Wide receiver Jahan Dotson is entering his third season in the NFL, and he has yet another new quarterback. However, this time, his fantasy football outlook is further complicated by a new team and a new system after he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Due to the “Dot” in his name and his position as a receiver, there are a lot of fantastic fantasy team names and opportunities with a player like Dotson.
That said, should you add Dotson to your team? Is he worth a pick? I’ll examine that and his 2024 outlook below.
Jahan Dotson’s Fantasy Profile for the 2024 NFL Season
Waiting on wide receiver is a decent fantasy football strategy this season with the wealth of talent at the position, but Dotson is going so late you may not even need to worry about spending a draft pick on him. You may be able to get him off the waiver wire if you want to add him.
He’s going as the WR66 and No. 179 overall, the second-to-last pick in the 15th round of a 12-team league.
So, yeah, there’s certainly no anxiety around trying to ensure you get Dotson on your team.
According to TruMedia, Dotson saw 83 targets, caught 49 passes, had 518 yards, and four touchdowns. He ran 634 routes, receiving a target every 7.6 routes run. Sadly, that’s not going to warrant a ton of production.
He had six games with four receptions or more and didn’t have a single game with double-digit targets.
The trade to the Eagles raises two different sides. On one hand, he is on a better offense now, or at least a more proven one. The other side of that coin is that he is now the WR3 and likely the fifth passing option, as opposed to the WR2 and the third or fourth passing option.
Thus, I’m slightly concerned because the downgrade in priority with the offense is arguably a bigger deal than having a more stable or proven situation.
If you look at the receivers in 2023 with Hurts at quarterback, the distribution of targets was fairly top-heavy. A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith both saw over 100 targets, with Dallas Goedert at 83 targets. There were then 86 targets combined between D’Andre Swift and Kenneth Gainwell, which likely all go to Saquon Barkley this year.
The intriguing element will be how the targets that Quez Watkins, Olamide Zaccheaus, and Julio Jones saw last year are distributed. They saw 60 targets combined, which could go to Dotson. The problem is that Smith and Goedert missed a combined four games, so if they play all 17, that share of the pie is likely significantly less than 60 targets.
Even then, 60 targets are not enough to consistently have fantasy value, and that is Dotson’s concern. He realistically needs an injury to either Smith or Brown and potentially both to consistently have value week-to-week.
Is Jahan Dotson a Good Fantasy Pick?
Usually, we talk about a trade to a better offense being good for a receiver, but that is not the case here. Less of a better pie is a worse outcome than more of a lesser pie from a fantasy perspective.
Dotson may be more efficient with each target he gets in the Eagles’ offense, but there will likely be fewer targets, meaning the overall outcome is potentially lower than it would have been in Washington.
This trade was actually a shame for fantasy managers because Dotson was a low-priced, upside-swing as the WR2 with Jayden Daniels. However, he also has a higher ceiling in Philadelphia, because an injury or two could open a path to significant fantasy value.