Fantasy Football 2017 - WR Rankings Pt. 2 + BIG Zeke News

at about 30, and I realize that is too low, and I've been bumping him up, and now he's at 25, and maybe that is also too low. Maybe he can get up to, you know, 20, 15. I mean, I'm not saying he doesn't have a ceiling that can get there. I, you know, if he finishes as the wider receiver 15, I would love that. I really like Terrell Pryor. I think he is talented, all of those things, but you have to be realistic.

This is a stats-based game we play, and he has to have the production that comes from that. So I am rising on Torel Pryor. I like Torel Pryor, and that puts him to me pretty much as a wide receiver two. So maybe I am a little low, having him at 25, maybe he should be more around 20. I just don't see him being a true fantasy wide receiver one this year. I think the one thing we can agree on with Torel Pryor is whenever we sing his name, we need in the video.

We need to superimpose an explosion. Oh, for sure. And someone flying through the screen. All right. Let's try to move a little faster through some more of these so we can get through. Michael Crabtree and Alan Robinson are 16 and 17 on our rankings. Michael Crabtree has a firm believer in Mike who has them at number 10. Yep. In that Terrell Priya range. I have them lower.

It's ironic. It's, you know, the exact opposite rankings. I had trial prior at 25, Andy had him at 10. Mike, you've got Crabtree at 10 and Andy's got him at 25. Tide for fourth in red zone targets 21, 9th and total receptions. Right now his average draft position is beautiful. It's the fifth round pick and that's why Mike loves him so much, I'm sure. Yes. Look, he gets.

Touchdown opportunities, the kind that you can't always count on for Amari Cooper. They've always been there for Crabtree in this offense. And last year, a big number that jumps out to me. 62% of the time, he was a wide receiver one or a wide receiver two. He is a beautiful wide receiver two for your fantasy team. I'd feel great rolling him out there. Week in, week out, knowing the target share is going to be there. Love Michael Crabtree. I'm not sure that there's a lot to debate other than the fact that he's not going to give you the kind of, I think.

ceiling maybe you know he's not not a top five potential guy you know he's not certainly walkins but you can get him at um you know he could certainly outperform walkins and i have i have him a 10 but i mean he's like demarius thomas i think that crabtree is a very very safe wide receiver two who slips into the fifth round which is absolutely ridiculous i don't know what people want for michael crabtree his first year with car he was i think wide receiver 18 then he was a wide receiver one

last year. You know that Derek Carr is going to throw up around 4,000 yards and around 30 touchdowns. And Crabtree has the trust of Derek Carr in the red zone and in the end zone, unlike Amari Cooper, because when you look at their contested catch rate, Amari Cooper, he can't grab the ball. I mean, he's got like a 50% contested catch rate. Meanwhile, Michael Crabtree grades out as one of the best, and I'm getting those numbers from...

from Matt Harmon's reception, which you can find in our ultimate draft kit, which is a kind of like a theory of why is Amari Cooper not getting these targets? And maybe it's because Derek Carr knows that when the coverage is tied on Amari Cooper, he can't feel assured that Cooper's going to come down with it. Meanwhile, he knows that if he puts the ball where Crabtree can catch it. He's going to come down with it. So I love him.

A 10 is certainly an aggressive ranking on him, but I want people to know that I'm all in on Crabtree at his draft position, and I'd grab him in the fourth happily. Jason, talk about Alan Robinson. Alan Robinson, Jacksonville, Jaguar, interesting stat. Look, he had a yards per reception. Are those in there backwards? Which? I think they're in there backwards. The yard per reception for Alan Robinson.

Well, in 2014, it was his rookie year. His yards per reception were low. And then his breakout year, he jumped over up to 17 and a half yards per reception. And then last year, he was back down. Oh, okay. He was much closer to his rookie year. Yeah, that got it. I was reading it as 2015 and 2016. I was confused. All right. So talk about Alan Robinson, Jay.

Yeah, so Alan Robinson was, you know, the new hotness last year. He was a first rounder for everybody's draft because coming into his second year, he had that explosion where he had 14 touchdowns, 1,400 yards. And you knew he's the centerpiece of that offense. And, of course, Blake Bortles. He's coming up in the world. And then all of a sudden last year, Blake Bortles was exposed for Blake Bortles. And you saw the touchdown regression that was.

Sure to come go from 14 to 6, which is monstrous. What a lot of people don't realize is he had the exact same amount of targets. So both years, he had 151 targets. The way I view Alan Robinson is this. He is a very good wide receiver, and I'm hoping that Blake Bortles can get the job done. This is a team that's shifting away from the passing game to the running game. And I heard the running game is really easy.

Leonard Fernette told me that the NFL is easy. Right. I saw that report. Be careful. I cannot fathom that Alan Rompton gets 151 receptions for the third time. Targets? Targets, yes. Whoa, that would be amazing. You know, I expect him to drop, you know, 20 targets this season. That being said, if the running game is better, people come up. I think what we're going to experience is kind of an in-between place where on 130 targets.

you're going to have a guy who has more efficiency than he had last year, never again going to get it to the point of 2015. And he'll be a solid wide receiver too. I expect him to be more consistent this season than he was last season. But I don't think he has a ceiling that the people drafting. The people drafting Alan Robinson right now, I think they still hope that he has that like top five.

Potential. I don't see that. All right. Let's touch on 18 and 19 in our rankings. DeAndre Hopkins and Brandon Cooks. What are the storylines here for these guys? Right now, Hopkins drafted in the third round. Cooks drafted in the third round, basically back to back. A lot of different things we could talk about, but Hopkins specifically, I think we all agree he's super talented.

hyper-talented guy. It's just a matter of the offense being able to provide enough targets and enough consistent catchable targets for him to be fantasy relevant. Yeah, and that's people, it's like Alan Robinson. Alan Robinson and Hopkins are difficult because you know that the talent is there, but will the volume be there? They're both on a defense first, a run-first offense, and Hopkins...

Superstar production came when the defense had fallen apart and they were playing catch up. Andy Andre Hopkins was getting all the targets in the passing game. So I think that people are going to be sadly disappointed once again in Hopkins. Not that he'll be awful for your team, but what you expect out of a third round pick and thinking you're stealing a really high upside guy, I don't see it. All right. Let's touch on Brandon Cooks. I got to drop the.

There's the train because the height train on Brandon Cooks is heading down the tracks right now. Every report out of Patriots camp, it's pictures of one-handed catches, it's disintegrating the defense with that speed, and he's a great player. I don't think we doubt the capability.

Do you buy the hype on Brandon Cooks that you've been hearing? Does it make you adjust your rankings? I got him at 17, Mike 27, Jason. 13. Is that a result of some of what you've seen in camp? It is a direct result of some of what I've seen. I mean, his rapport with Tom Brady looks on, you know, a terrific pace. You know, this is a guy that.

They say he's picking up the offense quick. He had Drew Breeze, so we have to keep in mind. It's not like he's upgrading quarterbacks. Yes, Tom Brady is the goat, but for fantasy, both of those quarterbacks are... Excellent. Goat brothers. They both spread the ball around. So the situation isn't really changing that much. The problem we've always had in fantasy with Brandon Cooks is his...

disappearing acts and his inconsistency, he'll light the world on fire and then disappear. We have said that that's because the ball gets spread around a lot. I actually think that there will be more consistency with, or at least the chance for more consistency with Tom Brady than with Drew Breeze. And so I've moved him up to 13 in my rankings. He is a guy that has the potential.

to, you know, be a top 10 wide receiver. What he's shown. Here's an easy question. Do you want him as your one because you have to take him in the back of the second round in a PPR league? Right now. Are you cool with that? If you had a guy like Landry to balance him out? Yeah, I mean, I think I'm starting to be more comfortable. The problem is, no, I think I would. I think right now in the back of the second, I think I would take Brandon Cooks, which that's really been changing.

You said it out loud, and the first step is acceptance. Yeah, that is. I feel bad to say that out loud. Yeah, that's just because the fear has been there. But if there is new information that convinces you of his potential, look, he'll win you a week. So if he can give you enough those other weeks, he's going to be worth it. Let's talk about Larry Fitzgerald number 20, Golden Tate, number 21. I'll touch on Larry Fitzgerald real quick. Last year, I'm at 15, so that's the highest of our group. Last year, he led the league in receptions, 107.

receptions. He's a fifth round pick in PPR league's a six round pick and standard. I think people need to realize that Larry does have the ability to still give you red zone targets and touchdowns. And he had six last year, but this is a guy who over the last two seasons finished ninth in fantasy in 2015, finished 12 last year. The kind of thing I want fantasy owners to know as I talk about Larry is that he started hot.

Each of the last two years. Yes. Last year he had five weeks right up until the buy, basically, where he was a top 24 guy, but he had some really down weeks in the back half of the year, three straight weeks outside the top 40 to end the season. So I think basically, I think we see here in the notes, it says guilty of a monster start. Well, yeah, that helps that end of season number.

But if you can get him, if he can give you those early season numbers and you can move him, maybe that's a strategy fantasy owners want to take. His touchdown upside is capped by David Johnson because the offense runs through DJ now. And what's weird about fits falling off at the end of the season, that's when Carson Palmer was actually playing better. So those things, the graph looks really bizarre. Also had basically no John Brown.

for a huge chunk of the season and hopefully Brown's back in the mix. So I wouldn't overlook Larry because of his age. I think in the around that sixth round is is perfectly fine, especially in a PPR because like Andy said, he did lead the league in receptions, mostly because Antonio Brown took the last week off. But 100 receptions is still in the realm of outcomes for Larry Fitzgerald.

Are you expecting more of the same from Golden Tate, number 21 on our rankings? I have in the lowest of this group because I do think Marvin Jones is going to have an impact in that offense. I like. Oh, what about those smooth routes, man? You want me to put that on again? Oh, Skinny Gala Day. Man, that is a drop. Eric Ebron's health, those things factor in. But Golden Tate, he's moving all over the offense. There's no more Anquam Bolden.

Jason, what do you think about Golden Tate this year? Is he going to keep it going in terms of fantasy value? Yeah, he will. He's a slightly less consistent player over the last few years. A lot of his fantasy production has come in spurts. And we saw when Marvin Jones was on fire in the beginning of the year, Golden Tate was non-existent. Golden Tate fantasy Benjamin Buttoned.

Right, yeah. Golden Tate last year was not involved in the beginning of the season, and then they're like, wait, we should throw to Golden Tate because he's better than Marvin Jones, and then he had a really good rest of season. So you have to ask yourself, is there the chance that that repeats, like Andy's saying, if Ebron is more involved, and if Marvin Jones is more involved, can Golden Tate still have a chunk of the season where he disappears? I think they...