The Detroit Lions found a diamond in the rough when they selected Kenny Golladay out of Northern Illinois University in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He’s been a fantasy football star the past couple years and now has lots of momentum headed into the 2020 season.
He’s gotten better every year he’s been in the NFL and now he’s a top tier wide receiver in fantasy football, or is he? I answer this question and give my statistical projections in today’s Fantasy Football Weekly.
Re-draft leagues
When your fantasy league resets each year all the top tier players are available. Kenny Golladay has gone from an undrafted fantasy player in his rookie year to now being taken in the top rounds of most re-draft leagues.
Often Kenny is available at the bottom of the second round or early in the third round of most re-draft leagues. I just can’t take him at this spot. He’s now being considered as a top ten wide receiver by most publications and this is just too rich for my blood. I love Golladay’s talent and I respect what he’s done the past two seasons, but I see too many other options to list that I’d like instead.
Best ball leagues
Kenny Golladay led the league in touchdowns in 2019 with 11 scores. He also would have gone over 1,200 receiving yards if he didn’t get injured late in the season. Both of those statistics are the type of numbers you want from any fantasy football player yet I’m still hesitant in these types of leagues too.
In best ball leagues, you want guys that will put up huge stat lines on any given Sunday. Kenny just doesn’t seem like that guy to me. He’s solid, he’s consistent and he has explosive plays at times, but not the type that often will win you a fantasy week all by himself.
He’s ranked 25th overall on the Fantasy Pros website in this format. I’d rather have other guys in that same range such as Patrick Mahomes (QB Chiefs), Odell Beckham (WR Browns), Mike Evans (WR Buccaneers), and D.J. Moore (WR Panthers).
Dynasty leagues
Now this is the league format where I’d think Kenny Golladay would be most valued. He’s only 26 years old and is just coming into the prime of his career. He’s still only ranked around 25th in most dynasty rankings though.
I can see Golladay being the Lions top receiver for the next few years and being paid accordingly here soon, but I don’t know if it will translate to mega fantasy football numbers in 2020. If you can get him at a good value in dynasty leagues then I would do that as a long-term investment though.
The other factor that will be in his favor moving forward in dynasty leagues is I could see him being a focus of the offense once Marvin Jones and Danny Amendola are no longer with the team in future years. At that point I could see Kenny Golladay, D’Andre Swift, and T.J. Hockenson being the key members of the Lions offense with Matthew Stafford still at the helm.
Statistical projection and analysis
My 2020 projections for Golladay are:
- 75 catches
- 975 yards receiving
- Six touchdowns
Kenny Golladay is one of my favorite players in the NFL. He’s a humble beast. I own him in multiple fantasy football dynasty leagues. He’s been a great player so far, and I expect that to continue for the most part. Yet I just have this feeling that this year might be a bit of a step back when it comes to his fantasy value.
That could mean a bigger season for Hockenson and the Lions running game. Golladay has had a few injuries that have cost him to miss some games at times. Stafford is the type of quarterback that loves to spread the ball around to whoever is open. Kenny is a key piece to the Detroit Lions both now and in the future, but I don’t think I will have many shares of him this year in fantasy football based on his current value and hype.