Fantasy Football: Draft Wide Receivers Early

Added on Aug 03, 2012 by Scott in

NFL

Due to the NFL’s transition to a pass-first league, wide receivers are becoming more and more important in fantasy football. Gone are the days when stud running backs ruled the game and therefore dominated owners draft strategies. In today’s NFL, finding healthy workhorse backs outside of the first round is difficult, if not impossible. Many teams elect to utilize backfield duos or trios, as evidenced by the last three Super Bowl champions. As a result, loading your fantasy rosters with productive wideouts is the key to success.

Do you really want to roll the dice on Ryan Mathews or Chris Johnson in the opening round when Calvin Johnson and Andre Johnson are available? Is Darren McFadden really a safer option than Greg Jennings? DeMarco Murray might be a breakout candidate, but isn’t Larry Fitzgerald’s consistency the wiser choice?

The point is unless you have one of the first three picks and are able to land Arian Foster, LeSean McCoy or Ray Rice, there are very few sure things at running back in the opening two rounds. Jammal Charles and Adrian Peterson are huge injury question marks, while Trent Richardson and Doug Martin are unproven rookies.

Now, ignoring running back completely in the first two rounds does carry a heavy amount of risk, but waiting on wide receivers until later in order to secure your backfield is equally problematic. Dez Bryant and Percy Harvin are incredibly talented, but neither has shown an ability to be true number one players at the position. The same can be said for DeSean Jackson and Santonio Holmes.

A roster with Chris Johnson, Marshawn Lynch, Matthew Stafford, Steve Smith and Dez Bryant looks solid on paper. However, one with Calvin Johnson, A.J. Green, Frank Gore, Ahmad Bradshaw and Michael Vick might be better, especially if Vick bounces back.

Obviously there is a lot more depth at receiver than running back, which might lead you to believe grabbing backs early and often is the sounder approach. That said, it takes superstars to win in fantasy football, not reserves.

What good is taking Roy Helu in the fourth round as your number three if you never start him? It makes more sense to steal Victor Cruz, who may end up among the Top 10 scoring wideouts again. Remember: fantasy goes as the real NFL goes. Paying attention to trends could be the difference between achieving fake glory and agonizing over a 4-10 season.