Passing production is at an all-time high. This is especially true, it seems, if you face the right defense. Kansas City and Tampa Bay (just fired its defensive coordinator) are giving up over 350 yards per game. The Saints, Falcons, Steelers and Bengals are all giving up over 300 yards per game. It's nuts, but the result is that some no-name wideouts are going to be viable in weekly matchups with these teams.
Catching the eye today are the New York Giants. Yes, Eli Manning has looked pretty washed-up in most games so far. But maybe he'll have a good game this week. The Giants are in Atlanta to face that defense, which has allowed at least 3 TD passes five games in a row. That's 16 TD passes in the last five games, 11 of which have gone to wide receivers.
New York has Odell Beckham Jr. and Sterling Shepard, of course, and they disappointed against the Eagles last Thursday night. But the difficulty level drops another notch in Atlanta, and those guys will be appealing in this week's rankings.
Cody Latimer was the No. 3, but he just landed on IR with a hamstring injury. So your no-name this week might well be Russell Shepard, with Bennie Fowler next in line. Shepard will be behind Beckham, Sterling Shepard, and probably Evan Engram for targets. But in a deeper league, or if you're in need of a cheap option in a daily lineup, he might be your guy.
| NO. 3 WRS VERSUS ATLANTA | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk | Player | No | Yds | TD |
| 2 | Jarius Wright, Car. | 5 | 62 | 1 |
| 3 | Cameron Meredith, N.O. | 1 | 11 | 1 |
| 4 | John Ross, Cin. | 2 | 52 | 1 |
| 5 | James Washington, Pitt. | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Chris Godwin, T.B. | 6 | 56 | 1 |
Washington didn't do anything for Pittsburgh, which threw 3 TDs to Brown and Smith-Schuster. But the overall history looks positive.
--Andy Richardson