All Things CW: Where's the Fantasy Love for Former Alabama Players?

Friday afternoon, the National Football League and the NFLPA came to agreement on a modified collective-bargaining agreement, with changes regarding both health and financial issues.

What it means is that there will be professional football this fall.

"The season will undoubtedly present new and additional challenges but we are committed to playing a safe and complete 2020 season culminating with the Super Bowl," NFL commissioner Rodger Goodell said in a release.

Consequently, not only can fans begin the official countdown to the opener between the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs on Sept. 10th, but get serious about their fantasy leagues.

Here's the first thing that a lot of Alabama fans are going to be surprised about, former Crimson Tide standouts haven't been popular picks in the early drafts that have already occurred.

According to Sports Illustrated's fantasy player rankings and database, Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry is rated the seventh best player this year, but his average draft position is 13th.

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones, who has been about as steady as can be, is ranked 13th (which means he's not a first-round pick unless you're in a super-huge league), but has been averaging 25th overall.

The only other player in the top 25 is Arizona Cardinals running back Kenyan Drake, at No. 25.

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper is rated at No. 25, but is averaging 45th in drafts. Atlanta Falcons wide receiver at No. 39, but going 55th.

If you're wondering what's going on, you're not alone. A lot of it is situational, as there's growing concern about the age of players like Jones and Baltimore Ravens running back Mark Ingram II, who have both topped 30.

But you can rule out the idea of Alabama fatigue, because most fantasy owners could care less about where most players went to college. They just want the points. Moreover, numerous young players like Josh Jacobs, Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III and Tua Tagovailoa are getting drafted WAY ahead of their rankings.

Don't make that mistake (unless having them on your team is more important that winning).

With that in mind, here are some things to help you out.

The intro video to this story is about trying to nail the first-round choice. Sports Illustrated’s Corey Parson identifies the best players to grab for each draft slot, and identifies some surprise players to crack the top 12 including Browns running back Nick Chubb. There's also his early first-round mock draft.

While most of the stud running backs get gobbled up in the early rounds (the top three picks of every draft so far have been nearly identical: Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley and Ezekiel Elliott) there’s a handful of rushers who offer tremendous upside, plenty of volume and could develop into a top-tier player.

It might be the make-or-break pick for a lot of of fantasy owners as it's easy to then grab someone like Henry, Dalvin Cook or Davante Adams. But when do you go after Drake?

Sports Illustrated’s fantasy football analyst Frank Taddeo highlights the Colts Jonathan Taylor, who he has high hopes for this season, while Parson and PackerCentral editor Bill Hubert discuss this group of running backs and breakdown their ranking in fantasy football leagues.

My advise? Get in a league that doesn't include Alabama fans and then get every Crimson Tide player you can. Then laugh all the way to the championship.

SI Swimsuit Issue

Marquita Pring made her debut in the 2020 SI Swimsuit issue after shooting in beautiful Wyoming. She's from Clinton, N.Y., which is the home of Hamilton College, and claims to have been "insanely athletic" when younger, primarily with swimming, basketball, figure skating,

She entered the the modeling world at the age of 15, and has been setting big goals for herself ever since. In 2011, she achieved one of her dreams when she appeared in a spread for VogueItalia alongside Candice Huffine and fellow SI Swimsuit models Robyn Lawley and Tara Lynn.

Did you notice?

• Paige Bueckers and Arik Gilbert have been named the 2020 Gatorade High School Athletes of the Year. They'll appear on an advance flip cover release for the September 2020 issue of Sports Illustrated. Although Gilbert hails from Georgia, he's off to play for LSU.

• MLB announced the playoff field will be expanded from 10 to 16 teams, in part to help make up for some of the revenue losses. At least some former Alabama players will have a better chance of reaching the postseason.

• Michigan State announced its entire football team will be in quarantine for two weeks after a most recent round of COVID-19 tests revealed a positive for a second member of its staff.

• Kansas City Chiefs right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who has has a doctorate in medicine, will not play football this year. Instead, he'll be working as an orderly a long-care term facility outside of Montreal. Duvernay-Tardif is the first NFL player to opt-out of his 2020 contract in light of COVID-19.

My decision regarding the 2020 NFL season pic.twitter.com/jrY3nZfNWO
— Laurent D. Tardif (@LaurentDTardif) July 25, 2020

The lighter side ...

The inside story of Caddyshack II, one of the worst sequels in movie history.

Christopher Walsh's All Things CW regularly appears on BamaCentral.

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