While snake drafts are always fun and the traditional way to draft for fantasy leagues, auction or salary cap drafts have become more popular over the past few years. When doing an auction draft, you want to spend most of your budget on your starting lineup. Since a big chunk of your bench will get overturned throughout the season, you shouldn’t spend much on your bench players. Instead, you want to take shots on players that don’t cost much but come with upside. Using Fantasy Pros Auction Values as a guide, I have come up with four wide receivers you should target for under five percent of your auction budget to fill out your bench.
All stats are base on PPR scoring.
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Laviska Shenault, Jacksonville Jaguars
Despite finishing third on the team with 79 targets last season, Shenault led all Jaguar wide receivers in total fantasy points with 157.1 and catches with 58. Furthermore, even with all the inconsistent quarterback play, Shenault had 600 receiving yards and tied for the team lead with five touchdowns. Despite not seeing consistent targets every week, Shenault scored 11 or more fantasy points in half of his games last season. Now, with Trevor Lawrence under center and Urban Meyer on the sidelines, expect Shenault to see a consistent amount of targets each week. Furthermore, reports from offseason workouts suggest Shenault has impressed Meyer while DJ Chark has disappointed. For only four percent of your budget, you could have the potential top target in an exciting Jaguars offense.
DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles
Over the past few seasons, we have seen rookie wide receivers enter the league and produce right away. For only three percent of your budget, not only could you have the Eagles No. 1 wide receiver, but a receiver who could have 120 or more targets as a rookie. Last season, the Eagles were the only team in the NFL not to have a single wide receiver average double-digit fantasy points per game. While last year’s first-round pick Jalen Reagor should improve this season, Smith is the more talented receiver. As the Eagles’ No. 1 wide receiver, combined with the lack of talent around him, Smith should easily see enough targets to finish as a top-20 wide receiver or better this season.
Mike Williams, Los Angeles Chargers
After his 11 touchdown season in 2018, many had high hopes for the former seventh overall pick. However, in the two years since, Williams has struggled to become a consistent fantasy threat, scoring seven total touchdowns, averaging 10.5 fantasy points per game. However, Williams has put together back-to-back seasons with over 750 receiving yards. With Joe Lombardi taking over as the offensive coordinator, Williams will be part of an offense that let Michael Thomas thrive as the “X receiver”. Furthermore, he is also entering a contract year. Like Corey Davis last year and DeVante Parker the year before, expect Williams to have a breakout year right before he hits free agency. For two percent of your budget, Williams is a steal at this price.
Antonio Brown, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
In eight games with the Buccaneers, Brown averaged 14.6 fantasy points per game. However, he was arguably the most valuable Buccaneers receiver. Last season, Mike Evans had 109 targets while Chris Godwin had 84 compared to 61 for Brown. However, on a per game basis, Brown averaged 7.6 targets per game compared to 6.8 for Evans and seven for Godwin. Furthermore, in the eight games Brown played, Evans averaged 7.9 targets per game while Godwin averaged 6.9 per game. The worst-case scenario is Brown equally splits targets with Evans and Godwin again this season. However, Brown costs one percent of your budget while Evans costs 10 percent and Godwin costs seven percent. The best way to handle the Buccaneers’ receivers this season is to get Brown for cheap.
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