I totally understand that a lot of people see the name of Chris Godwin and they just start cursing immediately. Last year wasn't great, but was it so bad that he's going to be dropped outside the top 30 overall fantasy wide receivers? In every season in which he's played at least 13 games, he's had at least 120 targets, 83 receptions, and 1,000 yards. And it's not like it's happened just one time—that's been four of the last five seasons. The dude has had a thousand-plus receiving yards in four of the last five seasons and no one wants to really talk about him.
With a new offensive coordinator now, Liam Coen, coming in, he's already come out and said, "Listen, we want Chris Godwin in the slot more this year." And when he's in the slot, that's where he thrives. The two best seasons that Godwin has had in the NFL, he's finished top 12 among all NFL wide receivers in slot snaps with over 400 in each year. For whatever reason, they just didn't put him in the slot much to start 2023. But did you happen to notice what happened towards the end of 2023? Godwin was put back in the slot. Over the last five games of the season, over that span, he was the wide receiver 10 overall in fantasy football and outscored Mike Evans during that stretch.
Baker Mayfield is back. This defense is weaker than it has been the past couple of years, which means they could be trailing and have to throw more to keep pace with their opponents. We already know the offensive coordinator wants to put Godwin in the slot. We already know that Baker targeted Chris Godwin when he was in the slot last year. Now sure, we have guys on the roster like Trey Palmer, Sterling Shepard, and Jalen McMillan. They're all great depth, but they're not a threat to Chris Godwin.
He's only 28 years old and he's still fully healthy. With Mike Evans out there racking up touchdowns, we may not see top 12 overall Chris Godwin anymore by any means. But I just do not see why people think he's going to finish worse this year than he did last year. If anything, in 2024, Chris Godwin is a discount.
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