Paul Richardson Not Worth Fantasy Roster Spot Despite Percy Harvin's Departure

The Seattle Seahawks will look for their wide receivers to take on bigger roles within the offense now that Percy Harvin is out of the picture, but that won't be enough to catapult rookie Paul Richardson to fantasy relevance.

Much to the surprise of most NFL observers, the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks dealt the electric Harvin to the New York Jets Friday in exchange for a conditional draft pick, according to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports:

Aside from a Week 1 outing against the Green Bay Packers, Harvin struggled to make a major impact this season. Seattle won the Super Bowl last year despite being without Harvin for almost the entire campaign, and it clearly feels as though it can repeat that feat.

Doug Baldwin and Golden Tate stepped up last season with Harvin on the shelf. While Baldwin is likely the de facto No. 1 guy at this point, Tate has since moved on to the Detroit Lions. Per the Seahawks depth chart, that makes third-year wideout Jermaine Kearse the start opposite Baldwin.

While a depth chart can change at the drop of a dime, Richardson is currently No. 5 at best, with Baldwin, Kearse, Ricardo Lockette and Bryan Walters all ahead of him. With that in mind, it is tough to envision him becoming a factor in fantasy leagues this season, unless some of the other receivers get injured.

The second-round pick out of Colorado has dressed for four of the Seahawks' five games thus far, and he has made just one reception on one target for seven yards. According to Dave Richard of CBSSports.com, he has barely been on the field:

Head coach Pete Carroll clearly doesn't have full trust in Richardson quite yet, which makes Richard question whether he will be a factor in the immediate future:

Carroll has been nothing but positive about Richardson publicly despite his limited usage. After deactivating Richardson, fellow rookie receiver Kevin Norwood and second-year running back Christine Michael for last week's game against the Dallas Cowboys, Carroll insisted that they are all capable of playing, per Curtis Crabtree of Pro Football Talk:

"

Those are three great guys and there are a couple other guys who are ready to play football for us right now. They would be in games, they'd be getting the chance to catch the ball, cover kick, carry the football, but because of the restrictions of the numbers we can't do that. These guys are capable and ready and hungry to play and they're missing out in part of their career because of it.

"

While it is encouraging for fantasy owners to hear that Carroll believes in Richardson, that alone doesn't make him a fantasy commodity. That much is clear based on a statistical breakdown of Seattle's receivers in recent years.

Quarterback Russell Wilson has averaged 400 passing attempts per season in his two full years in the NFL. The Seahawks ranked 27th and 31st in 2012 and 2013, respectively, in passes thrown. That means there simply aren't many opportunities for receivers to begin with.

Since Baldwin and Kearse seem firmly entrenched as Seattle's top two receivers, the best-case scenario for Richardson is to assume the No. 3 role eventually. That would require him to surpass Lockette and Walters, but it isn't an unreachable goal.

Even if the rookie does that, though, his ceiling is extremely low. The No. 3 receiver in the Seahawks offense hasn't even reached 400 yards in either of the past two seasons. If Baldwin isn't a reliable fantasy starter as a No. 1 guy, then Richardson isn't anywhere near that level.

There is no doubt that Richardson has immense potential, and the Seahawks must believe in him if they were willing to invest a second-round pick. It is possible that Richardson will be a big part of the offense next season and beyond, but there simply isn't any fantasy value attached to him in 2014.

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