With the draft only a few weeks away, it’s time to start looking at the fantasy potential from the draft class of 2020.
Before we begin, let’s keep in mind that many potential draftees around the country played minimal football this season due to the coronavirus pandemic. This means there will be little data for many draftees and statistics will need to be taken from previous years to gauge their scoring potential.
But without further ado, let’s look at the player most likely to go first in the draft this year, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.
Ugle-Hagan is a key forward known for his athletic ability, marking prowess and goal smarts. He is the most-likely choice at pick number one, however he is tied to Western Bulldogs as part of their Next Generation Academy and will likely end up in Footscray.
He wasn’t given an opportunity to strut his stuff this season due to the pandemic, but he was an integral part of Oakleigh Chargers’ premiership side in 2019 which featured big names such as Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson. He booted 24 goals across 9 appearances and drew comparisons with the great Lance Franklin on the back of his performances.
Getting specifically into his fantasy numbers, they did not set the world on fire. But this isn’t out of the ordinary for young key forwards, especially as a bottom ager. He averaged 66 points for the 2019 season, running with numbers of 8.6 kicks, 1.4 handballs, 5.2 marks, 1.4 tackles, and 2.7 goals per game.
Looking at individual performances, his biggest game came in round 10 of the 2019 season where he scored 93 AFL Fantasy points. In this game, he had 11 kicks, 4 handballs, 7 marks, and kicked 5 goals.
He also had a big finals campaign scoring 83 in the qualifying final, 90 in the preliminary final, and 73 in the grand final.
It is a shame that we didn’t get to see Ugle-Hagan in action this season, making it hard to see how he compares to the rest of the draft class.
Historically, key forwards don’t score well in their first few years at AFL level, so we probably won’t see the scoring power of the previous number one picks in Matt Rowell and Sam Walsh.
At this stage, he’s only worth grabbing if you play in a deep league where you keep 25+ players each year or you somehow can stash him away as a rookie.
However, there is some fantasy potential here and as his body matures he will become one of the more dominant forwards in the competition, but that won’t be for some time.
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Nick
November 16, 2020 at 10:21 am
I read an article that he wants to be a tall midfielder, is this going to happen do you think?
Heff
November 16, 2020 at 11:30 am
He has the athletic ability to do so. It’s really hard to tell without seeing him play properly this year, but if he does end up at the Dogs I reckon they will use him as a key forward as they are somewhat lacking in that area.