Fantasy Football is almost here and with that, the majority of drafts are being done as you read this article. If you have been following my articles, I have been saying that this is the year of the mid-round wide receivers (3-6 rounds). When you come to these rounds you have to make decisions on which players you think will help you construct the best roster possible to win your league. This year we have a pair of teammates from the Dallas Cowboys (Amari Cooper & Michael Gallup) falling in this range and picking the wrong player can spell certain doom for your fantasy team.
The question is, who is the player you should pick in this coin toss? Who is the better value?
I’ll break them down below.
Amari Cooper
Amari Cooper can win you weeks with his boom games that he can put up as the number one wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys. He also can crush your fantasy soul with his bust games. This is one of the few players in the league with an immense amount of outcomes due to his low floor/ high ceiling volatility as a player.
Lets breakdown the pro’s in Amari Cooper’s game so you can get an in-depth look at the player he is on the field.
Pro’s
- His yards per target=10 yards per target
- Last year was his best overall statistical career.
- His weeks 1-10 Cooper was the WR3 overall in fantasy football.
- Cooper has immense talent that can produce top tier numbers at any point.
Con’s
He has never scored higher than the 71st percentile in success rate vs man coverage. His marks have been going down through his career which is why teams can not use him effectively as the X receiver. Amari Cooper comes with a plethora of negative marks within his game to counteract the positives listed above.
Let’s break down the rest of the negatives in Cooper’s game to see where he stands on the fields.
- He had 7 games under 50 yards last year.
- He had 8 games with less than 5 catches.
- He also had 6 games with less than 10 fantasy points.
- The Dallas Cowboys offense added CeeDee Lamb, which is an upgrade from a veteran Randall Cobb.
- Cooper struggled towards the end of the year. From weeks 11-17 he was WR43 overall.
- He had only seven more targets than Michael Gallup with 119.
Michael Gallup
Michael Gallup feels like the forgotten man this year. With all the contract talks of Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliot coming down with COVID, Amari Cooper being paid, and yet they still draft the sensational rookie CeeDee Lamb. The casual fantasy owner could miss out on a talent such as Gallup. As a player in one of the best offenses in the league that added a coach who likes to throw the ball as much as Mike McCarthy, Michael Gallup could be your fantasy steal this year with his ADP(74th overall).
Lets breakdown the pro’s in Michael Gallup’s game so you can get an in-depth look at the player he is on the field.
Pro
- The Cowboys have the second most vacated targets with the departure of ex-players such as Randall Cobb, Jason Witten.
- Gallup had 112 targets only seven less than his counterpoint on his team/in this article Amari Cooper.
- He did that in only 14 games.
- He is one of 23 wide receivers(and Gronk) to post a 1,100+ yards season before turning 24.
Here are all the WRs and one Gronk to post 1,100+ yards in a season before turning 24 pic.twitter.com/11kxZEPuVC
— Matt Harmon (@MattHarmon_BYB) August 28, 2020
- Cooper posted a 71.2 percent success rate vs man coverage, which is in the 73rd percentile.
Cons
- Gallup draws the more difficult task as the X-receiver who faces a ton of tight press coverage.
- The Cowboys drafted CeeDee Lamb and Blake Jarwin is a highly touted tight end who is replacing Jason Witten.
- With Amari Cooper receiving a big payday he will remain as the number three option within the Cowboys offense behind Ezekiel Elliott in the run game and Amari Cooper.
- He had 11 drops last season.
Coin Toss: Who Wins
Let’s play a little game to make the final decision, which player is player A and who is player B?
Player A averaged 8 targets, 4.7 receptions, and 79 YPG(yards per game)
Player B averaged 7.4 targets, 4.9 receptions, and 74 YPG
Player A is Michael Gallup, Player B is Amari Cooper. Gallup offers you more targets, more yards, and the same amount of receptions. This all comes with a later ADP allowing you to build a stronger team ahead of his pick. Michael Gallup will be an amazing WR2/Flex for your fantasy football team.
