Welcome back to the battle of attrition we call fantasy football. We looked at a wide receiver last week, and it is time to jump back in with maybe one of the most hated wide receivers of the last couple seasons. None other than Nelson Agholor, who has made a new home in Las Vegas with the Raiders this season. After you stop laughing, he has been a revelation for this offense and someone that the Raiders have been able to depend upon.
Past Production and 2020
Agholor is well-known in the fantasy community. Well-known for his miss-timed drops in Philadelphia. By the end of last season, it was time for a change of scenery. Although he had Eagles fans distraught over his play in 2017 and 2018, he put up 60+ catch seasons and over 700 yards in both campaigns. In 2017 he had 8 touchdowns, and in 2018 he had 4. In both of those seasons, his catch rate was at 65.3% and 66% respectively. 2019 saw his catch rate fall to 56.5%, and he only played in 11 games after being relatively healthy prior to the 2019 season.
Agholor came into 2020 on a modest contract and was an afterthought in free agency. He’s no longer an afterthought but is still only owned in 27.5% of MyFantasyLeagues. Currently, Agholor is number one in several advanced stats, including True Catch Rate, Catch Rate, Yards Per Target, and, most important, Fantasy Points Per Target. Those are phenomenal numbers.
The problem is the targets he has received the last three weeks: 3, 4, and 2. This will need to come up a bit, but his playing time and production is a move in the right direction. His snap share has steadily gone up, and last game he saw 55 snaps, which led the team. Injuries have played a big part in Agholor’s increased role, but now that he has shown his ability on the limited opportunities, it is hard to see how he doesn’t get more work on a young receiving corps nursing injuries.
On top of everything, Derek Carr is having an MVP caliber season so far, and Agholor is a veteran he can rely on in this offense that is currently averaging 30.2 pts a game. I love what he is bringing so far 5 weeks into this season.
Future Outlook
Agholor signed a one-year deal in the offseason worth $887,500. Some may say that he has already outplayed that contract so far in 2020. I would tend to agree with that sentiment, and the coaching staff has sung high praises of Agholor.
After the Week 4 game, Coach Gruden said “We have a lot of confidence in Agholor. We’ve said that from the beginning.” The team has been behind Agholor since his signing and believed he could still play at a high level. It could be said that it is Mayok’s best signing as well.
Coming in Agholor acknowledged his opportunity, “This is a beautiful opportunity for me to play for a guy like coach Gruden, who has a background in coaching receivers,” going on to say, “I chose this opportunity to make myself a better player. There’s no better opportunity to play for a coach that knows receiver play. He can articulate ways to get better.”
That is exactly what he has done. He is a better player so far this year than he was last year. For Agholor going forward, the best situation may lie somewhere else. I do believe he is making a statement for a team to come and get him in free agency and award him with a bigger role.
Player Profiler has his best comparable as Jeremy Maclin. I tend to agree with that, as Agholor has the speed and pedigree coming out as a 1st rounder to continue this growth. Agholor could become a reliable receiver for the Raiders or another NFL team next season and the future.
Agholor can be had in your league for little investment. If he can continue to grow a role on this team as they are getting healthier, along with his current elite quarterback play, you will get an asset with some boom/bust weeks to him. It is Week 6 and Agholor is on a bye this week. If you have a roster spot available in your dynasty leagues, don’t scoff at Nelson Agholor. He may be the type of player that can give your receiving options a bit of juice in 2020 and beyond.
We would all love this on our fantasy teams:
Previous Dynasty Sleepers of the Week
Thanks for checking out this week’s Sleeper of the Week. I look forward to Week 6 action and finding you some more gems throughout the season. Honorable Mentions this week: J.D. McKissic, Jacoby Brissett, and Jalen Guyton.
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.
