Fantasy Football: 2009 Third-Year Wide Receivers

It doesn’t matter if you start to study for your next fantasy football draft in February like we do here at the Bruno Boys or if you don’t start studying until later in the year like many others do, one thing veteran fantasy footballers always look at are the third year wide receivers.

The third year has often been the year a wide receiver seems to mature as a player and many third year wide-outs have had breakout seasons.

There was a solid crop of third year wide receivers in 2008. There was Pittsburgh Steelers WR and Super Bowl XLIII MVP Santonio Holmes. Green Bay Packers WR Greg Jennings and Denver Broncos WR Brandon Marshall, who both had over 1,200 receiving yards with nine and six touchdowns respectively.

Even Marques Colston of the New Orleans Saints, who missed five games with a broken thumb, had 47 catches for 760 yards with five touchdowns in his third season.

So, if you are like me and just had to know right now which third year wide receivers you should target in your 2009 fantasy football draft, then please sit back and enjoy an early look at the third year wide receiving class of 2009.

And, let me say, this has the makings of a pretty solid class.

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Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions

Hopefully you have had a chance to see this kid play. We have not had a lot to root for as Lions fans in Detroit since Barry Sanders' shocking retirement over 10 years ago, but I am here to tell you Calvin Johnson is the real deal.

He has an uncanny ability to get the ball, and he is deceivingly fast. There are times you don’t think he’s going to get to the ball, but not only does he get to the ball, he often makes a big play.

Calvin Johnson is like a cross between a young Jerry Rice and Randy Moss. He had 78 receptions for 1,331 yards with 12 touchdowns in 2008; and this was for the 0-16 Lions with five different mediocre quarterbacks throwing to him. Johnson is not your diva type wide receiver either.

He comes off like a good young man. He is good for the community and the team. Even through a 0-16 season, Johnson didn’t utter one bad word about anyone. He didn’t do anything but go out there and lead with his performance each and every week.

Johnson will go off the board as a WR1 in 2009 drafts. You might have to spend a second round pick to get him, but he should only improve on his 2008 stats as new head coach Jim Schwartz (insert Space Balls reference now) and this new regime tries to fix what Matt Millen and many others have ran into the ground.

The Detroit Lions may not make huge strides in 2009, but you should feel comfortable if you land Calvin Johnson as your WR1; it will be a draft pick well spent, as Johnson appears ready to take a big leap in 2009.

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Dwayne Bowe, Kansas City Chiefs

Dwayne Bowe is a big target and definitely started to come into his own in 2008. He had 86 catches for 1,022 yards with seven touchdowns in a season in which the Chiefs were a bottom feeder offense.

Like Calvin Johnson, Bowe was catching balls from several different quarterbacks over the course of the season and didn’t appear to let it faze him.

Like the Lions the Chiefs have a whole new regime coming in to take over football operations. There will likely be many changes made to the Kansas City Chiefs roster before the 2009 season, but you can sure bet this new regime has seen enough to know what a talent Bowe is.

He will definitely be big part of their offense. Bowe will likely improve on his numbers in new head coach Todd Haley’s offense and definitely has a chance to be a very good WR2 in 2009.

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Steve Breaston, Arizona Cardinals

Now, I am one of the biggest Michigan Wolverines fans you will meet, but even I can’t sit here and tell you that I saw this coming from Steve Breaston.

When he arrived at Michigan as a freshman, Breaston showed flashes of greatness with some big runs in the return game and some nice catches in the passing game, but he never really lived up to the big expectations after his freshman season.

I always thought he had a chance to make it in the NFL as a return man, but I didn’t expect much more from him.

While serving as the Cardinals third wide receiver, Breaston took advantage of an injury to Anquan Boldin to show the Cardinals coaching staff that he needed to be part of the offense.

He finished the season with 77 catches for 1,006 yards and three touchdowns in 2008 and has a good chance to improve on those numbers in 2009, especially if the Cardinals actually deal Boldin to another team. Even with Boldin in the picture, Breaston should be a solid WR3 for fantasy purposes.

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Anthony Gonzalez, Indianapolis Colts

Anthony Gonzalez is now number two on the depth chart at wide receiver in Indianapolis as there is a good chance that the Colts will cut ties with Marvin Harrison. Even if Harrison comes back for another season, he should be behind Gonzalez on the depth chart.

Gonzalez is heading into his third season out of Ohio State following a year in which he had 57 catches for 664 yards with 4 touchdowns during his second season.

Gonzalez will have the benefit of being able to work with Peyton Manning in the offseason this year. Manning had knee surgery during the summer in 2008, missing training camp and the preseason, and the Colts offense struggled early because of it.

With an offseason to build a rapport with Manning, Gonzalez should make a big improvement to his numbers in 2009.

Gonzalez is a fantasy football WR3 who has a lot of upside. He should have a breakout season in his third year.

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Ted Ginn, Miami Dolphins

A lot of people laughed when the Dolphins selected Ted Ginn with the ninth pick in round one of the 2007 draft, and there was good reason. Sure, Ginn was fast, but he was labeled a kick return specialist by many of the pundits because he is not very big and some questioned his pass catching ability.

Now, I am not going to sit there and tell you that Ginn was worth a top 10 pick in the draft in 2007, but he did show enough promise in 2008 to make me think he is going to be a good receiver in this league.

He had 56 receptions for 790 yards with 4 touchdowns (two rush and two receiving) in 2008.

Ginn has great speed and when he gets the ball in the open field there is always a chance that he could go the distance. Consider Ginn a WR3 heading into 2009. He will likely be a middle round draft pick, as the Dolphins will look to find more ways to get the ball to the speedy wideout.

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Other notable third year receivers: Robert Meachem, New Orleans Saints; James Jones, Green Bay Packers; Laurent Robinson, Atlanta Falcons; Johnnie Lee Higgins, Oakland Raiders; Steve Smith, New York Giants; Jason Hill, San Francisco 49ers; Chansi Stuckey, New York Jets; Sidney Rice, Minnesota Vikings.

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