Written By Josh Farnsworth
Images By Frank ‘The Franchise’ Wade
S18 Best Value: Wide receivers
The best value caravan rolls on as we dive into the deepest pool of players on the offensive side of the ball: receivers. In my review of tight ends, I mentioned that certain positions have multiple “genres” of players. Wideouts are the same way.
Some live outside the numbers. Some make the underneath routes their home. Some stay in to block. And on and on my list goes.
With the increase in roster sizes, many squads opted for a fourth wide receiver. Pair that with a slight increase in the number of times running backs caught the ball this season and wide receivers had interesting value in Season 18.
Some of the noted imperfections when it comes to judging the wideouts:
Does not take how well the WR blocks in the run game
Does not distinguish as slot possession WR vs. outside deep threat
Does not account for WRs who moonlight as kick/punt returners (I see you, Doug Britton), but even with an amended formula, the top five would not have changed.
With these disclaimers in mind, I used a fairly basic formula to tabulate who gave their team the best value based on their contract number (VPs or Value Points). The envelope please…
5. Mac Chimah/Baltimore- 2.36 VPs
Another day, another Vulture superlative to throw on the heap. Chimah is maddening to try and gameplan against. He has the speed and elusiveness whether going over the middle, hitting the out to the sideline or beating you on a deep post. He’s a silky smooth operator in a juggernaut of an offense. His regular season numbers were once again elite: 75 catches, 1,171 yards and eight TDs. I’m sure the championship ring is nice, but a fifth place finish on my list is even better, right Mac? Right?
4. B.E. Robo/Louisiana- 2.37 VPs
The Revolution finished 21st in the SFL in passing yards for Season 18. That makes what Robo did to make this list even more impressive. His 92 catches was second among wide receivers and 1,058 yards was great value for someone who was comfortably under 100 in his contract value. It was his breakout season as a legitimate No. 1 in the Louisiana passing offense.
