Players with worse PFF grades than fantasy outlooks

In fantasy, what you see isn’t always what you get. Last week, we broke down the players with better PFF grades than fantasy outlooks. Today, we’ll tackle the opposite scenarios: players with better fantasy outlooks for 2018 than PFF grades.

For example, you won’t find Carlos Hyde on this list despite finishing 2017 as the RB8 in PPR formats. Hyde ranked dead-last out of 60 qualifiers in our overall RB grades last season, and now with a crowded backfield in Cleveland, he barely cracks the top-50 in our staff’s consensus RB rankings for 2018.

The same goes for Blake Bortles, who has finished fourth, ninth, and 13th among fantasy QBs over the past three seasons despite only once cracking the top-20 PFF QB grades during that span. Bortles is currently 24th in our consensus rankings for 2018.

Quarterback

Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings

2017 grade: QB19
2017 fantasy rank: QB5
2018 fantasy rank: QB8

Judging by my continued unsuccessful attempts to trade Cousins in dynasty, he may just be the most unsung quarterback in fantasy these days. For those keeping score over his last three seasons, Cousins has finished 10th, fifth, and fifth in fantasy scoring among QBs. Looking ahead to 2018, we have him pegged accordingly as the QB8 in our staff’s consensus rankings and the QB6 in our projection tool.

Cousins is also coming off his worst PFF grade during his three-year stretch as a fantasy QB1. Personnel certainly played a role, what with the departures of Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson combined with some key injuries (Jordan Reed), disappointments (Terrelle Pryor), and growing pains (Josh Doctson). However, Cousins’ supporting cast in Minnesota this season is quite possibly the best he’s had at his disposal since entering the league.

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