Fantasy Football: 5 big-name wide receivers on different parts of the panic spectrum heading into Week 8
· Yahoo Sports
This week, we're going all wide receivers. Five different situations, five different receivers and one question heading into Week 8: who am I actually panicking about and who am I not tripping on?
Rome Odunze, Chicago Bears — SOME PANIC
I'm at some panic (with a dash of total panic) with Rome Odunze, and it has nothing to do with whether I think he's a good football player. He is. We've seen the flashes, we've seen the impressive catches and, when things are clicking, Rome looks like the receiver we thought he could become. The problem is everything happening around him in Chicago.
Visit afsport.lat for more information.
Luther Burden III has simply been better. He doesn't run nearly as many routes as Odunze, but when he's on the field, he's more explosive, more effective and hasn't had the same issues with drops. Then you've got Colston Loveland, whose involvement over the past couple of weeks has been outstanding. At this point, I'm starting to believe Burden and Loveland are the 1A and 1B in this passing attack. You can argue which one deserves the top spot, but I'm having a hard time making the case that Rome is anything other than third in the pecking order.
And that's before we account for how this offense operates. Chicago wants to run the football. Caleb Williams is going to extend plays and scramble, which takes away additional passing opportunities. There's only so much volume to go around, and the players making the most of their opportunities aren't named Rome Odunze.
His four catches for 69 yards against New England were encouraging, especially some of those late-game plays. But a few impressive catches aren't enough to change the bigger picture. I had much higher expectations for what Rome could become in this offense, and right now, I don't believe he's the first read or even the second. That's a problem for his fantasy outlook.
DK Metcalf, Pittsburgh Steelers — NO PANIC
I'm not panicking about DK Metcalf. This is just the DK Metcalf experience, and honestly, I think we know what we're getting at this point. He's basically a great-value version of Jameson Williams. You're going to have games where the explosive plays hit and others where you're wondering what happened to the production.
He caught just two passes for 56 yards against the Saints, but I'm not putting too much stock in one game overseas. Pittsburgh leaned on its running backs, the offense didn't need to throw a ton and Metcalf still had opportunities downfield.
The biggest reason I'm not concerned is Aaron Rodgers. Say what you want about Rodgers at this stage of his career, but he's still playing some damn good football. He's throwing touchdown passes, he's keeping this offense moving and he can still connect on those downfield shots that make Metcalf dangerous.
Metcalf saw 15 targets in Week 6 before dropping to six in Week 7. That's the kind of weekly volatility you're signing up for. I never expected him to be a high-volume possession receiver who catches eight or nine passes every week.
Would I love more consistency? Absolutely. But the quarterback play is good enough, the explosive opportunities are still there and nothing about this situation has me changing my expectations for Metcalf. No panic.
A.J. Brown, New England Patriots — TOTAL PANIC
A.J. Brown is one more bad game away from the Coping Corner. I'm already at total panic, and the only thing keeping him out of that final category is the volume he's still receiving.
I understand he missed four games with a high ankle sprain. You don't just come back from that kind of injury and immediately look like yourself. He's got to get back into football shape and find his rhythm with Drake Maye. I get all of that. But at some point, we have to acknowledge what we're watching.
Brown just doesn't look like the same explosive receiver he was a few years ago. He's not creating meaningful separation; he's leaving plays on the field and some of the bigger gains we're seeing are coming late in games rather than from him consistently beating defenders.
Since returning, he's caught six passes for 75 yards on 16 targets. Six catches! That's a lot of opportunities without much production to show for it.
And watching this offense, there are times when I'd rather see the ball going to DeMario Douglas or Hunter Henry. That's not something I expected to be saying about A.J. Brown heading into this season, but here we are.
The saving grace is that New England continues to target him. As long as he's getting those opportunities, there's still a path to fantasy relevance. But we're getting dangerously close to the point where volume alone isn't enough to justify keeping him in your lineup.
I'm giving Brown one more game to show me something. If the separation doesn't improve and these targets continue to turn into empty production, we're moving him straight into the Coping Corner and having a serious conversation about whether he belongs on fantasy benches.
Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings — NO PANIC
I'm not panicking about Justin Jefferson, but I do think we need to have a conversation about what our expectations should be for him moving forward.
It's unfortunate because, since Kirk Cousins left Minnesota, we've really only seen Carson Wentz provide the kind of quarterback play that consistently supports the Justin Jefferson we're accustomed to watching. Right now, that connection just isn't happening with Kyler Murray.
Jefferson caught four passes for 44 yards against Indianapolis in a game where Murray threw for just 150 yards. That's not going to get it done for fantasy managers who invested an early first-round pick in Jefferson.
But here's why I'm not concerned about the player himself. Jefferson dealt with an ankle injury earlier in the season, and Minnesota's passing offense hasn't needed to carry this team. The Vikings are winning football games without asking Murray to throw it all over the field.
Unlike some of the other receivers on this list, there's nobody in Minnesota who's threatening Jefferson's position as the top receiving option. We're not watching another wideout consistently outperform him or take away his opportunities. The issue is the passing environment, not Jefferson's ability.
Now, do I think the elite weekly ceiling we've become accustomed to is still there? Probably not on a consistent basis, at least with the way this offense is currently operating.
But I'm confident Minnesota will figure out how to get its best offensive weapon more involved. The expectations might need to change, but I'm not selling Jefferson or panicking about his ability to produce.
Michael Wilson, Arizona Cardinals — SOME PANIC
I'm trying really hard not to move Michael Wilson into total panic, but he's making that decision more difficult every single week.
We're three weeks into this stretch where we keep looking around for excuses about why Wilson isn't producing the way we expected. And at some point, those excuses have to stop.
Marvin Harrison Jr. is gone. The Cardinals aren't winning football games. There should be plenty of opportunities for Wilson to establish himself as a reliable fantasy option in this offense, yet the production continues to disappoint.
He caught four passes for 55 yards against Denver, bringing his season totals to 37 receptions, 375 yards and one touchdown. That's simply not enough.
And the frustrating part is watching Trey McBride continue to produce. McBride caught 10 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown against the Broncos. He's getting the targets, he's finding the end zone and he doesn't seem nearly as impacted by Jacoby Brissett's struggles as Wilson does.
So how many more weeks are we going to blame the quarterback? How many more games are we going to point to the opportunities that almost happened instead of the actual fantasy production?
Wilson is getting involved. He's drawing defensive attention and there are certainly opportunities in this offense. But fantasy football is about turning those opportunities into points, and right now, that's not happening nearly enough.
I'm not at total panic just yet because I still believe there's a path for Wilson to produce with the role that's available to him. But we're getting close to that panic level. If McBride continues to dominate the valuable targets and Wilson can't find the end zone, it's going to be difficult to keep making excuses much longer.