Fantasy Football 2017: When to Draft Josh Doctson

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While there are plenty of players who you at least have an idea of what to expect from them in fantasy football this coming season, Washington Redskins wide receiver Josh Doctson isn’t one of them. The 2016 first-round draft pick missed almost all of last season with Achilles injuries, but he’s entering a pretty solid situation with the Redskins.

Doctson is part of an offense which lost its top-two receivers from last season in Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson. While they did add Terrelle Pryor and Brian Quick into the mix, this is an offense that has shown the ability to get production from multiple receivers. Last season, Jamison Crowder was their No. 3 wideout in terms of production and finished with a solid 67 catches, 847 yards and seven touchdowns.

Now, it’s Doctson’s turn to potentially step up and be that No. 3 wideout, behind Pryor and Crowder more than likely. The question is, how will he be able to perform after a year off of football?

*Before we jump into what round to draft Doctson, it’s worth noting that this is based on a 12-team league, with standard rosters and full point-per-reception scoring.


When to Draft Josh Doctson

Consensus: Mid 13th-Mid 14th round

There’s literally zero risk in drafting a player like Doctson at this point. While other players are taking their defenses and possibly even looking at kickers, you could jump on a player who has some serious upside. It’s easy to forget that Doctson was a player who was exceptional during his final two collegiate seasons at TCU. In those two years, he caught 143 passes for 2,344 yards and 25 touchdowns.

Obviously, expecting Doctson to take over one of the top roles in the passing attack for the Redskins is unrealistic, but he would be a great flex option and bye-week filler when the Redskins have great matchups. People are absolutely overlooking Doctson, and it’s a bad move because he’s a guy with first-round talent, who’s finally getting an offseason to build his rapport with Kirk Cousins.


Statistical Expectations for Doctson in 2017

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While there’s reason for excitement around Doctson, we also need to temper expectations to some extent. He’s not going to turn into a No. 2 wideout on your fantasy team. He very well may not even be a No. 3 receiver most of the time, and in turn, could just be a guy who’s utilized on bye weeks, as mentioned above. Even still, it’s a low-risk, high-reward option.

When evaluating how Crowder performed last year for the Redskins, it’s almost exactly like what you could expect from Doctson. He had games where he caught 6-8 passes with 70-100 or more yards and a touchdown, but also had games where he caught just two or three passes and wasn’t even fantasy-relevant.

So for Doctson, we’re going to expect him to finish around the 50 catch mark, which takes into account the assumption that Pryor, Crowder and Jordan Reed will take the bulk of grabs. With 50 catches, based on Doctson’s ability to stretch the field, we’ll give him around 700 yards with four or five touchdowns. No, those numbers won’t place him on the elite fantasy levels next season, but he’s also an exceptional option for a dynasty league keeper as well.