For those who have been involved in fantasy football for several years by now, it’s clear that an alternative title for this piece could have just as easily been “A Requiem for Randy Moss”. Never before had one player, Randy Moss, single handedly justified the fantasy validity of such a niche position. Moss’ incredible weekly production for a prolonged period lasting well over ten years both legitimized other deep-threats such as Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson and Torry Holt and introduced the NFL viewing audience to the now over-utilized phrase “He really helps his team stretch the field”. Whether anyone notice or not, the demise of Randy Moss during the 2010-11 season demonstrated the new trend in professional football that seems to point towards yet another paradigm shift in modern offensive strategy: using a deep-threat wideout as a decoy. This new approach in how to best employ Moss’ talents followed him on each of his three stops (New England, Minnesota, & Tennessee) and initiated a trend that has extended into this season’s NFL action. Building on this premise here’s a list of 6 deep-threat wideouts broken into two categories: the top 3 (those who have an impact on a weekly basis) and the bottom 3 (those who remain on fantasy rosters despite their consistent failure to contribute from week to week).
Top 3 Deep-Threat Wideouts:
Calvin Johnson (Detroit Lions)
Breakdown: Though there has yet to be any scientific research conducted on the subject, it’s still not obvious whether or not “Megatron” is entirely human. Not only is Johnson in the midst of his finest season to date, he has admirably shouldered the weight of the Lions offensive production. Thanks in part to the first healthy season by Matthew Stafford to date, Johnson is the unquestioned primary receiving option as well as a safety valve when plays fall apart. As a matter of fact, it seems that one of Coach Jim Schwartz’s favorite looks is “Hey Matt, why don’t you just chuck it up there and see what Calvin can do”.
2011-12 Stat Line: 564 receiving yards, 9 touchdowns
Mike Wallace (Pittsburgh Steelers)
Breakdown: While it is shockingly apparent to all NFL fans that the Steelers have thus far failed to live up to their potential this season, the one offensive bright spot has been 3rd year deep-threat extraordinaire Mike Wallace. More than any other factor, Wallace’s success in 2011 has been propelled by his emergence as the most reliable option within the once-formidable Pittsburgh receiving corps. With Hines Ward clearly in the twilight of his impressive career and Emmanuel Sanders ascent to stardom still a work in progress, Big Ben has openly turned to Wallace as his favorite target. Furthermore, the deep bomb to Mike Wallace is no longer a twice a game trick play instead Roethlisberger now goes long to the young speedster 4 to 5 times a half.
2011-12 Stat Line: 612 receiving yards, 4 touchdowns
Jordy Nelson (Green Bay Packers)
Breakdown: Six weeks into the 2011 NFL campaign and the Green Bay Packers offensive juggernaut has yet to slow down coming off its tremendous Super Bowl victory last season. For those who might be baffled, please don’t let the Packers depth chart lead to confusion. Does Green Bay list Jordy Nelson as its 3rd best wide receiver? Yes. Does this ranking properly reflect his value on the 2011 Packers? Not at all. Sure, he might be third in line to catch a pass from Aaron Rodgers behind Greg Jennings and Jermichael Finley but Nelson has firmly established himself as the team’s second receiving option. By the way, he’s not even the Packers only deep threat thanks to the steady presence of James Jones (263 receiving yards, 3 touchdowns in 2011)…Nelson just happens to be Green Bay’s best deep threat.
2011-12 Stat Line: 413 receiving yards, 4 touchdowns
And now for the part of the list that everyone has been waiting for…
The Bottom 3 Deep-Threat Wideouts:
Devin Hester (Chicago Bears)
Breakdown: Anyone who has played fantasy football for a few years has probably carried Devin Hester on their roster for at least two weeks. It’s a common mistake and those who do so can’t really be blamed for such optimism, after all he used to be a good player. But as any psychiatrist will tell you, the definition of insanity is the repetition of any action with the expectation of a different outcome. Therefore, those who continually draft Hester or pick him up off the waiver wire and expect him to be productive each time are clinically insane. By the way that’s not an opinion, that’s Psychology 101. In all seriousness, Hester’s offensive shortcomings aren’t really even his fault as much as they are the by-product of a Bears coaching staff that has no idea how to effectively utilize his unique talents. For at least the past three seasons NFL experts have been imploring Chicago to stop using a kick return specialist as a starting wide receiver to no avail. So here it is 2011 and observers still continue to marvel at the absurdity of the Devin Hester experiment. The lunatic in all of us must think,”Maybe next year they’ll come to their senses”.
2011-12 Stat Line: 262 receiving yards, 1 touchdown
Malcolm Floyd (San Diego Chargers)
Breakdown: Somewhat more benign than the atrocity that is Devin Hester but perhaps equally disappointing is the performance of Malcolm Floyd in 2011. He currently finds himself in the frustrating category of players who should be better than they are. Think of it this way, Floyd plays in Norv Turner’s pass-first spread offense that features the whiny but talented Philip Rivers under center at quarterback and plays on the other side of the freakishly athletic Vincent Jackson, who consistently warrants double coverage. Plus with a 6’5″, 225 lb frame Malcolm Floyd’s noteworthy size, when mixed with his outstanding jumping ability and breakaway speed, should provide the perfect set of characteristics for emergence as one of the league’s premier young deep threats. Hopefully Floyd will overcome his slow start and breakout in the second half of the season.
2011-12 Stat Line: 258 receiving yards, 1 touchdown
Devery Henderson (New Orleans Saints)
Breakdown: As much as the following admission pains this article’s author, the fact is that while Devery Henderson will always have big play capability he rarely possesses big play ability. Furthermore, Henderson’s limited skill set puts a cap on his potential for offensive productivity. The only reason he has stayed in the Saints starting lineup for the past few seasons is his remarkable ability to run downfield extremely fast in a straight line. That’s IT. So unfortunately the list of his shortcomings is considerably longer: he’s NOT a possession receiver, he CANNOT work in the slot position, he CANNOT be effective over the middle of the field. However, he can be pushed out wide and effectively run a deep route. Devery Henderson is the stereotypical deep threat in today’s NFL in many ways. He rarely sees more than 5 targets in any given game thus he is a feast-or-famine fantasy player who can be depended upon for the occasional touchdown and has no value as high yardage receiver.
2011-12 Stat Line: 288 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns