Under-the-Radar Route Runners To Target Late

Often times, what draws spectators and fantasy enthusiasts to a wide receiver is their size, their speed, their ability to reach over defenders and snatch balls out of the air, and their ability to score touchdowns. That’s all well and good, but rarely do we look at what makes a wide receiver truly special – their ability to run routes.  

Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney once said the wide receiver position is one of the worst-coached in football because you just can’t teach efficiency, and this is supported by the fact that there simply isn’t a statistic out there that reflects the ability to run a proper route. That being said, Antonio Brown, Odell Beckham Jr., DeAndre Hopkins and Larry Fitzgerald are some of the best route runners in the game, but if we’re being honest are you really looking at the route they ran or are you more enthralled by the 60-yard scamper after the catch on the way to the end zone?

For this article, we’re going to look at some of the wide receivers that are coming off draft boards later this season, and could provide you some late-round value in your fantasy leagues. 

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Undervalued Masters of Their Craft

Josh Doctson, Washington Redskins

At 6’4”, Josh Doctson provides everything from an aesthetics perspective that we could desire in a big play wide receiver, and while expectations were high heading into last season, Doctson did not completely disappoint amassing 6 touchdown receptions on just 35 receptions.  While the receptions number leaves much to be desired, Doctson was extremely efficient on both Comeback routes and ‘Go’ routes, ranking in the top 3 of each in 2017. A Comeback route relies a receiver's ability to not only shake a defender with a crisp sprint, but can also require the receiver to snatch the ball out of the air or out of the defender's hands.

Doctson finished behind only Adam Thielen (112.5) and Michael Crabtree (104.2) with a rating of 102.5 on Comeback routes according to Pro Football Focus, who have the league average at 75.4. If you’re running a ‘Go’ route, chances are you’re either fast enough to beat your defender downfield, or you’re big enough to go up and compete with the defender for a ball the air.  Doctson again ranked 3rd on these types of routes due to his 6’4” frame and ability to compete with defenders in-air, with a rating of 128.5 according to Pro Football Focus, behind only Tyreek Hill (132.6) and Marvin Jones Jr. (130.2).  Doctson should be viewed as more of a standard league target with his ability to score touchdowns as his primary function, and thus should be targeted in the middle rounds of your drafts. In PPR, take him a round or two later than standard, and watch those touchdowns roll in.

Mohamed Sanu, Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons offense is one of the premier offenses in the league for fantasy purposes, much due to the number of weapons that quarterback Matt Ryan has at his disposal. You’ve got elite options at both the wide receiver position (Julio Jones) and running back position (Devonta Freeman), and the new rookie in town (Calvin Ridley) is all the hype, so it’s easy to overlook a player who was one of the most efficient in the Falcons offense in Mohamed Sanu. If we had to venture a guess, owners shy away from Sanu due to a low volume, and rightfully so. Said volume is only becoming more clouded with the arrival of Calvin Ridley but with Ridley functioning primarily out of the slot, it’s unlikely that Sanu’s role should be impacted too dramatically.  

Sanu ranked at the top of the league on out routes last season with a rating of 138.6 according to Pro Football Focus, with the league average coming in at just 83.7. The 6’2” receiver reeled in one-third of his targets on out routes and caught nearly half his touchdowns on them as well. Look for Sanu to carry that momentum into the 2018 season, and target him in the middle to late rounds of your Standard and PPR drafts with confidence, as rookie Calvin Ridley has primarily been utilized out of the slot early in camp.

Danny Amendola, Miami Dolphins

Amendola flourished in the New England Patriots offense in 2017, reeling in 61 of his 86 targets for just under 700 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and while it’s no secret that a wide receiver is forced to earn the trust of quarterback Tom Brady, Amendola was able to do so due to his ability to run proper routes. The second-most commonly utilized route in the NFL is the crossing route, which are generally 8-12 yard patterns with most of the yards coming after the catch. There were over 2,000 crossing routes ran last year across the league, and the league average rating on these routes was a 95.3 with a minimum of 15 targets (according to Pro Football Focus). Amendola ranked 4th highest in the league with a PFF rating of 129.4, behind teammate Rob Gronkowski, Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas, and Chargers tight end Hunter Henry.

A change of scenery could prove to be a positive for the speedy wide receiver as he heads to the Miami Dolphins for 2018, and Amendola could quickly emerge as the primary slot target in Miami’s offense with Kenny Stills lining up primarily on the outside, and Albert Wilson being utilized both on the outside and in the running game.  Look for quarterback Ryan Tannehill to target Amendola early and often as his offensive line isn’t likely to afford him much time to throw the ball downfield too frequently, making Amendola a solid PPR sleeper and a candidate to catch passes in the red zone as well providing standard league value.

Jaron Brown, Seattle Seahawks

While the name certainly isn’t one of the sexier ones, Jaron Brown joins a Seattle offense that’s starved for offensive firepower having lost both Paul Richardson and Jimmy Graham to free agency.  Quarterback Russell Wilson threw for 35 touchdowns in 2017, with 16 of them going to Graham and Richardson, so the opportunity for Jaron Brown to flourish in the red zone will certainly be there. Brown ranked third in the league in 2017 on post routes with a rating of 130.8 according to Pro Football Focus, and should is a candidate to carry that momentum into 2018 as he figures to fill the role of Paul Richardson lining up on the outside, given their similar skillsets and size. Take advantage of owners who are targeting Tyler Lockett ahead of Brown with Doug Baldwin’s injury being cause for concern, and snatch Jaron Brown late in your drafts, standard or PPR, as both the volume and touchdown upside is certainly there.

Daesean Hamilton, Denver Broncos

It’d be a disservice to not have at least one representative from this year’s talented rookie wide receiver class on this list, and while there were many candidates to fill the role, let’s go with one whose being left off most draft boards as is currently constituted with DaeSean Hamilton.  At Penn State, Hamilton flashed route-running ability that was considered by many draft scouts as being some of, if not the, best in his class. He carried that momentum into the draft combine and continued to impress on his path to being drafted in the fourth round by the Denver Broncos. While fellow rookie Courtland Sutton will receive all the hype, Hamilton is a candidate to have both an immediate and long-term role in Denver’s offense which is starved for a slot receiver of Hamilton’s caliber. With Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders lining up on the outside, look for Hamilton to emerge as a candidate for some volume out of the slot as training camp progresses. Sutton figures to be no competition for Hamilton as he pushes for this role, as he figures to be a long-term option on the outside. With Hamilton being left off of most owners draft boards currently, target him in the final rounds of your drafts, as newly-signed Denver Broncos quarterback relied heavily on his slot wide receivers in Minnesota, a role which Hamilton could find himself in sooner rather than later.

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