A team debut can be a shaky affair for some players, but not for Kendrick Bourne. Signed to stabilize Arizona’s shaky offense, Bourne made an immediate impact in a Week 1 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Should we consider Bourne a fantasy football waiver priority?
Week 1 Summary
If you’re in a PPR league and you took a flier on Kendrick Bourne, you have to feel like a genius. The veteran receiver paced the Cardinals’ WR room in targets, receptions, and yards, posting an 8/75/0 receiving line. A tidy 15.5 PPR points from a late-round flier looks like a coup for fantasy managers who took the risk on Bourne.
But the odds are pretty good that he’s available in your league. After all, who in their right mind would take a shot on the WR3 for a team projected to be a basement dweller? So, let’s figure out whether Kendrick Bourne is worth the waiver-wire add in your league.
As always, we have to dive into the snap and route numbers. And those numbers tell a very interesting story. Snap counts showed a clear hierarchy: Michael Wilson led the WR room with an 85% share, followed closely by Marvin Harrison Jr. at 79%, with Bourne third at 67%. No other receivers got significant snaps for the Cardinals. Routes run told a similar story: Wilson led with 36, followed by Harrison Jr. at 34 and Bourne at 30.
One interesting metric was the average depth of target, or ADoT. Harrison’s three targets were 23.67 yards downfield on average, which led their three receivers. Wilson came in at 11.86 ADoT, a more moderate number, while Bourne was down at 5 yards. To say he spent the day working underneath would be an understatement. Perhaps it was what the game script called for, but the talented Harrison Jr. was being treated like a situational deep threat while Bourne was the big slot working in short areas. Wilson, the true X receiver, ran just about every route in the book.
The real question here isn’t Bourne, a known quantity with an established rapport with Brissett. It’s not Michael Wilson, whose spot at the top of the hierarchy is already secured. It’s Marvin Harrison Jr. The former fourth overall pick is running out of time with this franchise after two straight disappointing campaigns to start his career. New head coach Mike LaFleur isn’t as tied to him as the old staff was, and if he can’t perform, then they’ll turn to someone who will.
A path to starting value for Bourne is difficult at present. Even if he completely overtakes MHJ for the second WR spot, he’s still a firm third in the pecking order for targets behind Wilson and superstar TE Trey McBride. But there’s a clear case for a PPR waiver-wire add; if someone you drafted was a complete flop or got injured, take a shot on Bourne. And if you’re one of the poor souls who drafted Harrison Jr., Bourne gets extra priority on waivers. You don’t want to get caught holding the bag if he drops out of the offensive picture for Arizona.
