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Must have Fantasy Football WR’s to target. The Counselor hand-picks for you, 7 WR sleepers to draft this season. Let’s talk about these sleepers, I’m beyond excited.
1. Brandin Cooks
The first guy I’m going to talk about right here, right now is Brandin Cooks. Now I know a lot of people, as soon as Brandin Cooks hits them, it’s like oh my God, this guy is injury prone, but listen, he’s not. The guy actually played thoroughly all 16 games from 2015 to 2018. I know he’s had some concussions come off the field a few times and that he’s had that type of injury, but listen, he’s passed the physical, the Texans, they said they’re completely confident with him. I’ve read the write-ups, read all the reports from the team. He’s fine. He’s a veteran receiver and the team believes in him. They said the health, not a concern. Knock on wood. The guy’s elite talent. He’s a great player. What really appeals to me is this, is the fact that Hopkins is gone and he is going to be a plug and play. There are 150 to 163 to 64 targets freed up here for Brandin Cooks. I love the opportunity. I love the talent. I love the upside. Brandin Cooks’ a guy that could be fed consistently on the Texans offense with Watson. They’ve got the elite talent to David Johnson there, distracting the defenses, maybe some stack boxes, opening things up for Cooks. Maybe Cooks could spread the offense as well for David Johnson. I think it’s going to be a great combination with Cooks and Johnson. I think these guys are completely underrated. I think they’re both great talents and understand he’s a veteran receiver. He’s been in the league since about 2013, 2014. The guy knows how to play football. He’s going to be there for Watson. I think they’re going to be an amazing connection. Now, understand you get this guy in the eighth round and he’s technically a wide receiver.
One, Fuller, not really sold on him being the guy there, injury-prone, can’t stay on the field. More of a one-trick pony from what I’ve seen, a deep downfield threat. Whereas Cook’s also known to be that deep ball guy can be a little more versatile in that offense. I’m beyond excited about Brandin Cooks this year. You can get him in and around round eight and nine in your fantasy football draft. Sometimes he falls later, people are sleeping on him. Trust me, this guy, get him on your roster as a wide receiver, two, three, you’ll be very, very happy. I talked about 16 rounds. You’ve got to have a lot of depth at wide receiver. Even if you get Cooks, you’re going to have ton more talent on your bench. If he doesn’t pan out, you can get another guy.
2. Terry McLaurin
That’s my first guy and there is no particular order in regards to the way I like them. I think they’re seven must-have sleeper wide receivers. Next guy, I want to talk about here, and I was in the Fish Bowl. I’m in the Fish Bowl, I hear the draft and I was looking at this guy and I passed up on him. I can’t remember who I got over this guy. It was another wide receiver. I think it was Diontae Johnson, another wide receiver, but the guy I’m talking about here is Terry McLaurin. Now listen, by the way, Cook’s is currently sitting 36, by the way, amongst wide receivers in the consensus rankings. McLaurin is currently sitting 22nd. That’s not bad. Finished 29th at PPR last year, 93 targets, 58 receptions, 919 yards, and 7 touchdowns. Listen, the reason I like McLaurin, listen, I hate the offense of the Redskins or whatever they’re going to be called. Washington, whatever Redtails. I don’t even care, he’s on Washington. What I don’t like is that offense and I don’t know if I trust Haskins, I’ve been watching some training of Haskins. He does look pretty good. He has been training, but it’s a suspect offense all around, but McLaurin is a guy that by default is going to get a ton of targets. He’s going to be force-fed and he’s going into his second year. I think the rapport is going to be there with him and Haskins, listen, this guy, you can get him in and around, his ADP’s slowly climbing. I say he can average around ADP a fifth to six-round, he may fall to six, but I really don’t see it. So, him, Chark, Hilton, guys like that coming off in and around the fifth round. McLaurin could be a guy that could be an elite talent.
The only thing that’s suspect is that offense, but as he said, by default is going to get a ton of targets more than 93 had last year. A lot of them, I think he’s a great value and a guy you could target as a fantasy football sleeper must-have. Now I want to note here, I still got five more receivers here. I want to let you know, looking at these receivers, looking at these sleepers, looking at the value after the fifth round, it reassures me that I can wait on wide receiver because there’s a ton of guys. The way I look at it as this, you’re taking a risk by drafting Hopkins in the first draft because he’s on a new offense. I don’t know if there’s going to be enough targets. You’re taking a risk with Devante Adams.
You’re taking a risk with Odell and JuJu in the third round. You’re taking a risk, but you’re also taking a risk of the fifth round. It’s like you’re minimizing the opportunity of failure because you’re loading up on running backs early with a robust RB strategy. That’s what I talked about, the 16 rounds and then you’re taking a risk at wide receiver later, because at the end of the day, these guys are all wide receiver ones as well on their team respectively and they can get a ton of targets. Whereas last year, people drafted JuJu round one, Odell Beckham round one, Devante Adams round one. All three busted based on several different reasons. Adam’s got hurt. Things happen. JuJu didn’t have Big Ben, Big Ben got hurt. It happens. It’s always a risk going with a wide receiver early, but at least now you’re getting a wide receiver one or a bunch of them late and you’ve already secured those running backs.
3. DJ Chark
Again, I talked about that in 16 Round Draft solution. Your roster’s going to be as close as bulletproof as possible. Coming to number three here. Another sleeper DJ Chark, now some people were saying Joey’s not really a sleeper. He is because you’re getting him in the fifth round. That’s pretty good value for technically a guy who’s wide receiver one on his roster, 118 targets, 73 set receptions last year, over a thousand yards, he had 1,008 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. Finished 17th last year amongst wide receivers, currently sitting 23rd on the consensus rankings. I consider that a sleeper for a guy that is slotted to be the wide receiver one on his offense. I like Chark. I’m not going to waste too much time on this. I think he’s going to have a good connection there with Minshew, Jacksonville believes in Minshew. I think they got a good running game with Fournette. Fournette’s got to prove himself to be a workhorse running back. He’s got a play solid, so another team potentially picks him up and signs them up to a pretty decent deal. Fournette got to eat. Got to play hard. I think he’s going to distract the defenses, Chark. He is a red-zone target. He got some good red-zone looks last year. I think that continues, but I think he’s going to be integrated more in that offense. They got [Livisca Chanel 00:06:27] there as a rookie. I think he’s going to be a bit of an impact player, but he’s more of a gadget player catching the ball of the backfield as well, coming in for some trick plays but Chark is the guy there. Again, fifth-round value. Not bad at all.
4. Darius Slayton
Number four here. Everybody’s sleeping on this guy. Currently seeing 39th on the consensus rankings, finished 37th last year, Darius Slayton. This guy sitting in the late thirties here amongst wide receivers. What I like about him is the fact that he led the team in targets last year with the Giants amongst wide receivers, 83 targets, 48 reception, 740 yards, and eight touchdowns, not a bad stat line for a guy who was trying to get that rapport built up with Daniel Jones. Daniel Jones now hopefully coming into his own improved o-line, which is really good. Hopefully, knock on wood, a healthy Saquon Barkley this year for the full season. You’ve got Saquon, who’s hungry, who’s definitely going to be distracting defenses, potentially facing some stacked boxes, because again, a lot of emphasis isn’t going to be on the receivers, because they’re not top, top tier receivers, but Slayton’s got that upside and that ceiling. A guy you can get in the eighth or ninth round, who is technically a wide receiver one of his team. Now you could say the Shepard is the wider super one. You can say whatever you want, but Slayton has that ceiling. You’re going to get him as your wide receiver three on your team. Great value. Why not? A fantasy football sleeper must-have. Again, if you’re adding depth and one of these guys doesn’t work out, you’re going to have depth on your roster to cover yourself. Next guy here, he’s a rookie sleeper. I love him. He was drafted in the first round. Let me tell you, first of all, he was drafted in the first round 22nd overall sitting 51st amongst wide receivers on the consensus fantasy football rankings, but when I look at that number 22 overall in the first round, in the actual NFL draft, first overall pick by the Vikings.
5. Justin Jefferson
This guy is a guy that the Vikings believe it. I’m beyond excited about Justin Jefferson, a plug and play. Now Diggs didn’t have the greatest season last year, but if you look at his stats in 2018, Diggs had about 150 targets. That is amazing. If you’re looking at a guy that’s going to get a ton of volume, it’s going to be Jefferson playing LSU, got a ton of volume there. Got a ton of work and now going into the NFL, how’s that going to translate? It’s going to be interesting. He is a dynamic playmaker. He makes some amazing catches in the red zone. He can make some tricky catches as well. Now he had Burrow throwing to him, which you could say is he getting an upgrade at quarterback with cousins? I think so. I think he’s going to be doing just fine there. Again, a guy you can get super great value. You can get this guy after the ninth round. Literally amazing value. Sitting 51st amongst wide receivers, a guy that could be a plug and play. Now, again, I’m not sold on rookie wide receivers coming out of the gate, but again, as a wide receiver four on your team, why not? Plug and play for this guy. I think this is the year where a ton of wide receivers could actually step up. Like Claypool, maybe Pittman, a rookie wide receivers that could stay up, make an impact the first year. Now a lot of people are focused on the obvious Jerry Jeudy, but I think Jeudy’s going to be in a bit of a committee there, CeeDee Lamb, both these guys technically the wide receiver two, threes on their roster. For example, CeeDee Lamb, they’ve got Gallup and Cooper. I don’t trust CeeDee Lamb, CeeDee Lamb seeing a ton of volume. You got to be careful with those guys. Whereas Jefferson, he’s a direct plug and play. There’s not much competition there for him. You got to be sneaky when you’re looking at rookie wide receivers. Again, 60 round drafts, which I explained that all.
6. Diontae Johnson
The next guy here, absolutely love this guy. I’m actually giddy about this guy, beyond excited about him. Diontae Johnson. What I love about him is that Big Ben is coming back. That is huge. Last year, 92 targets, 59 reception, 680 yards, and five touchdowns. I watched a lot of tape on him, a lot of breakdowns. Mason Rudolph was missing him on some easy passes he could have actually had. He led in receptions, I believe amongst rookies.
But the thing is he could have actually done a lot better than last year because Big Ben wasn’t there and he still had a pretty decent stat line amongst rookie wide receivers. Now what is suspicious about him is of course a little bit of some dropped balls, but again, I don’t think that was his fault. I think that was Mason Rudolph. There is some question marks about the route running, but what he is amazing when I watched tape about him after he catches the ball, he can make plays and of course he can make those defenders miss. That’s what’s really unique about him. When he gets that ball, making defenders miss, we’re going to have to see his route running. We’re going to have to see how he does, all around how well he plays with Big Ben in full integration there. Again, I watched tape on him. He looks like a dynamic playmaker. He looks elite. Again, route running tree a little bit suspect, we’re going to have to see, but again, a part of his failures drop passes a little bit, couple drop balls, missed passes. It was again, Mason Rudolph not putting it on target and the quarterbacks over there last year, not putting it on point for Diontae Johnson. Again, I’m really, really excited to see what he does this year sitting 42nd on the consensus rankings, a guy that could potentially finish, yes, top 10 amongst wide receivers. We saw it two years ago, with Big Ben making JuJu and Antonio Brown both top 10 receivers, 168 targets to Antonio at 166 targets to JuJu. Diontae could technically be the wide receiver one if JuJu lines up in the slide, you got Claypool Diontae on the outside.
Going to be very interesting to see how this offense works with a healthy, Big Ben. Beyond excited. When I look at wide receivers, I look at who’s throwing the ball and I look at opportunity and volume and Diontae is prime for a ton of volume and opportunity. Not sold on guys like James Washington. I think Diontae is the guy.
7. Allan Lazard
Next guy, who’s sitting 63rd on the consensus rank, which is crazy, is Allen Lazard. Now last year he played 12 games, 52 targets, 32 receptions, 477 yards, and three touchdowns. Again, a lot of these guys are not high on the consensus and they are must-have wide receiver sleepers is because they didn’t put an amazing stat lineup last year. That’s the problem with the consensus. They’re not looking at projecting forward, they’re copying and pasting where they finished last year and projecting them to be similar. They’re not thinking outside the box and that is the problem. That is why people lose their leads because they’re not thinking. Now Allen Lazard is slated as the wide receiver two. Remember last year, how everyone was high on MVS and Geronimo Allison and they both busted and Allison’s no longer there? Well, everyone was drafting Valdes-Scantling very early. Now, if you look at Lazard, he’s technically the wide receiver to the Packers, has not drafted another wide receiver, because they believe in Lazard. Now he had a couple of breakout games last year, which shows us there’s some upside there. Now, if I can get this guy as my wide receiver five as a late-round pick bench dash, why not? He’s a wide receiver two, on an amazing offense with Aaron Rodgers. Why wouldn’t I do it?
I’m definitely going to do it. He’s a must-have sleeper. Again, the Packers believe in him, they did not acquire anybody else. I’m going to draft Lazard super late and maybe plug him in as a flex. We’re going to have to see what happens there, but Rodger’s obviously a chip on his shoulder. Everyone’s saying he’s washed up, this and that. I think he’s going to be fine. I love Lazard this year, guys. He’s a must-have wide receiver sleeper, target him late. There you have it guys. Brandin Cooks, Terry McLaurin, DJ Chark, Darius Slayton, Justin Jefferson, Diontae Johnson, and Allen Lazard, must have sleepers. Great talent, great opportunity, great situations, great quarterbacks throwing to them and you can get them for a great value.
This is going to help you guys target some of these guys, stash them. You’re going to be very, very happy with these guys, I assure you. They’re primed for big seasons. Make sure you guys get the 68 round drafts, which would be thefantasyballcounselor.com link below. You’ll be very happy with it that the future of fantasy is here. Get it below. Smash the thumbs up. It helps a channel a lot. Leave your fantasy questions below and I will see you guys in the next video. Thank you for being here. We go year-round. Subscribe and I am out.
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