If you’ve done a fantasy football draft this season, you may have noticed something odd. When you’re looking for valuable additions to your squad at the end of your draft, Green Bay Packers sophomore wideout Romeo Doubs is almost always available.
According to FantasyPros, Doubs is ranked as the 138th-overall player and the 53rd receiver. Therefore, he would be available in the 11th or 12th round of almost every fantasy draft. Doubs is rostered in less than 20% of ESPN fantasy leagues.
Why is this the case, though?
The average draft position (ADP) for players like Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Elijah Moore, Treylon Burks, Skyy Moore, Adam Thielen, and even Allen Lazard are ahead of Doubs.
I don’t understand why. You could make the case that Doubs is better than all of these players and has an excellent chance to finish much higher than the 138th-overall player.
As a rookie, Doubs played in 13 games for the Green and Gold, recording 425 yards and three touchdowns on 42 receptions. Those are not tremendous stats by any means, but they are solid for the role he got to play in the Packers’ offense. Doubs was doing this as the WR4 or WR5 when he had to sit behind dudes like Randall Cobb and Sammy Watkins.
This year, the Packers have set him up to be their go-to short-yardage receiver, and they will use him heavily as their de facto No. 2 receiver in Matt LaFleur’s offense. The Nevada product has more opportunity than ever and breakout written all over him. PFF gave Doubs nearly a 90.0 preseason grade, ranking him as the best preseason receiver. He caught all four of his targets for 73 yards and an impressive touchdown catch.
The sophomore receiver has made difficult catches a hobby. He showcased contested-catch ability throughout last season and continued this preseason.
However, the reasons behind his low ADP are understandable. The Packers have a young, unproven quarterback in Jordan Love, and that does not typically bode well for receivers. If there is uncertainty about who’s throwing the ball and who’s catching it, that’s a risky bet.
In addition to a young quarterback, Green Bay has a pretty dynamic running back room, and they intend to use it. Until Love can get his legs under him and give the Packers reason to trust him, expect a heavy dose of Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon. The Pack utilizes the ground game and will do it even more with Love under center.
With all of that in mind, it still puzzles me how Doubs is falling that far in drafts. It seems that the general consensus around Love is that they’re cautiously optimistic about how he will do.
Doubs is in the same category, but the benefits outweigh the costs for Doubs. The second-year receiver is arguably the WR1 in terms of receptions and targets. He has also shown chemistry with Love already.
How does a player like Treylon Burks and Elijah Moore go before Doubs?
Burks and Moore have uncertain or notable poor quarterback situations, and they are stuck behind solidified No. 1 receivers. The Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans have top-five running backs in Nick Chubb and Derrick Henry, respectively, and run the ball a lot.
So how is their situation better than Doubs? Easy. It’s not.
While Jaxon Smith-Nijigba looks like a much better prospect than Doubs, JSN is stuck behind D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. Geno Smith is still unproven; there is no guarantee that Smith can repeat last year’s performance.
It’s also comically ironic that Allen Lazard ranks just above Doubs as a fantasy receiver. Lazard is nowhere near as dynamic, and he’s definitely a second or third option behind Garrett Wilson. Lazard has a connection with Aaron Rodgers, but Lazard will not get nearly as many chances to make plays as Doubs will.
While expectations of Doubs should be tempered, the pieces are in place for him to make a lot of fantasy managers and defensive coordinators upset for overlooking him this season.
All stats and data via ESPN or PFF unless otherwise noted.
