Top 5 Players' Sports Cards To Target After NFL Draft

With the 2020 NFL Draft now behind us we can examine which players have found themselves with better prospects for the upcoming season. And we can use this new knowledge as an opportunity to target upside in their Sports Cards. When investing in NFL cards we mainly want to target QB rookie cards with low populations. Panini owns the exclusive rights to NFL cards and within the Panini family I prefer to target Panini National Treasures, Prizm, Contenders, Optic, and Select.

Make sure you pay attention to the grading when looking at recommendations. Grading makes a huge difference in price, so price targets will be based on grading. An ungraded card is referred to as “raw”. We’ll use SportsCardInvestor’s Price Movements list and Market Movers tools to evaluate our price targets. Be sure to subscribe using this link or the promo code GRINDERS for your 20% off your first payment with SCI.

Top 5 Players’ Sports Cards To Target After NFL Draft

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Here are the top 5 players to target after the Draft results, and some accompanying current cards for sale on eBay through our eBay affiliate partnership:

5) Jarrett Stidham/Cam Newton – Jarrett Stidham was a winner this year considering New England didn’t draft any competition for him. As of April 27th, it looks like Stidham will be the starting QB for the New England Patriots, which means he will be given the keys to drive the most dominant franchise in NFL history. Bill Belechick took a 6th round QB in Tom Brady and turned him into arguably the greatest of all time at his position. When Brady was hurt (or suspended) Belechick coached the likes of Jimmy Garoppolo (2 games), Jacoby Brissett (2 games) and Matt freakin Castle (15 games) to a 13-6 record. If Stidham is the guy New England has chosen to be their next starting QB, then it’s for a reason and now would be the time to buy before he becomes a better-known commodity. Check out this chart of Stidham’s 2019 Contenders Autographed Rookie Ticket card courtesy of SCI’s Market Movers tool.

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I’m listing a speculative Cam Newton here after listening to a Warren Sharp podcast this morning. I had the pleasure of working with Warren along with Chris Raybon and RotoGrinders’ own Chris Gimino (what a crew!) a few years back on our Warren Sharp show and I have always respected his analysis. He made a great observation that New England had drafted players that could create a good fit for Newton. Cam is clearly a talented player and former MVP who has been criticized for his maturity in the past. Bill Belechick has a long track record of taking in great players who have been discarded by their old teams and coaching them to great seasons. He knows the Patriots are going to need a top-tier QB to compete with the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson and Lamar Jackson when the playoffs come around and Cam has all the potential in the world, under a great coach, to pull off the wins. It’s just a matter of time before Cam Newton lands somewhere and right now New England seems like the perfect spot. News came out today that New England hasn’t shown interest in Cam but we can still speculate.

Cards to Target:

2019 National Treasures RPA Jarrett Stidham Rookie Patch Autograph /99 Raw – Target under $750

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2019 Contenders Football Jarrett Stidham Rookie Ticket Base Autograph BGS 9.5 – Target under $500

2019 Contenders Football Jarrett Stidham Rookie Ticket Base Autograph Raw – Target under $200

2011 Topps Chrome Refractor Cam Newton RC Rookie Autograph /99 BGS 9.5 – Target under $350

4) Drew Lock – Drew Lock would be higher on this list if it wasn’t for the fact his cards have already increased 64% over the last 60 days according to SportsCardInvestor’s Price Movements list. Drew Lock started 5 games for the Broncos last season replacing old-man Joe Flacco and leading Denver to a 4-1 record in those starts. He showed flashes of potential tying Broncos GM John Elway for most wins by a Bronco rookie in franchise history. In those games he threw for over 1,000 yards and 7 TDs, while adding another 72 yards on the ground. The Broncos have improved their offense this year adding stud RB Melvin Gordon in addition to picking up an exciting new weapon drafting WR Jerry Jeudy in the first round. Jeudy will join 2nd-year breakout WR Courtland Sutton to create potentially one of the best WR duos in all of the NFL. Sutton and Lock will have to work on their chemistry leading into the 2020 season (Sutton fell off a bit when Lock took over for Flacco), but with the talent of both players and the new Denver offense Drew Lock is poised to have a breakout season.

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Cards to Target:

2019 Contenders Football Drew Lock Rookie Ticket Autograph Raw (*Note due to delay in cards being signed you will likely need to bid on a redemption card. When you receive your card you will need to enter a redemption code on the Panini website and wait for the card to arrive from Panini)- Target Under $200

2019 Contenders Drew Lock Red Zone Autograph BGS 9.5 – Target Under $1400

2019 Contenders Optic Drew Lock Autograph Redemption Ticket Raw – Target Under $250

2019 Prizm Silver Drew Lock Autograph PSA 10 – Target Under $600

3) Cincinnati Players – Currently the only Joe Burrow cards available are all College cards which aren’t really great investments historically so we’ll pivot away from the QB position here and give you some ideas for cards to target of his new teammates instead. Burrow is a Heisman-winner coming off a record-breaking season where he threw 60 TDs and only 6 INTs on his way to winning a national championship. He’s got great accuracy and an ability to get the ball downfield and he landed in a spot loaded at the Wide Receiver position. In addition he’s already been studying the Bengals’ playbook for weeks in anticipation of landing in Cincinnati. The Bengals receivers are a talented group which has been suffering at the hands of Andy Dalton for years. This is good for Sports Cards investors because their prices are pretty low right now and may present a good opportunity to add to your portfolio. It’s tough to say who will benefit the most out of the receiving corps but I think you can add all of Tyler Boyd, John Ross, and Auden Tate right now. I think you can also add Joe Mixon as he came on strong at the end of the last season and stands to benefit from an improved offense that can move the ball. Editor note – after writing this article the Bengals declined to pick up the 5th year option for John Ross which isn’t great for his prospects with the team. He’s still talented, but just be aware before considering his cards.

Cards to Target:

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2017 National Treasures John Ross III RPA RC /99 Raw – Target Under $80

2017 Contenders Optic John Ross III Autograph Raw – Target Under $10

2016 Panini Select Die-Cut RC Tyler Boyd Auto Raw – Target Under $20

2017 National Treasures Joe Mixon RPA RC Rookie Patch Auto /99 – Target Under $80

2) Dak Prescott – Dak was a big winner in the 2020 draft having added stud receiver CeeDee Lamb in the first round to his already-stacked arsenal of weapons. Between Dak, Amari Cooper, 2019 breakout Michael Gallup, and Ezekiel Elliott, the Cowboys are armed with a high-powered offense which should benefit Dak Prescott in a huge way. Dak was firing on all cylinders as far as chemistry with his receivers while everyone was healthy and showed the potential of what the offense was capable of BEFORE adding Lamb to the mix. In addition replacing perennial clapping coach Jason Garrett with Super Bowl-winning coach Mike McCarthy should help the overall direction of the team. McCarthy had gotten stale towards the end of his run at Green Bay but a new environment and new players to coach might help inspire a more creative approach to game planning and provide a spark for a team that seemingly gave up on Garrett towards the end of the 2019 season. Regardless Dak is set up for a good season and as long as the team can perform, his Sports Cards should see some appreciation throughout the 2020 season.

Cards to Target:

2016 Panini Prizm Prizm Silver Dak Prescott #231 PSA 10 – Target Under $230

2016 Panini Prizm Prizm Silver Dak Prescott #231 BGS 9.5 – Target Under $100

2016 Panini Prizm Silver Dak Prescott RC Autograph Raw – Target Under $100

1) Baker Mayfield – Baker and the Browns had all the hype in the world leading into his 2nd season last year and the team, as a whole, was a complete bust. Awful coaching, a poor front office and undisciplined players collaborated on a train wreck of a season. It was revealed towards the end of the 2019 season that Odell Beckham had been dealing with an abdominal injury the entire season which tanked his season and left Baker Mayfield with limited downfield options. But things are looking up as OBJ has since had successful surgery and it seems the Browns have made an effort to solve their personnel issues by replacing Head Coach Freddie Kitchens with more analytics-minded Kevin Stefanski, and firing GM John Dorsey. They also addressed some offensive line issues which haunted Mayfield throughout the season leaving him scrambling often in a predictable pattern. Jarvis Landry is back and has a great on-field chemistry with Mayfield. Baker Mayfield is currently being overlooked by the Sports Card Investing industry having increased just 14% over the past 60 days according to SportsCardIvestor’s Price Movements list, and the Browns have zero buzz despite having a solid (in theory) team. This could be a great buying opportunity if he is able to live up to former expectations. Baker Mayfield is our Market Movers Pick of The Week this week.

Cards to Target:

2018 Panini Contenders #101a Baker Mayfield RC Autoraph BGS 9.5 – Target Under $650

2018 Panini Prizm Silver Baker Mayfield Autograph Raw – Target Under $250

Thanks guys and good luck with your buying! Remember to subscribe to SportsCardInvestor.com and the promo code GRINDERS for your 20% off your first payment with SCI.

About the Author

Pumacom
Simon Edwards (Pumacom)

Simon is a long-time sports card collector who spent the majority of his cash as a kid investing in cards to sell at card shows. In 2009-2010 he owned an affiliate collectables website along with sports-card legend, Don West, where they did box breaks and sold cards. Simon recently got back into sports card investing after the market reset itself and investability returned to the market.