I think he had the perfect storm for targets down the stretch and he capitalized. I don't think he is a WR1 and that he will come back down to earth with Swift, Hock, and WR's in the fold.
While I agree with you that Hock & Swift’s respective returns will impact ARSB’s targets, I don’t think it spells quite as much doom for the Sun God’s FF value. He should remain a PPR asset, even with Hock & Swift back. The Lions clearly like using him both in passing & rushing, and he rewarded them for their trust with some absolutely monster games. And now the alleged architect of those games is the new OC. I very much doubt he forgets how good ARSB was & stops using him.
I don’t think he’ll deliver 30 point weekly performances, but I do see a weekly WR2-3 FF floor, with some occasional performances bordering on WR1. Kind of a perfect PPR flex play & BYE week fill-in for FF.
Also worth mentioning - the suggestion that Swift will come back and kill ARSB’s value is interesting, because one of those two players was able to stay on the field last year, and it wasn’t Swift. I’m just sayin - ARSB might could again have a similar opportunity next year if the last couple seasons are an indicator of Swift’s health. I’m not saying I can predict injury, I’m just saying it’s at least fair to suggest based on our body of evidence to date.
Also, I’m not sure who the other WRs in the fold are who will overtake ARSB for targets. Quinten Cephus? Josh Reynolds? Hodge? McKinney? I see a whole bunch of meh. Reynolds isn’t terrible, but from what I’ve seen, he wasn’t close to ARSB. Maybe they draft someone or make a FA splash at WR. That’s possible.
I think he is a better NFL player than FF player and that he is overvalued by many and will be overdrafted next year in redraft (he won't return performance based on where he will be drafted). I think he settles in as a WR2/3 for FF and there are a ton of those guys out there. They are easily found. It sounds like the other people in your league have the same evaluation as I do and therefore aren't willing to give up a lot for him.
It’s funny - I also see him as a FF WR 2-3 type, but I see it as a positive while you see it as a negative. I also believe players can get better and take leaps from year 1 to year 2, and year 3. ARSB took a huge leap from the 1st half of 2021 to the 2nd half, so I’m not discounting the possibility of improvement both for RL football & FF. He could become a reliable WR2 for FF purposes.
I think he could prove me wrong but I definitely am not going to pay "full" price for him because I don't think the risk is worth it. If I could get him for the price of a WR2/3 type player I would take the chance.
I agree with this part. The time to get him was before last season when he was taken in the 3rd round of most rookie drafts. I was able to acquire him as a peripheral piece to moving up in the 1st round. I’m psyched to have him, but it was basically at the cost of Bourne & Ced Wilson. I would not pay a 1st for him.