The NFL season is fast approaching, but many of us still have fantasy football drafts before the season kicks off next Wednesday. Hitting on some of your late picks can be huge in your quest for a fantasy championship and below, I have featured two of my favorite late-round wide receivers to target in drafts.
Let’s break them down.
WR Jalen Coker, Carolina Panthers
Coker showed some serious promise at the end of last season. After catching 6-of-7 targets for 47 yards and a touchdown in the regular season finale vs. the Buccaneers – which was essentially a playoff game with the standings so tight – Coker exploded in the Panthers’ Wild Card loss to the Rams, hauling in 9-of-12 targets for 134 yards and a touchdown.
In these games, Coker scored 16.7 and 31.4 FPTS, and his usage was tremendous, garnering a target on 25% of his routes while running a route on 91% of his team’s dropbacks. Notably, Coker saw three redzone targets and three targets over 20 yards.
Following these impressive outings, Coker signed a three-year, $35 million deal with Carolina this offseason, solidifying him as the Panthers’ No.2 receiver behind Tetairoa McMillan.
Carolina should play from behind often this season and Coker should be very active, possibly with a target share near 20%. Coker currently carries an ADP of 133.3 on Yahoo and I love targeting him as your WR3/4 that late in drafts.
WR Caleb Douglas, Miami Dolphins
Douglas is a great filer to take with one of your final picks. The Dolphins selected him in the third round of this past NFL Draft after back-to-back strong seasons at Texas A&M, topping 50 catches, 800 yards and six touchdowns in each campaign.
Douglas is a compelling prospect, standing at 6’4″ and weighing in at 208 pounds, and he made a highlight reel catch in his first taste of NFL action in the Dolphins’ first preseason game last month.
This was the only preseason game that Malik Willis played in and Douglas started the game alongside the quarterback, which is a strong indicator that the rookie will be a starter this season.
With Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle out of town, the Dolphins’ WR room features Douglas, and veterans Malik Washington and Jalen Tolbert.
Washington and Tolbert both have been mediocre during their careers, giving Douglas a strong chance to lead this receiver group in targets. The rookie is the tallest of these wideouts by three inches and Douglas particularly could see heavy utilization in the redzone.
Plus, while this will be Willis’ debut season as a starting quarterback, he projects to be efficecnt with his arm. While he only played 98 snaps last season, Willis ranked first in YPA (12.1) and in completion rate (85.7%) among the quarterbacks who dropped back 20+ times.
A pass catcher from this Miami offense is going to emerge as a viable fantasy starter and Douglas is the best player to take a chance on.
