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Mike Wallace is a good receiver with some upside, but is going too early in many fantasy drafts.
Wallace had an off 2012, getting less than 1,000 yards in 15 games. He wasn’t bad, but he fell outside of the top 20 receivers, something that should not happen to someone of his talent. Wallace then left a very good quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger for a below average quarterback, Ryan Tannehill. His fantasy value was not great last year, and just got worse because of his team change. Not only do the Miami Dolphins have a weaker QB, but their offense generally is worse, which may make it hard for Wallace to even match his eight touchdowns last year. Even the Dolphins’ defense should hurt Wallace. The Pittsburgh Steelers had such a strong defense last year, that the Steelers’ offense often benefited from good field position and lots of time of possession. The same cannot be said of the Dolphins. Simply put, the move to Miami has severely diminished Wallace’s fantasy value.
Related: Marques Colston is Undervalued in Standard Fantasy Football Drafts
The other major problem for Wallace is that there are so many better options right around where he is going. Wallace is going around very high upside guys like Reggie Wayne, Hakeem Nicks, Danny Amendola and the super consistent Marques Colston. He’s not a bad fantasy player, but taking him before those other guys is a mistake. In all honestly, if Wallace was going a round or two later, he would have value. A talent like that is always good to have on a fantasy team, but not if it means missing out on other great options.
If Wallace is around in the sixth round, pick him up. Chances are he won’t be, however, so don’t waste your time when there are much better options.
Jay Cullen is a New York Giants writer for www.RantSports.com. Like him on Facebook at Jay Cullen-Rant Sports, or add him on Google.
