Buy-Now Dynasty Wide Receivers

Everyone wants to buy the young studs in Dynasty leagues. You know exactly who I am talking about. These are the Justin Jeffersons, DK Metcalfs, and AJ Browns who all have the potential of finishing as elite fantasy wideouts for the next decade or so.

Unfortunately, these guys all cost a haul to obtain. The young studs are way more fun to acquire than a mid-career wide receiver two, but you cannot have all of them. You need wide receiver twos and guys who have the upside to win you any given week, or perhaps even have season-long wide receiver one upside. They may not be the young hotness, but these guys are undervalued in the dynasty community, and may be worth significantly more than their cost to obtain.

Here are three undervalued wide receivers who may just win you your dynasty league.

Brandin Cooks

If there is one wide receiver who can prove his talent time and time again and remain undervalued, it is Brandin Cooks. Let’s take a look at his fantasy finishes over the years in half-PPR formats:

Year	Rank	Team
2020	15th	HOU
2019	62nd	LAR
2018	13th	LAR
2017	12th	NE
2016	9th	NO
2015	14th	NO

 

This includes five 1000+ yard seasons with four different quarterbacks on four different teams, and one unfortunate 2019 season riddled with concussions. The man is a fantastic wide receiver in terms of talent finishing 2020 with a PFF grade of 81.1. For reference, DK Metcalf finished 2020 with a grade of 82.7, and Terry McLaurin finished below Cooks with a 78.0. Take PFF grades for what you will, but Cooks is still a beast.

There is a deserved stench around the organization of the Houston Texans, which is driving down the value of all of their fantasy options, but they are still playing 17 games of football in 2021. As the only show in town with Will Fuller gone, Cooks’ target share could go through the roof.

You cannot project his catch percentage to be similar in 2021 to that of last year with Deshaun Watson, but think of it this way – the Texans will be down almost every game. With the 32^nd power ranked defense heading into 2021 by most metrics, they will need to air the ball out in an attempt to catch up. Who is going to catch the ball? Randall Cobb? Keke Coutee? Third round rookie Nico Collins perhaps?

 In redraft rankings, Cooks is currently my WR23 with only 5 projected touchdowns on the season. I simply do not see a world where he finishes with under 1100 yards in a 17 game season barring injury. If that touchdown number gets bumped up from 5 to 8, he becomes my WR13 on the season.

Cooks is currently being drafted as the WR42 in dynasty leagues. That is sandwiched between Marquise Brown and Christian Kirk. While he is not a guarantee, someone with his talent and potential target share should finish far above WR42 for at least the next three years. I would rather have the opportunity for Cooks to finish as a top 20 wide receiver for the next three years than a young Hollywood Brown or Kirk who likely will remain on my bench for the majority of their careers. Building for the future is great, but winning now is also great, and Cooks should not cost you much.

His main concern is injury, but the good thing is that Cooks is not a significant investment. If you can get him as an additional piece to an existing trade offer, you may just steal yourself a viable starting wide receiver for the next few years.

 

Amari Cooper

Now this is a guy who should get you excited, but he is being overshadowed by CeeDee Lamb in the dynasty community. The four time pro-bowler received a $100,000,000 contract that will carry him through four more seasons. While Lamb is an incredible young talent, Cooper is and will continue to be the first read on this offense.

Dallas was hit hard with injuries last year. On top of Dak suffering a season-ending injury in week 5, they lost seven time pro bowl LT Tyron Smith who only played 154 snaps for them on the season. Their up-and-coming star RT La’el Collins opted to miss the 2020 season to have surgery, and six time pro bowl RG Zack Martin only played about half of the season. Because of this, Dallas had the 32^nd ranked OT play of 2020, yet Cooper still finished as the WR16 on the season.

Heading into 2020, Dallas was projected to have the third ranked offensive line behind only the Colts and the Saints. Tyron Smith and La’el Collins should be amongst the best tackle duos in the NFL, and Zack Martin should remain a top five NFL Guard (if not top one) if they are healthy. If 24-year-old LG Connor Williams continues to improve, then this should be one of the best offensive fronts in 2021.

An improved offensive line will allow Dak to air the ball out more, which he will have to do based on their defense. In 2020, Dallas had the 29^th ranked secondary, and my current projections have them remaining down at 29^th. To win games, Dallas is going to need to score a lot of points.

This is where Amari Cooper comes into play. In four full games with Dak last year, he was already on a 17 game pace of 157 rec for 1704 yards. While Dak was on an unsustainable pace for yards, nearly 13 targets per game was no fluke. The 4^th overall draft pick in 2015 finished as the 9^th half-PPR wide receiver in 2019, and easily has the potential with Dak to finish as a top 10 receiver in each of the next four years.

CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper can both be top 20 options. I just do not see a world where Lamb finishes above Cooper in the near future, despite them both being highly talented. The Cowboys have a poor defense with one of the highest powered overall offenses in the league. This is simply a recipe for Cooper to have the upside of a top five season.

He is going as the WR16 in Dynasty Startups, but Lamb is all the way up at WR8. While CeeDee is sandwiched between superstars Stefon Diggs and DeAndre Hopkins, Cooper is sandwiched between Tee Higgins and Allen Robinson. Higgins is soon likely to be overshadowed by Ja’Marr Chase, and Robinson is on a franchise tag with an uncertain future while likely playing for a rookie quarterback this year. Go get the guy with top five overall potential, and win your dynasty league now.

Kenny Golladay

I was initially worried about the dynasty outlook for Kenny Golladay. Saquon is returning, Kadarius Toney was drafted in the first round, and I have this offensive line ranked 32^nd going into 2021. Shepard is still a solid receiver, and while Ross and Slayton are no threat to Golladay, they will still be able to stretch the field “Air Coryell” style like Garrett enjoyed implementing before he went to New York, and will potentially take some deep targets away from Golladay.

All of my concerns disappeared when I saw his dynasty ADP down at WR27. That is behind Jeudy, Chark, and JuJu, all of whom I believe are the #2 option on their team at best (Jeudy is debatable, but I am a big believer in the talent of Sutton). Golladay just got paid a 4-year $72,000,000 contract that all but assures that he is the number one target on this team.

Despite the majority opinion, Daniel Jones has actually been a solid deep passer in the NFL, throwing passes of 20+ yards with 61% accuracy. The league average 52%, and he hit 61% with virtually only Slayton stretching the field in 2020. Golladay specializes in the deep ball, and has never finished a season below 15.2 yards per reception.

Golladay finished as the WR6 in half-PPR in 2019 before his injury, and proved how incredibly efficient and talented he can be. He is undoubtedly getting a quarterback downgrade, but I still have him up as the WR15 for 2021 for redraft purposes. This ranking scares me, but he has both the talent and opportunity to exceed WR15 each of the next four years.

Golladay should by no means be the WR27 in dynasty leagues. He may be 27-years-old, but he has already shown that he can put up a top 6 finish with only 65 receptions. For reference, Hopkins that year finished only one spot ahead of Golladay in half-PPR with 104 receptions. Golladay is a big play machine, and if he gets the targets that many analysts project, his brightest days may still be yet to come.

 

Upshot

Brandin Cooks, Amari Cooper, and Kenny Golladay have many things in common. They are all 27-year-olds, which already implies that they are disrespected by the dynasty community. They all have proven their talent, but no one is excited to draft or trade for them. They are also the number one option on teams without stellar defenses, although the Giants currently have by far the best of the three with a PFF power ranking of 18^th.

The combination of potentially high passing volume and proven talent of these guys cannot be ignored. Now is the time to capitalize on their comparatively low perceived value and submit your offers. No one will be trading away these assets once the season starts and the superstars start to shine.