There is nothing better in football than a wide receiver streaking down the sideline, defensive back stride for stride with him as the ball drops toward them. Unless that receiver is on your fantasy team and they catch it. These guys will catch it.
Start ’em
Marquise Goodwin San Francisco 49ers
Goodwin is averaging 19.3 yards per reception. That’s a bunch. He trails only TY Hilton in that department if you look at wide receivers with more than 30 catches on the year. He collected all eight of his targets for 99 yards last week against the Bears so the chemistry seems to be there with new quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. The Texans are 25th in the league against the position.
Michael Crabtree Oakland Raiders
The last time the Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs met it was Amari Cooper that went off for 40 plus fantasy points. Crabtree still had 11.8 fantasy points and got into the end zone in a game where the Raiders obviously game planned to feed Cooper the ball. Crabtree is healthy, back from his one-game suspension. Cooper has cleared concussion protocol but is still dealing with an ankle injury that could keep him off the field. Crabtree has seen double-digit targets in three of the last five games. He hasn’t scored in the last three games so he is in line for some positive touchdown regression.
Marvin Jones / Golden Tate Detroit Lions
Jones is 13th among wideouts with an average of 14.8 points in PPR leagues and Tate is 19th at 13.8. Word is that Matthew Stafford practiced today (Thursday) so he should be ready to go this week along with his receivers. The Tampa Bay pass defense isn’t scaring anyone this year allowing the most fantasy point to wideouts in the league. Jones is also high on the yards per reception list averaging 17 yards. That’s good enough for third behind Hilton and Goodwin among receivers over 30 catches.
Josh Gordon Cleveland Browns
Somehow, after missing almost two and half years Gordon pulled in 4 passes for 85 yards but those aren’t the important numbers. The important ones are 11 and 21.3. That’s the number of targets and average yards per reception respectively. Hue Jackson may or may not be a good coach but he’s no dummy. The game plan was to get Gordon involved early and often and I’m sure against the Packers cornerbacks we will see that again.
