Fantasy football 2017: Performance of sleeper, bust wide receiver candidates from preseason Week 3

For all intents and purposes, the NFL preseason is over. Well, it’s not officially over until the fourth games on Thursday night, but that’s only for the backups and fringe players trying to win a roster spot. The starters got their reps in the third game and will be taking the night off, with the key battles mostly settled by this point.

It’s also the busiest week of the fantasy football preseason, when most leagues hold their drafts and make final preparations for the regular season. Or at least, the smart leagues waited until after the third preseason game to do their draft Our apologies if you drafted Julian Edelman or Spencer Ware last week.

Anyway, with the biggest weekend of preseason out of the way, let’s review some sleeper and bust candidates at the wide receiver position.

Chris Hogan, New England Patriots — Edelman’s season-ending ACL tear is a big blow to the Patriots’ offense, but they have enough depth and talent to get by in the WR position. The most immediate beneficiary might be Hogan, who hooked up with Tom Brady for four catches, 70 yards, and a touchdown against the Detroit Lions. Danny Amendola is another name to watch, though he hasn’t had a prominent role in a couple years now.

Kendall Wright, Chicago Bears — Cameron Meredith went down with an ugly knee injury, leaving the Bears with precious few options in their WR group. Fantasy owners should probably steer clear of this passing game, but Wright could see a bigger role just by default. A 2012 first-round pick, Wright’s career has been stuck in neutral for a while — he hasn’t cleared 1,000 receiving yards since 2013 — but his experience in the slot makes him a potential target sponge for either Mike Glennon or Mitchell Trubisky.

Sterling Shepard, New York Giants — Shepard is unlikely to reach eight touchdowns again, but he’s got volume opportunity with Odell Beckham Jr. recovering from a sprained ankle. Finally healthy from an ankle injury of his own, Shepard saw four targets in the third preseason game with both Beckham and Brandon Marshall out. He’ll stay on the WR3 fringes for most of 2017, with potential for more production if Beckham isn’t ready for Week 1.

Sammy Watkins, Los Angeles Rams — Watkins finally gives the Rams a legitimate No. 1 receiver, but that might not matter if Jared Goff doesn’t make any progress. Goff took a huge step backwards from the second preseason game, throwing for just 56 yards on 5-of-8 passing, tossing an interception, and losing a fumble-six. Worse yet, he had almost no interest in looking Watkins’ way, resorting to checkdowns and dumpoff routes while Watkins got just one target.

Watkins still has elite talent, and seems to be healthy after a foot injury wiped out most of his 2016 season. But he’s shaping up as more of a best-ball play who can’t be a reliable every-week starter in regular fantasy leagues.

Donte Moncrief, Indianapolis Colts — Andrew Luck is more and more doubtful for Week 1, and possibly beyond. That’s a big enough worry for T.Y. Hilton, whose fantasy ceiling certainly takes a hit without Luck under center. It could be even worse news for Moncrief, who’s settled in as a low-end fantasy WR reliant on touchdowns. The Colts’ offense looks hopeless with Scott Tolzien at quarterback, and we don’t see that changing when the real games start. Moncrief’s risk is too high for any meaningful reward at the moment.

Jarvis Landry, Miami Dolphins — All indications are that DeVante Parker is the guy in Miami, with Jay Cutler targeting him liberally throughout the preseason. That’s a concern for Landry, a pure possession receiver whose fantasy value hinges on him seeing a million targets. If his targets drop this season (assuming he doesn’t get traded), he won’t be the stone-cold WR2 he was in previous years. Landry is still only 24 years old, but it’s possible we’ve already seen his ceiling.