Fantasy Football 2018: Odell Beckham or Keenan Allen?

Odell Beckham and Keenan Allen are two of the best wide receivers in the league. But which one should you have on your fantasy football team?

The wide receiver position is very deep and gets even deeper in PPR leagues. Most fantasy football owners will look to draft a top running back in the first round. Receivers are going to draft a receiver in the second round. Two options are Odell Beckham and Keenan Allen. Which one do you want on your team?

Beckham is being drafted early in the second round, ESPN ADP of 11.9, while Allen is going closer to the end of the round at 17.3. Some of the second-tier running backs are being drafted in between the two receivers.

Both had their faults last season. Beckham missed all but four games. Allen played but he had an eight-game stretch where he didn’t catch a touchdown. He did record multiple double-digit games based on PPR scoring.

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I already wrote about my love for Philip Rivers this season, so I like Allen a lot as well. However, Rivers will have a few more mouths to feed in this offense. Along with Allen, there is Tyrell Williams, Mike Williams and Travis Benjamin. Virgil Green and Melvin Gordon will likely get some targets as well.

For the Giants, Eli Manning doesn’t have that luxury. Outside of Beckham, the Giants have Sterling Shepard and Evan Engram as pass catchers. Saquon Barkley saw his receptions go up each year in college. In his final season at Penn State, he caught 54 passes for 632 yards and three touchdowns.

The passing defenses in the NFC East were a bit better than those of the AFC West. The Redskins and Cowboys finished in the top-11 in passing yards allowed per game. The Eagles were No. 17.

The Broncos finished at No. 4 with 200.6 passing yards per game. The Raiders and Chiefs finished in the bottom seven. The Broncos secondary may be a bit worse as they lost Aqib Talib, giving Rivers more freedom to throw.

Rivers averaged 577 pass attempts per season over the last seven seasons. Manning, to my surprise, averaged more in that span. He averaged 586 pass attempts per season. Manning had back-to-back 600-plus pass attempt seasons in 2014 and 2015. He may see a decline due to a more-than-adequate running game.

Both wide receivers are the No. 1s on their respective teams. They will both see over 120 targets per season and catch close to 100 passes. Both teams have solid running backs to keep defenses honest and will face average defenses within their divisions.

Both receivers are worth a top-20 pick in standard and top-15 in PPR leagues. However, Beckham has less competition and a higher ceiling. If he falls to me in the second round, I will draft him without hesitation.