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Green Bay Packers wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling is a fantasy football sleeper and draft target in 2019. His role as starting WR on a potent offense could lead to a second-year breakout.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling is a dynamite sleeper at the wide receiver position in 2019 fantasy football drafts. His current ADP is hovering around the 130 mark, which translates to him being taken as the number 49 wide receiver off the board. This is an absolute steal.
Valdes-Scantling had a tremendous 2018 rookie campaign as far as rookie wide receiver campaigns are concerned. Aside from this, he looks to take on a more involved role in an offense that finished ninth in the league in passing with over 4,200 yards.
Combine these two facts with his advanced metrics and you have a wide receiver you should be able to count on for solid production during the 2019 season.
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Don't Call Him MarKez
In 2018, Valdes-Scantling finished with 581 receiving yards on 38 receptions. This ranked him sixth among rookie wide receivers in both categories. Valdes-Scantling got more comfortable in the Green Bay Packer offense and QB Aaron Rodgers also seemed to get more confident in him as the season wore on. This is shown by his 21 receptions between Weeks 10-17. Valdes-Scantling was targeted 40 times between Weeks 10-17. The fact that he received approximately 55 percent of receptions and targets weeks 10 through 17 shows just how consistent he was in this offense throughout the two halves of the season's schedule. It should also be noted that he received 17 targets in the final two weeks of the season combined.
Valdes-Scantling's advanced metrics give an even better look into what he has the potential to become in 2019. In 2018, he was an air yard machine. He totaled 59.1 air yards per game, 1.37 air yards per snap, and 18 percent of the Packer's total air yards. These air yard totals ranked in the top 31 percent, 66 percent, and 35 percent among the league's receivers, respectively. He also put up 12.8 aDot (average depth of target) and averaged 5.7 yards after the catch (YAC). These ranked him in the top 24 percent and 19 percent of the league's receivers, respectively.
Performing like this as a rookie is impressive. These two stats jump off the page when paired together as well. Combining the aDot of 12.8 yards with an average YAC of 5.7 means he is catching the ball in stride and running with it. When you have a quarterback as solid as Aaron Rodgers, this is a deadly combination. Valdes-Scantling also received 12.1 percent of the Green Bay targets in 2018. This number should certainly increase with him gaining familiarity with the offense as well as the departure of Randall Cobb, who received 10 percent of the targets a season ago.
The only possible knock on Valdes-Scantling having a major 2019 campaign, is the role Geronimo Allison will play in the offense. There is a lot of speculation out there that Allison could be the number two wide receiver heading into the season, however, Valdes-Scantling was listed as the second starter behind Devante Adams on the team's first official depth. This should come as no surprise. Allison just completed his third season with the Packers and has yet to contribute in a very meaningful way because of repeated injuries. The better draft choice here is Marques Valdes-Scantling.
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