AFL FANTASY ANALYSIS
Devon Smith was able to complete a full H&A season in his first year at Essendon, he was the highest averaging fantasy player at the Bombers. Smith averaged 92.0pts from his first 5 games of the 2018 H&A season, he averaged 110.9pts from his final 17 games including 120.9pts from his final 8 games.
Smith scored 100pts or more in 54.5% of games & 120pts or more from 27.3% of games in 2018, this was a significant improvement compared to 2017.
Smith averaged a career season high 22.0 Disposals in 2018, he also averaged a career season high 8.5 Tackles (AFL Rank 1).
Essendon relied heavily on Smith in the midfield last season, he provided support to Dyson Heppell, Zach Merrett & David Zaharakis to mention a few. The Bombers acquired Dylan Shiel during the 2018 Trade Period to add midfield depth, it is expected the midfield usage for Smith will remain high despite the Shiel trade.
AFL Fantasy Analysis: Zach Merrett
Essendon averaged 381.6 Disposals in the 2018 H&A season (Rank 7), the Bombers averaged 398.0 Disposals in the 2017 H&A season (Rank 3).
Smith will come with a high price tag to start the 2019 H&A season, based on his closing out of the 2018 season there may be some value left in his starting salary.
Essendon are a definite watch during the JLT Series to see how the new midfield group works together, if the Bombers are quite competitive in 2019 then there will likely be a few fantasy relevant options including Smith.
