Tier 6: Paths Exist
33. Treylon Burks – Tennessee Titans
34. Calvin Ridley – Jacksonville Jaguars
35. Michael Pittman Jr. – Indianapolis Colts
36. JuJu Smith-Schuster – New England Patriots
37. Kadarius Toney – Kansas City Chiefs
The QB situation seems to be changing in Tennessee after they drafted a QB on day 2 in back-to-back years. Right now, it looks like Ryan Tannehill will be the starter. He isn’t bad, but what is bad is the WR depth chart behind Burks. Here are the 3 target leaders from the 2022 season: Robert Woods (now in Houston), Austin Hooper (now in Las Vegas), and Burks.
Of all of the Titans’ pass catchers, 30-year-old Chris Moore (I don’t blame you if you haven’t heard of the journeyman WR) has the most receiving yards in a season with 548 yards. Burks was banged up last year but showed flashes and has been getting good reviews out of OTAs and training camp. If Burks doesn’t have a decent season with one of the worst pass-catching groups in recent memory, I don’t know when he will.
When Week 1 of the NFL season starts, it’ll be the first NFL game Calvin Ridley has played in almost 700 days. I know Ridley is talented and the upside is there, but I’m not sold. Christian Kirk isn’t a pushover, nor is Zay Jones or Evan Engram. I’ve seen Ridley ranked anywhere from WR11 to WR35. I’m obviously more on the pessimistic side. Ridley is a TD machine, but coming off a long hiatus, making most of his fantasy production in TDs, on a new team, I’m okay passing on Ridley at WR20 ADP, especially when I project him to be behind Kirk in all categories besides TDs.
In my QB rankings, I discuss rookie QB Anthony Richardson and his accuracy issues in college. I’m a believer that he can and will develop, but I’m not looking to take the shot on him in his rookie year for that to happen. The same goes for Michael Pittman Jr. I mentioned how I was out on Diontae Johnson because of his rookie QB situation. The same goes for Pittman. He’s talented, but his upside has such a slim chance to hit that I can’t possibly draft him.
JuJu just went from Patrick Mahomes to Mac Jones, not that bad… right? Joking aside, we aren’t likely to see 2018 JuJu again when he had his incredible 1400-yard season (and only 1000-yard season). Even though the WR depth chart isn’t fantastic, there is still some competition for targets on a team with subpar QB play and a great defense. JuJu could easily lead the Patriots’ WR room in targets (something 2021’s WR33 and 2022’s WR28 Jakobi Meyers did with Mac Jones). Bill O’Brien has a good reputation as an OC in the past (especially with the Patriots) so there is hope JuJu is the focal point of the passing attack and Mac Jones takes a step forward.
Speaking of going from one QB to another, Kadarius Toney went from Daniel Jones to Patrick Mahomes in 2022. Toney has constantly been injured and I believe a lot of people are giving him a longer leash because of his 10 for 189 yards in a half of a game when he was on the Giants in 2021. Given that, and the fact he was a WR drafted in the 1st round, we might be giving him too much credit. He’s shown flashes and he’s playing with Mahomes (who can throw for 5000 yards and make none of his WRs fantasy relevant).
Here are my remaining tiers, some values, and players I’m looking to stash on my bench:
Tier 7:
38. Michael Thomas – New Orleans Saints
39. Gabe Davis – Buffalo Bills
40. George Pickens – Pittsburgh Steelers
41. Brandin Cooks – Dallas Cowboys
42. Rashod Bateman – Baltimore Ravens
43. Jordan Addison – Minnesota Vikings
44. Jaxon Smith-Njigba – Seattle Seahawks
45. Courtland Sutton – Denver Broncos
46. Allen Lazard – New York Jets
47. Van Jefferson – Los Angeles Rams
48. Darnell Mooney – Chicago Bears
49. Quentin Johnston – Los Angeles Chargers
50. Zay Jones – Jacksonville Jaguars
Tier 8:
51. Jakobi Meyers – Las Vegas Raiders
52. Adam Thielen – Carolina Panthers
53. Zay Flowers – Baltimore Ravens
54. Jonathan Mingo – Carolina Panthers
55. Odell Beckham Jr. – Baltimore Ravens
56. Tyler Boyd – Cincinnati Bengals
57. Elijah Moore – Cleveland Browns
58. Marquez Valdes-Scantling – Kansas City Chiefs
59. Michael Gallup – Dallas Cowboys
60. Curtis Samuel – Washington Commanders
61. Tim Patrick – Denver Broncos
62. Rondale Moore – Arizona Cardinals
63. K.J. Osborn – Minnesota Vikings
64. Donovan Peoples-Jones – Cleveland Browns
65. Romeo Doubs – Green Bay Packers
66. DJ Chark Jr. – Carolina Panthers
67. Wan’Dale Robinson – New York Giants
Players to keep an eye on a few weeks into the season:
Jameson Williams – Detroit Lions
Michael Wilson – Arizona Cardinals
Rashee Rice – Kansas City Chiefs
Hunter Renfrow – Las Vegas Raiders
John Metchie III – Houston Texans
Tyquan Thornton – New England Patriots
Cedric Tillman – Cleveland Browns
Note: Once WR DeAndre Hopkins signs somewhere and disrupts their depth chart, I’ll have updated rankings put out.
Again, if you enjoyed what you read or have questions, you can find me on Twitter @_ColtWilliams[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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