I can’t tell you to draft J.J. Nelson. He appears to be only the 4th-best wide receiver on his own team, and you don’t see many players in that kind of a role putting up significant stats. But everybody who’s been at Arizona’s OTAs keeps bringing him up as a possible breakout player.
Patrick Peterson is the latest to jump on that bandwagon. “I believe J.J. Nelson’s going to have a great year,” Peterson said in an interview on PFT Live on NBC Sports Radio. “He had a great, great spring, showed some flashes. I can’t wait to see what he’s going do here if he can keep that momentum going into summer camp because I’ve seen it happen a number of times.”
A couple of weeks ago, it was Bruce Arians that was raving about Nelson. “He has a very unique skill in tracking the ball that the great ones have when the ball’s coming over your opposite shoulder and you catch it effortlessly when other guys can’t make that catch,” said Arians in an article posted on ESPN.com. “When you have a little fast guy that can do that, you got a special one.”
Nelson is tiny – just 156 pounds – but he might be the fastest wide receiver in the league. He ran a 4.28 at the combine (an electronic time; not an estimate released by an agent or writer with an agenda). He caught only 11 passes as a rookie, but he averaged over 27 yards per catch.
Trouble, of course, is that he’s stuck behind Larry Fitzgerald. And John Brown. And Michael Floyd. Most likely he’ll rotate in and run mostly deep routes, hitting on a few long touchdowns during the year but not making a big impact. But if any one of those three guys gets hurt, Nelson would become more of a full-time player, probably putting up viable numbers.
In my opinion, if you set aside the top 3 wide receivers for each team, Nelson is right there near the top. Four NFL teams, I think, have four wide receivers who might be drafted in large fantasy leagues, and Nelson is in that group (along with Ty Montgomery, Brandon Coleman and Devin Funchess).
| Ian's rankings of No. 4 WRs | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. | GB | Ty Montgomery |
| 2. | ARI | J.J. Nelson |
| 3. | NO | Brandon Coleman |
| 4. | CAR | Devin Funchess |
| 5. | HOU | Jaelen Strong |
| 6. | NYJ | Quincy Enunwa |
| 7. | JAC | Marqise Lee |
| 8. | WAS | Jamison Crowder |
| 9. | SF | Quinton Patton |
| 10. | MIA | Leonte Carroo |
| 11. | MIN | Charles Johnson |
| 12. | OAK | Andre Holmes |
| 13. | NE | Nate Washington |
| 14. | LA | Pharoh Cooper |
| 15. | SD | Tyrell Williams |
| 16. | BAL | Breshad Perriman |
| 17. | TEN | Harry Douglas |
| 18. | DEN | Bennie Fowler |
| 19. | DET | Jeremy Kerley |
| 20. | SEA | Paul Richardson |
| 21. | DAL | Brice Butler |
| 22. | TB | Kenny Bell |
| 23. | PIT | Darrius Heyward-Bey |
| 24. | CLE | Andrew Hawkins |
| 25. | KC | Rod Streater |
| 26. | NYG | Dwayne Harris |
| 27. | CIN | James Wright |
| 28. | CHI | Marquess Wilson |
| 29. | PHI | Josh Huff |
| 30. | IND | Quan Bray |
| 31. | BUF | Marcus Easley |
| 32. | ATL | Devin Hester |
—Ian Allan