Green Bay Packers: Top 10 fantasy rookie rankings in NFC North

3. Kenny Golladay, WR, Lions

The Chicago-born vertical threat can step right in and become the Lions’ No. 3 receiver, which, as Ron Burgundy would say, is “kind of a big deal” when you consider that Anquan Boldin recorded 67 catches in 2016.

Though Golladay isn’t nearly as polished as Boldin is—and will undoubtedly encounter some bumps in the road—he offers a measure of reliability from the aspect of being one of the more sure-handed prospects in this year’s draft class.

Over his last two seasons at Northern Illinois University (NIU), the 6-foot-4 pass catcher only dropped five out of his 165 catchable targets, as per Pro Football Focus.

And being that Boldin is no longer wearing the Honolulu blue and silver, one can expect Golden Tate spending a lot more time in the slot to accommodate both Golladay and Marvin Jones that are more of your classic outside longstriders.

Golladay provides a towering presence that uses his 4.5 speed and 32-inch arms to successfully make plays on off-target deep balls that require him to extend outside of his frame.

Surprisingly, this physical specimen is a dynamic open-field runner that was utilized on jet sweeps and end-arounds in college.

Though Golladay will need to get stronger to fight off defenders in contested situations, he has enough size, speed and pure catching ability to be the kind of upside option a redraft owner may want to hold on to as sort of a growth stock.

The young man’s work ethic and remarkable progress he’s made since transferring over from the University for North Dakota to NIU should make Lions’ supporters and fantasy owners alike confident about how far he’ll be able to elevate his level as the weeks go by.

A projection of 55 catches and five or six touchdowns seems quite reasonable at this point in time.