4 Wide Receivers Worth a Late-Round Pick in Your Fantasy Football Drafts
Eddie Royal
Eddie Royal is another player that you can get for basically no cost come draft day. Here’s also a little known secret: Eddie Royal has gotten better at playing football, yet the fantasy community still hasn’t taken notice.
| Year | Rec | Reception NEP | Rec NEP/Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 91 | 76.46 | 0.59 |
| 2009 | 37 | 25.99 | 0.33 |
| 2010 | 59 | 54.69 | 0.52 |
| 2011 | 19 | 8.21 | 0.17 |
| 2012 | 23 | 19.61 | 0.45 |
| 2013 | 47 | 61.08 | 0.91 |
| 2014 | 62 | 68.46 | 0.75 |
In Royal’s first season in the league, he was catching passes from a then-decent young gunner named Jay Cutler. Up until Royal’s two most recent seasons, his best season in terms of per-target efficiency and overall volume were with Jay Cutler directing passes his way. And Cutler could use the help of a slot specialist such as Royal. According to ProFootballFocus, the Bears haven’t had a qualifying receiver that spent more than 50% of their total snaps out of the slot since Earl Bennett in 2010.
The bridge from “screw it” to checkdown may be a difficult transition given Cutler’s nature, but you can be sure Chicago’s new head coach, John Fox, notorious for being risk-averse to a fault, will seek to tame Cutler’s wild streak and emphasize that getting seven instead of 70 yards on one throw is okay from time to time.
This culture change may just benefit Royal, who has typically spent over 80% of his time working out of the slot, picking up chunk yardage, and providing fantasy owners with a decent floor, particularly in PPR leagues the last two seasons. His uptick in efficiency in recent seasons would warrant Fox and new offensive coordinator, Adam Gase, directing a respectable number of targets his way.
Royal figures to inherit a sizable number of targets in Chicago given Brandon Marshall’s offseason trade. For a player that costs basically nothing, Royal could be the glue that holds your team together in bye weeks, or if one of your stalwarts gets injured. Jump on Royal in the last round of your draft if you can.
