Fantasy Football Player Notes

Despite T.Y. Hilton aging and Parris Campbell missing the entire season, Pittman couldn't break out in his rookie season. While that might be high expectations, the opportunity was there. Philip Rivers turned out to be better than most expected, though Pittman finished with more than 66 yards just once all year, and topped 46 yards just three times. He scored just once, which surely didn't help his year-end totals, but with Campbell back in the mix, he isn't a surefire pick to gain a whole lot of targets. Hilton was re-signed, Zach Pascal out-produced him, and Carson Wentz has traditionally favored his targets over the middle of the field. Pittman should lead this team in touchdowns with his large frame, but he's likely to be a bit too touchdown-dependent to trust as anything more than a boom-or-bust WR4.

It was a painfully slow start to the 2020 season for Hilton, but he finished strong, tallying 27 receptions, 435 yards, and five touchdowns over the final six games of the season where he was the WR8 during that time. Did it take time to develop chemistry with Philip Rivers? If so, are we going to experience a similar slow start in 2021 with Carson Wentz? On top of the chemistry concern, he has to contend with youngsters Parris Campbell and Michael Pittman, who are both another year into their NFL career, and likely ready to take on bigger roles. Hilton's upside feels severely capped, so it's best to treat him as someone you play through bye weeks rather than someone you rely on week-in and week-out.

Whenever a receiver gets hurt early in the year, it's easy for drafters to forget about them. Campbell had nine targets, six receptions, and 71 yards in the one game he played last year. Do you know how many times Michael Pittman (who's being drafted as a top-50 wide receiver) can say he hit those numbers? Once. Both former second rounders have a ceiling depending on who Carson Wentz favors, but it's not built into Campbell's price. If Wentz keeps doing what he did in Philadelphia, that's targeting tight ends/slot receivers over the middle of the field, which is primarily where Campbell lines up.

Pascal has kind of just "hung around" in the fantasy conversatoin over the last two years due to injuries to T.Y. Hilton, Michael Pittman, and Parris Campbell. He's made the most of his opportunity, totaling at least 600 yards and five touchdowns in each of the last two seasons despite not eclipsing 72 targets. However, going into 2021 with a healthy group of pass catchers, Pascal will only be on the field in 4WR sets, which doesn't work for fantasy.