Week 14 Sleepers, Potential-Emergent Players, and Opportunistic Plays
This article is contributed by Brad Kruse
This column is NOT intended to provide Week 14 Waiver Wire claims lists. Instead, the purpose is to look at young players whose opportunity could emerge and should be monitored. I will also look at potential injury replacement players, but I will try not to focus on the obvious choices for this week’s slate of games as that is covered elsewhere on the sight. My goal is to help look around corners for the season which might give ideas for pre-emptive adds to your roster.Â
This week I will focus exclusively on the young receivers and review how they have performed using targets per route run and yards per route run metrics. A minimum of ten targets is required to be included in the list below.
Young Breakout Receivers (through Week 13)
The above table looks at all first and second-year WRs that have at least 15% targets per route run (TPRR) and 1.5 Yards per route run (YPRR) through ten weeks this year. Below are comments on players who stood out in Week 13.
Second-Year Players
Puka Nacua: Nacua continues to be a star as he recorded a 38% targets per route run (TPRR) performance this week while collecting five receptions on eight targets for 56 yards and a touchdown. For the year, which gives him 35% TPRR and 3.2 yards per route run (YPRR). He is an elite performer.
Parker Washington: Washington deserves mention this week with twelve targets and six receptions for 103 yards and one touchdown. That is a 31% TPRR and 3.2 YPRR score. For the year, Washington has only recorded a 16% TPRR and 1.2 YPRR. As a predominantly low average depth of target (aDOT) receiver, his yards aren’t typically as strong as his target share.
Rookies
Ladd McConkey: McConkey was truly a star in a low-volume attack. He collected twelve targets recording nine receptions for 117 scoreless yards. That represented a 48% TPRR and 4.7 YPRR. That moves his YTD performance to 25% TPRR and 2.5 YPRR. He has been one of the top-performing rookies this year, if not the top.
Brian Thomas: Thomas is always dangerous. This week he earned ten targets and caught four of them for 76 yards and a touchdown. That was worth a 28% TPRR and 2.1 YPRR. Both of those metrics are solid despite the low catch rate. During the year, Thomas has earned a 23% TPRR and 2.4 YPRR. He is another strong receiver from this rookie class.
Malik Nabers: Nabers is another frequently mentioned receiver in this column. This week he caught eight of his thirteen targets for 69 scoreless yards. That was good for a 36% TPRR and 1.9 YPRR. He is not found the endzone as much as his fantasy owners would like with only three touchdowns this year. However, his YTD 32% TPRR and 2.0 YPRR still are great performances for a rookie. He will again be a high draft pick next year in fantasy drafts.
Xavier Worthy: Worthy gets a mention this week as he is starting to figure more into the Chief’s offense. He earned seven targets resulting in five receptions for 54 yards. That represented a 21% TPRR and 1.6 YPRR. He has not had the rookie season many fantasy managers envisioned. His season total of 17% TPRR and 1.2 YPRR still makes him a difficult start each week.
