Fantasy Football Player Notes

Everyone wants the shiny new toy that just posted 740 yards and eight touchdowns on just 83 targets last year, as evidenced by his WR39 ADP. The issue is stability. With Sterling Shepard and Golden Tate in the mix, it's going to be very hard for Slayton to get consistent targets and be reliable in fantasy. Sure, he had multiple 120-yard, two-touchdown games last year, but you know what else he had... after those games? A game with three targets. Another game with two targets. Keep in mind that was while Evan Engram was out of the lineup. Slayton outproduced what everyone expected last year, being a fifth-round pick, but there's a real chance he's the No. 5 option in this passing attack when everyone is healthy. His average depth of target last year was 14.5 yards down the field, which ranked 10th in all of football. That further indicates a boom/bust player who's being taken as a low-end WR3/high-end WR4. If you want to believe in his ceiling, that's fine, but don't pay for it. He's in the WR4 territory and not as safe as Shepard or Tate. If someone misses time, we saw what he can do if promoted.

In a season where he was dealing with injuries and a rookie quarterback, Shepard still posted WR2 or better numbers in 40 percent of his games, which ranked 33rd among wide receivers. Now, to be fair, the offense has changed, but it doesn't appear the new regime is very fond of Evan Engram, as evidenced by putting him on the trade block during the NFL Draft. Golden Tate is aging, and while Darius Slayton did flash at times, it was a relatively small sample size. It shouldn't shock anyone to see Shepard get 100-plus targets in 2020 and finish as a WR3, though you do have to wonder what his upside actually is with so many mouths to feed.

I remember when Tate was just a young guy in the league trying to find a role in the Seahawks offense. Here we are, now entering his 11th season at 32 years old. As you can see from the Shepard paragraph, Tate was semi-consistent with his targets, but you also have to factor in where he played on the field. Both Saquon Barkley and Evan Engram missed time throughout the year, which should've led to more targets for Tate. He had them most of the time, but even more importantly, he produced when he played. He produced WR3 or better numbers in 81.8 percent of his games last year. You know who did that more often than him? Michael Thomas. That's it. It is a new offense and Barkley/Engram are healthy, so don't expect that anymore, but understand that there's likely a place for him in fantasy football, especially when you consider the state of the Giants defense that'll be among the league's worst. He's not sexy and won't finish as a top-24 receiver, but he can be a WR4 type that you plug in when you know the Giants will be throwing a ton.