50 Shades of Fantasy Football: Vol. III Seasonal Top 5 Rankings
By Mike Randle
5) Mike Evans (Tampa Bay): One of the most undervalued players in all drafting formats, Evans has every metric you want in a wide receiver: a 95th percentile Height-adjusted Speed Score (115.7); 94th percentile Catch Radius (10.29); and he received an amazing 30.1 percent of all the Buccaneers passing targets last season. Although Evans garnered 23.9 percent of all the Red Zone passing targets, he only converted three into touchdowns. A positive regression is coming this season for Evans, and he will outperform his current wide receiver eleven ADP handsomely.
4) Brandin Cooks (New Orleans): Cooks enters the magical year three for NFL wide receivers poised for a breakout. Saints head coach Sean Payton will scheme to get Cooks the ball in a variety of ways. New Orleans lead the league in passing yards (4,970) and Cooks’ 129 targets should hover around the 150 mark. His 84 receptions will also rise, and his 4.33 speed is a perfect match for the big home field dome advantage. Cooks may not have the size of the other receivers in this group, but his overall situation is the best.
3) Odell Beckham Jr. (New York Giants): There are so many great statistics to mention about Beckham, in particular his 100 percent Snap Share. In short, he never comes off the field. With a durable quarterback in Eli Manning, a high powered Giants offense, and third overall finish with 21.2 fantasy points per game last season, Beckham is destined to be a top three overall wide receiver again this season. If he can just bring his receptions up slightly (96 last season), Beckham would break into the top two fantasy receivers.
2) Julio Jones (Atlanta): It’s almost impossible to have a better fantasy season than Jones did last year. He was first in targets (206), receptions (136), and yards after catch (679). Jones is a top fantasy football wide receiver in the prime of his career, but there are two small marks working against him: durability and lack of touchdown production (14 in two seasons). However, as the “X” receiver in Kyle Shanahan’s high octane offense, Jones is best described as “pure fantasy gold.”
1) Antonio Brown (Pittsburgh): It takes a special player to beat out Julio Jones for the top spot, but that is exactly what Brown is. He has three consecutive seasons of over 110 receptions,1,499 yards or better, and a total of 32 touchdowns. Brown has a strong connection with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger which guarantees he will receive targets on a consistent basis. There has been talk all summer about Brown wanting to eclipse Marvin Harrison’s all time record of 143 receptions in a season. With back to back 129 and 136 reception seasons, who are we to doubt him? The clear number one fantasy football receiver for 2016 will be Antonio Brown.
Next: Top Five Fantasy Football Tight Ends