NEWS

Drafting for Value: Nate Washington

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By Dan Croop @dancroop

Nate Washington is the anti-Kenny Britt. With no offense meant to Britt’s on-the-field talent, he has a tendency to either be injured or arrested, and sometimes both. Washington has never missed an NFL game in his career. And yet, after his career year last season of 74 receptions for 1,023 yards and 7 touchdowns, Tennessee’s current number one wide receiver has been going between picks 110 and 130, depending on which fantasy football client you use.

Washington finished last season as the 14^th ranked wide receiver in standard scoring leagues, ahead of guys like Greg Jennings, A.J. Green, Dez Bryant, and Julio Jones. He’s ranked outside the top 70 wide receivers by FFBLife, 46^th by Yahoo, and 38^th by ESPN. The major concern with Washington’s production seems to be the return of Kenny Britt, along with the arrival of 1^st round draft pick Kendall Wright.

However, Britt is coming off yet another knee surgery, has yet to see any preseason action, and is very much in doubt for the start of the regular season. Let’s just assume the best for Britt, though, and say he is healthy to start the season. Remember last season? Britt looked like one of the best receivers in the game in the first two weeks, totaling 14 receptions for 271 yards and 3 touchdowns. Did Washington’s value disappear?

In short, no it didn’t. He had respectable totals of 13 catches for 166 yards. If (and it’s a big if) Britt can come back and be just as effective, it should bring down Washington’s numbers a bit, but not much. The arrival of Wright should not be a worry of fantasy owners as rookie wide receivers traditionally struggle in their transition to the NFL. Until Britt can show he’s capable of being a dominant NFL receiver again, and Wright shows he’s ready to make that jump as an impact rookie, feel free to draft Washington as he is right now: a number one wide receiver.

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