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Fantasy Football: Even with Brady, Godwin is No. 2 at wide receiver

By Darwin (Deni) Martin

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - OCTOBER 27: Michael Thomas #13 of the New Orleans Saints in action during a game against the Arizona Cardinals at the Mercedes Benz Superdome on October 27, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - OCTOBER 27: Michael Thomas #13 of the New Orleans Saints in action during a game against the Arizona Cardinals at the Mercedes Benz Superdome on October 27, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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ATLANTA, GA – NOVEMBER 24: Chris Godwin #12 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers catches a pass for a touchdown in front of Kendall Sheffield #20 of the Atlanta Falcons during the first half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on November 24, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /

Though Tampa Bay was able to sign future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady, wide receiver Chris Godwin will be the second best wide receiver in fantasy football.  Barring injury, New Orleans’ MIchael Thomas will be the best DFS wide receiver in the NFL in 2020.

You only need to look at the 2019 statistics to see how wide the gap was between the No. 1 wide receiver, Michael Thomas. and the No. 2 wide receiver, Chris Godwin of Tampa Bay.  Last year Thomas caught an amazing 149 passes for 1,725 yards.  Godwin caught 86 passes for 1,333 yards.  Though Godwin had a better yards per catch average (15.5 to Thomas’ 11.6), the Saints’ star wide receiver had 374.6 fantasy football points and Tampa Bay’s best slot receiver had 276.1 points.

New Tampa Bay  starting quarterback Tom Brady loves to throw passes to slot receivers.  (If you have any doubts, look at the career stats for Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola.)  Godwin will flourish with Brady at quarterback, but even a 25% increase in receptions and yardage won’t come close to matching Thomas’ 2019 numbers.  The only stat that Thomas and Godwin share from last year is nine touchdown catches.

Changing quarterbacks may have been the major news in free agency.  Indianapolis may get more in the passing game with the addition of former Charger QB Philip Rivers and Carolina may benefit with Teddy Bridgewater as their starter at quarterback.  But the shakeup to the Tier 1 through 3 wide receivers should bring slight increases and not humongous gains.

Many fantasy football leagues are set up like NFL divisions as  4, 8 or 12-team formats and each team typically has 3 wide receivers.  This article focuses on the top three tiers of wide receivers with 12 players in each tier. The 2019 ranking of NFL wide receiver is based on the metrics provided by the ESPN standard scoring system.

The assessments of where the running banks rank entering the 2020 season is based on the recent free agent activity and off-season moves by teams and players.

Looking to dominate your fantasy leagues this year? Try The Ultimate Draft Kit from the Fantasy Footballers. Hundreds of videos, articles and player write-ups, plus the Reception Perception, in-depth analysis and draft cheat sheets! 

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