The fantasy playoffs are here, and dynasty owners are either getting ready for a championship run or still chugging away and grinding out some end of roster collateral for next season. This week I will be looking at another mini-sized wide receiver with exceptional measurables, Cameron Batson. This 5’8 175 lb. wide receiver is in his third year as a pro and showing glimpses of what we want from a big-play receiver. The Tennessee Titans seemed to be loaded with these types after you take away A.J. Brown and Corey Davis, but I am highest on Batson going forward as opposed to Kalif Raymond and Adam Humphries.
College Career
The resume at Texas Tech wasn’t expansive, but Batson was a team captain and routinely asked to do almost everything on the field. His versatility and athleticism were on display routinely in the return game, in the slot, and in the run game on jet sweeps. Batson was a part of a loaded Texas Tech offense that saw NFL talent at the receiver throughout his career at Tech. With all of that NFL talent at Tech, Batson wasn’t the #1 target. Despite that, Batson put up 60/644/8 his junior season with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback and followed it up with 59/489/5 his senior year.
Batson was touted as the fastest in Texas during his time at Tech, which included speedsters Keke Coutee and Jakeem Grant. Batson was routinely touted as an extremely cerebral player and extremely athletic. One just needs to simply look at plays like this to realize the agility and quickness that Batson brings to the table.
Pro Career
Despite exceptional athleticism, Batson couldn’t escape his college production when it came to draft day and went undrafted in 2018 even though his measurables are off the charts. Batson would eventually get signed by the Tennessee Titans after the draft in ‘18, however, he would get cut and eventually land on the Titans practice squad. He got the call up in 11 games in 2018 and made very little impact any game during that season.
In 2019 Batson was put on IR due to a shoulder injury.
2020 has been no picnic either for Batson who has been moved up and down from the practice squad to active throughout this season. He has been active the last 5 weeks, however, and last week had his best game as a pro catching a 3/31/1 touchdown against the Browns in Week 13. He played 31% of offensive snaps this past week and has garnered more than that in 4 of the 8 games he has played in 2020.
The issue with Batson at the moment is that the Titans offense ranks as the 4th most run-heavy when it comes to play percentage behind only the Patriots, Baltimore, and Cleveland. The Titans also funnel the majority of their targets through A.J. Brown and Corey Davis when they do pass, rightfully so. Batson is a weapon on this Titans team, but it will be impossible for him to do anything fantasy relevant, getting only a 4.6% target share. The potential is there for Batson; it just may not be as a Titan.
Future Outlook
The first touchdown of Batson’s career was with the Titans last week on this play, late in a dominating win by the Browns.
His next touchdown may be somewhere else.
Although the Titans have shown that they like his potential, Batson may need to leave to realize that potential. Corey Davis is a free agent at the end of the year along with the entire receiving group other than A.J. Brown and Adam Humphries. Batson could be retained by the Titans on a cheap deal as a restricted free agent. If that happens, I do not like his fantasy prospects going forward in this offense the way it is currently constructed.
Ideally, I would like to see Batson move on to a place like Kansas City where his former college quarterback plays, or Arizona where Fitzgerald may move on, and he can reunite with his college coach. Batson needs to be on a creative offense that will use him in the slot all over the field as an underneath target and someone that can stretch the field. Batson ran a 4.32 40 and had a 3.98 shuttle. If a team cannot use him in the slot on a bigger volume pass offense, they are doing something wrong. The kid has great hands, and I am keeping an eye on all developments when it comes to Batson and his future.
PREVIOUS DYNASTY SLEEPERS OF THE WEEK
Thanks for checking out this week’s Dynasty Sleeper of the Week. I look forward to Week 14 action and finding you some more gems throughout the remainder of the season. Honorable mentions for this week were: Chad Hansen(HOU), Durham Smythe(MIA), Josh Adams (NYJ), and Ito Smith (ATL). Follow me at @Cmoney52 on Twitter. You can message me or shoot me a tweet if there are players you would like to be featured in this segment.
