BPN's Fantasy Football Files: Picking your Wide Receivers

By Brett Neal

ESPN's Top 1o WR's

1. Calvin Johnson (10)

2. A.J. Green (13)

3. Dez Bryant (16)

4. Brandon Marshall (20)

5. Julio Jones (22)

6. Demaryius Thomas (24)

7. Roddy White (26)

8. Vincent Jackson (28)

9. Andre Johnson (30)

10. Randall Cobb (33)

The wide receiver pool is always pretty deep, especially because "running the football" has become somewhat of an ancient art, kind of like calligraphy. Most of these ESPN top 10 deserve to be on that list, but I just don't think they deserve to be that high up on the overall draft board. Calvin Johnson is good, and I mean real good, but is he "draft before Aaron Rodgers" good? Same thing can be said for A.J. Green and Drew Brees, or Dez Bryant and Payton Manning. I would like to have those receivers on my team, but not if it means getting Matt Ryan over Aaron Rodgers as my QB. So, be careful when you draft a top 5 receiver. Pay attention to your draft position, make sure there are plenty of arms still on the board you would be comfortable with, especially if your towards the book-ends of your snake draft. 

My other recommendation would to make sure you take a running back before you pick a receiver. As cool as it would be to have Calvin Johnson, it is not cool to take him and get stuck with Steven Jackson, Matt Forte, or Stevan Ridley as your #1 running back. I'd rather take LeSean McCoy in the late first round, then snag Drew Brees or Peyton Manning when it comes back around, then grab Vincent Jackson in the 3rd.  

The difference between the best wide receiver (Calvin Johnson) and the 16th best receiver (James Jones) was 3.5 points per game. This means if you pass on Megatron, and still manage to pick up Vincent Jackson (8th best WR), then you've only lost about 2 points per game at the wide receiver position. Instead of Johnson, you might have picked up Drew Brees, this year's 2nd best QB, who averaged 21.1 points last year. Brees' 21.1 point average is already 2 points above the 3rd best quarterback, Peyton Manning, who averaged 19 points per game. Although I do not recommend drafting him in the first round, if at the start of the second round nobody has taken Calvin Johnson, then you've just stolen Spiderman and Inspector Gadget's love-child. If you are playing in a PPR (points per reception) league, then disregard everything you just read and go get that sucker middle or late 1st round.

"Professor Neal, I screwed up, It's the 5th Round and I don't have a wide receiver yet."

No worries kid, there's plenty of receivers that I like still on the draft board. This is where you will find your bounce-back receiver of the year, which went to Vincent Jackson in 2012. These were guys you might have considered top 10 guys a year ago, but have fallen back after one hiccup. We have Reggie Wayne (42), Mike Wallace (43), Hakeem Nicks (48), Steve Smith (50), and Dwayne Bowe (54). This whole group has had multiple solid years in the past, and warrant a 5th round selection. If you want to get real gutsy, take Danny Amendola, Tom Brady's new #1 receiver who is projected to go 47th overall. If Tom Brady can take a 5'9" white guy from Texas Tech and make him a potential hall-of-famer, then imagine what he can do with a 5'11 white guy from Texas Tech. 

Later on, you find more has-beens in the 6th and 7th round: Jordy Nelson (62), Pierre Garcon (64), DeSean Jackson (68), Torrey Smith (71), and Minnesota's new #1 wide out Greg Jennings (72). Stocking up on receivers like these guys is never a bad idea, especially because their trade value is better then that of a backup running back. 

My one sleeper pick this year is Vincent Brown of the San Diego Padres (Chargers, whatever.) My only worry is that Brown was considered a sleeper last year too, but never woke up (he must have hit the snooze). My logic is that Phillip Rivers used to be pretty good, and Ryan Mathews is still pretty bad. Overall, the Chargers are a pretty bad football team looking to get back to their former glory as a "sub par team that snuck into the playoffs every year." They will do so by throwing the football to Malcom Floyd Danario Alexander Vincent Brown. Alexander torn his ACL about a week ago, and Floyd tweaked his ACL Tuesday. Floyd hopes to be back sooner than expected since no structural damage was found in the knee, but always plan for the worst. This makes Brown much more valuable than his 132nd overall ranking suggests. Take him as early as the 9th round, your backup tight end can wait.

BPN's top 10 WR's

1. Calvin Johnson

2. A.J. Green

3. Brandon Marshall

4. Julio Jones

5. Vincent Jackson

6. Dez Bryant 

7. Roddy White

8. Andre Johnson

9. Demaryius Thomas

10. Wes Welker

Sit tight Greg Olsen, we'll be back