Frank Darby Fantasy Football Rookie Profile

Looking at the fantasy football outlook for Frank Darby.

Author:
Tyler Makings
Publish date:
Apr 16, 2021 1:00 AM EDT

Buried down the depth chart, Frank Darby spent his first three years at Arizona State behind first-round picks N’Keal Harry and Brandon Aiyuk. The 2020 season shined the spotlight on Darby and the potential to add to the list of explosive, highly-drafted Sun Devils receivers. Unfortunately, Darby suffered an injury in the second game of the season and we weren’t able to see his full potential.

College Production

Darby finished his collegiate career with 67 receptions for 1,317 yards and 13 touchdowns. His most productive season came in 2019 when Darby finished the season with 31 receptions for 616 yards and eight touchdowns. The most impressive part of Darby’s resume was his career 19.7 yards per reception average.

There are many issues with Darby’s statistical profile. The first of which was his lack of games played. Across four seasons, Darby played in only 28 games. He also never had a season with more than 35 receptions or 650 yards. This raises concern for Darby’s ability to produce consistently as an NFL receiver.

Film Review

Darby’s explosiveness jumps off the screen. It is easy to see why even with his college production not ideal, he still makes for a fascinating receiver to watch in the 2021 class. While Darby is mostly used as a downfield weapon, his threatening speed opens up the underneath game for himself and everyone else on the roster. Darby is a twitchy athlete who can stop on a dime and understands leverage and body positioning well.

While Darby is a very explosive pass-catcher, his game is far from perfect. His route tree was simple at Arizona State and he will have to learn to do more than run screens and deep routes to be a true threat at the next level. Darby does well creating initial separation, but often lets defenders back in on the play by not attacking the ball.

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