Last night, how to pick a flex player was the talking point for the opening fantasy football segment. This time around, the point of emphasis is on how third option wide receivers on the top five offenses compare to the number one receivers of the worst five offenses. This was done a little tongue-in- cheek, of course the number one option was going to be better than the third option. Bad offenses need to give the ball to someone and will still have about the same amount of possessions as the top tier teams. This has been my orthodox method for years— start the player who will lead his team in targets. The explosiveness of the team itself does not matter as much as that of the player— something most people will realize when they look at the numbers.
The third wide receivers are outscoring the top receivers of bad teams. Hard to believe it. Here is the breakdown.
Both of the offenses are ranked by yards per game and points scored per game.
The top five were the Chiefs, Rams, Saints, Bucs, and Steelers, respectively. The bottom five were the Cardinals, Bills, Titans, Cowboys, and Jaguars. The receivers for the top were; Chris Conley, Robert Woods, Cameron Meredith/Ted Ginn (perhaps a little bit of cheating with the numbers here since there were injuries), Chris Godwin, and Ryan Switzer. The bottom five; Larry Fitzgerald, Kelvin Benjamin, Corey Davis, Allen Hurns, and Keelan Cole.
On average the number three receivers score 6.7 points a game. The number one receivers score only 4.8 a game. This difference is very significant. It is nearly 40 percent more points per game. And the players on the elite teams have running backs and tight ends to compete for targets over. Coming into this article perhaps it could be perceived as a joke but you see the importance of latching onto any part of elite offenses that you can get your hands on. There are just so many more yards and touchdowns to share in those offenses.
Streaming Defense of the week: This position is even drier than last week but would suggest the 49ers if there are no good options. There is a caveat, Arizona will be rolling out a new OC so they could improve over the dreadful performance last week.
Mark Jacobson is a freelance sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers men’s and women’s golf, but also contributes content for various other sports. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @aztwoabq.
