Trendspotting: Believe in Jordan Shipley
Let's compare two players since Week 2 of the season.
The first player is in his 10th NFL season. He's amassed 28 catches for 314 yards and one touchdown since Week 2. His 11.8 yards per catch marks the second-lowest average for his career and way down from the 14.5 yards per catch he tallied last season. He's owned in 100 percent of ESPN.com leagues.
The second player is a rookie. He's accumulated 23 catches for 314 yards and one score during that same period, but missed one game due to an injury. He's owned in less than 5 percent of ESPN.com fantasy leagues.
Here's the interesting part: They play for the same team, so you can't write off the ownership difference due to anything other than their roles and their production, and it's a good bet that there's some serious misunderstanding as to how their roles are impacting their performance. The two players: Chad Ochocinco and Jordan Shipley.
The main argument that will be made on behalf of Ochocinco is that he's one of the Cincinnati Bengals' top two receivers, so he receives looks in two-receiver sets. Unfortunately, the numbers don't support that line of thinking. Since Week 2, Ochocinco has exactly four catches in two-receiver sets. In three-receiver sets, Ochocinco has a slight edge over Shipley with 4.6 catches per game to Shipley's 4.25, but in sets with four or more receivers, Shipley owns a 6-to-1 total reception advantage over Ochocino, despite playing in one fewer game.
The bottom line here is that these two players have been statistical equals over their past four games but Ochocinco is owned in 20 times more leagues. That needs to change immediately. While Ochocinco is still the greater talent, Shipley's production warrants a severe uptick in his ownership percentage.
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