If you are considering drafting two wide receivers from the same team for your 2014 fantasy football draft, I am going to advise you against it.
Last season, I drafted three teams with two wide receivers who were on the same team, and you can view my results and observations here. For these teams, I drafted Julio Jones and Roddy White, Randall Cobb and James Jones and Demaryius Thomas and Wes Welker. Oddly enough, my team with Thomas and Welker was the only team out of that group that did not make the playoffs. While I think the strategy can provide perks in certain matchups, I think the negatives mostly outweigh any positive effects.
From my experiences last season, injuries killed my draft strategy. I can’t say that if Player A becomes injured, Player B is more likely to become injured because of increased usage, but I suffered devastating losses on two out of my three teams with this strategy. I had to play the waiver wire hard and trade like crazy to keep my teams alive after I lost Cobb, Jones, White and Jones. I don’t want to have to go through that again this season.
Also, you miss out on creating diversity for your team, and that can really limit your upside. You can draft Calvin Johnson in the first round and pick up Antonio Brown at the end of the second or start of the third round, or you can be at the mercy of Jay Cutler every week and pair Brandon Marshall with Alshon Jeffery. For me, I would rather have two players who are clear-cut reception leaders like Johnson and Brown, than two players who will battle for the same attention each week.
To go along with missing out on diversity and upside, you generally will have to reach to grab two wide receivers on the same team who are each proven options. This season, Jordy Nelson is generally being selected near the end of the second round, while Cobb is going in the middle of the third. I wouldn’t want to draft Nelson in the first round just to make sure I could get Cobb, and I also wouldn’t want to draft Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd in the second and third rounds.
From reaching too hard to limiting your upside, drafting two wide receivers on the same team is not a viable fantasy strategy.
For advice in your fantasy draft, you can reach Jack @YourFFCoach, and columnist Jon Sousa @JonsFFAdvice
Categories: Fantasy Football
Your Fantasy Football Coach 
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