With fantasy football drafts approaching soon, fantasy managers are wondering which players have the chance to be tremendous values and league winners for them in their drafts. Regarding receivers, the primary source for finding value in drafts is analyzing which receivers have the best shot of being one of their team’s top targets, especially in the red zone. Here are two receivers that stick out to me the most when valuing receivers based on their current draft price.
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This past off-season, the Ravens shipped WR1 Marquise Brown to the Cardinals for a first-round pick, and the team did not end up feeling the urge to replace him with an established wide receiver. Because of this, Rashod Bateman has the opportunity to step into the Ravens’ WR1 role. He is currently being drafted 92nd overall according to Fantasy Football Calculator’s PPR ADP. His late eighth-round price tag makes Bateman a steal for fantasy managers, given the talent he has shown following his rookie season.
The first-round pick out of Minnesota only averaged 8.6 points per reception (PPR) points per game in his first year, given that he only garnered 54 targets in 12 games played with one touchdown in a run-heavy offense. However, despite the Ravens being a run-heavy team, they ranked first in the NFL in pace of play and seventh in the NFL in passing plays called. Additionally, Brown’s departure to Arizona leaves 136 targets up for grabs in the Ravens’ offense, and there is a good chance that Bateman will take a good chunk of them. Bateman’s talent in one of the NFL’s best offenses gives him a great opportunity to smash his current WR25 ADP.
Imagine that you could be drafting last season’s MVP’s top receiving option past the first 110 picks in your PPR fantasy football drafts, with over 40 receivers being drafted ahead of him? That is what you are getting with Allen Lazard. Despite a potentially huge change to the overall offense with former WR1 Davante Adams in Vegas and the Packers using an early second-rounder on NDSU WR Christian Watson, the current fantasy football market believes Lazard is still the top option for Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay.
The Packers were still an overall elite offense with Rodgers under center, as the team was sixth in touchdowns scored, 10th in total yards, third in red zone appearances, and fifth in red zone TDs. Like Bateman, Lazard has the opportunity to be one of Rodgers’ trusted weapons, considering the rest of the inexperienced receiving corps and Adams’ whopping 155 targets are out of the picture. Given that Lazard was second amongst their receivers in targets and fellow WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling also leaving in free agency, Lazard has an easy opportunity to step into the Packers’ lead receiver role.
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If you want to dive deeper into fantasy football, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you navigate your season. From our Start/Sit Assistant – which provides your optimal lineup based on accurate consensus projections – to our Waiver Wire Assistant – which allows you to quickly see which available players will improve your team and by how much – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.