The days of NFL training camp are rapidly approaching, and as the middle of July approaches, the fantasy football season kicks off. Stokastic provides a wide range of tools and analysis with quality content that covers everything from Daily Fantasy Sports to Season Long Fantasy Football. Our Best Ball product is first-in-class and includes our expert’s rankings for all the major sites.
Going into Best Ball drafts with a strategy helps to handle when a player you wanted gets selected right before picking. When addressing the wide receiver position understand what type of player you’re selecting since the range of outcomes varies by individual. There are a few target-monsters atop the draft board such as Cooper Kupp and Davante Adams, while players like Justin Jefferson or Ja’Marr Chase see high-volume but it’s their big play ability that breaks open a game. Finding an upper echelon wide receiver in the early rounds of the draft is crucial but filling out the remaining pieces of this position could be just as valuable to winning leagues.
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Top 4 Best Ball Breakout WRs
The wide receiver position is being targeted heavy and early in fantasy drafts this season. It’s common to see the names above selected in the first round in half ppr or ppr leagues, and it goes without saying that one should select one or two elite options in the first several rounds. With still a lot to be decided in training camp in regards to depth charts, now could be the best time to find value in the later rounds. Here are several choices that provide either a solid floor or massive boom-ability and are being overlooked at their current ADP.
Allen Lazard, Packers (Underdog ADP: 82.7)
Davante Adams departing for the West Coast left nearly a third of Aaron Rodgers’ pass attempts up for the taking. Since 2018, Adams has commanded 619 targets, of which 109 came in the red zone, both the highest mark in the league over that span. Since 2008, Rodgers has thrown for over 4,000 passing yards in 10 of 14 seasons while averaging 2.2 passing touchdowns per game. These balls have to go somewhere, and Lazard is an early favorite to lead the wide receiver corps in snaps and targets. He has played 73% of snaps since 2020 and projects for an increased role in the upcoming season. Currently, projected for a better RDP than ADP in our half ppr rankings with stats since 2019 giving plenty of reason to like his floor. The Packers addressed their need at wide receiver by signing Sammy Watkins and drafting two rookies but none of them share the chemistry with Aaron Rodgers that Lazard does and that means something to last year’s MVP.
| SEASON | GAMES | REC | TGT | YDS | Y/R | TD |
| 2019 | 11 | 35 | 52 | 477 | 13.6 | 3 |
| 2020 | 10 | 33 | 46 | 451 | 13.7 | 3 |
| 2021 | 15 | 40 | 60 | 513 | 12.8 | 8 |
The potential for him to breakout in 2022 was displayed after posting three top-15 performances in the final five weeks of the regular season. Those three games came against divisional opponents who Lazard will have the pleasure of seeing each twice this year. Snagging the lead pass-catcher in the Packers’ offense will not come at this discount for long.
Kadarius Toney, Giants (Underdog ADP: 88)
Injuries derailed what had the making of a special rookie season. While this presents a question mark heading into the season, upside is the true reason to grab him. Toney attracted major targets in the games which he was healthy last season resulting in the seventh highest target share (28.9%) at the position. In those 10 games, he proved his ability to separate against corners by posting the 19th-best target separation (1.79) which was shown in his elite win rate vs. man (40.3%) ensuing the fifth highest target rate vs. man (32.5%). A new regime in New York provides ample opportunity for improvements on the offensive front and Kadarius Toney could be a massive part of the resurgence.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Chiefs (Underdog ADP: 94.2)
There is a reason the Kansas City Chiefs made Valdes-Scantling the highest-paid wide receiver on the roster this offseason. He’s an elite deep threat and Patrick Mahomes slings the ball downfield with the best of them. The newly acquired receiver has averaged 17.5 yards per reception over his four-year career, which ranks first in the NFL since 2018. Hesitation seems apparent due to his lowly catch rate and middling ADP, but his catchable target rate (56.4%) was by far the lowest of his career and Aaron Rodgers admitted to having missed Valdes-Scantling on big plays several times throughout the season. Expect the pairing with Mahomes to be a match made in heaven and MVS to cement himself as the top pass-catching option outside of Travis Kelce for the Chiefs. This will be the last season to grab him near the 10th round.
Van Jefferson, Rams (Underdog ADP: 143.8)
There is truly no reason for Van Jefferson to be going as late as he is in fantasy drafts. He finished last season as WR34 (PPR) yet is being selected as WR68. Jefferson over doubled his receptions (19 to 50), nearly tripled his targets (31 to 89), and quadrupled his air yards (353 to 1182) in his second season. While the consistent game-to-game floor isn’t there to condone an early round pick, his attachment to an elite offense presents the boom ability for Best Ball. Being a dependable accessory to Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay’s high powered offense warrants being bull to Jefferson’s market for the next couple seasons. Assuming another solid season, Van Jefferson will not be this far down on draft boards ahead of the 2023 season.
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