Jaylen Waddle could see a major fantasy jump in Denver this season
Yahoo Sports fantasy analysts Matt Harmon and Justin Boone break down what we can expect from a fantasy perspective for Jaylen Waddle now that he gotten a change of scenery with the Denver Broncos. Check out the full conversation on the "Yahoo Fantasy Forecast" - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
Wide receiver 27 ADP for Jaylen Waddle?
Dude, I'm s- I, I don't I'm actually just b- I'm way higher than consensus on Jaylen Waddle.
Where do you have him ranked?
Like, do you Like, where, where are you at with Waddle?
'Cause to me, I was like, "This is, this is crazy," but may- maybe I'm the crazy one.
So where are you at with, with Waddle?
I have him ranked I was trying to look up the specific ranking, 'cause I don't know it off the top of my head.
I know I have him as a low-end wide receiver two.
How high did I move him up in my latest update?
Wide receiver 21 is where I have him.
so significantly higher than this, and I don't wanna spoil the end of the show, but I think there's a good chance that he is going to be the winner when we finish it off.
he's been really productive, and when we talk about, like, a player who's talented, who maybe people don't realize just how good he is, Waddle also fits that mix, right?
And he's coming out of a situation where you can question the quarterback play, you can question, you know, who else he's playing with.
There's a lot of things going on in Miami that kinda caused things to go south last year and in the last couple years, and now he's going to a better offense.
He's going to an offense that's gonna throw the ball a ton.
Bo Nix led the league last year in pass attempts, so there's gonna be volume there, and he's stepping in as the number one guy, right?
He doesn't have to deal with a CeeDee Lamb type.
He doesn't even need Courtland Sutton to get injured or miss time.
He could just st- step in, be that guy, take over, and have a huge fantasy season and be a fantasy wide receiver one.
So I think you have to be very excited about him as a guy who's already shown us he can produce, right?
Over 1,000 yards in each of his first three seasons.
Over 900 yards and six touchdowns on that bad Miami team last year.
So still had some production despite kinda everything going poorly there.
And yeah, entering his prime, turning 28 this year.
I really, really like him, Harmon.
I like him for fantasy.
I like him as potentially the next George Pickens.
I wanna get a lot, a lot of shares of Waddle on my teams this year.
I have him as wide receiver 12 this year.
Um- Wow, okay you don't have to dr- You, you don't have to dr- obviously don't draft him at wide receiver 12, but I want you to get Jaylen Waddle, which is why I've, I've, I've ranked him this high.
I think there's a couple different things going on here that why, again, why I think he fits so perfectly into this exercise, 'cause one, the, the changing variable.
Going to Bo Nix, who as you mentioned, led the NFL in pass attempts last year, is just so significant.
The 2025 Dolphins ranked 32nd in plays per game, 31st in seconds per play, and 30th in neutral drop back rate.
Like, not only was there questionable quarterback play, and you can think whatever you want about Bo Nix, but as long as he's healthy, which I guess is something to at least consider.
There's been some mixed reports on the ankle and everything like that.
That's definitely not something to just yada yada here.
But yeah, there, there is a, a clear quarterback upgrade from what was going on in Miami last year.
But also, the volume upgrade is massive, too.
The Broncos were fifth in s- plays per game last year, 12th in seconds per play, and sixth in neutral drop back rate.
So it wasn't even just like, oh yeah, they were in fl- they led the NFL in pass attempts 'cause they were in a lot of these, like, overtime, fourth quarter weird game scripts, but they were trying to throw that football a lot.
And the other part of it is, yeah, man, I, I agree with you.
Like, Waddle, people don't, clearly don't realize how good he is.
For him to be wide receiver 27-
