Embattled WR trio goes off in Week 14, but are they must starts in the fantasy playoffs?
This is a tale of three wide receivers who have seen the best of times and the worst of times. All within the last several months.
Drake London. Garrett Wilson. Cooper Kupp. Three wideouts who came into 2023 with great fantasy expectations. Kupp was going in the first round, and in the conversation for the 1.04 pick with Tyreek Hill before a hamstring injury in training camp landed him on IR for the first four games of the season. Wilson was going in the second round, in the range of Amon-Ra St. Brown and Davante Adams, the helium from Aaron Rodgers landing in Gotham leading to projections of 100-plus catches and 1,400 receiving yards. London was the WR24 in the sixth round, a player who many fantasy managers were counting on to take the second-year leap and far outkick his ADP.
Those were the good old days, four months ago.
Reality took over as the season played out with more ups and downs than a Coney Island roller coaster. And each of the receivers was on the downside on the eve of Week 14, with start/sit questions swirling around each one of them. Kupp ended up being started in just 74% of Yahoo leagues. Wilson started in 63% and London trailed at 45%. I received one question about Wilson where the other options were Chris Godwin, Elijah Moore and Khalil Shakir. I had to point that person to the only player in that quartet who was likely to see 10 targets on the day — Wilson — and I hope they were rewarded with a berth in the playoffs.
Wilson came into Week 14 with question marks, and really none had to do with him or his talent. Zach Wilson was returning to start at quarterback, which could not be fun for the Jets’ fan base. The day was also gloomy and raining, a wet ball certainly far from ideal for a quarterback completing 59.2% of his passes.
Garrett Wilson ended up drawing 14 targets to finish with a receiving line of 9-108-0 in New Jersey. He combined with Breece Hall (126 scrimmage yards and a touchdown) to be the twin engines of the Jets’ offense that won, 30-6. He also set a couple franchise records in the process. That was the only time this season the Jets had scored more than 22 points in a game.
With the fantasy playoffs about to start, is Wilson someone who is a must-start, or will he be the subject of more questions? Next week the Jets travel to Miami, where the Dolphins await with their high-flying offense. Wilson needs to be started in a game where the Jets will have to pass to try to keep up with the Dolphins. After that is a home date against the Commanders. Along with death and taxes, starting your receivers against Washington in 2023 is one of the three truths in life. Only the Browns game in Week 17 is a worry, but if Wilson keeps seeing 10-plus targets a game, ride him.
London may have been the most lightly started player of this trio, though he had the best game environment. The game was indoors in Atlanta, where the Falcons have performed better. Also, facing them was the Buccaneers’ pass-funnel defense that was allowing the third-most yards to receivers and was No. 5 in fantasy points allowed to the position.
The second-year wideout, though, was coming off a date with the Jets’ stifling pass defense that limited him to one catch for eight yards. That wasn’t his low-water mark of the season, however, as twice he’d gone without a single catch. With uncertainty around how touches were being distributed in the Atlanta offense, it was easy to think about sitting London on Sunday.
"Such a glamorous catch!" @DrakeLondon_
📺: #TBvsATL on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/pWMED8SAQa pic.twitter.com/EwHKeufdHK— NFL (@NFL) December 10, 2023
Those who started him, though, were rewarded with a 10-172-0 line on 11 targets, just his second game with over 100 yards on the season. He was the WR1 going into the Sunday night game. London even made what may have been the acrobatic catch of the day, a leaping grab over two Tampa Bay defenders for a 45-yard gain that set up a go-ahead touchdown for a 25-22 lead. Alas, the Falcons came up short, 29-25, but will London be calling fantasy managers to start him in the biggest matchups of the year?
The Falcons have just one more home game, against the Colts in Week 16. He’s an easy start that week after Indianapolis allowed 275 yards and a pair of scores to Jake Browning. Six receivers have gone over 100 yards against the Colts since Week 8. Playing at Carolina next week may put him on the fringe of starting against the defense allowing the sixth-fewest fantasy points to wide receivers. Chicago hosts the Falcons in championship week, and a potential weather game for a dome team may be asking a lot with a title on the line.
Kupp has had serious second guesses about whether he’s healthy enough after hamstring and ankle injuries have derailed much of his season. That, and the ascension of Puka Nacua, have diverted the focal point of the offense away from the 2021 Offensive Player of the Year. Kupp flew past 100 yards his first two games back after missing the first four weeks of the season with injury. Then came a six-game lull where he did not surpass 48 receiving yards, and twice was held under 20.
Fantasy managers moonlighting as armchair athletic trainers were speculating as to the health of Kupp’s lower extremities, and whether he should ride the pine on fantasy rosters with the playoffs on the line. Rainy Baltimore and a defense that was second against wide receivers was in the way. The Ravens had allowed just six touchdowns to wideouts this season.
That number grew by two, with one of them going to Kupp on a six-yarder in the second quarter. The former All-Pro has now seen 18 targets the past two games, with Nacua also a big part of the attack led by a resurgent Matthew Stafford now having tossed nine touchdowns in the past three games. With 8-115-1 on 10 targets, Kupp is very much back on the radar for the fantasy playoffs.
The Rams host Washington in Week 15 and play at the Giants in Week 17, both incredibly inviting matchups for Kupp. Hard to imagine sitting him either of those weeks. Week 16 is against the Saints, who have been tough against wide receivers — No. 29 in fantasy points allowed. Still, it being a home game, Kupp will be very much a start unless he’s on the most loaded rosters. He just might deliver at the most opportune time of the fantasy season.
These players, without question, have raised their stock in just a single week.
