A soft upcoming schedule could push Kenny Britt’s fantasy stock even higher

Would you believe that there is a receiver available on most waiver wires (at least before this week) that is averaging more yards per game than Antonio Brown? Kenny Britt is that guy. He is averaging 82 yards per game through the first six games of the season, ranking 12th in the league.

By scoring his first two touchdowns of the season on top of 136 yards receiving, Britt became an instant waiver target this past week. The question is how sustainable is this pace?

Is he a waiver wire addition that could give you solid WR2 or flex value throughout the remainder of the season? Let’s look into the numbers and figure out how to value Britt.

L.A. RAMS OFFENSE

The most glaring concern with Britt is the production of the L.A. Rams’ offense, specifically the passing offense. The Rams rank 28th in the league in scoring, 28th in passing yards per game and 31st in total yards per game. These ugly numbers mean that fantasy production, for anyone on this team, is hard to come by.

Todd Gurley is an example of this. Scoring opportunities on this offense are sparse. This is why Britt only scored three touchdowns last year, and why he had not scored this season until Week 6.

Though Britt’s yardage totals look great (10th in the NFL among WRs), we can’t just depend on that alone if he is to be a trusted starter. We will have to see the offense produce more scoring, which has to come from improved QB play and truthfully, some friendly matchups.

MATCHUPS

A lot of factors had to be right for Britt to score twice in his breakout game last week in Detroit. First, Case Keenum had his best game of the season by far. He was 27-for-32 with 327 yards and three TDs, good for a strong 126.7 passer rating.

Keenum’s big day was certainly dependent on a nice matchup against the Detroit Lions, who play soft passing defense and can also score a lot of points on offense, which is ideal for fantasy production. Keenum ranks 23rd in the league in passer rating at 85.3, so he and Britt will need to continue to see generous matchups to be a reliable flex or perhaps WR2 option. Let’s look at the schedule.

Interestingly, Britt has had some of his best games this season against some of the strongest defenses. Against Seattle and Arizona, Britt hauled in 94 and 82 yards, respectively. This indicates that he has a much higher floor than expected.

The Rams did not score many points in these games, thus Britt not reaching the end zone, but this offense clearly depends on Britt when the passing game faces challenges. Though Keenum’s Week 6 stat line looks to be an outlier relative to his average performance, the upcoming schedule looks pretty favorable for the Rams’ offense.

The Rams’ next five games have the potential to be high-scoring, with a lot of passing involved. I expect Keenum, coming off of his best performance, to keep up his momentum against these softer passing defenses. Britt’s numbers should correlate well with the weaker secondaries he will see. Britt’s yardage totals have indicated a higher floor than expected, so with these soft matchups upcoming, he will have greater opportunities to find the end zone, a factor he needs to become a trusted starter.

Coming off a monstrous Week 6, it is certainly easy to say Britt’s stock is looking strong. With a friendly schedule coming up that should lead to more volume and production, as well as scoring opportunities, you have to like Britt’s potential as a moderate floor, high-ceiling flex option. If I am an owner that was fortunate to pluck him off of the waiver wire, or perhaps still scouting him out in more shallow leagues,

I am looking at Britt’s next two weeks to find out if he is the real deal or not. A matchup with the Giants should involve a decent amount of scoring, and the Panthers’ secondary is one of the worst in the league. If Britt delivers continued solid yardage in both games, he is a guy I would love to have as a flex option or WR2 fill-in for the rest of the season.

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