Anyone who drafted Zay Jones in 2022 will be happy to tell you how valuable a late-round receiver can be for your fantasy rosters. More often than not, these are players who can sit on your bench until bye weeks or you’re more certain of what value they can bring to your starting lineup. One thing is for sure, nailing these late picks can help you take down your league and walk away with a championship.
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2023 Late-Round Wide Receivers
Using FantasyPros Consensus ADP (Average Draft Position)
Van Jefferson (LAR): 215 Overall | WR72
Jefferson is another wide receiver on an offense we assume will be bad this year. He is the presumes WR 2 on a Rams’ team deep in a soft rebuild they hope won’t drag on for too long.
Much like the Cardinals, the Rams have a depleted defense outside of Aaron Donald, and they seem sure to leave the offense in catchup mode often. Matthew Stafford is, by all reports, healthier this year than last. He is past the elbow and shoulder issues that plagued his 2022 training camp and season.
Aside from Cooper Kupp, Jefferson faces little to no competition for playing time. The Rams only brought in Demarcus Robinson as a free agent and Puka Nacua in the draft. Jefferson was a top-36 wide receiver in 40% of his appearances last season, including games where Baker Mayfield and John Wolford were the starting quarterback.
It might not feel great, but there is a very real chance Jefferson is regularly on the field and catching passes for the Rams.
Curtis Samuel (WAS): 243 Overall | WR81
In 2022, Samuel started the season red hot with an average of 18.4 PPR points over the first three games, as Carson Wentz routinely checked down. It felt like Samuel could be THE late-round receiver of 2022. Unfortunately for fantasy managers, things changed quickly when Wentz picked up an injury and missed a large part of the season.
When Wentz wasn’t in the lineup, Samuel’s average targets per game dropped from 7.0 to 3.9, obviously making him less useful for fantasy purposes. In the one game Sam Howell played in 2022, we saw very little from Samuel in the passing game, which makes it hard to project too much for 2023. If Eric Bienemy deems it prudent to find Howell a safety outlet near the line of scrimmage, however, Samuel could absolutely be the man we want to draft.
During Bienemy’s time in Kansas City, he often found a player like Mecole Hardman or Kadarius Toney for which to script plays. Samuel looks to fit that role nicely on paper. It’s also worth considering that the Commanders’ backfield is currently manned by Brian Robinson and Antonio Gibson. Neither running back has seized the job so far. If that continues, perhaps we see Samuel used in the rushing game as he was in Carolina before his big-money move to Washington.
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