it would usually be for a sixth-round pick. If he shows well this off-season and in training camp, he could earn a meaningful role in Year 1.

Of course, Washington had the fifth-fewest passing yards last year, capping the fantasy value of all of their pass-game options. Keenum probably won't change that too much, so that's where Haskins comes in. If the rookie is able to give the offense a lift -- which, admittedly, might be a big if -- both the 2019 and long-term appeal of Harmon will get a big boost.

As a Prospect

Has a player's draft stock bounced up and down more than Harmon's did pre-draft?

A pre-draft darling out of the North Carolina State Wolfpack, Harmon was compared to Kenny Golladay by Bleacher Report's Matt Miller and listed as the fourth-best wideout in the class in some rankings.

It made sense. He put up pretty good numbers at NC State -- 69 catches for 1,017 yards and 4 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2017 before going for 81 grabs, 1,186 yards and 7 scores last year as a junior.

But Harmon had a bad combine. Harmon ran only a 4.60 40-yard dash while clocking in with a sluggish 7.15 seconds in the three-cone drill. Overall, his SPARQ-x rating, per PlayerProfiler.com, is in the 53rd percentile, and he ranked better than the 30th percentile in only one workout metric (Speed Score, 70th percentile).

And so began the descent.

In the draft, Harmon slipped all the way into the sixth round. As we mentioned earlier, sixth-round picks usually have to jump through a lot of hoops to see meaningful snaps, but given the receiver room in Washington, that's not exactly the case for Harmon.

In Summary

Washington ended last season with one of the more bleak offensive outlooks in the league. Alex Smith's career was -- and still is -- in jeopardy, and getting Keenum didn't move the needle too much given how weak the team was at receiver.

But the team, to their credit, made some decisions during the draft to put some light at the end of the tunnel -- with the selection of Haskins being the big move. While we don't want to oversimplify things too much, Haskins' development is the key to unlocking the fantasy potential of Harmon and the rest of the skill players on Washington.

As far as Harmon's current fantasy stock, he's nothing more than a very late dart throw in redraft best-ball formats, coming off the board as WR132 in DRAFT leagues.

Harmon is more valuable in dynasty formats because even though Washington made several moves to improve their offense, they're likely to still struggle on that side of the ball in 2019. But as for 2020 and beyond, there's a big chance for improvement if Haskins is the real deal. In dynasty leagues, Harmon is being taken, on average, 23rd overall in standard league rookie drafts, per DLF, being taken in the late second in 12-team leagues.

With only Doctson and Richardson in his way, Harmon has a fairly welcoming path to playing time, and not that long ago, he was viewed as one of the best receivers in this class. He's well worth a roll of the dice in the late second or early in rookie drafts this summer, and if Haskins pans out, Harmon will have a good chance to deliver solid numbers at some point down the line.

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