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The Jacksonville Jaguars have been where fantasy football teams go to die in recent years. Between 2011-2013, the only player even worth a draft pick was Maurice Jones-Drew. Maybe Marcedes Lewis, if your top two tight ends had bye weeks on the same Sunday.
But something funny happened in 2014. The Jaguars produced legitimate fantasy football talent... and then they went and added the best tight end in free agency to their roster.
Julius Thomas
BREAKING: Julius Thomas will not be as productive in Jacksonville, with second-year Blake Bortles, as he was with Peyton Manning.
Now that that's settled, who cares? He'll still be an incredibly productive target in the red zone and in the middle of the field. Look for a lot of two-tight end packages in the red zone, but with Thomas and Marcedes Lewis motioning pre-snap away from the offensive line.
Allen Robinson
Allen Robinson led the charge as the team's most polished receiver, rarely dropping targets and providing one of the few downfield threats for then-rookie quarterback Blake Bortles.
With only one drop last year out of 76 targets, Robinson will be hamstrung by a relatively young offense and a quarterback in Bortles who will still do some growing in his second year. But if you can get him in the eighth and ninth rounds, he'll be a steal.
T.J. Yeldon
There has been a lot of hype around rookie running back Yeldon, which is a little surprising. Yes, he was straddling late first-round and early second-round talent, but even with an improved unit via this year's free agency, the Jaguars offensive line doesn't instill a whole lot of confidence.
As numberFire's Brandon Gdula points out, touchdowns are vital to a running back's success in fantasy football:
The concerns about Yeldon are twofold. And they don't even necessarily have anything to do with him.
One problem is that touchdowns are vital to fantasy football success, and in order to score rushing touchdowns, passing efficiency is a key component. Of course, the Jaguars didn't have that last season, so Bortles will need to improve.
The second problem, though, is that Bortles' rookie season was so atrocious that it's really bad news for his future success. He has a long way to go to approach anything resembling efficiency, and that factor could quell Yeldon's upside.
With that said, Julius Thomas and Allen Robinson seem like safe, mid-round draft picks, while T.J. Yeldon is a guy you should select if (and only if) he's available in the 12th round or beyond.