Who The Fuck is That Guy? Fantasy Football 2020: Damiere Byrd

The “Who The Fuck is That Guy” series continues! “Who The Fuck is That Guy” is the best part of the Vendetta Sports Fantasy Show. Everyone gives the name of one player that no one knows about, no one will draft. But somehow, someway they will win you your fantasy league. Today we look at Damiere Byrd, wide receiver for the New England Patriots, and Trey’s pick in episode 2 of the Vendetta Sports Fantasy Show.

Background Information

Damiere Byrd is a 27-year-old wide receiver. He was signed by the Panthers in 2015 as a UDFA out of the University of South Carolina. He spent the 2019 season with the Arizona Cardinals and signed a 1-year deal with the New England Patriots this off-season.

Flashes of Fantasy Excellence

As Trey said, Damiere Byrd quietly had 32 catches for 259 yards and a touchdown in 2019 with the Cardinals. Byrd had a couple of weeks late in the season where he was a viable fantasy option. These weeks include week 15 against the Browns where Byrd had 6 catches for 86 yards. The other week is week 17 against the Rams when Byrd racked up 7 catches for 74 yards and 1 touchdown.

Damiere Byrd’s stats throughout the 2019 season (per NFL.com)

Week 15 would equal 14.6 points in PPR and 8.6 in standard leagues. Week 17 would have been a monster 20.4 in PPR and 13.6 in standard leagues. A week like that is enough to put. Only Michael Thomas averaged more than 20.4 points (23.4) in PPR throughout the year Chris Godwin averaged 13.6 in standard leagues as well as Michael Thomas averaging 14.1 points per game.

Benefit in New England

It’s no secret that New England has next to nothing at wide receiver. They have an old and injured Julian Edelman, the disaster that was the Mohamed Sanu trade, and N’keal Harry who was hurt and didn’t exactly inspire anyone with his performance as a rookie. It should be noted that Byrd adds some much-needed speed at the receiver position for New England. According to Boston.com, Byrd ran a 4.28 40-yard dash at his Pro Day in 2015. With that speed and promise that was shown during his season with the Cardinals Byrd can come out of nowhere and dominate your league for a couple of weeks or even the whole season.

Path to Playing Time

Byrd’s path to playing time with the Patriots is pretty straightforward and easy. He just has to do better than Sanu, Edelman or Harry. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s better than all 3 and becomes the wide receiver 1 in New England for whoever the quarterback may be. Whether it’s Cam Newton or Jarrett Stidham, Byrd’s speed and ability to have splash games should not be ignored. We’ve seen it before, and there’s a damn good chance we’ll see it again.