Fantasy football drafts are behind us, so the next-best way to improve your roster is via trades with rival managers. If you’re weak at wide receiver, who are some players you should target? Here are two WRs to pursue.
Tee Higgins, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
It appears I am just buying low on the entire Bengals offense.
Tee Higgins is another forgotten man, largely due to his seemingly awful 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Obviously, rostering Higgins the past two seasons was not fun. But we’re not drafting Higgins based on what he did — we’re drafting him based on what he will do.
This is someone who was being valued as a borderline WR1 heading into last season. Suddenly, he’s being treated as a WR3.
I understand why. But I think everyone will be reminded just how talented Higgins is after Week 1.
Last season, Higgins was banged up, Joe Burrow was never really healthy, and there were a lot of flukey things unlikely to repeat themselves. The year prior, Higgins’ fantasy points per game average was skewed by games where he left early.
If we remove his anomalous Week 1, as well as the three games he left early, Higgins averaged 15.8 fantasy points per game in his other eight contests in 2023. If you remove the four games Higgins left early due to injury in 2022, he was around the same average.
At his current price, Higgins needs to average around 12-13 ppg to justify his cost in drafts. I think he’ll average 15+ ppg this season.
Buy.
Brian Thomas Jr., WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
After rookie WRs smashed last season, it’s no surprise that two of the greatest WR prospects of all time are going higher than any rookie WRs ever have.
In general, the price of rookies has been inflated. Yet, Brian Thomas Jr. feels like he’s being disrespected a bit.
MORE: PFN’s Consensus Fantasy Football Rankings (Updated Weekly)
Thomas is in a better position to succeed than guys like Ladd McConkey or Rome Odunze. His situation is not too far behind Xavier Worthy’s, yet he goes behind all of them.
I would take Thomas over every rookie WR except Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers, and Worthy. There’s legitimate top-24 upside for Thomas in a Jaguars offense that lacks a true alpha at receiver.
Christian Kirk is reportedly only playing in three-receiver sets. Gabe Davis is … well … Gabe Davis.
Calvin Ridley’s role last season was a valuable one. The only reason it didn’t work out is that Ridley isn’t as good as people believe.
Thomas is better right now than Ridley was last year. And even if Thomas merely does what Ridley did, that will be a massively positive return on investment.
I believe that’s Thomas’ floor. He’s being drafted below his floor.
Thomas’ value is set to skyrocket rather quickly. He will never be cheaper than he is now.