When you hear the phrase “must-have,” it is important to understand the context. Of course, we’d all love to have Tyreek Hill and Davante Adams on our fantasy teams. Those guys are going to cost first-round picks and just aren’t easily attainable. For this article, a “must-have” wide receiver is a player going in the middle to late rounds that you can afford to reach a bit for, if necessary.
“Must-have” does not mean to go out of your way to get this guy – passing on superior players just to do so. Take it as a strong recommendation to find a way to get this player on your team at the right price. For the most part, these will be receivers that I believe are undervalued or poised to break out this season.
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Tee Higgins (CIN)
I wrote about Tee Higgins back in March in my Players Already Sold On article, but given the Bengals’ selection of Ja’Marr Chase fifth overall, I felt compelled to comment on him again. We won’t notice the impact of the draft on fantasy ADPs right away, but I’m anticipating a bit of a dip in Higgins’ ADP when the dust settles. There’s no way to spin Chase’s arrival as a positive for Higgins, but if the decrease in cost is greater than the decrease in value, I’m still all-in on Higgins while acknowledging his ceiling is lower now than it was a month ago.
From my previous article: What I love about Higgins is how under the radar good his rookie season was. He only finished as the overall WR36, so there’s not this massive hype surrounding him, but it’s important to put some context around that. Higgins was not part of the offense Week 1, so he played but wasn’t targeted, and Higgins scored zero points in Week 17. He was incredibly reliable in his other 14 games, hitting double-digit fantasy points in 11 of them, including six WR2 or better finishes.
Higgins is still an unquestioned starter on a rising offense. Their base set will have Higgins and Chase on the outside with Tyler Boyd in the slot. I believe Joe Burrow can support three fantasy viable receivers, especially since the Bengals don’t really have a tight end of consequence. WR1 is likely no longer in Higgins’ range of outcomes, but I expect his price to fall to mid to low WR3, which is his floor. If that happens, I will be aggressively targeting Higgins in the middle of my drafts.
Courtland Sutton (DEN)
If there is one player I am putting my reputation on this season, it’s Courtland Sutton. While he’s not without risks, specifically poor quarterback play, Sutton is an alpha WR1 talent that seems to have been forgotten about after a lost season due to a torn ACL. Sutton was sneaky good in 2019 despite a mid WR3 finish. He hit double-digit fantasy points 11 times and had six games of WR1 level production.
If you were to make a list of wide receivers with “best wide receiver in the NFL” in their plausible range of outcomes, Sutton is on that list. That’s how good he is. If Sutton played a full 2020 season, my guess is he would be a third or fourth-round pick in fantasy drafts. He’s going to be available in the fifth round and possibly later in weaker leagues. There’s certainly a risk that after training camp and preseason, Sutton reminds everyone who he is, and his ADP rises, but for now, I plan to draft Sutton in the fifth round every single time.
Denzel Mims (NYJ)
The Jets have a suddenly crowded receiving corps after signing Corey Davis and drafting Elijah Moore, but the guy I am targeting is Denzel Mims. He comes at the price of pretty much free as he can be the last wide receiver you draft. Mims had an unproductive rookie season mired by injury, Sam Darnold and Adam Gase. It’s a brave new world in New York this season. The Jets have a new quarterback, a new coach, and a further improved offensive line. Zach Wilson should have time to throw, and he is undoubtedly better than Darnold.
Mims will start alongside Davis, with rookie Elijah Moore manning the slot (I’m assuming Jamison Crowder gets cut, but either way, Mims and Davis are the top two receivers). The reason I want Mims is that he’s low cost, high upside. If Wilson proves worthy of the second overall pick, Mims should at least be able to post WR3 numbers. If things don’t work out, it cost me nothing.
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Jason Katz is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Jason, check out his archive and follow him @jasonkatz13.
