What a week for this column! We saw some of my previous sleepers come to life in Week 7. Nelson Agholor looked like the wide receiver one for the Raiders. Deonte Harris caught a touchdown for the Saints. Even Jakobi Meyers looked like the best WR on an abysmal Patriots offense.
While all these situations can be a bit tenuous, especially this year and beyond, hopefully, we can keep it going by adding value to the end of your rosters. This week we have a guy that was one of my honorable mentions a couple of weeks back. He flashed again, and this kid is a big-play threat. Jalen Guyton, an undrafted FA from 2019, has made quite a bit of noise this year with limited opportunities. He is currently owned in 15% of leagues according to MyFantasyLeague data, and that will surely creep up, even more, this week after his 84 yards and a touchdown game against the Jaguars.
Past Production and 2020
As seen on Player Profiler, Jalen Guyton jumps off the page as far as metrics go. The kid is a freak. At his North Texas pro day, Guyton ran a 4.35 40 and had a 37.5 in vertical leap. In 2019 he went undrafted and was picked up by the Dallas Cowboys only to be let go in the last round of cuts. He did flash in Week 4 of the preseason with the Cowboys, but it wasn’t enough to keep him there.
He was signed to the Chargers practice squad on October 23, 2019, but did not receive his first catch until this season. Guyton only has 13 targets on the year but already has 3 touchdowns on 8 receptions. He averages a whopping 32.3 yards per catch this season. Guyton hasn’t received a lot of work, however, his playing time has been what we want to see from an up-and-coming prospect.
Guyton is currently averaging a 72% snap share in 6 games, and with the production in such a small sample size, you would expect the Chargers to try and get him involved even more. Jalen Guyton is currently 86th in fantasy points per game, so you are not picking him up to play him. He is someone you can add to the end of your roster as a WR 5/6 to give you depth in 2020.
Future Outlook
Jalen Guyton has landed in a great situation and signed a 2-year deal with the Chargers, which makes him a restricted free agent in 2022. The Chargers don’t have a lot on the depth chart in front or behind him currently. The greatest threat to Guyton truly becoming the #2 option on this offense is Mike Williams. The Chargers owe Mike Williams 15 million dollars next year, but with no dead money, they could easily cut the cord as he is only playing 66% of the snaps at the moment anyway.
What we are looking for is more chemistry with surprise rookie standout Justin Herbert. That is where the real value comes from Jalen Guyton. Herbert has the arm and the talent to produce week in and week out and take advantage of Guyton’s physical attributes. I also think Guyton is capable of more route variance, which will be important for him going forward if he is ever to grow into an every-week fantasy starter. Guyton talks about his rapport and his role in this offense after this week’s game here.
If you go back and watch Guyton at North Texas, you will see more route combinations than just fly routes. Jalen Guyton couldn’t ask for a better situation: growing with a young QB and learning from a veteran receiver like Keenan Allen. The future is bright for Guyton, and he’s definitely someone you should grab if you have a roster spot available. We will hopefully see more of what we saw on Sunday in the coming weeks.
Previous Dynasty Sleepers of the Week
Thanks for checking out this week’s Sleeper of the Week. I look forward to Week 8 action and finding you some more gems throughout the season. You can 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.
