When it comes to fantasy drafting, your late-round players can be the steals to help you win your league. In these late rounds, you can get your quarterback (a strategy that I love), some running backs with upside, or you can get your team some wide receivers who can win you weeks and even your league. Below are five players who can change your team’s forecast and allow you to hoist your trophy by leagues end.
Jamison Crowder
Jamison Crowder is being overlooked due to a few factors: A slow-moving offense (28th in the league with plays per game), an inaccurate quarterback in Sam Darnold (more on that in a second), and the fact that he has been around for a while with a few teams and his name isn’t the “sexy” pick.
However, that does not mean we should overlook him and his role with the New York Jets this season. No one in the NFL was targeted more inside the 20-yard line than Jamison Crowder, who was targeted 30.6% of the time. His target percentage inside of the 10-yard line was 3rd best in the league behind Travis Kelce and Kenny Golladay at 33.3%. This is a useful indicator for predicting who will get the ball when it matters the most on the field.
Another amazing stat for Jamison Crowder deals with his targets below.
Most total targeted incompletions that were deemed the QB’s fault in 2019 (PFF)
Odell Beckham (27)
Mike Evans (27)
Robby Anderson (25)
Allen Robinson (24)
John Brown (23)
DeVante Parker (22)
Jamison Crowder (21)— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) July 6, 2020
This stat shows another 21 targets (7th highest in the league) that Sam Darnold was credited with as a mistake on his end. Sam will now be in his third year and having another year of this offense under his belt to learn the offense and slim this number down. Sam was the 32nd best quarterback accuracy wise with a 61.9% rating. This will also come up with another year in the offense.
The final positive for Jamison Crowder is that Robby Anderson left for greener pasture with the Carolina Panthers. That is now 96 targets in the offense that will be split across the offense. Even though Denzel Mims has come to town with the NFL draft, due to COVID, his understanding of the offense will be slowed allowing for a higher percentage of those targets to go in Jamison Crowder’s direction.
ADP from Fantasy Football Calculator
Sterling Shepard
Serling Shepard has dropped down the board with his injury past being filled with concussion risk. However, Sterling Shepard will outplay his ADP and outrank Darius Slayton and Golden Tate by the end of the season.
Sterling has a 24.5% red zone target share for his team Again, like above (with Jamison Crowder) this shows the team’s willingness to aim at players they trust in situations that matter the most.
He also has a drop rate of only 2.4 % which makes him a very quality target for a young and upcoming quarterback in Daniel Jones. This also is something that the new coaching staff in New York will appreciate as he will become a player they can trust on the field to complete the plays and move the chains.
Sterling also averaged 5.7 receptions per game and 11.1 fantasy points per game in 2019. As a late-round pick, this is a solid floor to have on your bench to use during your bye weeks/ great matchups.
ADP from Fantasy Football Calculator
Parris Campbell
Parris Campbell is a player coming into his Sophmore season of the NFL with a second-round capital attached to his name. He is also one of the faster players in the league with his recorded 4.31 40 yard dash. He’s extremely quick and can be used in a variety of ways. Dont be surprised to see a few Jet Sweeps and End Around’s with Campbell as the receiver benefitting in the end.
Frank Reich has come out this offseason and stated that he will be used primarily in the slot with Michael Pittman and T.Y. Hilton on the outside this year. This gives him a solid position in the offense without having to fight against the new rookie or the established veteran.
Randall Cobb
Welcome to the Houston Texans. They no longer have Deandre Hopkins. They have Will Fuller and Brandon Cooks, who are two often injured players as of late. They bring in a running back, David Johnson, who also fell apart with injury last year. All of these facts mean one thing, there is a path for Randall Cobb to become a major player in this offense. Some people may say that Kenny Stills is still in the offense. However, you do not go out and spend 27 million dollars over 3 years if you are satisfied with your slot options. This will lead to Randall Cobb playing a higher percentage of snaps over Kenny Stills in this offense.
Randall Cobb has been broken down in depth by another fantasy expert here at FantasyData, Eric Moody. His in-depth break down of an essentially free player in fantasy football.
Dede Westbrook
Dede Westbrook is an honorable mention for this article. A lot of people see D.J. Chark Jr. and the rookie Laviska Shenault Jr. and forget to keep their eyes on Dede Westbrook. Dede last year saw 101 targets with this offense, that is a perfect number for someone you can draft in your last round or pick up on waivers. With the Jacksonville Jaguars being one of the worse teams in the league, Gardner Mishnew is going to be throwing a lot and he is going to be a perfect WR3/4 for your team.
These wide receiver options above will bring not only potential to your team but also the strength that comes with the depth in this position. This will allow you to breeze through bye week players, have strong players in case of a COVID inactive, or can be used as that extra piece in a trade that can land you a stud in a position of your choice. Always remember that although the names at the end of the draft aren’t the “studs”, these players will help lead you to the championship if chosen correctly.
