Tyler Lockett and Golden Tate have been two of the biggest disappointments in fantasy football this season.
Better late than never I guess for their fantasy owners.
Most people didn’t even start Lockett, but Tate is still in plenty of lineups. They finished Nos. 1 and 2 among wide receivers in week 13 with 20 fantasy points.
The constant changing of names at the top of the fantasy wide receiver leaderboard is why drafting running backs in the first round isn’t dead. Tate has been the antithesis of consistent this season, going for 0.10 points two weeks ago, to 20.50 points in week 13. Lockett is finally healthy, but he was a high-ceiling candidate in the preseason, only to disappoint consistently, until his 19.80 outburst in week 13.
He’s still a receiver I won’t start based on Seattle’s love to spread the ball around and the perfect opportunity presented in week 13 against a Carolina team that has given up.
Wide receivers are a crap shoot this season. So here’s the week 14 wide receivers start ’em, sit ’em list.
Start
Davante Adams vs. Seattle Seahawks
There’s not a chance I’m giving up on Adams after last week’s disappointment. He’s improved his ball-catching ability, but last week’s snow gave him some problems.
That doesn’t appear to be a problem in week 14, so I’m still riding the Adams train. He was still targeted seven times against a solid Houston pass defense. Seattle’s pass defense also is good, but he’ll likely miss out on drawing Richard Sherman on a consistent basis.
That will likely draw more targets his way with Jordy Nelson having to free himself from Seattle’s best cornerback. Add in the fact that Earl Thomas is out, and I expect Green Bay to air it out with some success.
And while Seattle’s defense is stout all the way around, they haven’t been unstoppable against fantasy wide receivers. The Seahawks allow 21.23 fantasy points per game against wide receivers, just three points shy of the bottom-10.
To me, Adams is Aaron Rodgers’ favorite target at the moment, so I’m buying his stock in the first week of the fantasy playoffs.
Kenny Britt vs. Atlanta Falcons
It’s frightening to start Britt in the first round of the playoffs, but as a WR2/3, he has some value this week.
Atlanta’s pass defense is atrocious. The Falcons allow the most yards through the air per game in the NFL, and they just completed a week 13 game against Kansas City where they allowed Alex Smith to throw for 270 yards.
That should give Jared Goff some hope and means Britt suddenly has an upside. He hasn’t been that bad anyway in recent weeks, giving fantasy owners double-digit points in four of the last five games.
He has a touchdown in three of the last five games, and he’s still being targeted at a decent rate, with about seven per game. That should increase in week 14, just as it did in week 12 against New Orleans when he tallied 10 targets.
There’s not much hope with Los Angeles, but Britt does give some WR2 ability against the Falcons.
Brandon LaFell vs. Cleveland Browns
I don’t know if I can’t say this any clearer — I expect a good performance from Cincinnati. It’s been a long season, but I believe they’re in this for the long haul, meaning they should move the ball at will against a Cleveland defense unable to stop anyone.
And with A.J. Green out with injury, it’s been LaFell as the main weapon for the Bengals.
He once again led the team in targets, catches and yards in week 13, with 95 yards receiving and one touchdown. If he’s the go-to man again in week 14, he’ll be in for a big day.
The Browns allow the sixth-most fantasy points to wide receivers in the NFL, and allow 7.9 yards per completion, the second-worst in the NFL.
That plays into LaFell’s ability to be a big-play wide receiver. As a WR3, you could a lot worse than LaFell.
Sit
Steve Smith vs. New England Patriots
There’s just something about this matchup that I don’t like.
Smith has been a nice surprise for fantasy owners this season, generally putting up decent fantasy numbers. However, in recent weeks, his yardage total has been near the basement, despite a steady diet of targets.
He has only 73 yards receiving in the last two weeks, despite attracting 14 targets. With such a high-volume passing attack in Baltimore, I expect more out of Smith.
That production worries me against New England, especially since the elder statesman has seen plenty of playing time. He may be wearing down as the season closes, and against New England’s defense, they will do everything in their power to expose Baltimore’s weakness.
That means more rushes for Baltimore and more focus on stopping Smith. The Patriots actually own a top-10 defense against wide receivers in fantasy football. That could spell trouble for Smith.
Jarvis Landry vs. Arizona Cardinals
Arizona doesn’t let No. 1 wide receivers score in fantasy football. That’s a weekly rite of passage and it won’t stop in week 14.
Landry hasn’t been that good anyway this season, going for less than 10 fantasy points in every game but two. And those two games happened in weeks 2 and 3.
He doesn’t score touchdowns and Miami isn’t throwing the ball like it used to. That limits his ability to score fantasy points.
And against the Cardinals, he won’t get free enough to score a touchdown. And without touchdowns, he’s not putting up the points we expected in the preseason.
Arizona owns a top-three pass defense. Miami will attempt to run the football more in week 14, to attempt to avoid a similar fate as week 14.
Stefon Diggs vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
If you have better options, then leave Diggs on the bench.
There’s a little value as WR3, but if you have better matchups with wide receivers on your bench, then you won’t miss much with Diggs on your bench.
The Vikings’ pass offense rivals Jacksonville’s as being one of the worst pass offense in the NFL. Sam Bradford can dink and dunk a little bit, but when it comes to finding the end zone, the Vikings are unable to sniff pay dirt.
Both teams rely heavily on field goals and this game won’t be any different. There’s just not enough downfield looks for Diggs to have much of an impact, especially facing a Jacksonville defense that is top-10 against the pass.
This will be low-scoring, without many fantasy options worth starting.
