A Wide Receiver to Target in Each Round of Your Fantasy Football Draft
T.Y. Hilton, Indianapolis Colts
ADP: 25 (3.02)
T.Y. Hilton made good on his breakout potential in 2014, putting up numbers to end the year as the 10th-ranked wideout in standard-scoring leagues with 178.5 points, ahead of guys like Alshon Jeffery (176.6), Golden Tate (160.1), and DeAndre Hopkins (157.0).
And going into the 2015 season as the top option in a very fantasy football-friendly passing offense, the prospects for Hilton finishing the year as a WR1 once again looks very promising. On that note, our own projections have Hilton ending the year as the eighth best wideout with just under 94 receptions, 1,287 yards, and 10 touchdowns.
You might be worried that Hilton now has to share the field with All-Pro Andre Johnson.
Let me tell you this right now, you shouldn't be. In fact, the presence of Johnson actually helps Hilton.
While Johnson will command his fair share of the team's workload, he won't be eating into Hilton's looks but rather will soak up a large proportion of the 116 and 68 targets that went to Reggie Wayne and Hakeem Nicks, respectively, last season.
And though Johnson isn't a threat to Hilton's role as the team's number one receiver, he's gifted enough to draw defensive attention away from Hilton. This will ensure that the Colts' primary wideout not only has more room to operate to take full advantage of his 4.34-speed, but will also mean that Hilton will see higher quality looks from Andrew Luck.
This will give Hilton a chance to improve on his already efficient 2014 season where he ranked 13th among all wideouts with at least 50 targets with a 0.83 Reception Net Expected Points (NEP) per target last season, ahead of the likes of Calvin Johnson, Jeremy Maclin, and Demaryius Thomas.
From this, it's obvious that Hilton actually has a real shot at surpassing his breakout season numbers of 82 receptions, 1,345 yards, and 7 touchdowns in 2015, making him an easy target in the third round of fantasy football drafts this year.
