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Kendall Wright is entering his third year in the league and has improved his production each of his first two seasons. He is on the verge of pushing his production and numbers for a third staight year and possibly becoming a WR1/WR2 value play in fantasy. The big knock on Wright is his touchdown numbers which he has only scored a total of 6 in his first two years in the league. One of the main reasons for that is how the Titans use him when they get close to the end zone. The fact is that they don't target him at all in the end zone and although the rest of his numbers of 94 receptions and 1,079 recieving yards stand out on paper, the fact that he only secured 2 touchdowns last season really hindered his fantasy value. For PPR leagues he is an easy plug and play as your WR3/flex player and will safely get you 10 fantasy points weekly. But when you are looking for a higher upside play which will have a big productive week the 2 touchdowns are a little alarming.
The Titans offense has been a conservative one the first two years of Wright's career. Now entering year three, Wright will be working with a brand new head coach and offensive scheme in Ken Whisenhunt and hopefully the end zone targets will rise as well as the potential to see even more targets and receptions. Another key to Wright's success will be if Jake Locker can stay healthy and finally develop into the QB the Titans have hoped in years past. Wright is a ball possession monster and with the potential break out of Justin Hunter on the outside, even more targets in the slot could be had for Wright this year. Footballguys own Bob Henry, views Wright in the same light as Steelers WR Antonio Brown who just came off a breakout year in his own right. Henry had this to say about Wright, "He could be entering into a multi-year run of 100+ catches with a chance to establish himself as a low WR1, strong WR2 much like Brown has in Pittsburgh." It is certainly not out of the picture for Wright to hit a similar stride such as Brown especially based on the volume of targets he sees in Tennessee.
Wright had 243 targets and 158 receptions in his first two years in the league on a team that struggled offensively. Those numbers are continuing to trend in Wright's favor and at his current ADP he is a steal in rounds 6-8. Out of Wright's 94 catches last year 51 of them were for first downs and 2 others resulted in touchdowns. What that number tells you is that when Wright catches the ball he knows how to extend plays and is called upon in key downs throughout the game. I believe he is only scratching the surface at what he can also bring with his speed and downfield threat that he once showed in college at Baylor.
POSITIVES
- Go to WR in Tennessee at the moment and can rack up the catches.
- 3rd year in the league and has built on his momentum each year, and 2014 could be a breakout year.
- New head coach in Ken Whisenhunt where offense could be more in Wright's favor.
- Heavily targeted his first two years in the league and no signs of the targets slowing down.
- His current ADP is #71 overall and with his floor alone he will easily bypass that ADP.
- Emerging WR Justin Hunter on the outside along with
- Extremly quick and has big play potential. Ran a 4.43 40-yard dash at his pro day.
NEGATIVES
- Competition. Outside of Justin Hunter there is very little recieving wise that may push Wright.
- QB play. So much of the Titans offensive success will be based on what Jake Locker can provide this year.
- Lack of end zone targets
- Lack of touchdowns, only scoring 6 touchdowns in 31 career NFL games.
- He has shown big play ability in college but has struggled to find the same success in the NFL so far.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Kendall Wright is both a safe fantasy option and one that has a high upside. ESPN fantasy guru, Matthew Berry had some great fantasy nuggets about Wright's 2013 production in his A Hundred Fantasy Football Facts which are listed below.
- Over the final eight weeks of the season, only four wide receivers had more receptions than Kendall Wright's 51: Pierre Garcon, Julian Edelman, Josh Gordon and Andre Johnson.
- Wright caught 67.1 percent of his targets over that span, fourth among the 31 wideouts who had at least 50 targets.
- Only nine wide receivers had at least 90 receptions last year. Eight of them had at least five touchdowns, with an average of nine scores per player. The ninth, Kendall Wright, had two.
- Give Kendall Wright five total touchdowns instead of two (and assume the three touchdowns are at least a total of 10 yards combined), and he's a top-20 wide receiver tied with T.Y. Hilton and Torrey Smith.
Wright may not have the big name appeal currently but he certainly has the numbers to justify taking him earlier than later in fantasy drafts. It almost seems impossible for Wright to catch anything less than 100 catches this year, and drafting him as a WR3 will be a huge advantage for your team at his current ADP.
PROJECTIONS
Projections | Rush | RuYds | RuTD | Rec | RecYds | RecTD |
James Brimacombe | 2 | 10 | 0 | 95 | 1150 | 7 |
David Dodds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 950 | 6 |
OTHER VIEWPOINTS
Tim Heaney at KFFL had this to say about the Titans passing offense
"Whisenhunt knows how to call plays that get the ball early into the hands of receiving targets. Building up Locker's short game will lead to the long one finding its groove, too. A refined throwing motion could also tap into the potential hidden for years in his right arm."
Brad Berreman at Rant Sports had Wright as a potential breakout candidate
Wright's "big-play ability he flashed during his collegiate career at Baylor was missing, as he averaged a dismal 9.8 yards per catch" in his rookie season.