With rookie Drake Maye giving some juice to the Patriot passing
attack, “Pop” Douglas becomes the receiver to target in New England.
His 6-92-1 line on nine targets was a season high, and with the
rotten corpse of the Jacksonville defense on tap, Douglas should
continue to emerge as an upside WR3.
After a sluggish start, Dell came to life last week in Houston’s
first game without Nico Collins. Not only did he find the endzone
for the first time in 2024, he played a season high 74% of the snaps,
but also soaked up a season high nine targets. The arrow is pointing
up again for the 2nd year receiver, so get on board while you can.
Now a few weeks free of his early season ankle injury, look for
Addison to play a big part of the passing game in a pivotal Week
7 divisional matchup with Detroit. With a young secondary, and
hampered pass rush, attacking the Lions through the air is the
way to go. With all the attention on Jefferson, Addison benefits,
and makes for a strong WR3 play.
In the long run, the addition of Amari Cooper will probably help
clear out the underneath routes for Shakir, but there is going
to be some adjustment as this passing game gets reorganized, and
it doesn’t help that the Titans have been stout in the defensive
backend. A sore ankle has also sapped him of his quickness and
elusiveness after the catch. When fully healthy, he’ll return
some PPR value, but for the short term take a pass.
After a feel-good start to the 2024 season, Johnston has predictably
gone cold, as his snap rate and target share dropped to season
lows in last week's win over Denver. He’s simply not seeing
enough looks on a weekly basis in a run-first offense, and is
a touchdown-or-bust option.
Maybe the switch to Wilson and his rainbow deep balls are the
key that unlocks Pickens downfield, but I’m not willing
to take a chance against such an elite secondary. The Jets have
yet to allow a 100-yard receiver, and have yielded just a single
touchdown. Pickens certainly has the potential to pop off, so
maybe he’s a boom/bust FLEX play, but can you afford to
risk him as a starting receiver?
