Wilfried Zaha (ADP: 101)

If you’ve ever owned Zaha you understand the pain he can cause. Currently, the 31-year forward is a free agent, this in of itself is reason enough to stay away. Who knows if he’ll even be in the Premier League this season? Reason 2, he’s no longer the talismanic player he once was for Palace. With younger players like Eze and Olise starting to ball out, Zaha isn’t the only player willing and able to grab the game by the scruff of its neck. Mix in about a half-dozen yellow cards and the ever present opportunity for a red and Zaha just isn’t worth the headache. 

Raheem Sterling (ADP: 43)

Last season was underwhelming (and that’s generous) for Chelsea and their fantasy assets. You have to go through five pages of players just to see Chelsea’s top scoring fantasy asset, and even that was Kepa Arrizabalaga. About 15 points behind Kepa was Raheem Sterling ranking as the 107th overall player last season and the 24th placed forward. Another season, another year older, and another head coach leaves a lot of questions around Sterling’s value as a fantasy asset. Round 4 seems like a good spot for Sterling in this seasons draft due to the fact that he has to compete with Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, Madueke, and Mudryk just to name a few. 

Bruno Guimaraes (ADP: 48)

There’s no doubting the importance of Bruno G. in the midfield for Newcastle, but his fantasy value is slightly inflated. Without the occasional goal involvement, Bruno’s average score is between 5-7 points, your average defensive midfielder score. With an average draft position of late round 4, this is a little too early in our assessment and is likely more of a round 6-7 value pick. Again, let the other managers around you take that risk, the better players around that draft value are Pinnock, Iwobi, and Havertz. 

Michael Antonio (ADP: 142)

With Rice off to Arsenal, I’m betting West Ham gets hammered down into the Championship. Last season, Antonio finished his dismal Premier League campaign as the 35th ranked forward and 151st ranked player overall. His average 5 points per start could be picked up from almost any forward on the waiver wire with a positive matchup. Better alternatives around his average draft position may be less likely to start, but have better upside when they do get an opportunity. Think players like Manor Solomon, Nicolas Jackson, or Taiwo Awoniyi.

Lucas Digne (ADP: 183)

If you are familiar with Premier League drafts you’re also familiar with the downfall of Lucas Digne. Ending last season with 3.2 points per game, Digne’s fantasy output has fallen off a cliff and his place has been overtaken by Alex Moreno. Digne isn’t worth a draft pick and should stay on the waiver wire unless an unfortunate injury befalls Moreno. Even then I’d be hard pressed to start Digne unless I see significant improvement from the Aston Villa defense as a whole this season. 

Any City Defender (ADP: 92+)

Manchester City scored more fantasy points than any other team did last year, which is an impressive feat when you consider how lackluster their defenders are for our purposes.  City defenders scored a paltry 5.42 Pp90 over the course of the entire 22/23 season. Nathan Ake had the highest Pp90 at 7.02, good enough to sneak in amongst the top-48 defenders in Fantrax. Maybe the acquisition of Josko Gvardiol could bolster the City defense, increasing their likelihood to keep a clean sheet. This would go a long way in increasing the fantasy viability of the other City defenders. Don’t be fooled by the City logo and average draft position, leave the City defenders alone and go after the defenders that can actually score without relying on clean sheets. City project again to be a possession-first, offensively minded team – not something that screams opportunity for any of these defensive options.