I have some interest in Breshad Perriman as a sleeper receiver for 2019. They did some nice things with him late last year in Cleveland.
Perriman, of course, was a bust in Baltimore. The Ravens selected him in the first round in 2015. He missed all of his rookie season. He caught a few big downfield passes in 2016, then regressed in his third year, catching only 10 of the 35 passes thrown is way, with plenty of drops. They cut him after the preseason.
But the Browns picked him up, moving him onto their active roster in October, and he came up with a number of impact catches for them when they got their offense rolling in the second half of the season. Jarvis Landry and Antonio Callaway were their starting receivers, and Rashard Higgins was an effective No. 3, but Perriman was one of the league’s most effective 4th receivers in the final two months of the season. He’s got size (6-2, 211) and speed, and they were able to connect with him on deep balls.
In the final eight games, Perriman caught 15 of the 23 passes thrown his way, for 334 yards and 2 TDs.
| PERRIMAN: FINAL EIGHT GAMES | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Result | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD |
| K.C. | L 21-37 | 6 | 2 | 36 | 18.0 | 0 |
| Atl. | W 28-16 | 2 | 2 | 33 | 16.5 | 0 |
| at Cin. | W 35-20 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 |
| at Hou. | L 13-29 | 2 | 2 | 26 | 13.0 | 0 |
| Car. | W 26-20 | 2 | 2 | 81 | 40.5 | 0 |
| at Den. | W 17-16 | 2 | 1 | 31 | 31.0 | 1 |
| Cin. | W 26-18 | 4 | 2 | 76 | 38.0 | 0 |
| at Balt. | L 24-26 | 4 | 3 | 45 | 15.0 | 1 |
I don’t know that there’s quite enough there yet to land Perriman on a roster in a typical fantasy league. I can’t at this point say with certainty that Perriman will even be one of the three best wide receivers on his own team. But a player to put on the watch list.
Perriman last year averaged 13.6 yards per target. That is, yards per pass attempt (rather than yards per catch) – when balls were thrown to him, good things tended to happen. That was over 2 more yards than all but two other wide receivers who saw at least 25 targets.
| RECEIVERS AVERAGING 9 YARDS PER TARGET | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Avg |
| Tyler Lockett, Sea. | 70 | 57 | 965 | 13.8 |
| Breshad Perriman, Clev. | 25 | 16 | 340 | 13.6 |
| Robert Foster, Buff. | 44 | 27 | 541 | 12.3 |
| Will Fuller, Hou. | 45 | 32 | 503 | 11.2 |
| Albert Wilson, Mia. | 35 | 26 | 391 | 11.2 |
| Mike Evans, T.B. | 138 | 86 | 1,524 | 11.0 |
| Tyreek Hill, K.C. | 137 | 87 | 1,479 | 10.8 |
| Rashard Higgins, Clev. | 53 | 39 | 572 | 10.8 |
| Jordan Matthews, Phil. | 28 | 20 | 300 | 10.7 |
| T.Y. Hilton, Ind. | 120 | 76 | 1,270 | 10.6 |
| DeSean Jackson, T.B. | 74 | 41 | 774 | 10.5 |
| Josh Gordon, 2 tms | 71 | 41 | 737 | 10.4 |
| Dante Pettis, S.F. | 45 | 27 | 467 | 10.4 |
| Cooper Kupp, LAR | 55 | 40 | 566 | 10.3 |
| Brandin Cooks, LAR | 117 | 80 | 1,204 | 10.3 |
| Geronimo Allison, G.B. | 30 | 20 | 303 | 10.1 |
| Mike Williams, LAC | 66 | 43 | 664 | 10.1 |
| Tyrell Williams, LAC | 65 | 41 | 653 | 10.0 |
| Julio Jones, Atl. | 170 | 113 | 1,677 | 9.9 |
| Martavis Bryant, Oak. | 27 | 19 | 266 | 9.9 |
| Tre'Quan Smith, N.O. | 44 | 28 | 427 | 9.7 |
| Chris Hogan, N.E. | 55 | 35 | 532 | 9.7 |
| DeAndre Hopkins, Hou. | 163 | 115 | 1,572 | 9.6 |
| DJ Moore, Car. | 82 | 55 | 788 | 9.6 |
| Michael Thomas, N.O. | 147 | 125 | 1,405 | 9.6 |
| Tyler Boyd, Cin. | 108 | 76 | 1,028 | 9.5 |
| Sammy Watkins, K.C. | 55 | 40 | 519 | 9.4 |
| Amari Cooper, 2 tms | 107 | 75 | 1,005 | 9.4 |
| Robert Woods, LAR | 130 | 86 | 1,219 | 9.4 |
| Marquise Goodwin, S.F. | 43 | 23 | 395 | 9.2 |
| Alshon Jeffery, Phil. | 92 | 65 | 843 | 9.2 |
| Equanimeous St. Brown, G.B. | 36 | 21 | 328 | 9.1 |
| A.J. Green, Cin. | 77 | 46 | 694 | 9.0 |
| Adam Thielen, Min. | 153 | 113 | 1,373 | 9.0 |
—Ian Allan