Year Two wideouts ready to make the leap in 2023

What do you do when Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams, AJ Brown et al suddenly start flying off the board when undoubtedly fantasy owners get trigger happy in your 16-man league this summer? 

You dig deep into that Year Two bag of potential, armed with months of research, fuelled by the consumption of way too many YouTube videos and insider notes from this year’s minicamps (normally found from a brief scroll on NFL.com, let’s face it). 

Here are my selections for the players to reach for when you need a little sophomore flare added into that mix:

The obvious picks:

Garrett Wilson, New York Jets

Wilson racked up 1103 yards, and 4 TDs in his rookie year, all whilst enduring the Jets QB merry-go-round. So when your name is being thrown around as the next “Davante Adams” by a future Hall of Famer who just signed up, you sure as hell better believe the hype going into his sophomore year.

With Aaron Rodgers throwing to Wilson this season in New York, we can only expect a crazy stat year on an offense on the rise.

Chris Olave, New Orleans Saints

Olave thrived with lackluster QB play last year, going over 1000 yards and scoring 4 TDs. With a so-called upgrade in the shape of Derek Carr this offseason you would expect the young receiver to top those numbers and then some.

Carr will be reliant on Olave finding separation on play-action passes, using his ability to stretch the defense deep as this will be a key component of the New Orleans Saints offense with Alvin Kamara in the backfield.

Showed promise in year one:

George Pickens

Mike Tomlin took a punt on Pickens who came out of college with concerns over his blocking ability, but it suddenly becomes less relevant when he is making big splash plays down field. An certified highlight reel machine, Pickens had some of the most spectacular grabs of 2022, his catching radius is huge and you can back him to win any contested catches having hauled in 18 of them last year (the most ever by a rookie).

Pittsburgh is also blessed with an emerging 2nd year QB in Kenny Pickett, a good receiver corps alongside Pickens to split the load, making him big red zone/jump ball threat so you can rack up those TD points.

Sky Moore, Kansas City Chiefs

Moore possibly has the best environment to thrive. Generational talent at QB, on an electric Chiefs offense where weapons are swapped in and out every year without them missing a step. Moore received his first TD in Super Bowl LVII, but do not expect that to be his last with the reports coming out of minicamp.

Moore and positional partner Kadarius Toney are ready to take this team back to the big game once again next season.

Need a little help:

Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs, Green Bay Packers

I’ve grouped these two together because together they only accounted for 1000 yards in 2022 after a really slow start. However, there is reason for hope as Watson showed a real knack for finding the end zone, hauling in 7 TDs, and paid out big time with some huge fantasy days down the stretch. 

Both Watson and Doubs will be heavily reliant on the play of Jordan Love, in essentially his rookie year, but stranger things have happened.

Drake London, Atlanta Falcons

I love what Atlanta are doing, stacking the offense with young and exciting talent, but that could come to the detriment of London in his second year as a pro. Can we trust the play of Desmond Ridder, and his ability to not just dump it off to Bjjan Robinson/Tyler Allgeier, or throw it into the flats for Cordarrelle Patterson?

If we see a balanced offense down in Georgia, London is primed for a big year, going over 1000 yards but all I’m saying is don’t count on it.