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Review of the most surprising WRs of the 2017 NFL season. Aaron Schillinger takes a look back at the wide receivers who were fantasy football risers or fallers.
The top players at the wide receiver position this year included some names that no one ever would have even came close to guessing. Antonio Brown as the number one WR in PPR leagues isn’t something that is too surprising for anyone, but some of the other names on this list were far from locks as number one WRs.
Adam Thielen and Marvin Jones were two of the most surprising names on this list, but there were several other WRs outside the top 12 that were major shocks to the fantasy world. Here's a look at the top scorers in PPR formats and a breakdown of the most surprising names on the list for 2017.
1. Antonio Brown – 310.3 points in 14 games
2. DeAndre Hopkins – 309.8 points in 15 games
3. Keenan Allen – 284.2 points in 16 games
4. Larry Fitzgerald – 261.4 points in 16 games
5. Jarvis Landry – 260 points in 16 games
6. Michael Thomas – 258.5 points in 16 games
7. Julio Jones – 251.9 points in 16 games
8. Adam Thielen – 239.8 points in 16 games
9. Tyreek Hill – 239.2 points in 15 games
10. A.J. Green – 226.8 points in 16 games
11. Doug Baldwin – 225.3 points in 16 games
12. Marvin Jones – 225.1 points in 16 games
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Surprise Wide Receivers of 2017
Adam Thielen (WR, MIN)
The entire Vikings offense as a whole was a bit of a shock to everyone this year. Leading the way in this offense as one of the most surprising players in league, not just the WR position, is Adam Thielen. Not only was Thielen the number eight WR in PPR leagues, but he was putting up a good majority of his production on his own. Thielen ended the season with the sixth-most yards after the catch for WR with 454. Thielen ended the season with just four receiving TD, so he wasn't quite as useful in standard leagues. Still, not only did Thielen offer an amazing return on his value from what you paid for him on draft day, but he shocked the fantasy world with his emergence despite having Case Keenum as his quarterback.
Robby Anderson (WR, NYJ)
The next WR on this list is none other than the recently-arrested Robby Anderson. In my first article about the surprising players from 2017, I covered the QB position. Josh McCown was one of the QBs I chose to put on that list, and Anderson goes hand in hand with him. Prior to McCown’s injury in their Week 14 loss against the Broncos, Anderson was the number 14 WR in PPR leagues. Despite this injury to his QB, Anderson still finished the season as the number 16 WR in PPR leagues this year. A major surprise to the fantasy world.
Marvin Jones (WR, DET)
One of the biggest returns on value from your drafts this year was the Lions WR, Marvin Jones. With all of the hype surrounding rookie WR Kenny Golladay and the typical volume and “safe” play in Golden Tate, Jones was someone who sort of slipped through the cracks. Matthew Stafford continues to be fairly underrated in the fantasy community. The way that team throws the ball, we should’ve known better than to just ignore Jones. There’s a good chance you grabbed Jones in the late rounds of your redraft leagues, and the return was huge. 225.1 PPR points puts him as the WR12 in PPR leagues, earning that coveted “WR1” label. Yes, he was the number 12 receiver, so he barely makes the cut, but regardless, he was a big surprise and an absolute steal on draft day.
Terrelle Pryor (WR, WAS)
So far we’ve covered players that were more of a good surprise than a bad one, but let’s change that. Terrelle Pryor came into the season with some serious hype after his breakout season in Cleveland. Landing in Washington with Kirk Cousins was a dream come true for fantasy owners, and all of the pieces were in place that the only solution seemed to be success. Obviously, this didn’t pan out. At all. The ankle injury cut his disappointing start to his season short, leaving him with just 20 catches on the season for 240 yards. Of all the surprises at the WR position this year, a guy that was being drafted in as high as the second or third round, he might be the most disappointing one.
Martavis Bryant (WR, PIT)
One of my favorite guys to buy-low on before he made his comeback with Pittsburgh was Martavis Bryant. We’re talking about the guy that despite being behind Antonio Brown, he was putting up damn-near WR1 numbers. The addition of rookie WR JuJu Smith-Schuster was obviously not a concern for Bryant.
“lol that's Sammie coates replacement not minds take it how you want to I am back.” — Martavis Bryant (@ThaBestUNO) April 29, 2017
Social media has a funny way of catching up with us. Bryant has made several comments like this that I probably look too deeply into, but he’s someone I’ve been avoiding as of late. A large reason for avoiding him is the immature comments such as this. This day and age, not only is the NFL a league that anything and everything has a way of getting to the public, but really any professional sport out there, players are under a microscope.
Despite all of this off-field drama, Bryant turned out to be one of the biggest surprises of the season. Not the type of surprise that we got out of Marvin Jones or Robby Anderson, as this was one that turned into a bust. He finished the season with 132.5 points in PPR leagues, and that was good for the 49th-best WR. More of a unpleasant surprise for sure, but a surprise nonetheless.
