Fantasy Football: Steven Sims is looking like a serious sleeper stud in 2020

Fantasy football owners are well aware of Terry McLaurin, but Steven Sim has a path to being the second relevant Redskins wide receiver.

Terry McLaurin was a find for the Washington Redskins last season, as he led the team in all receiving categories. Fantasy owners were pretty happy too, as McLaurin was a top-30 receiver in any scoring format. But another rookie wide receiver, Steven Sims, became a factor down the stretch in 2019 and shouldn’t be dismissed.

Upon Ron Rivera’s hiring, Sims reached out to his agent to get more information about his new head coach. According to Sam Fortier of the Washington Post, Sims’ agent pointed to Steve Smith as the “only small receiver” Rivera ever had in Carolina. That’s not completely true, but Sims, at 5-foot-10 and 190 pounds, is built similarly to Smith.

"It wasn’t a bad talk,” Sims said. “It was right after we signed [Cody] Latimer, right after the draft. It was like, “[Rivera] brought in bigger bodies. I was like, ‘Okay, that’s what he likes.’ I’m not saying I’m on the cut block. I’m just saying: ‘Be different. Be another Steve Smith.’ He started off the same guy. They only thought he was going to be a returner, and he’s a [potential] Hall of Famer. . . . He was a small guy who played big. He wasn’t going to limit himself to being 5-9."

Sims player sparingly on offense as a rookie last year (33 percent of the snaps), on his way to 34 receptions (on 56 targets) for 310 yards and four touchdowns along with 85 rushing yards and a touchdown on nine carries. But he did get on the field a lot from the start as a return man, with 819 kickoff return yards and a touchdown there. That seemed to prove he deserved more opportunities on offense.

Will Steven Sims Breakout For The Redskins In 2020?

Over the final four games last season, Sims had 20 catches on 36 targets for 230 yards. All four of his touchdowns came in the final three games, with two double-digit target games (Week 15 and 16) over that stretch. He also played at least 63 percent of the snaps in each of the final four games.

The Redskins only notable free agent addition at wide receiver was Cody Latimer, who is in some legal hot water to put his status in doubt. So while the fantasy ceiling is high for McLaurin as the No.1 target for Dwayne Haskins, Sims clearly built solid rapport with his quarterback.

The aforementioned double-digit target games for Sims late last year came in Haskins’ last two starts, in line with the rookie signal caller’s better level of play.

There is opportunity for someone to emerge as the Redskins’ No. 2 wide receiver. Sims’ built-in rapport with Haskins gives him an edge over Trey Quinn, Kelvin Harmon or rookie Antonio Gandy-Golden right now. Yet there is Sims, at WR98 (below Harmon) in Fantasy Pros standard league ADP and WR94 in full PPR (below Gandy-Golden).

Sims will go undrafted in all but the deepest fantasy leagues, with a solid tilt toward dynasty leagues even then. But there is a path to production if the end of last year is any indication, and the second-year man out of Kansas is a name to stash away.