We talk about it time and time again here at Razzball. Most recently, Al_FF_Red AKA The BOOF brought this up on the Yahoo Fantasy Football Podcast. Are you ready? It is okay to miss in your drafts on players. It is okay to miss A LOT. How many waiver wire acquisitions are you making per year? Probably anywhere in between 15 and 40 per team from personal experience. You are going to drop guys that don’t do a lick for 3 straight weeks for a wide receiver that Aaron Rodgers bought coffee for because a beat writer tweeted about it. What is important is that one or two players that you take outside of the top 8 rounds explodes. There are only two wide receivers on this list that are being drafted inside of the top 50 wide receivers. Here are some high upside slivers of hope for the last few rounds of your drafts.Â
Danny Amendola
Danny Amendola will turn 35 this season, so he has that going for him. But hey, Matthew Stafford is back! When Stafford was healthy in 2019, Detroit was #1 in passing success rate in the first quarter. Detroit is aggressive early under Darren Bevell. Amendola is a slot guy for a team that doesn’t have a lot of options at wide receiver outside of Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones. Also the news hasn’t been great when it comes to T.J. Hockenson’s health.Â
Amendola caught 62 balls for 678 yards last year, which is some decent volume. Nothing spectacular. Without Darius Slay, this secondary is very vulnerable and this defensive line isn’t the same that it was a couple of years ago. Detroit might have to throw the ball a ton to stay in games and Amendola could end up having a lot of weeks where he is peppered with targets. He will not be a red zone guy, but 8 catches for 80 yards still gets you 16 fantasy points and we could see a lot of that this year. Amendola is currently going outside of the top 70 wide receivers.
Greg Ward Jr.
Greg Ward isn’t even on the ADP radar right now, but this is another wide receiver group that doesn’t have any depth. It also sounds like Carson Wentz REALLY likes Ward. Ward’s experience could put him ahead of Raegor in a lot of situations to start and Alshon Jeffrey will likely start the season on the PUP list. He’s running more, but he still doesn’t have a timetable for his return. With DeSean Jackson back, he will take a lot of attention from the secondary and Ward could find himself in a lot of good situations. I don’t think that Ward is draft-able in 12 team leagues at this point, but he is definitely a waiver wire name to watch.Â
John Brown
This isn’t really a dart throw, but I feel like there is disrespect being put on his name just because Stefon Diggs is in town. Josh Allen has a goal of running less in 2020. At least that is what he recently said. This tells me that there is room for more than one big play maker in Buffalo at the WR position. The way John Brown plays receiver is a perfect fit for Josh Allen. Down field speed compliments Josh Allen’s human cannon for an arm. John Brown’s first season in Buffalo was his 2nd 1,000 yard receiving season and he had the most receptions (72) that he has had in his career. Brown ranked 8th in completed air yards and finished as a low end WR2. JB isn’t going anywhere despite what some might think and he is the 43rd wide receiver off of the board according to FantasyPros. Remember, familiarity with go a long way this year.Â
I mentioned in last week’s training camp round up that Crowder reportedly looks far superior to any other receiver on the field for the Jets. This is a big year for Darnold and Gase. They both have to prove their long term fits and make strides. 2019 was Crowder’s best season since 2016 in more of a featured role than he has seen before. There aren’t any immediate threats in New York that are going to change that. If Darnold lives up to his potential and Crowder is on the field, there is little doubt in my mind that he isn’t a 1,000 yard receiver in 2020. I was on Crowder last year and he didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but I’m doubling down at his price of 48th receiver off of the board.Â
Deep Leagues
Scotty Miller and Justin Watson are both on my radar as possible WR3s in Tampa behind Godwin and Evans. They are both having good camps according to the best writers familiar with the team. If I’m drafting a deep roster this weekend, I’m leaning Miller over Watson.Â
Previously Covered
Yesterday IÂ gushed about Anthony Miller. He is being drafted outside of the top 50 WRs. I also mentioned my enthusiasm for Bryan Edwards as well. Some say the N’Keal Harry is blowing his opportunities while conflicting reports say that he’s been extremely impressive. I think he’s a decent roll of the dice in the last couple of rounds.Â
