The third week of the preseason is over so that can only mean one thing… that it is time to draft. As usual the third week of the preseason served up a few major injuries and smart fantasy leagues/owners have not drafted yet.
Analysis: Emmanuel Sanders is looking like a WR1 out there. On Saturday night he posted 128 yards and 2 touchdowns on 5 receptions and 8 targets. Eric Decker finished 2013 as the 8th best fantasy wide out and his replacement may be able to do the same. It seems even if you “slightly lowball” Sanders to 1,100 yards and 9 touchdowns you still have yourself a wide out that would have finished 2013 as the 15th best receiver.
Currently, Sanders is the 28th to 31st wide receiver being taken in the 65-85 pick range. Is this real life? Guys like Golden Tate, Cordarrelle Patterson, Sammy Watkins and Percy Harvin are being taken around and even before Sanders comes off the board.
There are far too many “reaches” in fantasy drafts these days but Sanders is not one of them. He can easily put up WR1/WR2 numbers for the price of a low end WR2 or a WR3.