Fantasy Football Player Notes

Amari Cooper finally turned into the high-volume receiver we have wanted for years as he finished as the WR17. Cooper amassed a 26.1% target share (16th), a 26.1% target per route run rate (20th), and a 38.3% air yard share (seventh). Cooper will be entering his age 29 season, so there's some concern if his production could begin to taper off. Cooper turned back the hands of time with his highest yards per route run last season since 2019. Cooper was also 12th in red zone and deep targets. As long as Deshaun Watson can return to some shade of his former self at quarterback, Cooper should be able to turn in another WR2 campaign.

After a promising start to his career in his rookie season, Elijah Moore had a rocky and underwhelming 2022. In the nine games, Moore played at least 70% of the snaps; he only saw a 13.2% target share, zero end zone targets, and a 14% target per route run rate. In that sample, he only mustered 1.00 yards per route run. Woof! Those are atrocious numbers for a ballyhooed second-year receiver touted as the next rocket ship to the moon type player. His quarterback play was abysmal, but some blame for his production woes also lies at his feet. The big question is will he be a full-time player in 2023? Cleveland ranked 22nd in 11 personnel usage in 2022, so worries are warranted. Cleveland will likely roll with Amari Cooper and Donovan Peoples-Jones when they go two wide, so the Browns' bump in 11 usage has to happen for Moore to actualize a ceiling. He's a risky dice roll in the later rounds of drafts that could pay off, but a lot has to move in his favor for him to resume his rookie season career trajectory.

After Week 3 last year, Donovan Peoples-Jones saw an uptick in his usage as he developed into a sold (not spectacular) weekly WR3. In Weeks 4-18, he handled a 19.3% target share and a 28.6% air yard share churning out 1.66 yards per route run. He was a WR3 or better in weekly fantasy, scoring ten times. With Elijah Moore in town, Peoples-Jones will see weekly competition to remain the number two/three option in this passing attack, even if we don't throw David Njoku into this conversation. Peoples-Jones is a WR5 that could walk right back into WR3 production if Njoku can't stay healthy and Moore flops.