– Chris Giannini, 8/17/16
Selfish, Diva, Just-Give-Me-The-Damn-Ball: all things that come to mind when I think about wide receivers. They are fast, they are flashy, and they are always open (just ask them). These guys are also fun to watch. Every year they are becoming more important in the NFL and subsequently in fantasy. The top WRs are the safest picks in the game and this is the deepest position by far. Their athletic ability and impressive catches fill highlight reels every week.
The draft strategies from the WR position are all over the board. There are so many you can feel safe waiting to draft them, but the studs at the top of the rankings are worthy of being taken #1 overall if you choose. So many of these decisions have to do with the style of your league and how many WRs you have to start or are allowed to start. I like to think of drafting WRs as having children. You would think if you have a really good child then you would want to have more, but for some reason you don’t and you just invest so much into planning your life (draft) around the one really good kid. If you have a kid that is, lets just say not the best-behaved child in the world, then you tend have more and more kids. I don’t know, maybe parents think if they keep having children one of them is bound to be successful and will be able to take care of them. If I don’t get one of the best WRs in the draft then I draft as many as I can later hoping one will hit the lottery and maybe I can retire one day.
My #1 WR this year is Odell Beckham Jr. over Antonio Brown (just barely). Odell’s QB stays healthier every year and the offensive coordinator was promoted to head coach. That historically results in more scoring. Sterling Shepard and Victor Cruz are the 2 other WRs for the Giants and I don’t see either of them taking targets away from Beckham. Shepard is a rookie who has been lighting up training camp so far, but rookies are always going to be suspect until they play against live NFL corners. Victor Cruz is someone I am not even ranking until I see him on the field and playing well. Injuries have plagued him for the past few years and I just can’t trust he will be useful at all until he gets some games under his belt.
My comeback player of the year will be Kelvin Benjamin. Last year with one of the worst wide-receiving cores in the NFL the Panthers lead the league in total scoring. Benjamin is a giant leap up in talent for them and Cam has to be excited to see him back. I would like to have the luxury of seeing him practice more and play in a preseason game or 2 before definitively making this statement, but that isn’t the case and all a part of making predictions.
The WR I am most excited about watching this year is Brandon Marshall. Marshall is historically a really good player and always fun to watch. This season he finds himself close to my heart for a completely different reason. He is a gambling man, and this year he is betting on himself! I am also a gambler (other than both being men that is where the similarities stop). He challenged Antonio Brown, the consensus #1 WR in football, to a bet on who will have the most total yards this season. And they aren’t just betting a few cold beers or a prime steak dinner in New York. They are betting RIDES!!! Brandon is putting up his Porsche for Brown’s Rolls Royce. Marshall is at least getting pretty good odds for his bet. Brown’s RR is valued at over $100,000 more than the Porsche (Rule #1 of betting: Always control the terms of the bet if you can). Because of his confidence I have Marshall higher than every other ranking I’ve seen. I have to admit I’m pulling for this one!
My advice for WR going into the draft is; don’t have a fixed plan unless you have a top 3 pick. Prepare for anything and take the best available player to you. If you find there are fewer RBs you like in rounds 3-5 then taken RB early. If you like those mid-round RBs then go WR. The biggest mistake I see is people go into their drafts knowing they will take 3 WRs with their first 3 picks and then figure it out from there. How do you know who will be available to you in the 2nd round? Just let the draft come to you.
Good luck.
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