On The Move: Breaking Down Robby Anderson On The Panthers
Many fantasy relevant players have changed teams this offseason, and I’m here to talk about how that will affect them in 2020. Today we’ll talk about WR Robby Anderson, who could add an element of explosiveness to a Panthers offense that ranked toward the bottom of the NFL in offense last season.
Anderson isn’t the easiest player to evaluate. He possesses ridiculous speed and a lot of talent, but he has many games in which he disappears entirely. Just last season, Anderson posted 11 or fewer receiving yards in three games, and also caught seven passes with more than 100 yards in back-to-back games. Per PFF.com, Anderson didn’t really stand out. He ranked 61st at the position overall – one spot behind Odell Beckham Jr., to be fair – and graded out at a pedestrian 68.6 purely on receiving. Part of the blame has to be laid on his situation. Sam Darnold missed several weeks early in the season, and the Jets had one of the NFL’s worst offensive lines, which has been completely revamped this offseason. Still, he cracked 100 yards three times and scored touchdowns in two of them. He averaged six targets per game, and saw six or more targets nine times. Anderson was not in a very good passing offense, but he saw enough work (96 targets) to do better than 779 yards and five touchdowns.
Anderson has been a potential breakout for four years now, and for his world-beating speed he’s never topped 1,000 yards, and maxed out at seven touchdowns. He’s certainly capable of game-breaking plays, but before you get visions of Tyreek Hill dancing in your head, remember that he must score from deep or he’s unlikely to be helping you at all. Of Anderson’s 20 career touchdowns, only five have come from inside 20 yards. And even though he’s escaped the Jets’ offensive muck, he’s now catching passes from Teddy Bridgewater, who has averaged 7.2 yards per attempt in his career. Anderson averaged 8.1 yards per target in his career.
It gets worse. D.J. Moore is entrenched as the top receiving target in this offense, and the checkdown-heavy Bridgewater also has the NFL’s top receiving running back (Christian McCaffery), who drew 142 targets and caught 116 passes. He also has Curtis Samuel competing for targets, one of the few players in the NFL who hold a candle to him in the speed department. While Samuel is more of a short-catch player who uses that speed to chew up yards after the catch, the Panthers have parts of the playbook designed to get him the rock in space. Anderson, on the other hand, is a traditional deep threat on a team with one of the more noodle-armed starters.
Anderson is being drafted 141st overall, and 51st among receivers, so his ADP isn’t really an issue. He is, however, someone fantasy owners may draft late with high hopes. Here are just a few names being taken after Anderson that will provide more value: Justin Jefferson, DeSean Jackson, Preston Williams.
**Emmanuel Sanders is another fantasy relevant WR who moved this offseason, but he has been covered here and here. He will also be covered again when I do the Saints preview.