The league has suspended Antonio Brown for three games, making it appropriate to kick around the idea of Tyler Johnson – not only for the immediate future, but as a possibility for future seasons.

The Bucs drafted Johnson in the fifth round a year ago, and he did some good things as a rookie. When a bunch of other receivers were injured, he caught 4 passes for 61 yards in a Thursday night game at Chicago. He caught a couple of touchdowns. And he was involved in a pair of pivotal plays in the playoffs – a big catch late at New Orleans, and a third-down play with less than 2 minutes left at Lambeau that drew a PI flag, helping them run out the clock on the Packers.

In general, I came out of the 2020 season thinking Johnson would develop into a starter, and that he was a worthy enough guy to be a productive third receiver for Tampa Bay whenever any of their three big guns were sidelined – Brown, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin.

But it hasn’t happened. Johnson has had plenty of opportunities to play, but there hasn’t been much production. He’s been a regular part of that offense for each of their past five games, but he hasn’t put up noteworthy numbers.

Johnson caught 5 passes for 65 yards in the loss at New Orleans, which was reasonable enough. But in each of his last four other games, he’s finished with fewer than 20 yards despite being on the field for over two thirds of their plays in each of those games. That’s remarkably low production, considering the Bucs are averaging 315 yards per game.

TYLER JOHNSON IN STARTER-TYPE ROLE
OpponentResultTgtRecYdsTD
ChicagoW 38-322160
at New OrleansL 27-3665650
at WashingtonL 19-2953170
N.Y. GiantsW 30-103180
at IndianapolisW 38-311190

I don’t think this is all Johnson’s fault. It’s not as if he’s been getting a lot of opportunities. Only 17 passes have been thrown his way in those games, and he’s caught only 12 of them. I think this is more a case of Tom Brady being more comfortable and having more trust in some of his other pass catchers, with Johnson tending to play more of a decoy role. It’s possible that Johnson’s time will still come in a future season.

But for 2021, I have no interest in Johnson as a fill-in guy for now. (I’ve made that mistake already, using him as a replacement starter I think twice in my many leagues – it didn’t go well.)

And for those in dynasty leagues, I wouldn’t think it would make much sense to stash away Johnson for a future season. Godwin will be a free agent; maybe he’s gone. And perhaps the Bucs are getting tired of Brown (who’ll also be a free agent). But with the lack of much production from Johnson, I would think there are a lot of wide receivers you would pick before you would get down to rostering him with the hope of him moving up in 2022.

I turn my attention to dynasty leagues each Saturday, rotating between the four notable positions. It’s wide receivers today, and those rankings appear below. I’m assuming PPR scoring, and teams allowed to retain a player’s rights indefinitely – so in addition to 2021, you’re looking at 2022 and beyond and trying to account for the player’s age. On the chart, rookies are tagged with black dots.

To see rankings from previous weeks, use the “Past Issues” navigation box.

Last week: tight ends

Next week: quarterbacks

DYNASTY LEAGUE RECEIVERS
RkTmPlayerAge
1.CIN• JaMarr Chase21
2.MINJustin Jefferson22
3.DALCeeDee Lamb22
4.KCTyreek Hill27
5.LARCooper Kupp28
6.SEADK Metcalf 23
7.SFDeebo Samuel 25
8.GBDavante Adams28
9.BUFStefon Diggs28
10.INDMichael Pittman24
11.TENA.J. Brown 24
12.CARDJ Moore24
13.TBChris Godwin25
14.WASTerry McLaurin 25
15.TBMike Evans28
16.PITDiontae Johnson 25
17.PHI• DeVonta Smith23
18.MIA• Jaylen Waddle23
19.DALAmari Cooper27
20.ARIDeAndre Hopkins29
21.LACKeenan Allen29
22.CINTee Higgins22
23.BALMarquise Brown 24
24.PITChase Claypool23
25.NYJ• Elijah Moore21
26.CHIDarnell Mooney24
27.ATLCalvin Ridley26
28.NYG• Kadarius Toney22
29.LACMike Williams27
30.SEATyler Lockett29
31.SFBrandon Aiyuk23
32.DENJerry Jeudy22
33.HOUBrandin Cooks28
34.LARRobert Woods29
35.NYJCorey Davis26
36.DALMichael Gallup25
37.ARI• Rondale Moore21
38.NOMichael Thomas28
39.DENCourtland Sutton26
40.MINAdam Thielen31
41.BAL• Rashod Bateman22
42.CLEDonovan Peoples-Jones22
43.LVHunter Renfrow 25
44.DENTim Patrick28
45.BUFGabriel Davis22
46.LAROdell Beckham29
47.CHIAllen Robinson28
48.NEJakobi Meyers25
49.NEKendrick Bourne26
50.ARIChristian Kirk25
51.CINTyler Boyd27
52.CLEJarvis Landry29
53.CAR• Terrace Marshall21
54.NYGSterling Shepard27
55.JACDJ Chark25
56.NYGKenny Golladay28
57.TBAntonio Brown33
58.LARVan Jefferson25
59.WASCurtis Samuel25
60.PITJuJu Smith-Schuster25
61.TENJulio Jones32
62.CARRobby Anderson28
63.BUFCole Beasley32
64.LAC• Josh Palmer22
65.JACLaviska Shenault23
66.MIADeVante Parker28
67.LVBryan Edwards23
68.NOTreQuan Smith25
69.GB• Amari Rodgers22
70.JACMarvin Jones31
71.PHIJalen Reagor22
72.KCMecole Hardman 23
73.ARIA.J. Green33
74.KCByron Pringle28
75.BUFEmmanuel Sanders34
76.WAS• Dyami Brown22
77.INDZach Pascal26
78.NOMarquez Callaway23
79.ATLRussell Gage25
80.DET• Amon-Ra St. Brown22
81.SEA• Dee Eskridge24
82.GBMarquez Valdes-Scantling27
83.NODeonte Harris24
84.PHIQuez Watkins23
85.GBAllen Lazard26
86.HOU• Nico Collins22
87.TBTyler Johnson23
88.TENNick Westbrook-Ikhine24
89.NENelson Agholor28
90.INDT.Y. Hilton32
91.CLE• Anthony Schwartz21
92.BALDevin Duvernay24
93.NYJJamison Crowder28
94.MIAWill Fuller27
95.LVDeSean Jackson35
96.DALCedrick Wilson26
97.WASDeAndre Carter28
98.NYGDarius Slayton 24
99.DETKalif Raymond27
100.LVZay Jones26

—Ian Allan