7 Players to Avoid in Fantasy Football Drafts
Jeremy Maclin, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
By Sam Hauss
In 2014, Jeremy Maclin put together a monstrous season. The former Eagles' wideout amassed career-bests in targets (143), receptions (85), receiving yards (1,318), touchdowns (10), Reception NEP (111.21) and Target NEP (59.60), earning him a five-year, $55 million contract in Kansas City.
So why am I projecting Maclin as a bust coming off a career year? Two words: coach and system.
While it's hard to fault the man for going out and gettin' that paper, Kansas City is one of the worst landing spots for him from a fantasy perspective. Last season, Alex Smith threw all 18 of the Chiefs' passing touchdowns. Nine of those went to tight ends, nine went to running backs and zero went to wide receivers. Let me repeat that -- the entire Chiefs' wide receiving corps accounted for zero touchdowns last season. That includes Dwayne Bowe who, once upon a time, caught 15 touchdowns in a single season and was widely considered an elite red zone thread.
In fact, over the course of the entire 2014 season, there was only one week in which a Kansas City wide receiver finished the week inside of the top 24 at the position and only eight weeks in which one finished inside the top 36. In layman's terms, there were only eight weeks in which any Chiefs' receiver was usable in 12-team leagues, even if you had the ability to start three wide receivers.
While Maclin is certainly an upgrade over an underachieving 2014 Kansas City receiving unit, if you're expecting him to come in and immediately take the top off of the defense, you're barking up the wrong tree. The Chiefs simply don't throw the ball downfield under Andy Reid. Over that past two seasons, the Chiefs ranked 27th and 24th in yards per attempt at 6.5 and 7.0, respectively. That's not a good look for your fantasy receiver.
Despite his obvious talent, it's hard to imagine a situation in which any player can provide even wide receiver three value in Kansas City. With Maclin's lack of upside in Andy Reid's scheme, his current early-sixth round ADP is far too rich for me.
