0:00Michael Pittman is just a guy that could easily walk into like 80 catches this year. Tons of dig routes obviously in
0:06that Green Bay Packers offense. He ran those at a high rate. He won them at a high rate in reception perception.
0:13>> Look at the release.
0:14>> There's your separation.
0:15>> Great route.
0:15>> Stir and go. Gets by clean.
0:17>> That is unbelievable.
0:18>> May be the greatest catch I've ever seen.
0:23>> Yo, what's cracking everybody? James Coel, Matt Harmon here with you. We're talking best ball. It's another week of best ball content right here on the
0:28YouTube channel.
0:29Um Matt, let's get right into it, man.
0:30Um we're talking about three uh quote unquote boring wide receivers, but boring wide receivers that again, according to reception perception metrics, could help you win your best
0:40ball leagues.
0:41>> That's right, because we typically think about this with best ball contests.
0:45Like, oh yeah, we want the spike weeks.
0:46We want these big massive performances and we're okay riding out some variance.
0:50And that's true, those guys are valuable. But if you're going to lead into some of that volatility, you want some guys and and this is always good
0:56when I can make a baseball analogy. You want those guys who are going to help you get on base. You know, just offer
1:01you some solid floor based production.
1:04And one of my favorite picks for that this year is Michael Pittman. Uh new Steelers wide receiver. Obviously, he was with the Colts last season. And you
1:13know, to me James, I think Michael Pittman like the odds should be pretty close to him to straight up out producing DK
1:22Metcalf this year in Pittsburgh.
1:24>> Totally.
1:25>> You know, look, what does that end up looking like for both of those guys? I think that would mean a pretty
1:30disappointing season for DK Metcalf and maybe a bet a slightly better season than you would think for Michael Pittman because these guys are relatively close
1:38in rankings and ADP and everything like that. But Michael Pittman, what I think people don't give enough credit to is that he's just a perfect fit for Aaron
1:47Rodgers right now. We know that Rodgers wants to play the game in a very specific format, right? He wants to kind of spread things out, do the point
1:55and shoot thing. He wants a lot of these like free access throws and get the ball out of his hands quickly.
2:00>> Mhm.
2:00>> And you look at Michael Pittman, he is still very good at being able to do that. This is the data from his Colts
2:06season in 2025 where we still saw him be a pretty solid player against both man and zone coverage. And you look at some
2:13of the routes that he ran with high frequency flats curls, like those are Aaron Rodgers routes. I mean, the quick hitches and
2:23everything as the Z receiver, I think we'll see a ton of that for Michael Pittman. Some of the quick slants and in
2:29breakers and screens as well. I mean, Michael Pittman is just a guy that could easily walk into like 80 catches this
2:36year. If if if everything works out for him, I I don't really have a ton of confidence that the Steelers offense is
2:43going to be good. I'm curious what your level of confidence is about the Steelers offense. I can't imagine that it's very high, but this Mike McCarthy
2:50offense with Aaron Rodgers, it's going to be 11 personnel based. We're going to see three receivers on the field a ton.
2:55It's going to be DK Metcalf at X. I think Jalen Bernard, their rookie, I don't mind a little bit this year too as
3:01a late round flyer. I think he's primarily going to be the Z slot, leaning more into the slot, which means that Michael Pittman will also rotate
3:08between Z and slot and run some of these quick hitting routes, which he's still very capable of doing. A zone beater,
3:15quick throws, that lines up with where Aaron Rodgers is at this point in his career much more than some of the
3:20vertical X receiver routes that you would imagine with DK Metcalf.
3:24>> Well, I think Aaron Rodgers, what he has shown over the last four, five years is that okay, and I think our former quarterback
3:31charter Derek Klassen probably put it best, right? It's either check down or touchdown, right? And so, but the meat and potatoes I think of this Pittsburgh
3:37offense, especially under Mike McCarthy, and you hit it right on the head, man.
3:40Like expect a lot of curls, expect a lot of slants. And when you look at the the route chart for Michael Pittman, this is
3:47this guy's eaten. Man, this guy's eaten in these areas. So, no, I I totally with you. I I think that Michael Pittman to
3:53me uh will be [snorts] the leading receiver uh there in Pittsburgh. And yeah, you're right. Like, are are is he is he is Aaron Rodgers capable of
4:00feeding 2,000-yard receivers at this point in his career? Probably not.
4:05Probably not.
4:07But, that being said, if the defense doesn't hold up in Pittsburgh, and this it's an aging unit, too, by the way. Um
4:13they could give up some points. And if they're having to play a little bit of catch-up, then sure, absolutely, Michael Pittman could absolutely eat, too. And
4:20you talked about, "Hey, man, like, could he get to 80 catches?" Bro, he got to 80 catches last year uh in in in some of
4:26the most [laughter] Yeah.
4:27I mean, disastrous quarterbacking that we saw You know what I mean? Like, I mean, we got Riley Leonard throwing him balls and stuff out here. So, no, I
4:33mean, he got to 80 catches last year and >> Philip Rivers, bro. I mean, Philip Rivers We're talking about Aaron Rodgers, you know,
4:39in his 40s at this point. Philip Rivers came off the couch as a grandpa, a little bit overweight, too. Like, we
4:46respect We can be respectful, okay?
4:49Listen. Chunky Chunky Rivers was a thing, for sure.
4:51>> He He was not playing in the NFL for many years. It's okay that he was a little He was, you know, a little bit Wait, he
4:57even said at the press conference himself. He said, "I weighed more than the last time I talked to you guys being
5:01the Colts media." So, yeah, man, all right? Like, and again, a lot of that is the quick hitters as well. Rivers is
5:07maybe the even more extreme version of Rodgers at this point where you don't want to get hit.
5:11>> You want to just kind of do the Hey, look, this is the the sheriff, right? At the line of scrimmage, the the the the
5:16field general type. Like, let's look for these matchups. This is where this hole in the coverage is going to be. And a
5:21lot of that is going to lead back to Michael Pittman. 95th overall right now ADP in DraftKings best ball. And remember, DraftKings is full PPR. So, if
5:29we're talking about, "Hey, maybe this is an 85-catch, 799-yard season for Michael Pittman."
5:37>> Yeah.
5:38>> You're still getting points for that.
5:39And like I said, this is not This is not the headline, you know, he's going to win you your week, but he's just going
5:44to be filling in the the while hopefully you have some higher upside receivers certainly earlier in your draft than 95th overall and maybe some late round
5:51flyers as well.
5:53>> When you're talking about another pretty reliable receiver, I think Jacoby Myers there in Jacksonville obviously has established himself as as kind of sort
6:02of a like a meat and potatoes go to wide receiver for Trevor Lawrence and and I think a lot of folks year two under Liam
6:09Cohen are expecting a little bit of a jump here from Trevor Lawrence's production overall and if if that's the case then I think Jacoby Myers should
6:17probably see a little bit of a lift as well. He had 835 yards last year Matt, but in his final eight games with
6:24Jacksonville, he was on pace for 83 receptions, 939 yards and 6.4 touchdowns. Again, I would not be surprised to see him catch 85 balls and
6:36and crack a thousand yards in year number two under Liam Cohen.
6:40>> Yeah, my theory on this Jaguars receiver room is that it's going to look very similar to the Green Bay Packers of
6:47recent seasons where it's a heavy rotation, like four guys are involved here, you know, BTJ obviously going to be involved. Parker Washington broke out
6:55at the end of last year. Sounds like they might give him a contract extension at any point. They already gave Jacoby
7:00Myers a contract extension. He led the team in routes run from December through their playoff loss. He was tied for the
7:07team lead in target share with the aforementioned Parker Washington. Really no reason for him to go away. He's not 30 turns 30
7:15I believe in November of this upcoming NFL season, so it's not like he's necessarily a massive fall off risk or anything. And Travis Hunter is going to
7:22play a lot of cornerback. He's also still going to get into the mix here on the offensive side of the football. In
7:27addition to the fact that they sound like they're going to play more 12 personnel with Brenton Strange on a contract extension. They brought
7:32Kirtcher taking in the second. So it's going to be a heavy rotation here.
7:37So if somebody hits like if we're talking about trying to hit a home run from this Jaguars receiver room, James.
7:42Then I think we can have the BTJ conversation. We can have the Parker Washington conversation. But that's not what we're doing here. We're talking
7:48about the boring floor plays. And I just look at Zay Jones, who he was who he was for the Jacksonville Jaguars last year.
7:56We said this over and over again on our show in the middle of last season, at the beginning of last season. The thing that
8:02the Jaguars struggled with the most was beating zone coverage and running routes over the middle of the field. You look at Zay Jones, who he was who he was
8:10history of his reception perception charting. What does he do well? He runs routes over the middle of the field and he beats zone coverage. And there's just
8:16no reason for him to not play a lot this year, even when they get into 12 personnel sets. Zay Jones in his first
8:23three seasons with the New England Patriots, he had a success rate versus man coverage at or above 70% in two of
8:29those three seasons. Like he's never just been a slot-only player. His final full season with the Raiders, he was in the slot on fewer than 30% of his snaps.
8:38This is a guy who can absolutely can, when they go to 12 personnel, play Z receiver. If they're desperate to get
8:45Parker Washington on the field, I even think that he can play some on-ball perimeter receiver, Zay Jones. Like there's ways where he ends up actually
8:52leading the team in snaps again. I I would probably project it to be Brian Thomas Jr. now that he's healthy this year, but Zay Jones could
9:01easily be second. And he could still just be that safe outlet receiver. So I see a lot of like, you know, five for 60 weeks in Zay
9:10Jones' future. I see a lot of like four for 50, which again, that's not going to, you know, win you your week, but it
9:17can keep you from losing your week in a best ball format that's full point PPR.
9:22>> Yeah, no, I agree with that. Look, I think he is the prototypical Z receiver in the NFL. Somebody that could give you
9:28some outside reps, but can also slide inside. As you mentioned, I think, you know, he's better against zone than he is against man, and that's fine. You
9:35know, Um, if he has that versatility to help unlock BTJ, I think that is probably more important than anything else. Um, and you're right, man. Like, I
9:46I don't see another wide receiver playing more snaps than Zay Jones because whether we're talking 12, 13, 11, Zay Jones is going to be out there,
9:55man. He's just incredibly reliable uh and just somebody that I think that Trevor Lawrence um truly honestly kind of sort of relied
10:03on heavily.
10:04>> Yeah.
10:05>> found the structure last year. So, yeah, man. Uh and he's got that kind of game, too. Uh Romeo Doubs is going from Green
10:12Bay to New England. Um we're talking about a player that, you know, last year had 85 targets, 55 receptions, and 724
10:22receiving yards. That was actually a career high for Romeo Doubs. But, yet Matt, you feel like this is again a kind
10:28of a a reliable player that uh could help some some best ballers out there uh win their weeks.
10:36>> Yeah, maybe not win their weeks, but not lose the weeks, right? But, that is that is also the thing about Doubs that
10:42is interesting and and we'll talk about it. He is someone that I think maybe has a little bit more upside than
10:48than given credit for at this stage of his career. And he goes right now just outside the top 120 picks. Like, he's
10:56kind of hanging on as the 120th overall pick right now in best ball formats.
11:01Going after Matthew Golden, going after the aforementioned Zay Jones, going after Xavier Worthy with the Kansas City Chiefs. And, you know, I I I think I
11:10think there's some there's some interesting picks here as well. But, you know, we've all talked about the A.J.
11:15Brown trade and A.J. Brown is going very early in best ball drafts and redrafts and in the whole deal. He's going to go
11:20early.
11:21But, Romeo Doubs has been a part of this operation now all off season. He was a targeted player for them in free agency.
11:26He got about $17 million per year, you know, starting verifiable receiver money. And that's who Romeo Doubs has become at this point. Like, just this
11:32verifiable starting NFL receiver. And I want to point to two routes here, particularly one, that I think matters a lot. The post
11:41route and the dig route. Tons of dig routes, obviously, in that Green Bay Packers offense. He ran those at a high
11:47rate. He won them at a high rate in Reception Perception. This is where Dobbs, who was kind of the first player
11:53that I coined as a sacrificial X receiver, has really changed his game a lot. Like, he used to be this guy that
12:00they would just send down the field as the outside on-ball receiver in Green Bay, so that they could do all the fun
12:06move-around stuff with Jayden Reed, with Christian Watson, and some of the more designer targets. But, the last few years, Dobbs has really
12:13developed as a route runner. He's really solid against man coverage at this point. Um, not like an elite performer or anything like that, but certainly an
12:21above-average success rate versus man coverage player. And a lot of that is on these in-breaking routes, where his timing, his tempo, when to settle down
12:29and make things over the middle of the field, has really developed. And I kind of think this passing game needs a guy
12:34like that. Even if you look at the X receivers last year, um, and obviously, of course, A.J. Brown, I think it might
12:40end up playing more off-ball than people imagine, because it would just allow him to age a little bit more gracefully. I
12:46know I've pointed this out to you, as well, that the last time that Mike Vrabel and A.J. Brown were paired together for A.J. Brown's final season
12:53in Tennessee, it was actually the highest rate of snaps he's taken off-ball in his entire career, as he was kind of acquiescing to Julio Jones that
13:02year. Of course, Romeo Dobbs versus Julio Jones, that's a bit of a difference in pedigree, but we've seen A.J. Brown be used as that kind of
13:09movement Z, if not sort of slot-ish type player.
13:14I'm wondering if he ends up doing that, and then Dobbs is this outside X receiver running in-breakers, I I think Drake May can throw the ball extremely
13:22well over the middle of the field, and that lines up well with Dobbs. And again, you just look at the X receivers
13:27from last year. Kyle Williams, it was so sacrificial X receiver when he played.
13:32Kayshon Boutte, very much like a vertical X. Neither of those guys really could snap off routes in in the intermediate areas, like on the post, on
13:41the deep routes, and the dig routes in the intermediate area. Dobbs can do that.
13:46I like the way this lines up for Drake May. I like the way this lines up, and Dobbs is just yet
13:51boring player, never going to be a super exciting, but could he be like a 60 catch player? And that would be pretty decent for a guy
13:58that's going at the 120th overall pick in a full PPR best ball format in DraftKings right now.
14:04>> So, as you know, we also do quarterback charting here at Reception Perception, and our guy Alfredo Brown, we've got a
14:12couple guys actually doing the charting here for us. But, in regards to Drake May, his actually his favorite, among all the quarterbacks that we have
14:19charted, his his favorite area to target is in the middle intermediate area of the field. So, in that little spot where, again, a lot of dig routes are
14:29going to be happening, you know, some deeper slants are going to be happening, but just again, like that's one of his
14:34favorite areas to attack, and as a matter of fact, he's got he attacks that middle intermediate area of the field at
14:42a higher rate than Jared Goff, at a higher rate than Joe Burrow, at a higher rate than Lamar Jackson, higher rate
14:48than Justin Herbert, Dak Prescott, you name it.
14:52He is the guy that's attacking that intermediate middle of the field. To your point, Matt, if there is a player other than A.J. Brown who can win in
15:00that area, it's going to be Romeo Dobbs, man.
15:04>> Yeah, and like A.J. Brown can still win there for sure. He had a 77.3% success rate on dig routes while running them at
15:12a lower rate than Romeo Dobbs, but that's pretty similar, if not, you know, kind of a better range there for Romeo
15:17Dobbs given the volume. So, yeah, I like it. I think Drake May's kind of passing tendencies and where he wants to work, that lines up with Dobbs.
15:26So look, again, Dobbs is never going to be some headline player. He's never going to be the guy that like you won your best ball
15:33tournament because of Romeo Dobbs, but he could be the reason that you just fill in the gaps in your receiver room.
15:40And at this point, like I would venture to guess he is one of the latest number two receivers going right now. I mean
15:45again, you just look at ADP, like Courtland Sutton's a number two receiver. He's going ahead of him. It wouldn't shock me if Romeo Dobbs
15:51outproduces Courtland Sutton. The aforementioned both guys we just talked about, Michael Pittman and Jakobi Meyers. They're Jakobi Meyers is the third receiver
16:00being drafted from the Jacksonville Jaguars. So again, talk about boring.
16:04>> Yeah.
16:04>> Ricky Pearsall, Jordan Addison, Wan'Dale Robinson, Xavier Worthy. Matthew Golden might be the three in Green Bay. He is going ahead of him. Yeah, he's got to be
16:14one of the latest number two receivers going right now in drafts. And and I think he gives you maybe some spike weeks for sure, but
16:21definitely like a good solid projectable season-long floor. I'm really liking this Romeo Dobbs and Drake Maye marriage for the Patriots offense this year.
16:29>> I mean, isn't that the craziest thing too, Matt? Like he's attached to a great young quarterback that could ascend even
16:35further. I mean, a guy that was in the running for the MVP last year. It's a great young quarterback in Drake Maye in New
16:42England. And and yet, people kind of I agree with you, man. I think undervaluing the skillset of Romeo Dobbs. Yeah, hey, listen, you're talking
16:50to the right guy here, man. Come on.
16:51Like I've been I've been trying to get you on the Romeo Dobbs train for a minute now, you know? So So no, it's
16:55great to see him on this list. Three boring wide receivers who could give you solid solid production. Meat and potato guys, man. Michael Pittman, Jakobi
17:05Meyers, Romeo Dobbs. Obviously, go check out the website receptionperception.com for these profiles. And man, go play best ball on DraftKings as well. All
17:15right, for Matt Harmon, I'm James Co.
17:16We'll see you. Peace. Remember, it's never too late to chase dreams.
