Eight receivers caught at least 2 touchdowns on Sunday. You’ve heard of Mike Evans, Tyler Lockett, Jimmy Graham….Wait, what?! Jimmy Graham caught 2 touchdowns? Geez. And Tyler Kroft? 2020 man. Anyways, Tee Higgins was a highly touted rookie, but Cedrick Wilson (5 rec 107 yds 2 TD), Andy Isabella (4 rec 47 yds 2 TD), and Dontrelle Inman (3 rec 38 yds 2 TD)? What to make of those three and should they be a part of your team?
Andy Isabella is 23 years old, 5′ 9″, and 188 pounds. He played his college ball at UMass and was a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award. Pro Football Focus graded him as the highest-rated wide receiver in college football after Isabella caught 102 pass for 1,698 yards and 13 touchdowns his senior year. The college production was eye-popping, but the physical attributes (4.31 40-yard dash, 77th percentile speed score, and 65th percentile agility score according to PlayerProfiler) and performance at the Senior Bowl (7 rec for 73 yards TD) cemented his status as a NFL prospect. As a result, the Arizona Cardinals selected him with the 62nd overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.Â
Unfortunately, his rookie season didn’t go well, as he only caught 9 passes on 13 targets for 189 yards and one touchdown. The route running was raw, he couldn’t get off press coverage, and the coaching staff even moved him outside from his more natural slot duties. He logged a total of 167 snaps last season, second-fewest on the team. For perspective, Larry Fitzgerald played 903!Â
In weeks one and two of 2020, Isabella played a total of 28 snaps, 14 in each game. That accounted for 17% and 18% of the total. Not good. I don’t have the snap count data for Week 3, but it was obviously much higher due to Christian Kirk not playing. Kirk played 77% and 61% of the snaps when he played. When Kirk is healthy, it’s going to be tough for Isabella to get run. Yes, The Cardinals use 10 personnel (4 WR) second-most frequently in the league (shockingly, the Bills lead the league), but that still only constitutes 12% of the time. In addition, the 2 touchdowns scored on Sunday came on only four targets.
In dynasty, Isabella is a screaming buy, as Larry Fitzgerald is likely gone after this season, opening up slot responsibilites in 3 WR sets for Isabella. For this season, though, Isabella is only useful if Kirk is out.
Dontrelle Inman is 31 years old, 6′ 3″, and 205 pounds. He played his college ball at Virginia and went undrafted in the 2011 NFL Draft. Then the journey began. CFL in 2012, Chargers from 2014 to 2017, Bears in 2017, Colts in 2018, Patriots/Chargers/Colts in 2019, and finally the WFT this season. WTF!Â
Inman’s physical attributes are quite good: 4.52 40-yard dash, 71st percentile speed score, 97th percentile agility score, and 87th percentile catch radius according to PlayerProfiler. The burst score is poor, though, at 27th percentile.Â
So far in 2020, Inman has played 81 snaps. I don’t have the snap data from Sunday’s game as of the time of this writing. In Week One, he played 36 snaps, which was 51%. In Week Two, Inman played 45 snaps, good for 68%, so the trend is a good one. WFT utilizes 11 personnel on 61% of their plays. The league average is 59%, so the opportunites for Inman to make plays should be there on a consistent basis.
As for targets, he’s received 5, 5, and 6 so far. Interestingly, Steven Sims Jr., who had developed a nice rapport with Dwayne Haskins last season had only received 3 and 5 targets in weeks one and two and got a bagel on Sunday. Sims was dealing with a toe issue, so the bagel may have been of the drive-through variety, but you never know.
Now, Haskins kind of sucks and Terry McLaurin and Logan Thomas are the apples of his eye. But, but, but…he did receive 6 targets and score 2 touchdowns on Sunday. And WFT will likely be trailing plenty this season, which means the possibility of more 11 personnel and throwing to chase points.
Cedrick Wilson is 24 years old, 6′ 2″, and 200 pounds. He played his college ball at Boise State University and was selected with the 208th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. The physical attributes aren’t great (4.55 40-yard dash, 63rd percentile in burst and agility score, and 32nd percentile in speed score), but he’s 72nd percentile in catch radius.Â
Last season, he only appeared in six games and hauled in 6 of 8 targets for 46 yards. Coming into 2020, Wilson was fifth on the wide receiver totem pole behind Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, CeeDee Lamb, and Noah Brown. For the first two weeks of the season, nothing changed in the hierarchy, as he played three and four snaps respectively while not garnering a target.
Then Sunday happened. 7 targets, 5 receptions, 107 yards, and 2 touchdowns! I don’t think we can take too much from this, as it was just one of those games. Dak Prescott threw 57 times on Sunday in a shootout with the Seahawks. Yes, the defense is poor and the Cowboys will likely be in plenty of shootouts this season. But, but, but….the Cowboys were in a shootout with the Falcons in Week 2 in a game that Prescott threw 47 times. And the Cowboys scored 40 points. And Wilson played 4 snaps.Â
The Cowboys utilize 11 personnel a league-high 84% of the time so far in 2020, but Cooper, Gallup, and Lamb are locked into those roles. Unless an injury happens, there’s no way to trust Wilson on a week-to-week basis.
