Fantasy Football Outlook: Jakobi Meyers, Tank Dell, Diontae Johnson, George Pickens

Every week we’ll bring you my rankings and tiers. You can find the full weekly fantasy football article here. Below we dive into a few notable players ahead of this weekend’s games.

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Fantasy Football Outlook

How low is too low for Raiders WRs Devante Adams and Jakobi Meyers in this week’s rankings? Las Vegas is starting a rookie who was a Day 3 draft pick, Aidan O’Connell, and they have a hellish matchup against the Jets and their no-fly-zone secondary. Adams is a Hall-of-Fame level player, so I can’t put him any lower than WR14 no matter how fierce the headwinds. O’Connell had made two starts for the Raiders this season, and Adams has drawn 20 targets in those starts. I’m less enthusiastic about Meyers (WR38), who’s drawn nine targets in O’Connell’s two starts.

George Pickens‘ per-game averages in the four games Diontae Johnson has missed this season: 8.3 targets, 4.3 receptions, 89.3 receiving yards, 0.5 touchdowns. Pickens’ per-game averages in the four games Johnson has played this season: 6.3 targets, 3.3 receptions, 41.0 receiving yards, 0.25 touchdowns. Pickens is a big-play artist with extraordinary ball skills. Where he’s less impressive is with his route running and his ability to be a consistent target earner. I have Pickens ranked WR26 because of his big-play ability, and I’m well above consensus on him. Admittedly, the low end of Pickens’ range of outcomes is dungeon-level when Diontae Johnson is healthy.

I’m well below consensus on Tank Dell. I’ve got him at WR28. Dell’s ECR is WR23. Yes, Dell smashed last week against a pass-funnel Buccaneers defense, finishing with 6-114-2. Dell is a modern-day DeSean Jackson, a small, speedy receiver with electrifying playmaking ability and a streaky production profile. Dell has had three games this season with more than 20 PPR points, but he’s had four games in which he’s scored fewer than 8.5 PPR points. Dell had a season-high 11 targets last week, and he had a 10-target game back in Week 2. But Dell has also seen four or fewer targets in 4-of-7 games. The Texans aren’t especially pass-heavy, and Dell’s matchup with the Bengals this week isn’t especially favorable. I can’t quite get Dell into WR2 territory.