Last week’s edition was all about veteran RBs and how savvy dynasty managers can use those players as essentially 1-2-year rentals on competing rosters. Young, talented RBs are expensive in dynasty. You can get quality production for a lot less by pivoting towards older options.

If that sounded like a sales pitch, it was. Don’t be afraid to go against the grain in dynasty.

This week, let’s take a closer look at veteran WRs and how. Like RBs, the young, flashy options are the enticing (expensive) ones. Thanks to players like Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, and CeeDee Lamb, young wideouts are all the rage. To be fair, they should be. They’re cornerstone, foundational pieces for any roster.

But what if I said you could get comparable production for pennies on the dollar. Might that interest you? I thought so. Let’s dive in.

Jakobi Meyers, WR - Raiders 

Perpetually undervalued and underrated.

Every. Single. Year.

That’s what comes to mind when I think of Jakobi Meyers. Despite not scoring a TD until his third season with the Patriots, he accounted for 11 total TDs in his first season with the Raiders:

  • 1 throwing
  • 2 rushing
  • 8 receiving

He’s now finished as a top-30 WR in three consecutive seasons despite playing with various QB combinations of Mac Jones, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Aidan O'Connell.

Meyers was the perfect compliment to Davante Adams this season. While Adams dominated the targets (33%) and air yards (44%), Meyers (20%/24%) was the only other fantasy-relevant option in that receiver room.

This season, Meyers finished as a top-40 WR 12 times. He rarely busted and was likely never the reason you lost a matchup. He also offered you some ceiling weeks with four performances inside the top 12.

Jakobi Meyers Game Log

He averaged more points per game than the impressive trio of rookies in Jordan Addison, Zay Flowers, and Rashee Rice and was right in line with players like DK Metcalf and Jaylen Waddle. If you asked someone to rank where Meyers finished among those guys, he probably winds up at the bottom for most people.

Simply underrated but all he does is produce.

Meyers is currently the dynasty WR45. That feels disrespectful considering he’s finished higher than that in three straight seasons with poor QB play. He’s also only 27 years old and has not had an issue staying healthy.

Regardless of who is under center for the Raiders next season, rest assured that Meyers will likely outproduce his ADP. Dynasty managers should prioritize him this offseason as they start to gear up for the 2024 campaign.

DeAndre Hopkins, WR - Titans

I’m old enough to remember when DeAndre Hopkins posted this absurd line back in 2015:

  • 192 targets
  • 111 receptions
  • 1,521 yards
  • 11 TDs

QBs to start for the Texans that year were Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, T.J. Yates, and Brandon Weeden.

Bet you didn’t think you were going to read those names, huh?

Hopkins went on to finish as a top-4 WR five times in six seasons (2015-2020). After a few tough seasons in Arizona, he appeared in all 17 games this year and finished as the WR22 in his first year with the Titans.

He’ll be 32 years old this summer but I believe he’s still got a bit left in the tank.

DeAndre Hopkins

Tennessee Titans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (10) celebrates his touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons during the third quarter at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023.

First, despite his age, he played a full season and demonstrated that high-end, elite target-earning ability that we grew accustomed to early in his career. His 137 targets easily paced the team and the No. 2 WR in targets (Nick Westbrook-Ikhine) finished with 45.

Despite going back and forth between Ryan Tannehill and Will Levis at QB, Hopkins remained the clear-cut No. 1 option for the Tennessee passing attack. He had six games with double-digit targets. His underlying metrics were also solid. He finished the season with:

  • 87% route participation
  • 26% TPRR
  • 29% target share
  • 44% air yards
  • 13.2 PPG

Tannehill is a free agent and figures to be moving on which would lead us to assume that Levis would get the first crack at retaining the starting job throughout the offseason and into next year. Despite being a rookie, Levis was not afraid to push the ball down the field. His aADOT (10.5) was a full two yards higher than Tannehill (8.0).

Also, while three of them came in one game, Hopkins did score six times in the eight-game stretch where Levis was the starter.

Hopkins has one year remaining on his two-year / $26 million contract he signed with Tennessee back in July. Assuming Levis, who dealt with injury at the end of the season, is healthy and the starter next year, Hopkins could once again be the clear beneficiary for a young QB who isn’t afraid to air it out.

Currently, Hopkins is the dynasty WR56. His age will forever keep him from gaining dynasty value ever again, but I would be willing to invest in him if my dynasty squad needed some extra juice to make that coveted title run next season.

Tyler Boyd, WR - Bengals

Similar to the criteria I look for when identifying veteran RBs to target in dynasty leagues, I want veteran wideouts who, understandably, are either on a good offense and/or in a position to command a large share of the target volume.

For many years, veteran Tyler Boyd has managed to stay just involved enough that he provided exceptional value for fantasy managers without breaking the bank. From 2018-2022, he never finished higher than WR16 or lower than WR33.

That type of WR2/WR3 production has value, especially when it doesn’t cost you that on draft day. However, a closer look at his fantasy finishes paints a slightly less exciting picture. Here are his finishes since 2018:

  • 2018 - WR16
  • 2019 - WR18
  • 2020 - WR29
  • 2021 - WR31
  • 2022 - WR33
  • 2023 - WR49

That’s not the trend you want to see. While you can somewhat justify this season with the injury to Joe Burrow, fellow wideouts Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins combined to miss six games and Boyd wasn’t a world-beater by any stretch.

Still, it’s situations like this where we can talk ourselves into buying in one more time, as long as the price is right.

Higgins may be headed for free agency. He could test the market and likely land a substantial contract for a talented wideout who profiles as a No. 1 option in the right environment. If that happens, Boyd could find himself in a complementary role to Chase and a healthy Burrow.

We need to mention that Boyd is also a free agent. He’ll obviously command less interest than Higgins but Boyd, who ran 81% of his routes from the slot this season, could slide into an Adam Thielen-type role for another team. A steady, reliable veteran who can handle a significant target share even in a less-than-ideal offensive situation.

Boyd is currently the dynasty WR76. He’ll turn 30 next November and has spent his entire eight-year career with the Bengals. He could find himself in a situation where he can provide a stable floor of production for fantasy managers for another year or two.

Noah Brown, WR - Texans

Usually, when we have more than five years worth of data on someone, we know who they are. We don’t often see the coveted “seven-year breakout” player but when you land a franchise QB like CJ Stroud who elevates an entire offense, crazy things can happen.

Noah Brown began his career in Dallas before joining the Texans last offseason. Despite only appearing in 10 games due to a variety of injuries, and despite seeing 19 fewer targets and 10 fewer receptions than a year ago, he set a new career-best in receiving yards (567).

By now, we all know how incredible Stroud has been this season and into the playoffs. He’s certainly made his Rookie of the Year case (sorry, Puka) and has brought new life to this suddenly fantasy-rich organization.

Nico Collins and Tank Dell rightfully garnered the bulk of the hype this season but Brown quietly carved out his own role. In games where he played more than 50% of the snaps, here’s how he fared:

Noah Brown Game Log

81% route participation, 18% target share, and 24% air yards are solid marks for a team’s WR3. Brown will play all of next year at 28 years old and has already demonstrated chemistry and production with Stroud. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and project Brown to unseat Collins or Dell, but as an ancillary option on an ascending offense, Brown could be an ideal, cheap option for dynasty managers.

Brown is the dynasty WR68 as of this writing. For someone who averaged north of 11 points per game when healthy, that’s more than fine with me. We don’t have to hit a home run with every starting spot in our lineup. If you play in deeper formats, you sometimes just need someone to not score zero.

Don’t expect any hype pieces on Brown this offseason. You might be able to get him as an add-on to a larger deal if you wait until later in the offseason and people forget. His latest injury (shoulder) which forced him to miss the remainder of the postseason, will only help his price to fall even more.

Dynasty Breakout Watch