Fantasy Football Rankings: WR Rankings for Rest of Season

It’s mid-October, which means it’s time to start the Shuffle Up series. What has happened so far is just an audition. The ranks and ranks you’ll find below are what I would use if I were entering a new fantasy football draft from now on (and yes, there’s still time to draft another Yahoo Fantasy Football league).

Salaries are unscientific and are intended to be a tool to show where talent is concentrated. Players with the same salary are considered balanced. Remember the golden rule: no player gains (or loses) additional value just because you bet them.

Players who are currently injured will receive their own provisional rank at the bottom. They are not up for debate. Everyone has their own ideas about injuries and comebacks.

The wideout shuffle has been in the content budget since the beginning, but it becomes even more relevant with the trades of Davante Adams and Amari Cooper this week. Fantasy managers need to be excited about these deals as Adams and Cooper were stuck in winless offenses a week ago. The Raiders obviously don’t have a legitimate quarterback. The Browns are stuck with the terrible Deshaun Watson contract.

Given his familiarity with Aaron Rodgers, Adams shouldn’t have a difficult onboarding in New York. I think Garrett Wilson is a high-end WR2 forward and Adams is more of a middling WR2 forward but is capable of starting any week when healthy. Cooper needs to get acquainted with the Buffalo offense, but considering how mediocre the wideout play there has been, the Bills have every reason to rush their newest player. We must also acknowledge that Cooper was traded in the middle of the 2018 season and quickly increased his production in Dallas. When reshuffling, Cooper will initially be considered on the WR2/WR3 line.

Stage 1: The big tickets

$44 Ja’Marr Chase
$43 Justin Jefferson
$41 CeeDee Lamb
$40 Amon-Ra St. Brown
$38 Malik Nabers
$37 AJ Brown
$35 Tyreek Hill
$34 Deebo Samuel Sr.
$34 Chris Godwin
$33 Mike Evans
$32 Jayden Reed
$31 Drake London
$31 DK Metcalf

The life of Chase executives is good, but there’s still a feeling that there’s still some meat left on the bone. After all, Chase is the WR1 in all scoring formats, but he’s just 20th in wideout targets (and the Bengals haven’t gotten their bye yet). Joe Burrow has a rating of 138.5 when targeting Chase, for crying out loud. Hit your easy button, Cincinnati.

It was around this time last year (right after the bye) that the Cowboys threw their game plan in the trash and basically started throwing to Lamb at an absurd rate. He scored nine or more targets in each of his last 11 starts, producing a silly record of 88-1186-9 over that span. Well, here we are again – a bye week in Dallas with another embarrassing home loss. Lamb has had a slow push after the long summer, but I expect him to feast the rest of the way.

The high Hill ranking is a hopeful nod to the idea that Tua Tagovailoa will return. Hill still can’t be covered, but obviously the offense is shipwrecked with the current quarterbacks.

Do the Packers have too many good players? Jayden Reed has managed 10 targets just once and has managed a modest 34 looks in six starts this year. That said, the Matt LaFleur system always uses Reed in scoring areas frequently, and he also gets one or two rushes per game. He’s basically the Green Bay version of Deebo Samuel. Feature or bug? I would like to consider this as a feature.

Godwin deserves the slight preference over Evans as returning to the slot has increased his production. Often these routes are easier to win and the throws are faster and more defined. Godwin has always provided upside, but he also establishes a stable field, with five or more catches every game. The schedule will be more difficult, but Baker Mayfield has played well and Tampa Bay’s passing game has a lack of focus.

Stage 2: Legitimate building blocks

$29 DeVonta Smith
$27 Brandon Aiyuk
$27 Garrett Wilson
$27 Terry McLaurin
$26 Marvin Harrison Jr.
$26 Stefon Diggs
$25 Diontae Johnson
$25 Zay Flowers
$24 DJ Moore
$23 Higgins t-shirt
$22 Davante Adams
$22 Brian Thomas Jr.
$21 George Pickens
$20 Jameson Williams
$20 Jaylen Waddle

Smith will always play Robin against Brown’s Batman, but Jalen Hurts isn’t getting as much work at the goal line this year, and the Philadelphia passing game only has those two primary options; TE Dallas Goedert hasn’t been consistent (and is battling a hamstring injury), and the rest of the wide receiver room is woefully thin. Smith may never be a true WR1, but he’s as easy a weekly WR2 hit as you’ll find.

The Steelers have found a way to win four games with Justin Fields, even though he throws for just 184 yards per game and makes some bad mistakes every week; A terrible pick in Week 6 was undone by a questionable personal foul. It feels like a move to Russell Wilson is inevitable, perhaps for Week 7. Pickens is a mercurial guy, and Arthur Smith’s style of play will definitely get us fired up, but Pickens wins so consistently on deep routes, and he’s one of those players Who can improve your week with just one splash play, regardless of who is at QB. I can’t let go of its theoretical advantage.

The Johnson rank is admittedly a hedge; he could be in the aforementioned league if Andy Dalton was signed for the full season, but things could quickly fall apart if (and when) Bryce Young returns; At some point, the uncompetitive Panthers will likely have to give Young another try. Johnson was half a point outside the top 70 in Young’s two starts this year, just absurd. Since then, he’s received pretty good grades: WR6, WR9, WR60, WR12.

Stage 3: Talk them up, talk them down

$19 Amari Cooper
$17 Tank Dell
$17 Darnell Mooney
$14 Jaxon Smith-Njigba
$12 Xavier Worthy
$12 Josh Downs
$11 Christian Watson
$11 Christian Kirk
$11 Jordan Addison
$11 Calvin Ridley
$11 Michael Pittman Jr.
$11 Courtland Sutton
$11 JuJu Smith-Schuster
$10 Wan’Dale Robinson

Despite a solid 63.8% catch rate, Robinson only manages 4.8 yards per target, which shows how horizontal the New York passing game is. The key to Robinson’s roster is to have a league with a PPR or semi-PPR component; He has five or more catches in five starts, but most weeks he’ll be around 40 to 60 yards rushing – a useful depth player, albeit a player with limited potential.

Ridley posted a historic bagel last weekwithout a catch on eight occasions. It’s a common failure as he had a problem with drops, but Will Levi’s passes miss so often. The best thing I can say about Ridley right now – I would rather use him over DeAndre Hopkins.

JuJu Smith-Schuster’s roster tag didn’t jump a week ago because the Chiefs were on a bye, perhaps a mistake by the fantasy audience. He’s capable of playing Rashee Rice-light, and Kansas City’s game plan worked overtime in Week 5, finding easy ways for JuJu to win. For the time being, he is the favorite to be the team’s most determined player.

Mooney has a high target and snap percentage in an extremely focused offense, and Kirk Cousins has completely shed the rust. Mooney has limited upside compared to his teammates, but his floor is higher than the market may recognize.

Stage 4: Some plausible advantages

$9 Ladd McConkey
$9 Jakobi Meyers
$8 Khalil Shakir
$8 Rome Odunze
$8 DeAndre Hopkins
$8 Romeo Doubs
$8 Jerry Jeudy
$8 Tyler Lockett
$7Keenan Allen
$7 Xavier Legette
$7 Jalen Tolbert
$7 DeMario Douglas
$7 Alec Pierce

Pierce leads all receivers in yards per target, but Michael Pittman Jr. is back and so is Anthony Richardson. The Colts are doing the right thing with Richardson – they need to develop the future of their franchise – but it’s much easier for everyone in this receiver room to start with Joe Flacco under center, who has quietly passed double-digit touchdowns in his last eight has games (20 over this stretch).

Jeudy is now the presumptive No. 1 wideout in Cleveland, but as long as it’s Deshaun Watson’s show, do we really care? Ping me if they ever try out a new quarterback. It might take an injury or a public setback before the Browns are fully motivated to make a move.

Shakir has always been a solid floor player with little upside, and now Cooper is in town to be the prime target. He was a WR3 at his peak, but now he’s closer to WR5.

Douglas has become a source of quiet volume in New England, and Drake Maye’s debut had more good moments than bad. Maybe he can be New England’s poor man’s version of Wan’Dale Robinson.

Level 5: Bargain Bin

$6 Michael Wilson
$6 Allen Lazard
$5 Keon Coleman
$5 Quentin Johnston
$4 Bub means
$4 Jauan Jennings
$4 Tre Tucker
$4 Rashod Bateman
$4 Ja’Lynn Polk
$3 Gabe Davis
$3 Jordan Whittington
$3 Demarcus Robinson
$3 Darius Slayton
$3 Tutu Atwell
$2 Joshua Palmer
$2 Greg Dortch
$2 Adonai Mitchell
$2 Ray-Ray McCloud III
$2 Noah Brown
$2 Jalen Nailor
$1 Mike Williams
$1 Andrei Iosivas
$1 Luke McCaffrey
$1 Jalen McMillan
$1 Curtis Samuel
$1 Ricky Pearsall

I still expect Lazard to retain some fantasy value despite the new crowd in the Jets’ receiving room. He scored in four different weeks and has about as much Rodgers time as Adams. Mike Williams seems to be the underdog.

The assets were useful in Spencer Rattler’s first start, and now New Orleans’ two key receivers are injured. Means won’t sneak up on any defense again, but he’s poised to lead this team in target distribution for a week or two. As always, we want to track likely volume.

Typically, conditional value picks focus on running backs, but this theme is also addressed by Jennings, a player I would confidently use if something happened to Samuel or Aiyuk.

If Whittington had enough targets to qualify, he would be at the top of the success rate list among wide receivers, according to Pro Football Reference. He’s a preferred streamer until the Rams get their primary options back.

Preliminary Injury Ranking – Not up for debate

$26 Cooper Kupp
$25 Nico Collins
$24 Puka Nacua
$19 Chris Olave
$9 Rashid Shaheed
$5 Dontayvion wicks
$3 Brandin Cooks
$2 Elijah Moore