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Despite a relatively slow start to the season, Mike Wallace has started to pick it up lately. He’s been targeted heavily by Ryan Tannehill over the Miami Dolphins‘ last four games — 44 times to be exact — and it’s resulted in 21 receptions for 304 yards. Although the increase in productivity is encouraging, fantasy owners should expect a hiccup this week when the Dolphins take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Bucs haven’t been especially good against the pass this season but they have, however, done a decent job of slowing down opposing teams’ top wideouts. That trend should continue and they should actually have even more success in that area, as it appears the coaching staff have finally realized that Darrelle Revis wasn’t born to play zone-coverage.
Head coach Greg Schiano admitted recently that he and the other coaches have made a mistake this season by using Revis in a way that doesn’t play to his greatest strength, which is shut-down man-on-man coverage. It’s terrible news for Wallace, who appears poised to spend all of Monday night on Revis Island.
The only other time Wallace was shadowed by an elite corner this season was in Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns, when Joe Haden stuck to him like white on rice. He had one catch for 15 yards in that game, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he doesn’t get much more than that against Revis.
Wallace is basically a one-trick pony — he has incredible speed and he tries to use it to compensate for weak route-running. Revis is one of the best cover men in the league, so that’s just not going to cut it against him. If you own Wallace, I would highly recommend stapling him to your bench and using an alternative this week.
Dan Freeman is a Fantasy football writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanFreeman88.
