Fantasy Upside
If you’ve followed the NFL at all recently then you’re certainly aware of Josh Gordon’s upside. He showed flashes of brilliance as a rookie before exploding in his second season with 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns in 14 games. He’s a big-bodied athletic wideout with great speed. When he’s on the field he’s very hard to stop. Everything we’ve heard from Gordon makes it sound like he’s turned the page in his life and is ready to stay clean, which means we could see another season like 2013.
Fantasy Downside
To borrow a line from HBO’s Hard Knocks, “‘Josh Gordon is one of the best wide receivers in the game when he’s on the field. Problem is, he’s never on the field.” Gordon has been suspended countless times which has led to him playing in 10 of a possible 64 games since his breakout season. And he started the 2018 training camp by saying he’s taking a break to get right, which means he hasn’t been practicing with his teammates at camp. As of now, there is no clear timetable for his return, so we really don’t know what his status will be by the time the season starts.
2018 Bottom Line
If you’re drafting Gordon, then you know what you’re getting into. He’s an extremely talented player who is set up to be in his best position since his 2013 season. He’s clean, he has good quarterbacks, he’s in a good system under Todd Haley and he has talent around him in the WR corps to take some of the heat off. He certainly carries risk but has a high ceiling if you’re willing to take a chance on him.