WR Paul Richardson | Washington Redskins | 5th Year
2017 Stats: 44 rec., 703 yards, 6 TD
After three seasons battling injuries Paul Richardson played all 16 games last year and had somewhat of a breakthrough, with career-highs across the board for the Seattle Seahawks. He parlayed that into a five-year, $40 million deal ($20 million guaranteed) with the Washington Redskins, where he is in line to become the downfield threat they lacked last year after the departure of DeSean Jackson.
Richardson joins a crowded passing game pie in Washington, with Jamison Crowder, Josh Doctson, Chris Thompson and Vernon Davis also significantly in the mix for targets.
Prior to last year, new Redskins’ quarterback Alex Smith was notably not a frequent or prolific downfield passer. But in 2017, via Pro Football Focus, he was first in the league in adjusted completion percentage, passer rating and yards on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield. He also set career-highs in yards per completion (11.9) and yards per attempt (8.0). It remains to be seen if all of that’s a blip on the radar for Smith, or a change that will stick and transfer to a new team. Richardson’s fantasy impact, on a week-to-week and season-long basis, probably depends on it.
According to Fantasy Pros’ ADP data, Richardson is WR62 in standard scoring and WR61 in full-point PPR. That is a slight underestimation of a potential WR4 in 12-team standard leagues, but it’s easy to see why fantasy owners aren’t buying in to even low-end fantasy value. Doctson’s current Fantasy Pros ADPs are comparable, at WR55 in standard scoring and WR58 in full-point PPR, along with better upside.
Among Redskins’ wide receivers, and even at a relative draft value right now, Richardson is pretty clearly the third fantasy fiddle. Something resembling what he did last year is a solid expectation, with a similar finish in WR4 range, but betting on much more than that is foolish.
Paul Richardson 2018 Projection: 50 receptions for 670 yards, 5 TD
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