The Green Bay Packers have struggled in recent weeks on offense. However, someone who has been putting up respectable fantasy numbers in recent weeks has been wide receiver Jayden Reed.
However, with the Los Angeles Rams and the Pittsburgh Steelers on the horizon for the Packers, is Reed worth a waiver wire add this week? Let’s look at some short- and long-term fantasy football projections for the Packers receiver.
Should Jayden Reed Be a Fantasy Waiver Wire Add in Week 9?
Reed is coming off his best week of the season. He saw a season-high 79.4% of snaps and a 14.6% target share. He also racked up six targets and finished with four receptions for 83 yards. That receiving yardage led Green Bay.
However, the main reason for adding Reed is the fact he is getting the ball in the areas of the field where he can get significant fantasy points.
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According to FantasyPoints Data Suite, coming into Week 8, Reed ranked 28th in fantasy points per route run and 23rd in expected fantasy points per route run. He is also fourth amongst all wide receivers in red-zone targets.
Also, Reed has two extremely good matchups in the next three weeks. In Week 9, Reed faces the Los Angeles Rams and in Week 11 he gets the Los Angeles Chargers. They have given up the second- and fourth-most points to opposing slot receivers, respectively.
Reed does exploit matchups, as he did in Week 8 when facing Camryn Bynum.
Reed is the red-zone threat in this Packers offense. That is unlikely to change for the rest of the season. Whilst the Packers’ offense is not one fantasy managers should be targeting too frequently, Reed provides serious upside in the coming weeks.
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According to PFN’s Consensus Rankings, Reed is currently ranked as the WR50 for Week 9. However, on the PFN Fantasy Football Podcast, I made Reed my No. 1 wide receiver waiver wire addition.
I like Reed’s schedule in the short term, the fact he has already had his bye, and that he has already shown he is fantasy viable. The offense is possibly at its worst point it has been in the entire season, so things could easily improve.
Reed finished Week 8 as the WR36. This makes him startable in all fantasy formats. And, with his short-term schedule, he is likely to return similar numbers.
However, there is room for his role to grow. Due to the number of red-zone targets he has amassed so far this season, if he can find his way into the end-zone, then Reed can cash in on significant upside.
Therefore, fantasy managers should add Reed this week and spend 5-8% of FAAB on acquiring him. This will probably be the last time fantasy managers will be able to acquire Reed before he puts together consistent performances that will garner the attention of the rest of the fantasy community.
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