When watching preseason football, it's a delicate balancing act of what to pay attention to, and what to downplay. Frequently I need to decide if a big performance in a meaningless game should be mentioned, or dismissed. Which brings us to Lance McCutcheon.
The undrafted rookie wideout out of Montana State had himself a day for the Rams on Saturday, catching 5 passes for 87 yards and 2 touchdowns. It included a 60-yard score where he leapt up to grab it between two defenders (who then collided), and he loped the rest of the way into the end zone. Pretty cool, and it's the kind of performance that may earn him a roster spot, or at least get him in the discussion.
The problem is that the Rams take the idea of not playing starters in the preseason to an extreme. It's not surprising that Cooper Kupp and Allen Robinson didn't play, and Van Jefferson is hurt. But other Rams wideouts not to play included Tutu Atwell, Ben Skowronek and Brandon Powell, in some order the projected 4, 5 and 6 wideouts on the team. Maybe McCutcheon pushes Powell off the roster, but Atwell and Skowronek are making the 53, and one of those guys will likely be the No. 3 early on. Best case scenario is McCutcheon sneaks onto the roster and is worth a pickup in dynasty leagues. But 2022? That would be very unusual.
Undrafted rookies making an impact at running back are a little more likely, and I'll take a look at that history in the next week or so. Undrafted rookies making an impact at wide receiver are really rare.
Table below shows every undrafted rookie wideout to finish in the top 120 (PPR) at the position since 2000. There aren't many, and ones that actually merit a roster spot in typical leagues -- say, finishing in the top 50 -- are even rarer. Doug Baldwin, Keelan Cole, Marlon Brown and Allen Hurns. That's the list.
| TOP UNDRAFTED ROOKIE WIDEOUTS, 2000-PRESENT | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | G | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Rk |
| 2011 | Doug Baldwin, Sea. | 16 | 85 | 51 | 788 | 15.5 | 4 | 42 |
| 2017 | Keelan Cole, Jac. | 16 | 83 | 42 | 748 | 17.8 | 3 | 48 |
| 2013 | Marlon Brown, Balt. | 14 | 82 | 49 | 524 | 10.7 | 7 | 48 |
| 2014 | Allen Hurns, Jac. | 16 | 97 | 51 | 677 | 13.3 | 6 | 49 |
| 2003 | Dane Looker, St.L. | 16 | 75 | 47 | 495 | 10.5 | 3 | 59 |
| 2015 | Seth Roberts, Oak. | 16 | 55 | 32 | 480 | 15.0 | 5 | 63 |
| 2012 | Rod Streater, Oak. | 16 | 74 | 39 | 584 | 15.0 | 3 | 64 |
| 2002 | Marc Boerigter, K.C. | 16 | 38 | 20 | 420 | 21.0 | 8 | 65 |
| 2019 | Steven Sims, Was. | 16 | 56 | 34 | 310 | 9.1 | 6 | 66 |
| 2016 | Robby Anderson, NYJ | 16 | 78 | 42 | 587 | 14.0 | 2 | 68 |
| 2014 | Taylor Gabriel, Cle. | 16 | 72 | 36 | 621 | 17.3 | 1 | 72 |
| 2019 | Preston Williams, Mia. | 8 | 60 | 32 | 428 | 13.4 | 3 | 77 |
| 2009 | Danny Amendola, St.L. | 14 | 63 | 43 | 326 | 7.6 | 1 | 82 |
| 2001 | Drew Bennett, Ten. | 14 | 46 | 24 | 329 | 13.7 | 1 | 82 |
| 2015 | Brandon Coleman, N.O. | 16 | 49 | 30 | 454 | 15.1 | 2 | 84 |
| 2014 | Corey Brown, Car. | 13 | 36 | 21 | 296 | 14.1 | 3 | 91 |
| 2019 | Jakobi Meyers, N.E. | 15 | 41 | 26 | 359 | 13.8 | 0 | 98 |
| 2015 | Adam Humphries, T.B. | 13 | 40 | 27 | 260 | 9.6 | 1 | 99 |
| 2004 | Antonio Chatman, G.B. | 16 | 45 | 22 | 246 | 11.2 | 1 | 99 |
| 2019 | Greg Ward, Phil. | 7 | 40 | 28 | 254 | 9.1 | 1 | 101 |
| 2002 | Eric Parker, S.D. | 9 | 30 | 17 | 268 | 15.8 | 1 | 103 |
| 2003 | Mike Furrey, St.L. | 13 | 33 | 20 | 189 | 9.5 | 0 | 104 |
| 2004 | Chris Horn, K.C. | 14 | 27 | 15 | 178 | 11.9 | 1 | 108 |
| 2016 | Jordan Taylor, Den. | 16 | 25 | 16 | 209 | 13.1 | 2 | 113 |
| 2014 | Albert Wilson, K.C. | 12 | 28 | 16 | 260 | 16.3 | 0 | 113 |
| 2011 | Andrew Hawkins, Cin. | 13 | 34 | 23 | 263 | 11.4 | 0 | 113 |
| 2016 | Chester Rogers, Ind. | 14 | 34 | 19 | 273 | 14.4 | 0 | 114 |
| 2016 | Geronimo Allison, G.B. | 10 | 22 | 12 | 202 | 16.8 | 2 | 116 |
| 2015 | Nick Williams, Atl. | 14 | 25 | 17 | 159 | 9.4 | 2 | 116 |
| 2015 | Javontee Herndon, S.D. | 8 | 33 | 24 | 195 | 8.1 | 0 | 117 |
| 2016 | Jalin Marshall, NYJ | 10 | 23 | 14 | 162 | 11.6 | 2 | 119 |
Some of those guys can overcome those modest beginnings and emerge as viable fantasy starters in future seasons. From the list above, Robby Anderson and Danny Amendola (former Ram!) stand out, and Jakobi Meyers has had his moments. So perhaps McCutcheon should be added in deep dynasty formats. As a senior, he caught 63 passes for 1,219 yards and 9 TDs, and some nice things have been said about him in camp. So maybe.
But would be a real Cinderella story. Which we all love, but be careful about dropping someone with better odds of emerging this season.
--Andy Richardson