Wide Receivers to Prioritize in Non-PPR Leagues

Antonio Losada evaluates wide receivers for fantasy football that should be prioritized in Standard leagues while faded in PPR due to their lack of targets and receptions but high efficiency on low volume.

Fantasy draft season will be upon us before we know it. Aside from evaluating ADP and staying in tune with training camp reports this summer, it's also important to study differences between league types. Some still play standard leagues but these days, PPR (point per reception) formats are the norm.

The only difference between those leagues comes down to a simple matter of awarding one extra point to players that catch a pass.

With both Standard and PPR-scoring systems in mind, it's time to discover which players are surefire bets in one system but potential duds in the other. Today, I'm highlighting some wide receivers who are primed to become studs in Standard leagues but lose some value when used in PPR formats.

Tyler Lockett, Seattle Seahawks

If you pay attention to the NFL rumors and developments that pop up around the whole nation, then you have heard about it: Deebo Samuel, A.J. Brown, and DK Metcalf are daily headline-grabbers amid the possibility of them forcing a trade out of their current franchises entering a contract-year in which they will demand a filled bag. Not mentioned so often, though, is Seattle Seahawks veteran WR Tyler Lockett. And it makes no sense. Yes, Metcalf is the WR1 of the team and the future building block if you have to pick one of the two. But Lockett's numbers are gaudy and he's been a top-20 WR for four seasons in a row and counting.

Lockett's had his best year in 2020, got drafted last summer with an ADP of WR21, and still found a way to outperform that high standard by putting up WR16 numbers in PPR formats. But we're here praising Lockett because of his all-around game and standard-format scoring prowess. And boy, did he deliver the goodies last year. Lockett scored eight TDs in 2021 (four years in a row scoring 8+) while missing just one game (in fact, Lockett has missed two games in his seven-year career).

Lockett's calling card--efficiency in the passing game--was definitely broken as Lockett could only grab 68.2% of the balls thrown his way, yet even then he finished with the highest total yards (1,175) figure of his career! That's because he put up an unreasonable 16.1 YPR to go with 8.2 Completed Air Yards per target, 2.6 Yds/Route, and an above-average 40% contested catch rate. In other words, Lockett made the absolute most of his touches, then added some more mojo on top of that, and built himself a WR10 monument in standard formats compared to his WR16 finish in PPR leagues. Keep sleeping on T-Lock at your own peril.

CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys' receiving corps endured a tough season in 2021 as all three of its most-used WRs couldn't crack the top-18 in the wideout fantasy leaderboard in PPR contests and only CeeDee Lamb finished as a borderline WR1 in standard leagues. Borderline, I said, because he finished the year as the WR13 but already 14 full-FP below WR12 Diontae Johnson. Even then, though, there's no arguing Lamb was much better in classic leagues than PPR ones (WR19).

Lamb's total numbers weren't really impressive when it came to scoring as he only put up six TDs over his 16 games. But looking at the top-12 WRs in standard formats, only Deebo finished higher than Lamb in total FP while having six or fewer touchdowns. Not bad. Similar to what Deebo did for San Fran (barring the TDs), Lamb put up 76 rushing yards on just nine carries to add a little bit of oomph to his fantasy tally.

Although Lamb "only" caught 79-of-120 targets for 1,102 yards over the season, his 13.9 YPR ranked third-highest among WRs with 79+ receptions, only behind Ja'Marr Chase's and Justin Jefferson's figures. Lamb's YPR mark was boosted by his legit after-catch production, getting 3.3 YAC per target (12th-most), and also because of his top-18 Completed AY/Target figure of 5.9 (though he averaged a relatively low 9.4 aDOT running most routes off the slot). With Amari Cooper and Cedrick Wilson out of Dallas and James Washington the only addition to the receiving unit, odds are Lamb sees an uptick in volume while maybe improving his production--remember Lamb just turned 23 and is entering his third season as a pro.

DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles

Another young gun and a former first-round pick (top-10, actually), DeVonta Smith did more than enough to have him in a very serious conversation when it comes to the WRs with the highest upside entering 2022. You wouldn't say so given how Waddle and Chase have grabbed every single headline through the past few months, but here are some facts: of the 32 WRs drafted with a top-10 pick since 2000, Smith topped the average PPR points they put up (185.6 compared to 131.1) while finishing with the 10th-most points among those in that select group above the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, and Ted Ginn. No joke.

QB Jalen Hurts was a top-12 player at the position, but that has a lot to do with his ground game and not that much with his passing. Hurts posted a 313.9 FP mark last year but 44% of those came via rushing yards/touchdowns, thus cutting the Eagles' WRs upside for fantasy purposes. Even then, Smith still found a way toward a top-30 WR finish in both PPR and standard formats. You might wonder why am I highlighting Smith here as a standard-chase/PPR-fade candidate if he did pretty much the same. Well, his player profile definitely favors the latter and the offense-context he's part of in Philly does so too.

Hurts is not going to start throwing twice the amount of passes he did in the past--not at least while his wheels stay healthy and greased. That, along with the potential addition of another WR in the draft (Philadelphia has two first-round picks) and the arrival of Zach Pascal from Indy is going to make Smith's volume stay the same in most scenarios. Smith, though, is a legit deep-field threat with a top-four aDOT (14.4 yards) and ridiculous Completed AY/Target marks (7.1 over the 2021 season). It might be argued that Smith has a little bit of a boom/bust profile to him, yes, but that's quite more valuable in standard than PPR formats and it already proved to be a top-30 skill set with upside for much more while Smith keeps developing as a pro.

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