Wide Receiver Handcuffs

When one hears the word “handcuff,” in the fantasy football world, one’s mind immediately jumps to the running back position. Wide Receiver handcuffs, however, also exist, and it is important for fantasy managers to note which players could step into playing time should the starters go down. Here are a few WR handcuffs to keep an eye one when drafting or working the early season waiver-wire.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

The Bucs led the NFL with 5,383 passing yards and a 65.5% passing rate last season. The WR depth chart on this pass-heavy team is loaded, however, so knowing who to target is crucial. Mike Evans is perennially great, Chris Godwin is always productive when healthy, and Russell Gage and Julio Jones were likely not just brought in for show. With those four covered, who else do we need to know about?

Greg Auman of The Athletic has reported that, Scotty Miller, Cyril Grayson, and Breshad Perriman could all be at risk of losing their roster spots. On the flipside, Auman identified Tyler Johnson and Jaelon Darden as players that have improved this offseason. There are also two undrafted rookie WRs garnering hype: Deven Thompkins and Jerreth Sterns. Thompkins has a smaller frame at 5’8” 155lbs but he balled out his senior season at Utah St., finishing with 102 receptions for 1704 yards and 10 touchdowns along with a whopping 16.7 yards per reception. Jerreth Sterns is also smaller in stature 5’9” 195lbs but put up a huge stat line at Western Kentucky. He finished his junior season with 150 receptions for 1,902 yards and 17 touchdowns and 12.7 receiving yards per reception.

Advice: I’m not drafting, or keeping an eye on, this laundry list of backup WRs. I fully expect a few one-off games for these WRs but Russell Gage and Julio Jones are the only ones who offer interesting weekly upside.

Los Angeles Chargers:

The Chargers finished second in the NFL in passing yards last season with 5,014 yards and fifth in passing rate at 61.4%. Keenan Allen and Mike Williams are the clear starters for the Bolts, so the question is whether anyone behind them is worth any thought. Josh Palmer has been making good news in camp so far and is expected to win the third wide receiver job. Jaylen Guyton is still on the Chargers roster and is backing up Mike Williams as a deep threat. Outside of Guyton, the Chargers don’t have much. DeAndre Carter is a 29 year old, undrafted wide receiver out of Sacramento St. The other players on LAC’s WR depth chart include Michael Bandy, Joe Reed, and Maurice French.

Advice: Draft Josh Palmer late in drafts, as the Chargers offer best-offense-in-the-NFL potential. Keep Guyton on your watch list as a boom-bust option if Mike Williams were to miss any time.

Dallas Cowboys:

The Cowboys racked up the third most passing yards last season at 4,963, despite passing only 57.8 percent of the time, fifteenth in the NFL. This impressive offense has a lot of room for surprise production, as Ceedee Lamb is the only established starter at the moment. Michael Gallup is on the PUP list and James Washington is out for 6-10 weeks with a fractured right foot, which leaves a WR room of: Jalen Tolbert, Noah Brown, TJ Vasher, Simi Fehoko, and KeVontae Turpin. Per reports from Cowboys’ beat writers, Tolbert, Vasher and Turpin have had their fair share of special plays.

Advice: Draft Jalen Tolbert. He’s an exciting rookie with great upside as a 6’1,” 194lb WR with the ability to play inside and out. You can read more about Jalen Tolbert here.

Kansas City Chiefs:

The Chiefs finished with the fourth most passing yards in 2021 and the seventh highest passing rate of 61 percent. With the departure of Tyreek Hill, the Chiefs have opted for a quantity over quality approach at wide receiver. The presumed starters are: Juju Smith-Schuster, Marques Valdez-Scantling, and rookie Skyy Moore. Of course, Mecole Hardman and Josh Gordon are hanging around, yet neither have had a good season in recent memory. An interesting player to watch is Justin Watson. Watson, a 5th round pick in the 2018 draft, shined in a few games for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019 and 2020. When Watson earned 5 or more targets in a game, here are his stat lines:

8/5/59/1
10/5/46/1
6/4/40/0

Advice: JuJu, MVS, and Skyy Moore are all worthy of being drafted at or above their ADP due to their massive upside. Put Justin Watson on the waiver wire radar.

Buffalo Bills:

The Bills finished tenth in total passing yards and in passing rate in 2021. Stefon Diggs is the main wide receiver in Buffalo these days while the debate rages on about the secondary weapons. These options include: Gabriel Davis, Jamison Crowder, Isaiah McKenzie, Khalil Shakir, and Jake Kumerow. Gabriel Davis is widely expected to take a jump forward after his extremely impressive 2021 playoff performance but his ADP continues to inch closer to WR2 territory. A steep price to pay. Moreover, most camp reports have reported that McKenzie is manning the slot with the first team, perhaps a surprise with Crowder joining the team as a free agent this off-season. In case of any injuries, Shakir should step up and has an intriguing skillset. At 6’0” 190lbs, he has the size advantage over Isaiah McKenzie and Jamison Crowder. However, Shakir played mostly from the slot or in multiple wide receiver sets in college, so we don’t know if he can work outside. My guess would be, Jake Kumerow plays outside to keep Shakir inside.

Advice: I’d pass on Davis at ADP and take a gamble on McKenzie late. Shakir is a worthy watch-list candidate.

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By Clay Jones

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