Marquez Valdes-Scantling was the second-most productive receiver on the Packers in Week 1. Is that a trend we should expect to see moving forward? Or was this just a flash in the pan?
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Valdes-Scantling recorded four receptions on six targets for 96 yards and a touchdown in the Packers debut victory over the Vikings. His six targets were only 14.6% of the total targets, as Davante Adams grabbed a massive 41.5% with 17 targets. Valdes-Scantling had the second-most targets alongside Aaron Jones, who also had six.
Valdes-Scantling was a central piece of the very frustrating Packers receiving carousel from 2019. Everyone was salivating at the change to get the number two receiver on the high-volume Packers offense. One candidate was Valdes-Scantling, who had 416 yards over his first seven games, the final three of which came with Davante Adams sidelined. In his last eight games, he had a total of 36 receiving yards on a total of five receptions as Allen Lazard attempted a breakout of his own, and Aaron Jones showed flashes of involvement in the passing game.
The good part about the Packers receiving corps in 2019 is that it should be down to only Valdes-Scantling and Lazard as the second option due to the departure of Geronimo Allison, the opt-out of Devin Funchess, and the lack of any additional added weapons through free agency or the draft.
Unfortunately, I can’t say with any certainty that Valdes-Scantling will continue to be a consistent contributor with the Packers. Davante Adams is always going to get his targets, as he recorded double-digit targets in eight out of 12 games last season. In the four games where Davante Adams was out, Valdes-Scantling recorded only 11 total receptions for 203 yards, and 133 of those yards came in one game, and 74 of those 133 yards came on one reception. In short, he wasn’t treated anything like a number one receiver while Adams was down.
The only player that came anywhere close to their number one receiver when Adams was out was Aaron Jones, a running back.
In 2016, Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams recorded 1257 and 997 receiving yards, respectively. Since then, the highest-yardage output after Davante Adams was Randall Cobb, with 653 yards in 2017. Without elite talent at the position, the Packers have had one number one receiver in Davante Adams, and the options behind him have been rotated, inconsistent, and, to put it bluntly, a crap-shoot.
I wouldn’t be throwing a high waiver priority or any significant FAAB money at Valdes-Scantling unless he sees consistent involvement for about two or three more weeks. If history is any indication, he’ll disappear randomly. He strikes me as more of a high-risk, high-reward daily fantasy play over someone you’d trust to lock into a WR3 or FLEX spot in a season-long lineup.
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Donald Gibson is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Donald, check out his archive and follow him @DonaldGibsonFF.
