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2016 fantasy football profiles (WR 65-80)

Auction...............$1

Bye Week.............4

Plenty of people expected that Adams was set to make a splash as the Packers' No. 3 receiver. Those expectations were heightened when Jordy Nelson was lost to a knee injury and Adams moved up a notch on the depth chart. One problem: Adams struggled catching the football. That led to a decline in confidence from Aaron Rodgers and allowed players like Ty Montgomery and Jared Abbrederis to see more targets. With Nelson back in action, Adams will once again be pushed down the depth chart except he's likely to have more competition to earn snaps and targets. Overall, Adams' stock is on the decline from where it was a year ago.

Auction...............$1

Bye Week.............8

Stills began to distinguish himself in 2014 as part of the Saints talented cadre of receivers. It was a plateau that he struggled to reach in 2015 with the Dolphins. Stills could once again find it troublesome to hit those heights if he finds himself behind the likes of Jarvis Landry and DeVante Parker. The biggest saving grace to Stills' fantasy value could be that Rishard Matthews (Titans) is gone, but the Oklahoma product will need to prove that he is more than a deep threat in order to attract any real fantasy draft attention.

Auction...............$1

Bye Week.............7

Funchess was thrown into the fire early last season after the Panthers lost Kelvin Benjamin for the season because of a knee injury. The results were mixed, as was to be expected of a rookie -- especially one considered a project coming out of college. With a full season under his belt, there will be the expectation that Funchess is ready to surpass last season's totals. What should also help is the return of Benjamin, who will attract plenty of attention from opposing defenses. It wouldn't be wise to draft Funchess as anything more than a fourth or fifth fantasy receiver, but considering the productivity of Carolina's offense last season, the Michigan product could end up as a late round steal.

Auction...............$1

Bye Week.............4

Fantasy frustration, thy name is Rueben Randle. The longtime New York Giant never seemed to put it all together with Big Blue. In 2014, he neared 1,000 receiving yards but had just three touchdowns. Last season, Randle failed to crack 800 yards but his eight touchdowns almost made him a viable weekly starter. Almost. His run of four straight double-digit scoring games to end the season nearly makes you forget the 10 times he failed to reach the 10-point plateau. Now in Philadelphia, it's hard to imagine him surpassing Jordan Matthews or Nelson Agholor to put up the kind of totals that would make him worth spending a fantasy draft pick.

Auction...............$1

Bye Week.............5

Thomas didn't receive much fanfare in the run up to the draft, but he could find his way into being an impact rookie in New Orleans. Sure, the receiving corps is crowded with Brandin Cooks and Willie Snead eating up targets but Thomas' size (6-foot-3) could come in handy in the red zone. The only potential obstacles would be either newly-added tight end Coby Fleener or the 6-foot-6 Brandon Coleman. Thomas will certainly have an uphill battle to see a lot of targets this season but considering how much Drew Brees spreads the ball around, it's not out of the question to think the Ohio State product could have some occasional value. He could definitely find himself of service in daily fantasy leagues.

Auction...............$1

Bye Week.............8

Kamar Aiken had a breakout season in 2015 with 75 receptions for 944 yards and five touchdowns. His success during the second half of the season was mainly due to the Ravens' lack of pass-catchers following the season-ending injury to Steve Smith. From Week 11 on, Aiken absorbed nearly 40 percent of Baltimore's wide receiver targets and posted three double-digit outings in his last six games of the year. Smith may return as the Ravens' number one receiver, but Aiken has clearly made a case that he's capable of handling a larger role if Smith's reps need to be reduced. We'll also be keeping an eye on Breshad Perriman's progress after missing his entire rookie season with a knee injury. If he can be a starter, Aiken's production may suffer.

Auction...............$1

Bye Week.............9

The key for the Texans this offseason was to add speed to their offense. Will Fuller? He has lots of speed. The Notre Dame product tested as one of the fastest players at the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine and has drawn comparisons to Carolina Panthers speedster Ted Ginn. That's not completely a good thing. Fuller struggled with drops at times during his collegiate career -- a worry that will follow him to the NFL. The chance to play opposite DeAndre Hopkins is certain to mean Fuller won't have a ton of attention on him from opposing defenses, his skillset means he could be a boom-or-bust fantasy option. For now, it's best to avoid using Fuller as a weekly starter but keep an eye on him for DFS purposes.

Auction...............$1

Bye Week.............5

There remains hope that Chris Conley can become a breakout star and it's certainly not fair to completely judge the Georgia product based on just his rookie season. However, it would seem that the deck is somewhat stacked against Conley is an offense that has one of the lowest passing volumes in the NFL. Making matters even more difficult is that in 2015, more than 60 percent of the targets were split between Jeremy Maclin, Travis Kelce and Albert Wilson. It's certainly possible that Conley does something in training camp to merit a few more throws in his direction, but the target volume won't be great enough to make Conley even a late round pick.

Auction...............$1

Bye Week.............9

After a solid first season in New England, last year was not the follow-up LaFell (or anyone else) would have hoped for. The veteran missed five games, barely topped 500 yards and failed to score a touchdown. In 2016, LaFell brings his game to Cincinnati where he'll stand in as the complement to A.J. Green. The departures of Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu will help with available targets, but LaFell could find himself being pushed by rookie Tyler Boyd. More than a few fantasy managers will take a late flier on LaFell, but it's worth watching how he fits into the offense before deciding he can be a consistent starter for your squad.

Auction...............$1

Bye Week.............11

When the Jets drafted Smith out of Ohio State, he was expected to provide deep speed to stretch the field. It didn't quite work out as planned with Smith missing time with injuries and catching just nine passes (on 28 targets) all season. In the meantime, Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker dominated the target share -- a fact that isn't likely to change in 2016. At best, Smith will be a feast-or-famine option that might only appeal to the most avant garde of DFS thinkers.

Auction...............$1

Bye Week.............8

If you believe that this is hopeful, you're not wrong. But there is an opportunity for Coates to be more of an impact player in his second season, thanks to the absence of Martavis Bryant (suspension). That should spur a competition between Coates and Markus Wheaton to absorb some of the targets that otherwise would have gone Bryant's way. That doesn't mean you should absolutely rush out and add Coates to your roster. He'll be a player to watch throughout training camp and the preseason. The best news is that he'll probably be available on the waiver wire if you're so inclined.

Auction...............$1

Bye Week.............9

There was hope that Strong would be a deep sleeper last season in the Texans offense. It didn't help that he got off to a slow start to training camp and struggled to get on the field. When he finally made an impact, it was pretty significant with 17.30 points in Week 6. The bad news is that was more than half of his point total for the season. In fact, Strong didn't register any stats until gaining six yards in Week 14. Such a disappointing campaign doesn't bode well for Strong's prospects after the Texans spent a first round draft pick on the speedy Will Fuller. Strong's window might not have closed, but it's getting awfully narrow in a hurry.

Auction...............$1

Bye Week.............5

Kearse has never been a true fantasy threat during his career with the Seahawks. Then again, the Seahawks haven't thrown the football a lot during Kearse's stay with the team. We saw that change a little bit last year when Russell Wilson went on a late season tear. While Doug Baldwin was the biggest recipient of that bounty, Kearse also posted career numbers. The downside is that even his best totals weren't enough to land him higher than 44th at his position. If Seattle is truly more committed to throwing the football, Kearse could see another bump in his production. However, it would still be extremely ambitious to draft him as anything more than a WR4/5 for the upcoming season.

Auction...............$1

Bye Week.............5

When you're thinking about fantasy wideouts, the Chiefs aren't generally one of the first places you look. But it was nice to see some development from Kansas City's receivers last year. Perhaps most notable was Wilson. The "Bert Alert" sounded a number of times late in the season with the second-year receiver catching five touchdowns during a five-week stretch from Week 12-16. Despite his production last season, Wilson could find his path being blocked by second-year receiver Chris Conley and recently drafted rookie Demarcus Robinson. This could be a traning camp battle worth watching in the upcoming month.

Auction...............$1

Bye Week.............4

Among Packers fans, Janis has earned quite a few fanboys. Plenty have drooled over his combination of size and speed even if he hasn't had much of a chance to put it into action so far in his career. In 19 career regular season games, Janis has just four total receptions for 95 yards and no touchdowns -- though he did register two playoff scores last season. The problem for Janis is that he's in a loaded wide receiver group. Jordy Nelson is back and healthy which moves Randall Cobb back to his normal spot as the team's No. 2 receiver. Expect Janis to be in a battle with Davante Adams and Ty Montgomery to claim Green Bay's No. 3 receiver job. Catching passes from Aaron Rodgers is generally a pretty good gig, but being that far down the depth chart could make it difficult for Janis to offer any real fantasy value.

Auction...............$1

Bye Week.............9

Washington was the Texans' second-leading receiver last season. But that might be a little deceiving. The veteran had nearly 100 fewer targets and more than 60 fewer receptions than DeAndre Hopkins. Yet his 2015 totals were pretty much on par with his career averages. In 2016, Washington will ply his trade in New England where he joins a crowded but fairly unsettled group of receivers. After Julian Edelman, there's plenty of doubt as to who is the team's No. 2 wideout. Look for Washington to be in a competition with Danny Amendola and rookie Malcolm Mitchell for the honor. Of course, everyone involved will take a back seat to Rob Gronkowski. Take that into account if you're even remotely considering drafting Washington.

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