The TRUTH About Fantasy WRs in 2018, Part 2

Thielen is the number one. It's not Diggs. I stand by that. I think it will happen next year as well, and I would much rather have him. Man, I feel like we could talk about that for a while. Yeah, and it's about. Because Diggs. Diggs is 25 years old. That's what it comes down to is, have we seen the best of Stefan Diggs? I believe the answer is no. That's kind of where I fall. And maybe, I mean, we joked on the last show. I was like, maybe I'll take Diggs ahead of Thielen. I won't.

I don't think. But Diggs is a, he's a wide receiver one. That's what he ended the year at with a, you know, a pretty darn impressive season. And sometimes he can get overshadowed. It'll be an interesting debate. I'm sure we'll have it all offseason, regardless of where we fall. Keenan Allen, number 12. Man, also number 12 on the consistency charts. 13% of his games busted. Which is a very good number. Yeah, as far as a low amount. 56%.

were good. And then just 13% of his games were great. He did not have outside a week 13 where he put up 30 fantasy points, did not have a tremendous amount of those kind of week-winning type of weeks that you saw from guys like Tyree Kill or Mari Cooper. Or Keenan Allen last year. Or Keenan Allen last year. So do you read into that as a big negative Mike with Phillip Rivers getting up there in age? He was 97 for 1196 and 6. That's disappointing too, on 136 targets.

I don't. I like the fact that about halfway through the season, you had a full squeaky wheel against the grease where Keenan Allen essentially told Phil Rivers, throw me the ball. And then you had a huge stretch run from weeks 9 through 14 where he was averaging over 19 fantasy points per game. In that stretch, he was the wide receiver too. Tyrell Williams will see.

What his status is coming back to the Chargers. Does it go back? Will it be just Keenan Allen and Mike Williams as the primary wide receivers? So I think that Keenan Allen, this is a good range for him. Let me ask you guys the same question. Do you want Keenan Allen is your wide receiver won in 2019? No. Are you content with that? I mean, yeah, I would be content with that depending on where he falls, but he's not who I would want. I would want someone a step above. You did see, I mean, look.

This is the second year in a row where Keenan Allen's been in the first half of the season and really took it to that next level, the second half. And there's a place for that. But in fantasy, when your playoffs are starting around week 13, the first half of the year matters so much more than the second half. You can't win the championship if you don't get to the playoffs. Trust me, I've tried. Through the first half of the year, the real issue was touchdowns, right? Keenan Allen had one.

One touchdown through the first eight games. I believe that came in week one. And he was the wide receiver 30. So, I mean, I had him on that team that I thought was going to dominate that completely just imploded. And Keenan was part of that. I think there are enough weapons there where can he be the number one? Absolutely. Can he be a number one? Yes. Will he always? Probably not. Weeks nine through 14. He was second.

The wide receiver 2 in that span, 19.2 fantasy points per game. So that was his run of basically six straight games where he was on fire. And then kind of when people, pretty much when we were saying like, do you give up on him now as being that top two guy? On top of that, the final three games, he injured himself in week 15 and came back. You didn't think he was actually going to play. So it's very possible that he could have just continued his very hot.

stretch there if he hadn't had the, I think it was the hit pointer. Yeah, just two catches in the playoff game as well. A career year from Phillip Rivers. No Hunter Henry. A lot of things actually went positively for Keenan Allen. Yeah, and I think Mike Williams over the second half of the year, he's somebody to look at next year. They're going to, the kind of targets he gets in the red zone. If he can be a high volume guy, he's going to be big. Brandon Cooks, number 13 on the list. Consistency rank 19.

19% of his games were busts, 50% good, 25% great. Brandon Cooks, and Mike and I think we were talking about this a little bit last week, 804 and 5 on 117 targets, also known as what Brandon Cooks does in every single season of his career, no matter what team he's on, no matter what quarterback he has, no matter what offense he's been in, mind you, they've all been very good offenses, but you can book him for 1,100-plus yards. I mean, that's pretty much

Always going to happen with Brandon Cooks as long as he's healthy. Yeah, the question for him will be what ceiling do people buy into? Do they think Brandon Cooks is two rounds better than Robert Woods? And I don't think that he... He's not. I don't think he is, but when, you know, in the...

Cooks will be drafted ahead of them. Yeah, similar to Thielen and Diggs. I think that Brandon Cooks will end up being drafted ahead of him. So I think people are with Woods this year. Between the end of last year and what he did this year, I don't think he's going to be considered, I don't think he's going to be undervalued to the degree you guys believe he will be. He's been on more common, he's one of the more common players on championship rosters this year. Who's drafted first, Brandon Cooks or Robert Woods? I think they're going to be almost in the identical spot. I really do.

I think they'll almost both be, I think they'll both be in the exact same spot. Cooper Cup's going to be the real interesting one coming off the ACL. He'll be below both of them. Certainly because of the injury, but he was unbelievable. And Brandon Cook's really tailed off as soon as Cooper Cup was out of the lineup. Yeah, that's strange. But against top 16 defenses, no difference really. He was much better at home, almost six fantasy points of game better at home. So something to bear in mind.

heading into next year. Anything else you guys want to touch at? 75.3 yards per game this season. That's his highest of his career. No, he's really solid. And young. Yeah, he's solid, young, fast. I mean, he's going to be a good pick. My guess is where he goes. He's going to be drafted around people that I feel like I will probably select others. You know, if it's like... Well, wait, digs. I wanted to ask you, digs and cooks are near each other in these ranks and they're the same age.

Very similar players. I would probably take cooks over digs. I would take Thielen over cooks. Okay. Which makes sense with my Thielen over digs. Yes, it does. Yes, it does. It was going to be real weird. Well, no. I mean, you could still go cooks, Thielen digs, right? Because that's still feeling over digs. But I would, I'm putting feeling, feeling ahead of those guys from me personally. All right. Let's see what you guys are feeling about number 14 on our list. T. Y. Hilton.

T.Y. Hilton is a gamer. He played many, many weeks with an injured hamster. The head coach even came out and said he probably should have taken some weeks off. This past year, highest catch rate, highest yards per game of his career, was banged up, but still put up 76 for 1270 and 6 on 120 targets. If you saw the catch in the playoff game, the playoff loss, it shows you the kind of special talent. Ty is the touchdown catch. But...

You know, he's a player, I think, will be undervalue. He's got a consistency ranking of 10 compared to his 14 finish. He finished at 14, but the consistent rank at number 10, he's great. It was the, he missed a few games, so that's what took him out of finishing a bit higher. I mean, if he plays all 16 games, I think he's easily in the top 12 because he was just a couple points behind. He only busted one time. He had a stretch.

that really ruined how people think of T.Y. Hilton this season, where week three, disappointing game, then he had a good game, then he had to miss a couple games, and comes back in week eight with a 3.9 fantasy point production. If you look at like through six weeks, through the first six weeks, T.Y. Hilton was the wide receiver 45 because of those games missed through eight weeks. Half the season is done, and he's the wide receiver 37.

You know what I mean? Like halfway through the year, T.Y. Hilton was not a big deal. He comes back, plays through the injuries, and the second half of the year was the wide receiver 10 over that stretch. Finishing is the wide receiver 10. He is a gamer. He's going to be great. The problem is I do think his, even though he's got Andrew Luck, he's got the ability, his ceiling, you know, he's one of those guys to me that I don't think he could, I don't think he's.

got the ceiling to finish in the top five. I think I would take Hilton over Cooks. I would take Hilton over Diggs. I would take him over stealing. And I would as well. And I'm high on that. That's right. That'll be close for me. But you know something from T.Y. Hilton's career because it's, you know, he's played a number of seasons and he's just not going to be a touchdown guy. Yeah. The fact that Andrew Luck is there. That's what I want. When my wide receiver one connected to high powered offenses and.

Andrew Luck, who should get some accolates. See if they re-sign, Dontrell Inman. That dude can play. Yeah, yeah, he's a great, too. He's a great, too. But Hilton's going to be undervalued. I'm with you, Andy. Before we move on to number 15, want to thank today's sponsor. It's a new sponsor. Oh, it's Butcher Box. Ladies and gentlemen, Butcher Box delivers healthy 100% grass-fed and grass-finished beef.

free range, organic chicken, heritage breed pork, and now wild, Alaskan salmon, get fresh nutrient rich. Look, butcher box. I supported this company before they were even a sponsor on this show and loved the service. So when they came on board with the footballers, I was ecstatic because you know, Captain Kito over there. I like the meat.

Like the meat powers my keto diet. And all their meat is frozen at peak, freshness and individual vacuum packed, biodegradable packaging delivered right to your doorstep. You can cook with a piece of mind knowing that all Butcherbach meats come from humanely raised open pasture animals. They're never fed antibiotics. Hormones are fatty fillers. The meat is fantastic. The meat is plentiful. You got to check them out. For 20 bucks off your first box and two pounds of free salmon, go to Butcherbox.com slash footballers and enter.

Footballers. That's butcherbox.com slash footballers. Enter the code footballers. You're going to get $20 off your first box and two pounds of free salmon. Also support for today's show comes from our friends at Hello Fresh. Make conquering the kitchen in 2019 a reality with deliciously simple recipes from Hello Fresh. Look, all the meals from Hello Fresh. They come together in 30 minutes max. They call for less than two pots or pans. They require minimal cleanup.

Each week they delivered the pre-measured ingredients and easy-to-follow six-step pictured recipe cards to your door. Easier to follow than it is to say. You're darn right. They have three meal plans to choose from, classic veggie and family. Look, our family's been getting the two times a week meal plans from Hello Fresh for over a year now. It's the perfect amount for our family. And when you're...

Taste change. You need to put it on hold. It's super easy on the website. Take advantage of HelloFresh's special offer for 2019. Get $80 off your first month by going to hellofresh.com slash footballers 80 and enter promo code footballers 80. That's hellofresh.com slash footballers 80 and enter promo code footballers 80 to take advantage of HelloFresh's special offer for 2019 and get $80 off your first month. Speaking of all this food, let's talk about.

Well, what do you even make of this man's season? It's unbelievable. It's impossible. I'm just going to, I'm saying it now. Anomily. I tend to agree. I really do. 57 for 965 and 10 on 71 targets. Not a lot of targets. No great games by our consistency metrics. And Tyler Lockett is the player we're talking about. Oh. Just in case you didn't know who hot locket is. Wide receiver for the.

Seattle Seahawks. So here are players that had more targets than Tyler Lockett in 2018. Okay. Okay. Antonio Callaway. Josh Doxton. Devin Funches. Mm-hmm. DJ Moore. Cole Beasley. Well, Cole Beasley, of course. When you catch the Beasles. Yes. Look. The craziest stat. He just scored about once a game all year long. The craziest stat that...

Maybe I've ever seen. I don't know. This is just insane. So Russell Wilson, when targeting Tyler Lockett, had a perfect pass rating of 158.3 on the season. He had 71 targets. If he threw it to Tyler Lockett, he had a perfect pass. Perfect pass rating. The previous record since 2002 of a quarterback throwing to a wide receiver with a perfect pass rating.

The high for target count was 15. 15 targets, well, sure, you could have a perfect passer rating because you get a couple touchdowns and whatever. 71 targets to Tyler Lockett and Russell Wilson had a perfect passer rate. Now, please remember, when we talk about Tyler Lockett in this context, we were talking about fantasy football. Tyler Lockett, the player, as evidenced by that passer rating, has been everything and more that Seattle could have hoped for when they locked him up.