Cheesy pick up lines, your first time behind the wheel of a car and rookie wide receivers.
Sorry, I'm just listing a few things that aren't supposed to work right away. But despite conventional wisdom, rookie wide receivers have had a huge impact in fantasy football this season.
"Ranking rookie receivers used to be the easiest thing in the world for pundits. Ignore, ignore, ignore. For every Randy Moss, you'd get countless Kevin Dysons. Come back and reevaluate in Year 2 or Year 3," noted Scott Painowski of Yahoo Sports.
Yet somehow, a handful of first-year pass catchers are making big time plays and helping fantasy teams much more than expected. Seven rookie receivers are in the Top 50 at their position in Yahoo points per game. That doesn't even include the small but impressive sample sizes for Martavis Bryant and Odell Beckham Jr.
Buffalo Bills' rookie Sammy Watkins is on pace to tie John Jefferson for the third-best fantasy season for a rookie receiver of all-time. His stats, extrapolated to a 16-game sample, equal 1,180 yards and ten touchdowns for 178 Yahoo fantasy points.
Kelvin Benjamin has become Cam Newton's favorite (read: only) receiver target in Carolina. He's on pace for a 1,046 yards/nine touchdowns season for 158 fantasy points. Should Benjamin stay the course, he'll overtake Keenan Allen for the ninth-best rookie receiver fantasy season of all-time.
Mike Evans, despite some highly questionable quarterback play, should finish the year with 985 yards and between eight and nine touchdowns. Jacksonville's rookie duo of Allens squared (Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson) are on pace for a combined 244 standard fantasy points. This is impressive for two reasons: 1) they're rookies, obviously and 2) they play for the Jaguars, where talent usually goes to wither and die.
No rookie receiver class has ever had six players finish in the Top 100 at their positions, but the 2014 class has a good chance at making history. If they do, I'll have to re-think the effectiveness of some of those cheesy pick up lines.
