Welcome to the final installment of my preliminary rankings and tiers for each major position for fantasy. Today I’m tackling the deepest position, and the one that’s likely to give your fantasy squads the most total points this season: Wide receiver.
You can find all my preseason fantasy content, including my other rankings and tiers, here. I’ll update rankings in late August. Hopefully, these initial looks will help you to start thinking about player values and draft strategies.
How you approach
the receiver position depends on your league settings. In leagues that start three receivers and a flex, there’s still plenty of depth, but the top tiers vanish quickly. Full-point PPR (vs. Half) also can push receivers up boards in drafts.
Before we get to the rankings, here are two quick observations on the position.
- Receiver injuries have been rough the past two seasons. I discussed this in the running backs rankings column, and it’s part of why the top running backs have had the upper hand over the best receivers the past two seasons. These high-end receivers all missed at least five games across 2024-2025: Puka Nacua, CeeDee Lamb, Nico Collins, A.J. Brown, Tyreek Hill, Drake London, Malik Nabers, Chris Olave, Mike Evans, Tee Higgins, Davante Adams, Terry McLaurin, and Christian Watson. Plenty of others in the tiers below them also saw extended absences. Yikes. That’s a lot of angst for fantasy managers. Hopefully that trend reverses this season.
- Rookie receivers are contributors — but it can take a minute. As college offenses continue to more closely resemble NFL units, we keep getting more and more receivers of all shapes, sizes, and skillsets who can contribute as rookies at the NFL level. I’ve got nine rookie receivers ranked in my Top-80 below, and there are several others on my waiver wire watch list. Trust me when I say that at least one rookie receiver — and probably two or three — will be very fantasy-relevant at some point this season. Landing spot is obviously key, and part of that equation is the opportunity to see the field. Nobody wants roster cloggers, and some of the rookie pass catchers won’t click at all. But if you do draft a rookie receiver, plan to be patient. Justin Jefferson and Amon-Ra St. Brown were both fantastic in their rookie seasons, but not immediately. Jefferson erupted fairly early while St. Brown exploded down the final stretch of the season. Christian Watson is another name that comes to mind – he scored seven TDs in a four-week stretch starting in Week 10 of his rookie campaign. Inhale. Exhale.
I’ve organized the WRs into tiers, as I do at every position. You should do the same. To reiterate, everyone wants the best players, and a tiered approach allows fantasy managers to have a great view of (a) ranges of players who can be expected to have similar fantasy production, (b) where the drop-offs are between those ranges, and (c) how many players in a range remain available at any given time. Tiers really help when position runs come, and they facilitate more effective drafting, regardless of format.
My receiver rankings and tiers are for Half-Point PPR. Season-long rankings shown are on a fantasy points per game (FPPG) basis and exclude the final week of the season. I’ve ranked 65 players.
TIER I – The First Round Picks
- J. Chase
- P. Nacua
- J. Smith-Njigba
- A. St. Brown
St. Brown has been among the most consistent players in fantasy this decade, and deserves to go late in Round 1. It’s not a sexy pick, but you know what’s sexy? Winning fantasy championships. Can JSN repeat his ridiculous success from 2025? I’m dubious, and the others in this tier (and many in Tiers II and III) have done it more than once. Chase is the clear WR1 for me, and especially with Nacua’s adventures this off-season. He just needs Joe Burrow to stay on the field.
TIER II – Solid WR1s
- J. Jefferson
- A.J. Brown
- C. Lamb
- D. London
- G. Pickens
- N. Collins
- C. Olave
- R. Rice
Was 2025 just a blip for Jefferson, or should we be worried? After what is arguably the greatest start to a career of any receiver, including four straight Top-5 WR finishes from 2021-2024, Jefferson was unplayable for much of last season, and finished as the WR37, at just 9.1 FPPG. I’ll bank on Kyler Murray being good enough, and motivated enough, to get J.J. close to his historical numbers, if not back up to elite status. The rest of the receivers in this group are all pretty safe picks, barring injury. I have A.J. Brown higher than most. Pairing one of the game’s best downfield threats with a QB who led the NFL in yards per competition and downfield accuracy last season feels like a no-brainer. Two Cowboys in the Top-10? Unusual, but not unheard of.
TIER III – Borderline WR1s/2s
- T. Higgins
- D. Smith
- J. Waddle
- L. McConkey
- G. Wilson
- Z. Flowers
- T. McLaurin
- T. McMillan
- M. Nabers
- D. Adams
- C. Watson
- E. Egbuka
- M. Evans
I like a lot of the receivers in this tier, and plan to pepper them in Rounds 3-5 and with decent dollars in auctions. I’m higher than most on Watson, and think the departures of Doubs and Wicks should open the door for him finally putting together a complete season as an alpha. McLaurin and McConkey also have my attention this season, as both are set up for a lot of volume, and are paired with a QB who can get them the ball. Has Nabers fallen too far? He’s a Round 2 pick when fully healthy.
TIER IV – Back-end WR 2s
- L. Burden III
- J. Williams
- R. Odunze
- B. Thomas, Jr.
- D.J. Moore
- C. Sutton
- C. Tate (R)
- M. Harrison, Jr.
- C. Godwin, Jr.
- A. Pierce
- D.K. Metcalf
- M. Wilson
- J. Addison
This tier features a lot of players with good upside, but uncertain floors. Questions abound, but there are players here who are going to help people win leagues. Thomas fell off a cliff after his brilliant rookie season. Which player are we getting in 2026? Has the Burden hype gone too far, and are we sleeping on Odunze? How good can Tate be as a rookie, in Cam Ward’s second season? If Harrison and Wilson are both healthy, who will be better? Can Metcalf return to alpha dog status, or is Aaron Rodgers just too old to wait for him to get open downfield? What happens when Moore is paired with Josh Allen? Pierce has led the NFL in yards per catch for two straight seasons. Can he do it again?
TIER V – WR3/Flex Plays
- M. Pittman, Jr.
- J. Tyson (R)
- P. Washington
- Q. Johnston
- J. Reed
- R. Pearsall
- J. Downs
- W. Robinson
- K. Shakir
- X. Worthy
- M. Lemon (R)
This tier is mostly a mix of slot merchants, who can definitely help you win weeks and especially in Full-point PPR, and younger players who haven’t quite proven it yet. While I don’t think anyone in this tier will finish as a Top-10 player at the position, history says that one of them will. I’m high on Reed this season, who like Watson should benefit from Green Bay finally not having a deep rotation at the position.
TIER VI – More WR3s/4s
- J. Coker
- R. Doubs
- J. Meyers
- J. Nailor
- A. Mitchell
- M. Golden
- R. Shaheed
- J. McMillan
- J. Jennings
- K.C. Concepcion (R)
- M. Washington
- J. Jeudy
- T. Tucker
- D. Boston (R)
- R. Flournoy
- T. Harris
Receiver is deep. It always is. And every year, there are players who come from this tier and lower who surprise. It can be rookies, or older vets, or anything in between. You can get most of these guys fairly late in drafts. Most won’t pan out into anything that helps you more than Bye week and injury fillers, but some will be weekly starters, at least for stretches. My favorites in this tier (at cost) are Nailor, McMillan, and Shaheed, who will hopefully be more fully incorporated into Seattle’s offense in his first full season with the team.
TIER VII – WR Depth
- C. Ridley
- K. Boutte
- D. Wicks
- J. Noel
- R. Bateman
- I. TeSlaa
- S. Diggs
- T. Hunter
- D. Mooney
- D. Stribling (R)
- O. Cooper, Jr. (R)
- T. Franklin
- T. Dell
- A. Williams (R)
- Z. Branch (R)
I could’ve easily listed 10-15 more guys who are just as likely as the guys in this tier to be fantasy contributors at some point this season. Keep an eye on Diggs, who will hopefully sign somewhere in August. There are a lot of rookies in this tier. Branch and Williams are in thin receiver rooms after the WR1, and have good opportunities to compete for snaps and targets right away. I’ll make one ironclad prediction for this season: Everyone who reads this column will pick up one of the players in this tier at one point this season (and drop one). Book it.
That’s that for my preliminary rankings and tiers. Keep it here for more preseason fantasy content.
