Marqise Lee, WR Jacksonville Jaguars Rookie Fantasy Spotlight
Byron Lambert, Rosterwatch.com
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We weren’t the biggest Marqise Lee supporters during the NFL Draft process. So, when we start thinking about getting on the fantasy bandwagon – to us, it feels like a pretty strong signal.

What we found while scouting Lee live was that he was more slippery than fast, and most importantly that he was a big-time body-catcher. Of course his body of work at USC and his film was pretty good. We try not to put too much stock into the “fact” that he may have been a Top 10 pick if he’d come out after his 2012 season, but that was a general consensus at one time.

Like we often say, when GMs make bold moves in the NFL Draft, it often means the writing is on the wall for some veteran. In this case, with David Caldwell going after Lee and Allen Robinson early, he appeared to have a targeted plan as usual. Likely knowing Ace Sanders was facing suspension – and surely not counting any longer/possibly having already given up on Justin Blackmon. Caldwell had the intuition to know Blackmon (already on indefinite suspension) would be getting arrested again just a few months after the draft.

So, with a new quarterback of the future in Blake Bortles and a new running back of the future in Toby Gerhart, the Jags elected to get some weapons and start building a receiving corps. With Cecil Shorts as a holdover, a very effective player himself, the addition of Lee and Robinson forms a very respectable young position group. What we like about Lee and Robinson (although we think they a far from certain NFL commodities) is that they both do have huge upside. If the Jags hit- this will quickly become a lethal trio for years to come.

Fantasy value is often dictated by opportunity. In this case, we think Lee stands to get a boatload of opportunity fairly early. Jags coaches are calling Lee “extremely quick” during training camp, and have explicitly stated the desire to carve out a role for him in the offense as a rookie.

We can’t see Lee being any worse than Ace Sanders was last year, who was a WR5 by late season- and was certainly being rostered. Lee may even have WR4 upside in 2014 redraft leagues. We’d be willing to draft him in the late rounds. In Dynasty Leagues, Marqise Lee is a long-term boom/bust candidate that’s worth considering after the Top 5 Dynasty Rookie Receivers are off the board.