Today's fantasy football profile will take a look at rookie wide receiver Terrace Marshall Jr. by looking at his positives, his concerns, and a variety of other important information in determining his fantasy outlook for 2021.
He's been sliding under the radar for most of the offseason, but is it justified to pass on him in fantasy drafts given his offseason performance?
Let's find out and dive in!
The Good With Terrace Marshall Jr.
- College Production & Talent: Terrace Marshall Jr. had 48 receptions for 731 receiving yards and 10 receiving touchdowns in his seven games last year for LSU. He was a big-play threat on the field, scoring a touchdown every four catches over his last two years at LSU.
- Offensive System & Coaching: Panthers head coach Matt Rhule & offensive coordinator Joe Brady were both been a part of WR heavy offenses over their college coaching careers, and last year in the NFL was no different as the Panthers wide receiver room averaged 15.69 receptions on 23.19 targets for 205.75 receiving yards and 0.63 receiving touchdowns per game. This WR focus makes it a little easier to believe that Terrace Marshall Jr. will see a healthy workload/volume in 2021.
- Physical Characteristics & Athleticism: Terrace Marshall Jr. has a very intriguing combination of speed and size - standing at 6’2’’, weighing 205 pounds, and running a 4.38 forty-yard dash at his LSU pro day. He’s also shown he has a wide catch radius and has decent after-the-catch ability.
The Concerns With Terrace Marshall Jr.
- Quarterback Play: The Carolina Panthers acquired Sam Darnold this offseason to be the franchise’s new starting quarterback. Over the course of his career (38 games), Darnold has completed just 59.8% of his passes, has a 1.15 passing touchdown to interception ratio (45 TDs, 39 interceptions), and has averaged just 213.1 passing yards per game. While Darnold is still young, there are legitimate questions on if he can play well enough in 2020 to support three fantasy-relevant wide receivers.
- Injuries: Marshall has broken his leg, dealt with ankle issues, and had arthroscopic surgery on his knee in January. The medical reports on him were reportedly ‘not good’ which caused him to slip a bit in the 2021 NFL Draft.
- The Dropsies: Marshall Jr. had a 12.7% drop rate in 2020, which ranked as the fifth-worst in the SEC. Focus drops were definitely an issue last year and he’ll need to improve on it at the NFL level.
Additional Info
- During the preseason Terrace Marshall Jr. has put up stat lines of three receptions on five targets for 88 receiving yards (Preseason Week 1), three receptions on three targets for 50 receiving yards (Preseason Week 2), and three receptions on four targets for 43 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown (Preseason Week 3).
- The Carolina Panthers had three fantasy-relevant wide receivers in 2020 with D.J. Moore, Robby Anderson, and Curtis Samuel.
- D.J. Moore was WR17 in standard (9.7 fantasy PPG), WR22 in 0.5 PPR (11.9 fantasy PPG), and WR25 in PPR (14.1 fantasy PPG) last year.
- Robby Anderson was WR27 in standard (8.1 fantasy PPG), WR24 in 0.5 PPR (11.0 fantasy PPG), and WR19 in PPR (14.0 fantasy PPG) last year.
- Curtis Samuel was WR25 in standard (9.0 fantasy PPG), WR25 in 0.5 PPR (11.6 fantasy PPG), and WR24 in PPR (14.1 fantasy PPG) last year.
- Terrace Marshall Jr. has received a lot of positive reports out of training camp this offseason.
- Terrace Marshall Jr. worked with Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady during LSU’s 2019 season.
Personal Thoughts
Terrace Marshall Jr. is going off the board as WR69 on ESPN (169.1 overall) and WR76 on NFL.com (150.44 overall). The bottom line is he’s a late-round pick. My personal belief is that it will take Marshall a few weeks to get used to playing at the NFL level, but he will eventually become a very solid fantasy wide receiver.
I’m more interested in him in a dynasty league than re-draft, but there’s enough upside there to take him in one of the last rounds of your fantasy drafts in the hopes he has a rookie season like Tee Higgins or Chase Claypool did a year ago.
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