Redskins WR Terry McLaurin a low-risk, high-reward target in fantasy

The Redskins don’t have much to offer this year, in terms of fantasy football utility, but one rookie could be a potential diamond in the rough for your dream team.

Maybe you care about fake sports. Maybe you don’t. But it’s both the competitive drive of the human spirit, and the accomplished feeling of being ahead of the curve, that convinces people to search for any edge imaginable on the fantasy football gridiron, whether it truly matters or not.

The Washington Redskins don’t normally help fantasy owners on their righteous escapades, and this year, that annual truth appears to be present yet again. But don’t look away from the nation’s capital just yet. While reliable options are scarce, there is one player who could end up massively outperforming his average draft position.

Redskins rookie wide receiver, and third-round draft pick, Terry McLaurin.

While McLaurin went in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft, no one’s drafting him in the third round of their fantasy football snake drafts. On the contrary; McLaurin’s average draft position is No. 376, per Fantasy Pros. In a ten-person league, one that has 160 draft selections, that would place him comfortably within the confines of the undrafted pool.

Most of you have already done your fantasy drafts. And in most of your leagues, McLaurin might be waiting, cold and alone, on the Players tab, amidst a number of uncertain young talents. If you’re like me, you may have picked him anyway, to try and be clever (never getting that second-round pick back). But more likely than not, McLaurin is available to you right now. And you should pick him up.

McLaurin is a rookie, and like all rookies, he is currently unproven. Until he puts his product on the field against NFL competition, no one knows exactly what McLaurin can bring to a fantasy team. But his stock has skyrocketed in recent weeks.

The Redskins held McLaurin out of preseason to preserve him for the regular season. The team cut former first-round pick Josh Doctson because of the confidence in young options like McLaurin. And on the team’s first depth chart of the regular season, McLaurin is the No. 1 receiver, starting with Paul Richardson and Trey Quinn (my first-round pick), who both have recent injury histories.

Let’s gather all of the valuable nuggets here. McLaurin is a starter, in a fairly uncertain receiving core where opportunities will have to be handed out. The Redskins may be playing from behind often, therefore strengthening McLaurin’s chances of late-game production. McLaurin is an elite athlete with 4.35 speed and impressive route nuance for his experience level. And his college quarterback, Dwayne Haskins, with whom he has pre-existing chemistry and trust, is bound to start at some point in 2019.

McLaurin is in a unique situation; he’s been entrusted with a premier role in the Redskins offense, and there’s no one to take that role away from him. He has the traits to make the most of this opportunity, and potentially emerge as the Redskins top receiver. It’s shaping up to be a perfect storm that could potentially save your football season, and you can have it all, for the price of mere waiver wire claim. Go forth, and conquer.