Welcome to the PFF Fantasy Roundtable, where several staff writers and I will offer our own analysis on different fantasy football players and strategies. Each roundtable discussion will have a theme, and we’ll try to continue to have them through the start of the regular season. This week’s theme is underrated wide receivers and potential waiver wire studs, using data from FantasyFootballCalculator.com. Once again, I’m joined by the regular roundtable crew — Pat Thorman, Scott Barrett and Brandon Marianne Lee. Click on the names to continue the discussion on Twitter (here’s mine). Let’s jump right in.
Interesting No. 2 WRs
Dan: This week we're going to focus on the mid-to-late rounds of your drafts and the early waiver wire. Seasons are often won and lost with the management of your bench during the early parts of the season. Every year there are a few projected No. 2 wide receivers who end up finishing with more fantasy points than the projected No. 1. These players can be had for next to nothing. Before I get into mine, do you all have any favorite targets that fit this mold?
Scott: I don't know if I necessarily expect Michael Crabtree to outscore Amari Cooper this season, but I certainly prefer him to Cooper at their current prices. Cooper is currently going as the No. 12 wide receiver off the board. Last season he finished No. 21 in PPR leagues, led the league in drop rate (dropping one out of every five catchable targets) and was not targeted once inside the 10-yard-line. Crabtree, meanwhile, finished No. 17 with 20 more targets than Cooper and eight more targets inside the 10. He's currently being drafted as the No. 36 wide receiver off the board. The difference between the No. 36 PPR WR last season and the No. 17 was 57 fantasy points. If Crabtree caught zero touchdown passes last season, instead of the nine he did catch, he still would have exceeded his current ADP. Cooper will likely improve on his freshman season and I don't know that Derek Carr's lack of trust in Cooper when it mattered, in 2015, will carry over to 2016, but I do think Crabtree is the most obvious value.
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