When looking forward to the 2025 fantasy football season, the position that often brings the most intrigue to most fans is the Wide Receiver position. When we think about this position, I often break them down into archetypes. This week, let’s take a look at some of the guys who don’t offer a ton, but still have a space on fantasy football rosters.

What Defines  A “Short King” WR?

The short king title is fitting, but not in the way that you’re thinking. This archetype of WR tends to be the low-volume, low-depth-of-target wide receivers. While this archetype is not exciting and doesn’t offer much of a general floor, they still have intriguing upside on rosters as they can have different skillsets, such as great yards after the catch ability. While they may be nothing more than bench fodder, these players often have a chance of stepping their way into bigger roles throughout the season, either through their play or through injury. 

 

 

 

Why Short Kings Belong in Fantasy Football

Whether we like it or not, average depth of target, or aDOT, is one of the stickiest metrics in fantasy football for wide receivers year over year. Given that this doesn’t change too heavily, most of these wide receivers will be the guys you expect when I mention they don’t earn deep targets or a ton of targets overall. That said, aDOT is a metric that can also have a ton of outside influence, such as scheme changes, quarterback limitations, as well as poor offensive line play, leading the QB to need to get the ball out of their hands fast. 

There is no WR that fits both molds of the “short king” moniker better than Greg Dortch. Standing at just 5 feet 7 inches tall, Dortch had an average depth of target of just over 4 yards last season, yet still recorded multiple weeks of double-digit points, including a WR8 overall finish in week 18 of the season. While Dortch was not a big name or big point scorer by any means, this type of player can still provide value. Another example of this type of player is Olamide Zaccheaus, who had an aDOT of just over 6 yards last season, yet still recorded back-to-back weeks of over 20 points in weeks 16 and 17 of the 2024 season. Where Zacchaeus differs from Dortch is that he is the example of a player who earned a larger role throughout the season, as starting in week 16, he began running over 65 percent of his team's routes. 

 

 


 

Draft Strategy for Short King WRs and Top Short King WR Targets

This archetype of wide receiver is not one that we want to heavily target, but these are solid late-round bets that we can make on WRs in receiving rooms with weak competition, or players who may breakout of this archetype given their skillset. These players are not ones we want to stake our week-to-week lineups on, but these are still solid pieces to have on the bench. Some top targets here include:

Deebo Samuel

While Deebo used to earn targets at a much higher rate, he fell under the 20 percent target share threshold in 2024. On a new team in 2025, I don’t expect much change in his aDOT (which has hovered between 2.6 and 8 in his time in San Francisco), but what I do expect is an uptick in his targets, especially if Terry McLaurin continues to sit out as he attempts to renegotiate his contract. Deebo has multiple WR1 seasons under his belt, and this is the best chance we may get to get a discount on him as he has finally fallen into this archetype.

Ray-Ray McCloud

McCloud had a breakout season in 2024, recording a 62-reception, 686-yard season. He fits this mold to a tee, as he sat under 7 yards in terms of aDOT, and recorded a target share of just 16 percent last season. With the injury to Darnell Mooney and the development in the offense with Michael Penix at the helm, McCloud is in line to build on his 2024 season and may sneak his way into WR3/4 territory by season's end.

Marvin Mims

Mims recorded a target share of under 10 percent in 2024, and an aDOT of just 7.4, but what the promise comes with him is his target rate, which is the percentage of plays where he was on the field that he was targeted. That number last season was 29.5% which was the 7th highest target rate amongst WRs in 2024. With the development of Bo Nix, and Mims having another year more experience in the NFL, he could continue to boom from his 2024 numbers. His YAC ability is elite as well, as he was 8th in the NFL in YAC in 2024. Mims is a fun, late-round snag who recorded multiple WR1 finishes in 2024.