Don't Be a Tool

Mythology 201: Show WRs Some Love (Part 2)

By: Drew

If you read “Mythology 101: Show WRs Some Love,” you know how important it is to pay attention to the WR position during your draft. Fallible reasoning offered by those who neglect top pass catchers was debunked, allowing true illustration of just how valuable a solid WR corps truly is. If you haven’t read that particular blog already, go back and do so now. For those who’ve completed Mythology 101, you’re about to explore two other popular misconceptions which will serve as fodder for the second and final part of this series.

MYTH #4: It’s foolish to draft a #2 WR before the heart of the middle rounds because I can get a team’s #1 WR in the 8^th round or later.

Reality: I came across a post in the forums in recent weeks that reinforced this myth. It went something like this:

“I can definitely see Branch and Edwards performing just as well as [Randy] Moss and Colston.”

As I said at the time, I can just as easily see Branch losing the #1 WR job to DJ Hackett, and I can see Edwards throwing up goose eggs in the TD column most weeks thanks to a questionable QB situation. Consistency is key, and though Branch and Edwards offer upside, it is asking a lot to expect them to be consistent performers. I see them having as many poor games as good ones. One of the keys to fnatasy success is consistency, and in that vein, there is a real, tangible difference between the Deion Branches and Javon Walkers of the world.

MYTH #5: Most of the top 10 WRs from last year were not among the top 10 Wrs drafted in most leagues.

Reality: Ahhh, a telltale symptom of Marquescolstonitis…a disorder akin to PowerBall Mania that deludes otherwise sane fantasy owners into believing that they, too, can expect to strike #1 WR gold on the waiver wire. Here are the top Wide Receivers from last year, in order of actual fantasy production:

1. Marvin Harrison

2. Terrell Owens

3. Reggie Wayne

4. Chad Johnson

(5. Donald Driver)

6. Torry Holt

(7. Lee Evans)

8. Steve Smith

(9. Javon Walker)

10. Roy Williams

Those in parentheses were not consensus pre-season Top 10 wideouts last year. Only three of last year’s consensus top 10 Wrs fell out of the top 10 by season’s end, and two of them are back in my top 10 THIS season. Randy Moss, a freakish talent and the consensus 10^th WR this time last year, finished 59^th due to a perfect storm of unusual circumstances, the likes of which we’ve never seen before. He’s back in my top 10 this season. Larry Fitzgerald, a consensus top 5 WR last year, battled injuries last year, and he’s back in my top 10 this season because he’s a beast, plain and simple. Anquan Boldin, the odd man out in my top 10 WRs, is 11^th on my list. He started last season as a consensus Top 10 WR and finished 17^th due to an anomaly in the TDs scored column (he’s more likely to score twice as much this year than he is to repeat last year’s total of 4).

So, while it may seem like there’s a lot of turnover in the top echelon of wide receivers, there really isn’t. More importantly, there aren’t as many great ones as you might think. Once you address your RB position, grab as many of those top wideouts as you can!

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 19th, 2007 at 9:33 am and is filed under Drew's Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.