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Fantasy football waiver wires move quickly, especially to leagues that have 12 or more participants. Injuries occur, leaving starters replaced by backups that pull off stellar performances. Those standout players then become offensive or defensive favorites, leading to heavy points accrued.
Of late, Sterling Shepard of the New York Giants has emerged as a favorite for most fantasy football managers to add to their teams. Although the Giants rolled over on Sunday, Shepard still managed to put up some good points on the fantasy football spectrum.
Is Sterling Shepard a viable WR1 or WR2 option?
Sterling Shepard emerged as Daniel Jones' favorite target on Sunday. Shepard pulled in seven catches for 113 yards and a TD. Everyone expected Darius Slayton and the newly acquired Kenny Golladay to be the favorites, but they both accounted for only seven catches. Shepard totaled both of their catches combined.
Shepard was also targeted nine times versus Slayton being targeted seven times in second place. With clearly more production, Jones might be throwing a lot more balls Shepard's way. Slayton only accounted for 65 yards, while Shepard doubled that production.
The Giants travel to take on the Washington Football Team on Thursday night. The WFT doesn't have that great of a secondary pressure, so Jones will be airing it out once again.
Shepard is currently being targeted at least five times. He's also pulling in double-digit fantasy points in more than half of those games. If that stat line remains the same, Shepard could land himself a worthy fantasy flex role with some placing Shepard as far up as WR2.
Shepard is currently sitting at #6 in total yardage amongst wide receivers, currently beating out names like Darren Waller, Chris Godwin and Cooper Kupp, to name a few.
Sterling Shepard also showed that he can catch the ball on a bad throw. This dart from Daniel Jones is yanked out of the sky by Shepard. He then side-stepped a would-be tackler to run in for the TD. Shepard has playmaking abilities that go beyond just being able to catch the ball. The quickness on his feet should amount to a lot more YAC.
Fantasy owners would be wise to immediately pick up Shepard, as he is currently owned in about 40% of leagues. That 60% availability should welcome many fantasy football owners to immediately pick him up if available.
Week 3 the Giants will host the Atlanta Falcons. Neither the WFT nor the Falcons have secondaries that should scare any fantasy football owners from starting Shepard in a bigger role over the next two weeks.
Also, in Week 4, the Giants travel to take on the New Orleans Saints. The Saints recently lost Marshon Lattimore to a finger injury, so their secondary should be soft enough to allow Shepard to garner points.
The next few weeks are the biggest reason why Shepard should be picked up and placed on active rosters, and if he outperforms again, expect Shepard to move even quicker off the waiver wire.
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