Fantasy Football: 8 Late-Round Lottery Tickets for 2017
Ted Ginn, WR, New Orleans Saints
Average Draft Position:13.07 (WR62)
Most of the people on this list are going to be young pups. If they haven't had a chance to flash yet, their cost is naturally going to be lower, allowing them to fit the "lottery-ticket" mold.
Ted Ginn Jr. is a 32-year-old journeyman wide receiver. But dude can still ball.
In his final year with the Carolina Panthers, Ginn was among the best deep-ball receivers in the league, finishing eighth in Target NEP per target among those with at least 20 targets 16 or more yards downfield. That was while he had a banged-up Cam Newton and Derek Anderson as his quarterbacks.
Now, he goes to a New Orleans Saints team that just lost easily its best deep-ball threat in Brandin Cooks. Just look at the deep target distribution in the Saints' offense last year. There's a void to be filled here.
| Saints in 2016 | Deep Targets | Deep Target Market Share |
|---|---|---|
| Brandin Cooks | 36 | 33.33% |
| Coby Fleener | 20 | 18.52% |
| Michael Thomas | 18 | 16.67% |
| Willie Snead | 14 | 12.96% |
Ginn, for comparison, had 18.80% of the Panthers' deep targets last year. But given how well he did on those targets, it wouldn't be surprising if he jumped into a major role with the Saints.
Neither Michael Thomas nor Willie Snead was a big presence down the field for Drew Brees. Ginn can be that guy for the Saints. He's not going to flirt with the production that Cooks put forth, but with Ginn potentially having a high-leverage role in a potent offense, we'd be silly to overlook him just because of his age.
