With free agency just around the corner it might be the last chance to buy the dip on some of these WRs in fantasy football before it’s too late. All of these players can easily jump a tier if the dominoes fall correctly. Even if the stars don’t align, where these players currently are in value is worth the risk and they can be great additions even if they only return at face value.
Allen Robinson
One poor year and he drops from a top-12 fantasy football dynasty WR to where he currently sits; number 39 in FantasyPros ECR. I realize he isn’t getting any younger and this last year was a disaster, but that’s a big drop!
People are ranking Michael Thomas ahead of him; a guy who hasn’t played football in two years and is a year older!
I understand Robinson hurt a lot of you this year, but his heart wasn’t in it! Robinson never wanted to sign the franchise tag with the Bears, but realizing the market wasn’t great he decided to take the pay day. He is about to get a fresh start. He has spent his entire career losing, look for him to bounce back on a contending team.
Besides his heart not being in it, there is also the fact that he was playing with a rookie QB. He only had 47 catchable targets according to PlayerProfiler. Also, only getting eight red zone targets all year is very disappointing.
Besides missing three games with a hamstring injury, Robinson also missed another two due to covid, which resulted in him losing around ten pounds. All in all, it was a season that Robisnon will be looking to put behind him.
One of two things will happen in free agency. He will either take a big payday from a WR needy team, like the Patriots, Browns, or Falcons, which will result in him being the main target. Or, he will go to a contending team for less money like the Chiefs, Chargers, or Cardinals and play a secondary role, but be playing with an upgraded QB. Either way, his fantasy football value and ranking is too low!
His value right now is a mid 2022 second! Whether you are contending or not next year, that is highway robbery! If you can get that deal done, I bet by mid season you can flip him for a 2023 1st.
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Smith-Schuster has three seasons finishing inside the top-24 WR in fantasy football, peaking at #8 in 2018.
He hurt so many people in 2019 after many had him as a top fantasy football dynasty asset. That wound still hasn’t healed for the majority of the people. We need to remember that year he had Devlin Hodges and Mason Rudolph throwing him the ball the majority of the season.
In his three healthy seasons, he has averaged 12.7 fantasy points in Half-PPR scoring formats. Over those three seasons he averaged 21.3 red zone targets, scoring 23 touchdowns. He might never reach WR1 territory again, but I believe he has proven, when healthy, he can be a steady WR2 in fantasy football for years to come yet.
What if he goes to the Chiefs? They were interested in him last year before he re-signed with the Steelers. Could he finally be the WR2 they have been looking for behind Tyreek Hill? I don’t think JuJu is a true WR1; I mean I wouldn’t complain if a team paid him to be that, we’d at least know the target share would be there. However, I think he could thrive playing in a secondary role and be a PPR asset.
Last offseason he was going for a late first; I thought that was a steal. Now this year, after missing all but four games, you can get him for a mid second. Go and trade for him before he signs with a team and there is an uptick in his value.
Hunter Renfrow
Renfrow is currently priced right around an early second. Although he is a steal at his current price, I think it could dip a bit more depending on what the Raiders do with free agency. They will add a WR either through free agency or the draft. Depending on who that player is, Renfrow’s value could go down. However, if the position is not address his value will rise. Don’t be the one waiting, make a move now, even sending a late 1st to get it done!
With Josh McDaniels coming to town, Renfrow is going to be used! This year was no fluke, he is good! Renfrow has a head coach who has worked with some of the best slot WRs to ever play. If you get any points for receptions in your fantasy football league, Renfrow is a must-add.
While working with Josh McDaniels over three years, Wes Welker had 464 receptions on 630 targets, which he turned into 5,402 yards and 22 touchdowns. Julian Edelman under McDaniels averaged 16.4 fantasy points per game (PPR) from 2013-2019.
With Waller coming back and the likely addition of an outside presence, defenses won’t be able to key on Renfrow. Even when teams were able to key on him last year he proved that he can get open.
Also, there are more than enough targets to go around! Carr threw 626 pass attempts last year, even rookie Mac Jones threw the ball 521 times in a McDaniel’s led offence last year.
If you could have bought Edelman for a late first before the 2013 season before he became a consistent top-12 PPR WR in fantasy football for the next seven years, you would’ve jumped all over that. By the way Edelman was 27-years old when he took over the slot role for the Patriots, Renfrow will only be turning 27 in December.
Renfrow might not put up similar numbers to Julian Edelman and Wes Welker; they both were tied to arguably the greatest QB ever. However, what Renfrow can do for your fantasy football team as long as he re-signs with the Raiders, is provide you with a safe floor and steady WR2 numbers for years to come. Even if we give him 80% of Edelman’s average, that’s 13.2 fantasy points per game. Over the last five years those numbers would put him in the range of WR 16-25. I believe that is his floor and that’s the cost you are paying to acquire him right now.
Deep Buys
Braxton Berrios
I am not going to re-invent the wheel, I wrote this up about Berrios a few months ago:
‘Berrios was a great option down the stretch, taking advantage of all the Jets WR injuries. From weeks 12 to 17 he was the WR 20, averaging 11.9 points a game. He scored 15 points in Week 16, then followed that up with 20.4 points in Week 17. During that span he finished as the WR8 in PPR leagues. If your league has return points, he upped those totals even more. There has already been talk of an extension with the Jets. This wouldn’t be horrible, but don’t expect the same target share once Elijah Moore and Corey Davis are back healthy. One sneaky landing spot is back with the team that originally drafted him, the Patriots.’
Although, Jakobi Meyers is a restricted free agent, so he will have the slot role most likely.
Berrios is currently ranked as the WR113 on FantasyPros. I don’t understand how this can be, not after what he did to end the year. He is worth next to nothing value-wise, and is likely on your fantasy football waiver wire. If he is not, you can trade any fourth round pick to acquire him.
Berrios has flashed when given the chance. He is someone worth stashing at the end of your bench. If you have multiple flex positions he can likely provide a safe floor in fantasy football PPR leagues on bye weeks. We also know what he can do if injuries arise! If he signs back with the Jets his work with Wilson can’t be ignored.
Lynn Bowden Jr.
Bowden was a third round draft pick of the Las Vegas Raiders back in 2020. The Dolphins traded for him before that season began.
If you go and look at his player comp at playerprofiler you will see Deebo Samuel. The Dolphins just hired former 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel as their new head coach. His usage of Deebo Samuel led to one of the best fantasy football breakouts of the year.
The Dolphins are thin both at WR and RB. Myles Gaskin, DeVante Parker and Jaylen Waddle are the only other noteworthy names under contract.
Bowden missed all of the 2021 season with an injury. However, he flashed in a few games to close out 2020 when all the Dolphins WRs were out. Three of the five games he was able to put up double digit fantasy football points (PPR), while scoring 9.2 in one other. He was unable to find the endzone in those games.
Bowden is ranked 136th among WRs on FantasyPros. Chances are he is on your waiver wire. If he is not, you can acquire him for any bench player or fourth round pick.
The Dolphins have the most available cap space, competition will be added. Nonetheless, in my opinion Bowden is worth stashing to see what happens.
Sheldon Hand
Sheldon Hand is an elementary school teacher. He started writing in 2019, and started working with The League Winners in 2021. He has been playing fantasy football for fifteen years, got into dynasty seven years ago and have become a bit obsessed.