Jason Avant used to be a young upside guy as an emerging Philadelphia receiver, but now he’s a 31 year old free agent acquisition for the Panthers and has what looks like a ceiling of being an average WR3 for an NFL team. He caught 38 passes for 447 yards last year, and he averaged right around 600 yards per season during his four most productive years as an Eagle from 2009-2012.
Fantasy Upside
Avant has pretty good hands, is a decent route runner, and as long as he remains the Panthers WR3, he should catch at least a modest number of passes in Offensive Coordinator Mike Shula’s offense. Additionally, he’s behind a rookie in Kelvin Benjamin, and an aging veteran in Jerricho Cotchery on the depth chart, giving him a little bit of upside for moving up the depth chart, should one of the two guys ahead of him falter in some way.
Fantasy Downside
Avant was actually getting pushed by Tavarres King for the WR3 spot in Carolina and though Avant won out, he’s unlikely to do as well as he did in a similar role for the Eagles. The Eagles had a much more prolific offense than the Panthers, and honestly a more accurate quarterback. Even if Avant does move into the starting lineup, it’s hard to imagine he’ll out produce last year’s paltry Carolina WR numbers.
Bottom Line
Avant isn’t a horrible guy to have on the back end of your fantasy roster in large leagues, just because it feels like somebody needs to break out for the Panthers in the receiving game, but it’s unlikely that he becomes fantasy viable. He’s 31 years old, fighting for a spot on the depth chart, for a team that doesn’t look to have too productive of an offense this year. I’ll pass.
