By Garth Gregor. Let me just start by saying I do believe 2007 ended up as the year of the wide receiver. Three players surpassed the 2006 receiving touchdowns mark of 13 and three beat the 2006 receiving yards mark of 1,366. It seemed like every week it was one or more stud wide receivers going off compared to stud wide receivers. Steve Smith and Marvin Harrison were the first wide receivers off most draft boards and were big disappointments but other than that almost all top tier wide receivers exceeded expectations. Throw in Randy Moss and his NFL record setting season catching 23 touchdowns and it really must be considered the Year of the Wide Receiver.
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Week 17 |
2007 Projections |
| Player |
Yards |
TDs |
Yards |
TDs |
Points |
| Randy Moss |
1,493 |
23
|
1,493 |
23 |
283 |
| Terrell Owens |
1,355
|
15 |
1,355 |
15
|
251 |
| Braylon Edwards |
1,289 |
15 |
1,303 |
16 |
226
|
Reggie Wayne
|
1,510 |
10
|
1,510
|
10 |
216 |
Larry Fitzgerald
|
1,143
|
12 |
1,143 |
12
|
189
|
| T.J. Houshmandzadeh |
1,238
|
8
|
1,238 |
8
|
183
|
| Chad Johnson |
1,440
|
8
|
1,182 |
10 |
176 |
| Marques Colston |
1,202
|
11
|
1,202
|
11
|
178
|
Andre Johnson
|
851
|
8
|
1,513 |
14
|
237
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Looking forward to 2008, it is hard to imagine that as many consensus first and second round running backs will disappoint and/or succumb to injury. Most managers will continue the strategy of drafting running backs in the first two rounds. With undrafted fantasy superstars like Earnest Graham and Ryan Grant emerging mid-season that may be an outdated strategy or it might be the only way to protect against so much uncertainty at running backs. Points Per Reception further complicates the "round two decision" as just as more wide receivers(7) reached 240+ points compared to running backs(4) under this format. Andre Johnson would have tipped the scales further in the wide receiver's favor. If Andre had not missed 7+ games due to injury his number could have been top 5. This means Andre could be a good value a bit later in the draft.
I am not sure about Brady, Moss, and a few other elite wide receivers in the first round next year but other than LaDainian Tomlinson, Adrian Peterson, Brian Westbrook and Joseph Addai, are you really going to select a running back ahead of them?
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