RADIO
It is hard--very hard--to trust your fantasy season to an unproven rookie late in the season. Early in the year? Whatever-anything goes! That first-round wide receiver playing on a run-first team? Hey, it's Week 2, so I'll take the risk! But by Week 12? The level of trust you have to show at this point in your players is high, so throwing in someone whose NFL resume is mostly blank is a tough pill to swallow. Sometimes, though, it's the right pill to go with.
Below are some rookies who haven't done much this season who have potential moving forward. I've ordered them by how much trust I have in them.
First, though, I think it's worth pointing out some names who aren't on this list, some rookies who you definitely should keep avoiding. Bengals wide receiver John Ross has only been targeted twice this season and will likely be a healthy inactive most weeks going forward. Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams is extremely talented, but there are so many mouths to feed in Los Angeles right now that I left him off this list. Browns tight end David Njoku probably wouldn't actually qualify for this since he's had a few big weeks, but even if he did I'm avoiding him because Cleveland's offense is too inconsistent for me to envision him as a constant threat (whereas the two tight ends I do mention aren't nearly as talented as Njoku, but are potentially in line to see better volume.)
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Rookies to Target for the Playoff Stretch
Samaje Perine (RB, Washington Redskins)
I was high on Perine before this season, when I drafted him in a start-up dynasty league as my number three running back. That...didn't quite work out, as Chris Thompson and Rob Kelley saw the majority of the playing time in Washington. Well, those two guys are now done for the season, which leaves Perine as the number one guy in D.C. It's not often that you can grab a potential bell-cow back at this point in the season (though I seem to recall Rob Kelley playing that role around this point last season). Washington can't throw the ball on every down, plus Perine has a good Week 12 matchup with the Giants and another good one in Week 14 against the Chargers. Could he finally be the answer to his team's run game? Maybe!
Zay Jones (WR, Buffalo Bills)
Jones has been on the field most of this season, but he hasn't contributed much for the Bills or fantasy owners outside of a 53 yard and a touchdown performance in Week 9. The rest of the Bills receiving corps is dealing with knee issues right now, though, and Jones is finally starting to actually catch his targets. The Bills don't play a great defense--at least from a fantasy perspective--for the rest of the season, though the two remaining games against New England could be messy as the Patriots continue to improve defensively. Jones could start providing fantasy owners with some of the value they were expecting when they drafted him near the end of drafts.
Corey Davis (WR, Tennessee Titans)
Like Jones, Corey Davis has a really inviting upcoming schedule. He's seen a lot of targets--22 of them--over the past three games since returning from a hamstring injury, but he's only turned that into nine catches. Still, I like the volume he's getting, but I'd like to see a little more production before I trust him over Jones. You can get all the targets in the world, but it means nothing until you consistently bring them in. Once he does that, he probably has the highest ceiling of anyone on this list. I'm still just a little cautious, though, since it's this late in the year and there's a lot on the line.
Dede Westbrook (WR, Jacksonville Jaguars)
I'm not sure how to find it now because I'm not sure where I saw it--maybe Twitter, maybe Reddit--but there was a chart going around about how many PPR points Westbrook had each week last year as a college player and there were some shocking numbers. Now, obviously, college production doesn't equal professional production, but Westbrook is an extremely talented player who looked really strong in the preseason and was targeted six times in his NFL debut. More importantly for fantasy owners, though, is his upcoming schedule: Week 12- Arizona, Week 13- Indianapolis, and Week 15- Houston. Those teams are all in the top seven for most fantasy points given up to wide receivers. The Jaguars aren't a team that goes heavy on the passing, but Westbrook might just need to have a strong game against the Cardinals this week to earn enough trust to see his share of the offense grow to a fantasy relevant amount. Don't count him out.
O.J. Howard (TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
The O.J. Howard takeover might finally be happening. After an up-and-down season playing behind starter Cameron Brate, Howard finally finished a game with more targets in Week 11. Brate has seen his role in the offense decrease pretty dramatically over the past month, and while Howard didn't have a catch back in Week 10 he still seems to be trending upwards. The Buccaneers have a tough schedule coming up against a handful of teams who are good at stopping tight ends, which could benefit Howard some--he's a more dynamic player than Brate, which means he might be more likely to put up numbers against teams that have done well against more traditional tight ends.
Kenny Golladay (WR, Detroit Lions)
I mean, are we just going to pretend we never had that weird Kenny Golladay hype train back during the preseason, when it looked like he would be the go-to target for Matthew Stafford in the red zone? In retrospect, we were expecting too much because rookie wideouts always take a little time to get comfortable in NFL offenses, but maybe now we've reached the point where Golladay is worth rostering? He's not going to be a guy who gets much volume, but his ability to make big plays down the field gives him scoring upside and makes him an intriguing flex option in deeper leagues.
Adam Shaheen (TE, Chicago Bears)
Shaheen has caught all six of his targets over the past two games and has probably done enough to earn the tight end job in Chicago. The Bears play the Eagles this week, a team who have been susceptible to tight ends at times this year, and play the Browns in Week 16, a team that is even worse against the position. I'm not saying I'd play a rookie Bears tight end in a potential championship game, but I am saying that he might be worth a stash in deeper formats in case he sustains his recent level of play.
Ricky Seals-Jones (TE, Arizona Cardinals)
The tight end market isn't great this year, which is why the undrafted rookie Ricky Seals-Jones has some upside right now after scoring a pair of touchdowns against Houston. Arizona hasn't had consistency at the tight end position this year, which means Seals-Jones could pretty easily grab the starting job. He was a wide receiver at Texas A&M, which is a good sign for his ability to catch the ball. I think, ultimately, I trust Shaheen more if I'm taking a risk on a rookie tight end, because he's shown a little more consistency, but it's hard to look at a Week 15 game against Washington and a Week 16 one against the Giants and not feel at least a little bit like Seals-Jones is worth rostering, especially in a larger league.
