Fantasy Football Player Profile: Robert Woods

(As fantasy football dives headlong into draft season, some players warrant a little extra attention. All August, Dom Cintorino and Adam Pfeifer will do deep dives into some of the notable names. Follow along with our player profiles series. Today’s profile: Robert Woods)

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Fantasy football value 2021 – Robert Woods

Perpetually one of the most underrated receivers in all of football, Woods simply produces. Over the last three seasons, Woods has hauled in 86, 90, and 90 passes, while logging at least 15 games each year. During that span, Woods has been the WR14, WR14, and WR11 in fantasy and has provided such a strong floor seemingly every single week. That continued in 2021, as Woods recorded either 50 yards or a touchdown in 10 of his contests last year. Woods ultimately finished the year with 130 targets (15th), while his 23% target share also ranked 15th in the league. And per FTN’s advanced receiving stats, Woods’ 91 first read targets were the 10th-most among all wide receivers last season. He is always among the league leaders in snaps and routes, as Woods was 12th among all receivers in routes run a season ago, while ranking sixth and ninth in that category the two years prior. I’ve talked about this a lot before but this Rams offense last year did not take many shots down the field, which led to shorter targets for Woods. Quarterback Jared Goff averaged just 6.2 intended air yards per pass attempt, which was the fourth-lowest mark in the league. Meanwhile, only Alex Smith posted a lower average depth of target than Goff (5.98). As a result, Woods averaged just 7.2 yards per target, a bottom-15 mark among qualified receivers, while his 6.35 aDOT ranked seventh-worst in football. With Matthew Stafford now under center in Los Angeles, the offense should certainly open up more, giving Woods more targets down the field, presenting him with more upside. 

And again, the floor is always there with Woods, especially when you consider that he gives you added production running the football. Woods is averaging 20 rushing attempts over the last three seasons while scoring four rushing touchdowns during that stretch. Those numbers add up and make a legitimate difference and Sean McVay has plenty of plays designed for Woods to get carries on jet sweeps and reverses. And with the Rams without Cam Akers for the season, it is possible that Woods even sees a slight uptick in carries this season. The floor is always going to be there with Woods but it is entirely possible that the addition of Stafford and more of a vertical passing game can help unlock more of a ceiling this season. He is a tremendous WR2 every year but especially this season.

Fantasy Football ADP Stock Watch – Robert Woods

Per FTN’s ADP tool, Woods is currently being drafted as the WR15, coming off the board towards the end of the third round. He is being drafted right around both Tampa Bay wide receivers and while Mike Evans and Chris Godwin both clearly have immense upside in that offense, I prefer Woods. And because McVay and the Rams don’t really plan on playing their starters much, if at all, during the preseason, it seems unlikely that anything will happen that will result in Woods’ ADP shifting much. 

NFL Fantasy Football Ranking – Robert Woods

Woods’ consensus ranking is WR15 in half PPR formats and WR14 in full PPR. If you look closer at FTN’s consensus ranks, you’ll see that Woods’ highest spot is WR10, with his lowest spot being WR23. I feel like his ceiling is probably to reach that WR10 spot and given his floor, even if Woods has a bit of a down season, I still don’t see him finishing outside of the top-25 receivers in fantasy. It is always an interesting debate to have regarding which Rams wideout is better for fantasy–Cooper Kupp or Robert Woods? Both are being drafted and are ranked insanely close to each other and are fantastic players. Kupp is due for positive touchdown regression but I do believe Woods has the higher floor. I am excited to watch this Los Angeles passing attack with Stafford under center and expect another very strong season from the veteran Robert Woods in 2021.

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