The 2018 NFL Draft Prospect series breaks down draft-eligible players, highlighting their college production as well as their NFL potential. It’s important for daily fantasy players to know about NFL rookies before they’ve played a down of professional football because they are among the most misvalued assets in all of DFS. People who know NFL rookies have a significant DFS edge. The draft will be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, from April 26-28.
This piece is on Colorado State wide receiver Michael Gallup.
For more on all the other receivers in the class, see our 2018 NFL draft wide receiver rankings.
Updated as of Mar. 6.
Senior | 6’1″ and 205 Pounds | Born March 4, 1996 (Age: 22) | Projection: Rounds 2-3
Combine numbers: 40-yard: 4.51 sec | bench reps: 10 | 3-cone: 6.95 sec | 20-yard shuttle: 4.37 sec | vertical: 36 in | broad: 122 in
A 2017 Biletnikoff finalist and Pro Football Focus’ top-ranked wide receiver, Gallup was third in the Football Bowl Subdivision over the last two years with 2,690 yards and is a potential Day 2 selection. Even though as a high school student he was recruited by some Southeastern Conference institutions, Gallup due to his standardized test scores started his career at Butler Community College, leading his team as a freshman with 44 receptions, 780 yards, and 11 touchdowns. He missed all but three games of his sophomore campaign with an ankle injury, but he leveraged his first-year dominance into a number of scholarship offers, and he committed to CSU. Once on campus Gallup immediately became the team’s top receiver and was one of the best wideouts of the 2016 season, turning 76 receptions into 1,272 yards and 14 touchdowns. His market share numbers were especially impressive, as he captured 40.0 and 48.3 percent of his team’s receiving yards and touchdowns. Of all the 2018 draft-eligible receivers, he was first with 4.34 yards per route (PFF).
While Gallup’s touchdown total dropped to seven in 2017, he had even more receptions and yards with 100 and 1,418, finishing top-five in the country in both categories. Considering that Gallup faced press coverage on an FBS-high 64 of his targets in 2017, his production is especially impressive and speaks to his route-running technique and ability to separate from defensive backs.Although Gallup doesn’t have great size, he performed well in Senior Bowl practices and was decent enough at the combine even though he didn’t excel in any one drill. Given his athletic profile and long history of production, Gallup looks like a Robert Woods type of prospect. Two years ago that might’ve seemed like an insult, but it’s not.
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Matthew Freedman is the Editor-in-Chief of FantasyLabs. He has a dog and sometimes a British accent. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he’s known only as The Labyrinthian.
Photo Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
