Demetrius Williams
Can three receivers on the Ravens be worth owning? Demetrius Williams' effort on Monday night indicates it's possible.
Derrick Mason had 12 targets, enjoying one of his better games in the last half-year. Mark Clayton was seemingly relegated to a third receiver role, probably because of his ankle injury, and had only two targets. It's way too early to give up on him.
Williams had nine targets and player starter-worthy snaps. He combines two qualities fantasy heads love: vertical skills and red zone skills.
One thing working in Williams' favor is that Clayton and Mason are similar players. They are both good route-runners and basically are possession receivers. Williams' skill set may be difficult to bench on the outside.
Williams also showed his primary weakness Sunday: He caught only three out of the nine targets. He's known for shaky hands.
It's hard to imagine the Ravens having three good fantasy receivers at the same time whether Kyle Boller or Steve McNair is behind center, but I'd still pick up Williams in deep leagues to find out. This group may take turns having big games.
Comments
what do you think of this trade? I'm trading Portis/Mark Clayton for MJD/Norwood..
Posted by: ben | September 12, 2007 01:18 PM
Who would you rather have - Clayton or Crayton?
Posted by: Eddie | September 12, 2007 02:07 PM
I got him before the start of the season in 3 of my leagues. Hoping he bust out.
Posted by: GQ1NYC | September 12, 2007 02:09 PM
Ben, if you can get MJD & Norwood in that trade. Take it and run.
Posted by: GQ1NYC | September 12, 2007 02:12 PM
My opinion on Ravens WRs is the same as it has been the last 3 years - I don't want any of them. I don't even want one on my bench, because there's no way I would ever put one into my starting lineup.
The Ravens threw 40 times in Week 1 because they got behind due to 6 turnovers, most of which happened early in their own end. That is a rarity, and inflated some of the pass target numbers for those guys. The Ravens are a run-first, throw short passes-second offense, and Heap is the favored target. They have less garbage time production than anyone because they are behind more than 2 scores less than any team.
Clayton had 6 games last year with 2 or 1 catches, and that was his best year. Mason had 7 games with 2 or fewer catches. That's too consistent goose-egg production for me. There are better options every week. Figuring out which weeks the Ravens are going to throw is tougher to predict than most other teams.
Clayton's best year is 5 TDs. Mason was getting 8 per year until he got to the Ravens, now 2 or 3. I can't stomach putting a WR in from a team whose gameplan is to avoid the need to pass and usually succeeds. Especially this year when 3 guys are fighting for the catches Heap doesn't get.
Posted by: Tony C | September 12, 2007 02:25 PM
That being said, I like Demetrius as a player. Did you know he went to the same high school as Amani Toomer and MJD? They won 151 straight games, not too shabby.
Posted by: Tony C | September 12, 2007 02:27 PM
The reason Williams only caught 3 of 9 passes thrown to him was that 5 of the 6 misses weren't even close to him. It's hard to catch a ball when McNair throws it 5 yards over your head. If Boller is QB this week against the Jets look for 5 or 6 grabs for Williams for big yardage.
Posted by: scooter | September 13, 2007 05:23 PM