Josh Gordon Could Offer Late-Round Fantasy Football Value Despite Suspension

You can be forgiven if you're tired of rolling the dice and seeing Josh Gordon taking up space on your fantasy football team's bench. He's been one of the most frustrating players in fantasy football.

There's a reason he keeps sucking us back in though. When he's on the field he's one of the best receivers in the game, and thanks to the risk he's also incredibly cheap to add to your fantasy team.

After briefly playing with the New England Patriots last season, Gordon was once again suspended at the end of the regular season. The team didn't quit on him though, signing him to an original round tender as a restricted free agent.

Source: The Patriots have placed an original round Restricted Free Agent tender on WR Josh Gordon. He is set to make a $2.025m salary if/when he returns from suspension. If he signs with another team, Patriots would get a 2nd round pick
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) March 12, 2019

Gordon has reportedly applied for reinstatement, so the interest in having him suit up for the Patriots again this year looks to be mutual.

There also doesn't seem to be any question as to whether or not Gordon is in game shape.

“It’s like watching a horse run,” Powell said. “He goes from zero to 100. To be so big and run like that, it’s pretty crazy…We run conditioning on the track — 100s, 150s — and he dusts everybody.” https://t.co/R0EEn5dFea
— Pat Thorman (@Pat_Thorman) August 7, 2019

Heading into the 2018 season there was lots of room for concern as to how well Gordon would play. He had suited up for only 10 games since his 2013 breakout season.

He erased these concerns with the Patriots though, starting 11 games and turning 68 targets into 40 receptions, 720 yards and three touchdowns. That wasn't quite top-tier efficiency, but he still placed 33rd at the position in fantasy points per game. Playing for the Patriots in one of the league's premier offenses should allow him to keep at least that level of efficiency if he can get back on the field.

That "if" is, of course, why picking him is a gamble. His average draft position (ADP) is WR65 heading into the preseason though, and on some sites he's not even being drafted enough to register an ADP. There's virtually no opportunity cost with gambling a final-round draft pick on Gordon. There's little to lose by holding him on your bench until we get news about his potential reinstatement, especially with almost a month to go before the regular season starts.

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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.