As the competition for the remaining roles throughout the Indianapolis Colts wide receiver room progresses, it appears that Devin Funchess has the inside track to be one of the starters on the boundary.
Though nothing is set in stone this early in training camp, Funchess has been working with the first-team offense over the past week. When discussing the wide receiver competition, Zak Keefer of The Athletic noted that Funchess is lining up to be the WR2 opposite T.Y. Hilton.
“As noted, Hilton and Funchess are locked in at the top two spots. Campbell obviously isn’t going anywhere,” wrote Keefer. “Same for Deon Cain, who’s still a bit rusty as he climbs back into form after his ACL tear 12 months ago.”
This shouldn’t really come as a surprise. The Colts dished out a one-year deal worth up to $13 million for Funchess as the team’s first signing in free agency in March. But, the 25-year-old didn’t make much separation during the spring practices.
Through the first full week of training camp practice, though, Funchess appears to be the clear-cut WR2 opposite Hilton. He’s shown some solid route running on the boundary while proving his ability to be productive in contested catches.
Seeing how badly head coach Frank Reich wanted Funchess during the offseason, it makes sense that he will be the WR2. For fantasy purposes, the former second-round pick should start to get on the radar of fantasy football managers.
Though the preseason games should shine a little bit of light on what type of role Funchess might have, his current ADP shows he could be a solid sleeper to take a shot on in the late rounds.
Per Fantasy Football Calculator, Funchess is going at 12.01 as the WR53 in half-PPR mock drafts. If he comes out of the gate with the WR2 job all to himself, there is a high chance he vastly out-produces his draft position.
There is still a long way to go until we truly know who will be the WR2 in the high-powered Colts offense, but right now it appears to be Funchess’ job to lose.
