By The Hudsonian, Joshua Hudson
Transaction: The Jacksonville Jaguars sign WR Donte Moncrief to a 1-year deal
2018 Fantasy Outlook: In four years with the Indianapolis Colts, Moncrief missed 11 games, all over the last two seasons when he was being relied upon to be T.Y. Hilton’s running mate. He’s had more than 32 receptions only once, never topped 733 receiving yards, and had as many as 7 TDs in a season just once. He’s certainly not a number one option, but on a Jaguars team that doesn’t necessarily need one, he should fit in quite nicely.
The Jaguars lost their number one receiver, Allen Robinson, to the Chicago Bears this offseason. They did however manage to bring back Marqise Lee to be their de facto number one. Moncrief should team with the young duo of Dede Weestbrook and Keelan Cole in an effort to keep defenses from stacking the box to stop RB Leonard Fournette. One thing Moncrief did well last year in his limited time was get downfield. Cole was the team’s best deep threat last season, averaging 17.3 yards per catch. Moncrief averaged 15.0 yards per reception in 2017. Numbers like that should fit well next to Lee who is more their possession, move-the-sticks type receiver.
Moncrief’s draft stock doesn’t improve with this signing. QB Blake Bortles is certainly not Andrew Luck, but he is better than Jacoby Brissett. And really, if I’m drafting a Jaguars receiver this year, it’s Lee in the hopes he has a Robert Woods-style leap in production. I’m also intrigued by the young guns Westbrook and Cole as fliers in the later rounds. Moncrief is simply someone keeping them from producing. But if he’s healthy and can find a way to produce in this offense, he should be able to replicate his 2015 season where he had 64 catches for 733 yards and 6 TDs. That’s enough to get him into the WR2 conversation. I would say his ceiling is probably that of a WR3/FLEX at best, but I’m expecting top 50 production being most likely if he’s healthy the full season.