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Washington Redskins rookie phenom Terry McLaurin had taken the league by storm over his first five games in the NFL. That was, until a horrendous Week 7 performance in which the wide receiver laid an absolute stinker for fantasy owners.
Can McLaurin get back to his game-changing ways on Thursday night? Or is the inconsistency at the ‘Skins quarterback position too much for the talented pass-catcher to overcome? Let’s take a look.
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Terry McLaurin’s Fantasy Outlook vs. Minnesota Vikings
A lot has gone right for Terry McLaurin since entering the NFL. The wideout currently leads all rookies at his position in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns. Not bad for a third-round draft pick, huh? However, despite his brilliant play throughout most of the season up to this point, he’s now scored less than eight fantasy points in two of his past three games.
While his Week 7, one-reception, 11-receiving yards, 2.10 fantasy points, stat-line can in some ways be written off to horrid field conditions, the more pressing concern for McLaurin’s fantasy value is based on the player throwing him the ball.
Case Keenum has averaged just 1.78 fantasy points and a meager 57 passing yards in two of his last three outings. To put it into better perspective how worrisome Keenum’s struggles have been, there have been 20 separate passing plays this season in the NFL that have accounted for 57 passing yards or more.
However, it is worth noting that Keenum and McLaurin have both fared better when faced with more welcoming matchups this season. Keenum is a player known to be a bit Jekyll and Hyde at times, and chances are he will play above his abilities in a matchup with his former team on Thursday night.
When it comes to McLaurin, while you don’t want to tag the wideout as a matchup-based play only type of player, some of the statistics are concerning. McLaurin scored more points in two games (49.5) against defenses that rank in the bottom nine in terms of fantasy points allowed to wide receivers this season than he has in his four other games combined (46.4).
The good news for McLaurin and his fantasy owners is that this week’s matchup presents another bottom-nine defense for him to feast on. The Minnesota Vikings allow the seventh-most fantasy points to opposing wideouts this season. Opponents’ leading receivers have finished with an average of 20.6 fantasy points when facing the Vikings. That number jumps to 33.45 when you take into consideration just the past two weeks.
Should You Start or Sit Terry McLaurin in Week 8?
Thursday night could be McLaurin’s coming out party for the nation, allowing the world to see what we already know, that the kid can play football. While he may not put up four touchdowns like Marvin Jones did against the Vikings, he will also not duplicate his putrid numbers from a week ago.
His volume should be more than enough to make the wideout a viable fantasy option vs. Minnesota. The rookie averaged 7+ targets per game prior to last week. McLaurin is floating around the mid WR2 to rock-solid WR3 range for Thursday night’s tilt vs. the Vikings.
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