Standout rookies at the wide receiver position used to be a rarity. With the proliferation of pro-style offenses at the college level, that learning curve is less daunting than before. WRs must still traverse a complicated position very quickly to be relevant for fantasy football in their first season. A player with remarkable traits is far from hitting the field as an instant success, but it certainly helps if their respective team invests in those traits early on.
Redraft leagues often provide a nice value cushion for rookie WRs. Most competitors either aren’t familiar with the names yet or are merely avoiding the risk involved in a player who could very well start slowly or never develop at all as a rookie. The talent is there at a discount this season. Where some WRs are getting a ton of steam in dynasty circles, they are equally undervalued in redraft.
Rookie WRs can very easily become the league-winning value pick for your redraft team, so let’s examine which ones are worth rostering in 2023.
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Impact Rookie WRs in Redraft (2023 Fantasy Football)
Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR – SEA)
Every negative word spoken about Jaxon Smith-Njigba has either been overblown or a nasty lie. This guy is a future Hall-of-Fame WR in my book. Between the gargantuan production at Ohio State to his otherworldly agility metrics from the NFL Draft Scouting Combine, Jaxon Smith-Njigba is going to contribute in Seattle immediately. Ask yourself which duo is harder to compete with for targets: Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson or DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett? Not only did those two first-round WRs take a back seat to JSN in Columbus, Ohio, but he was also unequivocally the alpha dog in big games. Average Draft Position (ADP), be damned, I’m going out on a limb to ensure JSN is on every redraft team I have. He will be the top Seahawks WR this year and for the foreseeable future.
Jordan Addison (WR – MIN)
A seismic shift has occurred in the NFL as it pertains to WR scouting. The hulking, physical X receivers have fallen out of favor compared to quick, zippy route runners. Jordan Addison is an exciting example of this phenomenon. Addison excels at flanker and in the slot, getting effortless separation throughout the route tree. In addition to Addison’s talent, he landed in a dream scenario opposite Justin Jefferson. Jefferson already stresses defenses to the max and demands double teams and always the opponent’s best defensive backs. Addison will be running free in Kevin O’Connell‘s offense and should be a high-upside pick in redraft somewhere in the sixth or seventh round.
Zay Flowers (WR – BAL)
One glaring result of my tape evaluation for this year’s crop of rookie WRs was how explosive Zay Flowers is. “Despite his size” is the caveat that has been thrown around all too often to downplay how awesome Flowers looks on tape. He isn’t that small. When I met him at the Shrine Bowl earlier this year, Flowers had bulked up to 184 pounds from a pre-Draft workout program to wow the NFL scouts. It worked. The Boston College phenom was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round.
Flowers shows excellent separation ability and toughness at all three WR positions while also maintaining his jaw-dropping ability after the catch. Todd Monken is the new offensive coordinator in Baltimore, finally freeing Lamar Jackson and his young bevy of weapons from the Greg Roman stone age. Flowers is currently going as WR46 in PPR drafts, leaving the window open for him to easily beat that ADP with some huge performances in a high-scoring offense.
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