Week 11 wasn’t the worst week for injuries, but we did lose a couple of big-time players. Regardless, fantasy managers are always looking to improve wherever possible. Tennessee Titans WR Treylon Burks had his breakout game on Thursday night. Was it just a blip or a sign of things to come? How much of a priority is Burks for fantasy football managers to add off the waiver wire ahead of Week 12?
Treylon Burks Has WR2 Upside
In the modern NFL, rookie wide receivers are more pro-ready than ever before. However, that doesn’t mean every wide receiver is going to be Justin Jefferson or Ja’Marr Chase and smash from Day 1.
In fact, the most common rookie WR arc is doing little to nothing over the first half of the season before turning it on over the second half. We saw this exact scenario play out last season with Amon-Ra St. Brown. Some other examples over the past several years are A.J. Brown, Diontae Johnson, and JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Prior to last week, Burks’ best fantasy day was 8.7 PPR points. His 55 yards back in Week 1 were his season high. Well, Burks soared past that against the Packers. He caught seven of eight targets for 111 yards, and if you took his receiving yards higher on Underdog Fantasy, you had an easy night.
MORE: Week 12 Waiver Wire Pickups
The bad news, if there is any, is Burks still played well behind Robert Woods and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. Burks played 17-19 fewer snaps and ran six fewer routes. However, that just means his targets-per-route-run rate was higher as he led the team in targets.
Burks also did this in a game where Ryan Tannehill only attempted 27 passes. With games against the Bengals and Eagles upcoming, Tannehill may be forced to throw a bit more. When he does, expect him to look the rookie’s way more than he did over the first half of the season.
How Aggressively Should Fantasy Managers Pursue Burks Off the Waiver Wire?
With each successive week, FAAB becomes less and less valuable because anyone you pick up is spending fewer and fewer weeks on your roster. There are just three weeks remaining in the fantasy regular season. It becomes more acceptable to spend up for potential impact players as the options inherently become more limited.
Burks is a potential impact player. I’m not saying he’s this year’s St. Brown, but I am saying that’s his ceiling, in a sense.
Burks has the talent to be a WR1 in the NFL. If he plays that role for the Titans down the stretch, his ceiling is an every-week startable WR2. How many more of those are likely to pop up on the waiver wire?
I would be willing to spend 20-25% of my FAAB on him. You could make an argument for more if you have a lot of your budget left.
If you play in a league that still uses the continual rolling list waiver priority system, feel free to use your priority on Burks, especially if you need a wide receiver.
