Late Round Wide Receivers
by Alan Seslowsky – Twitter: @Alanseslowsky

If you have participated in dynasty startups, bestball, or mock drafts, it is clear that quality fantasy wide receivers are available at almost every point of the draft. Wide Receiver strategy is going to vary more than any other position depending on the format. In bestball, where you don’t need to “call the shot,”, you can draft more volatile players. In traditional leagues, you want to draft wide receivers that have projectable production. The ability to “set it and forget it” with wide receivers is an underrated tactic in fantasy football. Below is a list of wide receivers that currently are some of the best values in drafts. 

 

Round 5

Adam Thielen, Vikings

Adam Thielen finished as the WR10 last season. His strong season was mostly due to the 14 touchdowns he banked. It is easy to proclaim that his 14 scores will likely regress. The real question is; regress to what? Thielen has had other seasons where he reached paydirt close to ten times. Reasonable projections have Adam Thielen earning 1,000 yards and nine TDs in an 18 game season. He is getting drafted as the WR21 in round five. He is likely to return top 15 wide receiver production. He is one of the best WR values for teams that attack running back early. 

 

Round 10

Brandin Cooks, Texans

Drafters are ignoring the WR1 on the Houston Texans. Admittedly the Texans have had one of the worst off-seasons in the history of the NFL. Bad trades, Deshaun Watson‘s future uncertainty, non-optimal draft picks are just a few of the items on the list. All of that accounted for, the Texans are still an NFL team that will play 17 games and pass the ball 600+ times. Brandin Cooks is likely to be the most targeted WR on the roster. He can safely be projected for 120+ targets. That should translate to a 75/1100/6TD year end stat line. Getting an every week starter in the double digit rounds represents a massive value. 

 

Round 13-16

Josh Reynolds, Titans (ADP Round 13) 

The Titans let Corey Davis and Jonnu Smith walk in free agency. There are 130 vacated targets between the two. Reynolds should be a full time player, who could reasonably see 90 targets this season. If AJ Brown were to miss games, Reynolds could become the focus of the passing game. 

Bryan Edwards, Raiders (ADP Round 15) 

Unfair expectations were placed on Edwards in his rookie season. He fell to round three in the real NFL draft due to coming off an injury during the pre-draft process. With last year’s most productive Raider WR, Nelson Agholor, off the roster, there is reason to place a bet (at cost) on Edwards to be the primary beneficiary. 

Nico Collins, Texans (ADP Undrafted)  RosterWatch co-founder, Byron Lambert was screaming from the mountain tops earlier this year that Nico Collins is not getting the respect that he deserves as a pro prospect. Collins certainly looks the part of a prototypical NFL alpha wide receiver. At 6’4 and 215 lbs, Nico is the biggest WR in the 2021 class. Reports are that the team is expecting him to contribute from week one. If Collins gets the opportunity he will be startable in fantasy, an epic value in the last round of your fantasy draft.