Picture this: You’ve just put on a pair of your favorite shorts or pants. You reach into your pocket when suddenly, you feel a piece of paper resting carelessly along the bottom. You whip that sucker out and to your delight, it’s a forgotten dollar bill just waiting to be spent. That sum of imaginary money is up to your discretion, but you can’t deny that there are few feelings better than that. One such superior feeling, however, is hitting on a late-round pick in fantasy football drafts.
A couple of weeks ago, I broke down five late-round rookie wide receivers who you should target in the later rounds. Now, let’s look at seven non-rookie wideouts who could provide some value in round 10 and beyond—and hopefully win you some cash.
Marvin Jones
Underdog ADP: WR55
12-Team Round Projection: 10th
I wrote about Jones in-depth a few weeks ago, so I won’t go into much more detail again here. However, the praise surrounding Laviska Shenault has made me cool a bit on Jones. Either way, I expect the Jaguars to still pass the ball a fair amount, despite their investments in the running back position. A viable volume of targets plus the injury histories of Shenault and D.J. Chark should equate to solid production for Jones. He’s a rare post-hype sleeper I’ll willingly select at his current ADP.
Darnell Mooney
Underdog ADP: WR49
12-Team Round Projection: 10th
Mooney enters his second season with some serious momentum. Following the Bears’ bye in Week 11, he averaged seven targets and 12 points per game in PPR formats. Aside from his increased production, Mooney just looked like a good receiver—how’s that for hard-hitting analysis? He made a strong case for being the second option in the Bears’ offense. Keep in mind Chicago threw the eighth-most passes last season, yet was just 16th in completion percentage. Whether you believe in Justin Fields—er, Andy Dalton—or not, this offense should look different enough where we can expect a change in that, but I digress. The point is, Mooney is basically locked into the WR2 spot on a pass-focused team with a new (better?) quarterback. At Mooney’s ADP, I’ll take those chances.
Nelson Agholor
Underdog ADP: WR62
12-Team Round Projection: 14th
Who’s the WR1 for the Patriots? In all honesty, it may technically be tight ends Hunter Henry or Jonnu Smith. Maybe Jakobi Meyers finally gets enough opportunities. Well, after a career year in Las Vegas, Agholor’s case for WR1 is stronger than ever. New England also brought in Kendrick Bourne—who’s also a solid bargain—but Bourne hasn’t shown as much on the field as Agholor has. With Damiere Byrd gone and N’Keal Harry all but eradicated from that offense, the Patriots will have more than 130 targets up for grabs. That may not sound like a lot to split between two players, but this offense should look different with Mac Jones at the helm. With Cam Newton, the team passed at the second-fewest rate in the league. Like with Foles and Fields in Chicago, there’s a good chance Jones takes the reins sooner rather than later. Again, feelings about Jones aside, that should translate to more passes, which will bode extremely well for Agholor. It’s rare to find a potential WR1 this late.
Russell Gage
Underdog ADP: WR52
12-Team Round Projection: 14th
I’m sure Gage’s ADP has risen since the Julio Jones trade, but I’d still target him earlier than WR52. As I mentioned a few weeks ago in my Kyle Pitts breakdown, we really don’t know what the Falcons’ offense will look like. Luckily for Gage, it won’t matter as much for him as it will for Pitts. Matt Ryan hasn’t thrown fewer than 528 throws since 2009, though we shouldn’t expect him to lead the league in pass attempts again. New coach Arthur Smith led a very different offense in Tennessee than we’ve seen recently in Atlanta. Smith didn’t really feature slot receivers in his two years as offensive coordinator. Then again, he hasn’t had an inside receiver like Gage, who will likely retain a role in the slot. Even if Pitts and Calvin Ridley each see 100-plus targets—as I project—there’s still room for Gage to see 80-plus targets, assuming Atlanta is still top-10 in pass attempts. I like that upside.
Breshad Perriman/Tyrell Williams
Underdog ADP: WR69/WR76
12-Team Round Projection: 19th
Is there a worse receiving corps than Detroit’s? Perriman and Williams join a wide receiver room that otherwise has combined for just two receiving touchdowns. Aside from Amon-Ra St. Brown—who I mentioned as a late-round rookie to target—I have little confidence in the Lions’ wideouts. However, someone still has to catch the ball. I really can’t trust either receiver to play a full 17 games, so this may come down to who looks better in training camp—though any “top” receiver on a team with 481 vacated targets (of 582) has a golden opportunity. Keep an eye on which guy pulls ahead of the pack. I’d probably lean toward Perriman simply because we saw him produce double-digit performances in four games last season.
Van Jefferson
Underdog ADP: WR84
12-Team Round Projection: UDFA
If you’re looking for a bargain, may I interest you in Jefferson? Jefferson will almost certainly slide into Josh Reynolds’ role in the Rams’ offense. That’s more than 80 targets up for grabs. Coupled with a massive upgrade at quarterback, how can you not fall in love with Jefferson’s fantasy potential? Despite bringing in speedsters DeSean Jackson and Tutu Atwell, I don’t expect them to take too many targets away from Jefferson. They should be used in different ways. With all the praise coming Jefferson’s way out of minicamp, it’s only a matter of time until he’s elevated to full-time starter in 2021 and beyond. It’s not often a WR3 can provide value this late. You may not even need to draft him to roster him.
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