Fantasy Football Player Notes

There were just 24 wide receivers who finished with 110-plus targets last year. Crowder was one of them. He was No. 16, actually. Did you know he's the only one who didn't finish as a top-26 wide receiver? His No. 31 finish was better than most would anticipate, though it was uglier than you'd like it to be. In fact, he produced WR3 or better numbers just 43.8 percent of the time, which ranked 42nd among wide receivers. He also scored fewer than 8.0 PPR points in 43.8 percent of his games. With that being said, he's the only receiver returning to the starting lineup for Sam Darnold. Both Breshad Perriman and Denzel Mims are new faces who are going to require time to learn the new offense and develop chemistry with Darnold. Crowder's targets aren't likely to go anywhere. In fact, they might actually go up, which is kind of crazy. Crowder doesn't offer top-15 wide receiver upside, but he does present some stability as a mix-and-match WR3/4 type who presents a solid floor in a pinch. His current ADP of WR49 allows you to get him as your WR5 in some situations, which is fine if you need to add some balance to your high-upside team.

Perriman is now on his fourth team in as many years. It's tough to be a reliable fantasy option when that's the case. Not only that, but the Jets are still under Adam Gase, which means there won't be many plays per game (he's been under 59 plays per game in each of the last two seasons). The Jets have what I deemed the toughest schedule in the league for perimeter wide receivers, so even if we see Perriman get the targets, he's unlikely to be efficient with them. He closed the 2019 season with 25 receptions for 506 yards and five touchdowns over his last five games, which will have some intrigued, but my guess is that you'll drop Perriman for a hot waiver wire pickup, as Gase's offense isn't Bruce Arians' and Sam Darnold isn't Jameis Winston. There will be weeks where Perriman snags a deep ball and pays off, but those are the types of players you can find on the waiver wire all the time. I just don't see him getting more than 5-6 targets per game.

I like Mims, similar to the way I liked Michael Gallup coming into the league. Not that they're the same player, but rather people didn't know how good they were until they looked past the school they played for. Mims is a possession-style receiver who can stretch the field, as evidenced by his 4.38-second 40-yard dash he ran at the Combine. He should become a favorite of Sam Darnold in the red zone, as he plucks the ball out of the air with his strong mitts. He'll be battling with Breshad Perriman for targets on the perimeter, while Jamison Crowder remains the safety valve in the slot. Robby Anderson did see 96 targets last year while Demaryius Thomas saw 58 of them (in 11 games), so there's room for a fantasy producer. The issue is that Mims is a rookie who hasn't seen any preseason action and hasn't had much time to be around the team. The same can be said for Perriman, so there's a route to immediate production with Mims, though Adam Gase has not been friendly to perimeter wide receivers. Over the last four years, his top receivers were Jarvis Landry (twice), Danny Amendola, and Jamison Crowder... all slot receivers. It's best to be cautious with rookie wide receivers, especially this year, even if I like who Mims is as a player. Selecting him in one of the final rounds makes sense, as you'll find out what you have over the first two weeks and decide whether you want to cut bait or stick with him.