2. Terry McLaurin, Washington Redskins
After being drafted in the third round last year, McLaurin became Washington’s No. 1 wide receiver with 58 receptions on 93 targets for 919 yards and seven touchdowns in 14 games. He led the team in all of those categories, and the man who was second in catches, targets and yards (running back Chris Thompson) is gone.
The Redskins added to their skill position mix by drafting Antonio Gibson and Antonio Gandy-Golden. But McLaurin remains the unchecked No. 1 target in the passing game. His success with below-par quarterback play (9.9 yards per target), and with a mid-season head coaching change shifting the offense toward the run under Bill Callahan, becomes even better. From Week 1-Week 4, with Case Keenum mostly as his quarterback, McLaurin averaged the fifth-most fantasy points per game in full PPR (19.9).
From Week 9-16, when Dwayne Haskins took all the snaps for the Redskins under center, McLaurin was WR35 in full PPR and a WR3 in all scoring formats. For the season as a whole he was WR24 in standard scoring and WR25 in full PPR.
McLaurin was a low-end WR2/high-end WR3 in about as bad a situation as could be as a rookie. The fact he’s coming in with ADPs of WR30 (standard) and WR27 (full PPR) right now feels criminal. Much of his outlook for this year is dependent on Haskins taking a solid step, but McLaurin has a significant target share and a WR1 ceiling that can be gotten at a WR3 price.