I think we should all be drafting rookie receivers a little earlier. There’s risk involved, and I see plenty of slow starters, but I also see a bunch of them outperforming where there were chosen.
Christian Watson and Garrett Wilson, most recently. They were low-cost options in drafts in August, and neither did much in the first two months of the season. But they’re looking like solid every-week starters nowadays.
Chris Olave, he’s been doing it all year. And George Pickens, I think, leads the highlight catches. Kenny Pickett has thrown 3 TDs in his last five games, and Pickens has caught all of them. Treylon Burks, meanwhile, has 3 receptions over 40 yards in his last two games.
If we look at the last four games for each team, I see 51 wide receivers with at least 150 receiving yards. I see three rookies in the top 20, along with Burks at 34th and Pickens at 42nd.
Of the rookie receivers, only one – Olave – has been a starter-quality player all along. So I’m not suggesting we all start relying primarily on rookie receivers. But I think there’s merit in carrying two or three with reserve slots on fantasy rosters. The odds are good, I think, that some of those receiver prospects will play some dividends at some point.
150 RECEIVING YARDS IN LAST FOUR GAMES | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD |
Davante Adams, L.V. | 55 | 33 | 487 | 14.8 | 5 |
Justin Jefferson, Min. | 45 | 29 | 480 | 16.6 | 3 |
Tyreek Hill, Mia. | 37 | 30 | 460 | 15.3 | 2 |
CeeDee Lamb, Dall. | 38 | 27 | 378 | 14.0 | 3 |
Amon-Ra St. Brown, Det. | 38 | 30 | 372 | 12.4 | 1 |
Tee Higgins, Cin. | 36 | 26 | 371 | 14.3 | 2 |
Amari Cooper, Cle. | 34 | 23 | 370 | 16.1 | 3 |
Stefon Diggs, Buff. | 46 | 29 | 346 | 11.9 | 2 |
Jaylen Waddle, Mia. | 31 | 22 | 342 | 15.5 | 3 |
Garrett Wilson, NYJ | 27 | 21 | 314 | 15.0 | 2 |
Joshua Palmer, LAC | 35 | 24 | 312 | 13.0 | 2 |
DeAndre Hopkins, Ari. | 37 | 27 | 312 | 11.6 | 2 |
Darius Slayton, NYG | 26 | 16 | 310 | 19.4 | 1 |
Chris Godwin, T.B. | 42 | 31 | 292 | 9.4 | 2 |
Christian Watson, G.B. | 22 | 14 | 289 | 20.6 | 6 |
Terry McLaurin, Was. | 33 | 21 | 287 | 13.7 | 0 |
Zay Jones, Jac. | 32 | 27 | 281 | 10.4 | 0 |
Chris Olave, N.O. | 29 | 19 | 275 | 14.5 | 1 |
Christian Kirk, Jac. | 37 | 24 | 267 | 11.1 | 3 |
Donovan Peoples-Jones, Cle. | 23 | 16 | 257 | 16.1 | 1 |
Rondale Moore, Ari. | 31 | 24 | 255 | 10.6 | 1 |
DK Metcalf, Sea. | 40 | 28 | 253 | 9.0 | 2 |
Brandon Aiyuk, S.F. | 25 | 19 | 250 | 13.2 | 3 |
Mike Evans, T.B. | 37 | 18 | 248 | 13.8 | 0 |
Tyler Lockett, Sea. | 25 | 16 | 240 | 15.0 | 4 |
Brandin Cooks, Hou. | 24 | 16 | 239 | 14.9 | 0 |
Courtland Sutton, Den. | 30 | 18 | 234 | 13.0 | 0 |
Gabe Davis, Buff. | 27 | 17 | 232 | 13.6 | 1 |
DeAndre Carter, LAC | 23 | 19 | 223 | 11.7 | 2 |
Demarcus Robinson, Balt. | 25 | 17 | 221 | 13.0 | 0 |
Jakobi Meyers, N.E. | 29 | 21 | 216 | 10.3 | 1 |
Allen Lazard, G.B. | 28 | 14 | 213 | 15.2 | 1 |
Michael Pittman, Ind. | 33 | 23 | 211 | 9.2 | 1 |
Treylon Burks, Ten. | 20 | 14 | 205 | 14.6 | 0 |
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Ten. | 17 | 11 | 205 | 18.6 | 2 |
Cooper Kupp, LAR | 26 | 19 | 205 | 10.8 | 2 |
Adam Thielen, Min. | 27 | 19 | 202 | 10.6 | 1 |
DeVonta Smith, Phil. | 28 | 18 | 189 | 10.5 | 1 |
Michael Gallup, Dall. | 25 | 16 | 188 | 11.8 | 0 |
Terrace Marshall, Car. | 17 | 8 | 180 | 22.5 | 1 |
DJ Moore, Car. | 23 | 13 | 180 | 13.8 | 1 |
George Pickens, Pitt. | 19 | 10 | 172 | 17.2 | 1 |
Parris Campbell, Ind. | 23 | 16 | 172 | 10.8 | 1 |
A.J. Brown, Phil. | 23 | 14 | 172 | 12.3 | 2 |
Quez Watkins, Phil. | 13 | 11 | 171 | 15.5 | 2 |
Allen Robinson, LAR | 23 | 16 | 169 | 10.6 | 1 |
Diontae Johnson, Pitt. | 27 | 18 | 168 | 9.3 | 0 |
JuJu Smith-Schuster, K.C. | 19 | 15 | 159 | 10.6 | 0 |
Kendall Hinton, Den. | 17 | 12 | 154 | 12.8 | 0 |
Olamide Zaccheaus, Atl. | 16 | 10 | 153 | 15.3 | 0 |
Mack Hollins, L.V. | 24 | 14 | 150 | 10.7 | 1 |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com
In the chart above, statistics pulled from Weeks 9-12 for most teams. For teams with byes in that window, the stats for Week 8 are also included (giving each team four games).
—Ian Allan