Fantasy Football Surprises This Season

Fantasy football - the home stretch is here. Final trades need to be made and critical decisions every week. Teams at the top, don't take your foot off the gas because those teams at the bottom are aiming for your spot. Each season, they are tons of surprises. We have people with fantasy takes that hit and some that look awful. We all have a mixture of both. The surprises are the best because it was such a rewarding feeling when you drafted that surprise player. I have three in mind that stand out to me.

Chasing Records

To begin with, the rookies entering the NFL get more lethal as the years pass. First-year players are producing as if they are five-year veterans. Justin Jefferson had the most receiving yards by a rookie receiver since 1960. Ja'marr Chase, his college teammate, is on pace to break that. Chase is actually on pace to have the greatest rookie season by a receiver in NFL history.

Through nine games, Chase has accumulated 835 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. That has him number three overall in receiving yards and touchdowns this season. Chase sits as the number three receiver in fantasy football and is one of my biggest surprises this season. The receiving record for a rookie receiver is 1,460 yards, and Chase looks like he will be surpassing that sometime this season. He has locked himself in as a premier receiver for fantasy football in the years to come.

Cordarrelle, The Offensive Weapon

In his ninth NFL season, Cordarrelle Patterson is finally being utilized properly. Patterson can run the football out the backfield and line up as a receiver quite nicely. He has been able to be one of Atlanta's primary focal points of the offense. This is my biggest surprise for fantasy football this season, without a doubt. Sitting as the number six running back in fantasy, Patterson came from the waiver wire and went undrafted in most leagues. Being able to grab a player off the free agency and put up consistent RB1 numbers is fulfilling.

The most exciting part about this is that Patterson is not playing a lot of snaps. Two weeks ago, he played his highest of the season with 73% of the snaps. Other than that, he has been playing around 50% of the snaps, and it is impressive still to be a top 10 RB in fantasy football. Patterson is genuinely making the most of his opportunities.

Time to go Hollywood

The first two years of his career were like that actor that needed a big break. After trying and trying, with some bumps along the way, nothing seemed to happen. In year three, this man has lived up to the name of Hollywood Brown. In his first two seasons, Brown managed to have just two 100 yard receiving games. He has three so far in his third season and is WR6 on the year in fantasy football.

Hollywood sits number six in receiving yards and is finally playing like the player the consensus thought he could be. The connection is strong with quarterback Lamar Jackson, and Brown is just getting started. With games vs. the Dolphins, Bears, and Browns in the next three weeks, I see Hollywood having big production in those three and solidifying his status as a WR1.

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