The 13 Most Undervalued Players in Fantasy Football
Pierre Garcon, WR, San Francisco 49ers
Let me get this out of the way: I'm not into the "Kyle Shanahan feeds his top receiver" narrative.
It's true that Pierre Garcon hit 181 targets (this is real life) in 2013 with Shanahan as offensive coordinator in Washington. And, yes, Julio Jones had a whopping 203 under Shanny in 2015. Andre Johnson's work with Shanahan in Houston should be highlighted here, as well -- he was peppered with targets as a Texan.
With more context, you can see why these guys saw so many targets under Shanahan. Andre Johnson, for instance, always saw a lot of targets. He actually averaged just 0.07 fewer targets per game the year following Shanahan's departure from Houston, and he also reached his Shanahan target totals years later for the Texans.
Julio Jones' high-target campaign two seasons ago came because Julio Jones is good at football, and literally no one else on the Falcons was. There's a reason Jones' per-game market share dropped in 2016: the team added Mohamed Sanu, and they fed their beastly running backs more. They had more weapons.
If we're being real, though, Garcon is in a similar situation as he was in 2013. His biggest competition for targets back then was an aged Santana Moss, and this year, it's... Marquise Goodwin? Aldrick Robinson? Jeremy Kerley? Who even knows?
With that being said, I'm not ready to hand over 181 targets to Garcon for the season. The 2013 Redskins threw the ninth-most passes in football, and Garcon had an incredible 29.79% share of that. This year's 49ers may not be efficient enough to throw as many balls. And keep in mind, the last time Kyle Shanahan coached Brian Hoyer -- this was in Cleveland in 2014 -- Hoyer and the Browns threw just 12 passing touchdowns with the seventh-fewest pass attempts in the NFL.
Garcon should still see a lot of targets, though, which is why he made this list. He, by default, will be relevant in fantasy football. He's currently being drafted at WR39 on FantasyFootballCalculator.com, and regardless of the offense that he'll be playing in, that's a beautiful price for a guy who could easily hit 130 or more targets.
