30 Fantasy Football Bold Predictions for the 2017 Season
Jeremy Maclin Will Finish as a Top-18 Wide Receiver
Why This Is Bold: Maclin is currently being drafted at WR35.
Why This Will Happen: The expectation is that Maclin will be used in the slot in Baltimore, which has produced a lot of volume in recent years. Last season, Steve Smith saw a hefty 45 of his 101 targets from that area of the field, and probably most importantly, Joe Flacco's utilized his tight ends a whole lot over the last couple of seasons. In 2016, they ranked fourth in receptions, and in 2015, they were 11th.
The Ravens have seen season-ending injuries -- that's plural -- to the position already this offseason, and they could be limited there as a result. That means there's a big market share of targets for Maclin to gobble up when lined up in that area of the field.
And, to be honest, there's not a whole lot of competition for targets in that offense period. Mike Wallace will demand a good chunk of looks, but opposite of Wallace will be Breshad Perriman, who's yet to prove anything at the NFL level -- he has 66 targets in two seasons in the league.
Maclin could realistically -- almost easily -- snag a 19% or 20% market share in this offense, and for a team that's thrown the ball more than any other squad over the last two years (albeit, we should expect that to drop a bit), that's money.