Dynasty Fantasy Football Rookie Update: Romeo Doubs, WR GB
The NFL Draft is behind us, rookie drafts are taking place, and as dynasty owners, we are looking ahead to the upcoming season. In the Dynasty Fantasy Football Rookie Update series, we break down all the incoming fantasy-relevant rookies, looking at their profiles and where they fit.
Player Name: Romeo Doubs
Position: Wide Receiver
Pro Team: Green Bay Packers
College Team: University of Nevada Wolfpack
Draft Status: Round four, 132nd overall
Video Highlights
The embedded video here shows the highlights from Doubs’ 2021 campaign:
NFL Combine/Pro Day Review
Based on his body of work, Doubs received an invite to the NFL Combine (apparently just one of 14 players in the Mountain West Conference to receive one), but at the time was still nursing a knee injury and was only able to partake in limited measurements as shown in the spider chart below (c/o MockDraftable):
Doubs’ knee injury also left him unable to perform any subsequent testing at Nevada’s Pro Day, though he reportedly ran the 40-yard dash in around 4.5 seconds during an individual workout. Additionally, during Senior Bowl practices, he had game speed clocked at a max of 21.25 MPH. If true, these are more than acceptable numbers for a player of his stature.
Strengths
Interestingly enough, the first time I noticed Doubs’ was when I was watching film of Nevada quarterback Carson Strong, who at one point was viewed as an early-round prospect. I couldn’t help but notice that it was Doubs who stood as the recipient of a number of Strong’s touchdown throws, which is supported by the totality of Nevada’s stats.
In 2022, Doubs caught 11 of the team’s 38 scores, and also totaled nine of 27 passing touchdowns in the year prior. He was the team leader in both receptions and yards each of the past two years, and was a 1,000-yard receiver in both 2021 and 2022. In short, he showed an ability to function as a team’s primary weapon.
While noting the video above is a highlight film, and as such is intended to make a player look good, I couldn’t help but notice a number of pro-ready traits Doubs displayed:
- He showed an ability to function as both an inside and outside receiver, making plays all over the field.
- He functioned as the team’s deep threat, which is evidenced by an overall 14.6 YPR in college. Over the combined 2021-2022 seasons, Doubs led the country in total number of touchdowns traveling greater than 20 yards (15 total). On the 25 deep ball targets he received in 2022, they averaged 37.0 air yards.
- While this may not cater to the majority of leagues, Doubs totaled 463 yards in college on punt returns, including one touchdown.
- He showed a tendency of sideline awareness and positioning, often getting two feet in bounds on the perimeter.
- He was able to come down with contested catches, including on deep balls.
- While he won’t be confused with a guy like Deebo Samuel, Doubs is routinely able to maximize YAC.
- While noting they were not always particularly crisp, Doubs ran routes involving double moves to get open down the field.
- Perhaps most importantly, Doubs attacked the ball, often high-pointing receptions to maximize his potential to complete the catch.
To be clear, this isn’t an assertion that Doubs is perfect and will routinely make these types of highlight plays. But I’d rather have a player who has proven his base skill set is diverse with high-end traits.
Weaknesses
Doubs largely checks boxes from a size perspective, but he isn’t a burner by any means (it’s fairly standard to add 0.10 seconds to any 40-yard dash time not performed at the NFL Combine, which would leave Doubs around the 4.6-second range). He’s also somewhat raw running his routes, with rounded moves instead of precise cuts. He was often able to get away with this because he was playing against Mountain West Conference players, as his performances versus major conference foes were severely limited. For those who believe recruiting ratings matter for projecting out an NFL future, Doubs was viewed as a three-star recruit without major offers.
Opportunities
Next to teammate Christian Watson, and perhaps Chiefs rookie Sky Moore, Doubs might have the best opportunity for rookie success. Following the shocking trade of Davante Adams and the departure of Marquez Valdes-Scantling, the Packers’ depth chart is led by such luminaries as Allen Lazard, Sammy Watkins, Randall Cobb and Amari Rodgers. Lazard is a fine role player but not someone you want functioning as the team’s WR1, as a 26-year-old with under 1,500 total receiving yards to his name. Watkins hasn’t exceeded 700 yards in a single season since 2015, despite spending three years with the Chiefs’ potent offense. Cobb has seemingly been on the downturn of his career for five years running now, and the “other” Rodgers failed to emerge with only four rookie receptions.
If Doubs can break through and find his way into the top three or four receivers, he’ll be catching passes from the reigning two-time MVP in quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who is notably fickle when it comes to earning his trust, but will drop dimes if the mental connection is made.
Threat
With Watson drafted two rounds before him and possessing a stronger physical profile, he stands as the biggest threat at outside receiver. Lazard seems likely to earn a starting role, as well, meaning Doubs may need to leapfrog both Cobb and Amari Rodgers and earn time in the slot, where he played some in college. Early in the season Doubs may need to earn his spot on the field returning punts in order to crack the active lineup, but will hopefully close stronger.
Short-Term Expectations
As noted above, it’s unlikely Doubs is able to perform hot out of the gates. There is a pathway to success likely at the slot position if he’s able to surpass both Rodgers and Cobb. However it’s more likely he finds himself as the team’s WR5 or WR6, potentially walking the active/inactive line on a weekly basis. As he hopefully begins to refine his game at the pro level, he could be intriguing in the later stretches of the season. He still makes for a strong stash in dynasty leagues, and for best-ball redraft leagues he makes for an excellent late-round pick in deeper leagues given his deep threat profile.
Long-Term Expectations
While we have no idea what the Packers will do in subsequent NFL Drafts and off-seasons, it is notable that both Lazard and Watkins are unrestricted free agents in 2023, and it would be easy to get out of Cobb’s contract. Doubs could conceivably emerge as a top-two receiving threat on the team in his sophomore season. As such he has a reasonable long-term path towards fantasy prowess.
NFL Player Comparison
From a high-end perspective, Doubs reminds me of a sort of hybrid between Chargers’ receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. He has both an inside and outside game, and functions both as a deep threat and YAC monster in the short field. Like Allen, he doesn’t have the most gifted game from a metrics perspective but manages to get himself open despite lacking the route-running ability of the Chargers veteran. Like Williams, he excels with body positioning and high-pointing the ball, and gets himself open in the end zone.
A lower-end perspective would yield a player such as Chris Conley. While Doubs isn’t quite as physically gifted, they are similar players stylistically, and were drafted a round apart. Conley is an example of a journeyman who just hasn’t been able to put it together as a somewhat raw player coming out of college, who will stick around in the league but will never make a fantasy impact.
Projected Rookie Draft Range
Per DLF’s rookie rankings, Doubs is listed as the 1QB-league WR18, and the 34th player overall in the late third round (12-team leagues). In superflex leagues, he falls a few slots lower as the 36th overall draftee. According to the most recent ADP, Doubs is being selected as the WR88 and 194th overall player (mid-17th round ADP).
Rookie drafts are a crapshoot. A best-case scenario often sees perhaps 50% of first-round picks panning out as fantasy viable, with the odds dropping in each subsequent round. The late second to early third marks the beginning of what I’d call the “get your guy” point of the draft, so if you like Doubs and don’t have a plethora of middle to late-round selections, there’s nothing wrong taking him as early as perhaps the early third round. This is an area rife with intrigue but little in the way of players we’d feel confident about (e.g., Tyler Allgeier, Tyquan Thornton, and Pierre Strong).
Follow me on Twitter @EDH_27.
- Tactical Transactions: Dynasty Moves to Make Before Week Six - October 8, 2024
- Tactical Transactions: Dynasty Moves to Make Before Week Five - October 1, 2024
- Tactical Transactions: Dynasty Moves to Make Before Week Four - September 24, 2024
