With injuries, aging top-shelf players, and the ever-evolving NFL landscape, we see new wide receivers spring forth yearly into the top-12 ranks in fantasy football. Some are ballyhooed rookies who take the league by storm, while others are players like Will Fuller and Calvin Ridley who step forward to lead their aerial attacks after having flashed promise in previous years.

Today, I’ll analyze wide receivers outside the top-24 in ECR at Fantasypros who could be top-12 options this year.

Courtland Sutton (WR – DEN) – WR26

happy Monday

here's another Courtland Sutton highlight pic.twitter.com/haYYeGNNiC

— Andrew Erickson™ (@AndrewErickson_) March 1, 2021

Courtland Sutton is set for a big bounceback season with Russell Wilson arriving in Mile High. Last year, Sutton was eighth in deep targets among wide receivers (per PFF). The efficiency on these downfield looks was lacking with Drew Lock blindly throwing the ball all over the stadium. In 2021, Lock finished 29th out of 42 quarterbacks in deep adjusted completion rate (per PFF, minimum 10 deep targets). Before last year Wilson hadn’t ranked lower than 23rd in this metric in any of his three previous seasons.

Sutton has also flashed big-time ability on these types of targets. In 2019, he was seventh in yards per route run and 18th in passer rating when targeted 20+ yards downfield (per PFF). Sutton is being drafted near his floor for 2022.

Amon-Ra St. Brown (WR – DET) – WR28

Amon-Ra St. Brown pic.twitter.com/dEby4yD3gw

— Ray G 🏁 (@RayGQue) March 15, 2022

Yes, I have been lower than some when forecasting Amon-Ra St. Brown’s impending sophomore season. Indeed, T.J. Hockenson was out, and D’Andre Swift was a part-time player during St. Brown’s epic end-of-the-season run. It’s also possible the Lions could further address the wide receiver position in the NFL Draft. These concerns are being baked into his current ranking, but his upside isn’t fully integrated.

St. Brown’s final six games were filled with immense volume, as St. Brown ranked behind only Justin Jefferson in targets (67) and target share (33.5%) and sixth in weighted opportunity, but his efficiency was also elite. During that stretch, St. Brown was also 13th in yards per route run immediately behind Davante Adams and Michael Pittman (per PFF). Earning targets is a skill, and St. Brown has that talent in spades. Don’t sleep on the possibility that he’ll buck my projection for his 2022 seasons and finish the year as a top-12 wide receiver.

Darnell Mooney (WR – CHI) – WR30

Darnell Mooney

My Dark Horse WR1 in 2022. 🚀🚀pic.twitter.com/loJHQm2VCQ

— Derek Brown (@DBro_FFB) April 25, 2022

Darnell Mooney is currently perched atop the Bears’ target hierarchy. This could remain so even if Chicago addresses the receiver position in the draft, as Mooney showed he was up to the task of leading a passing attack in the second half. In Weeks 9-18, he finished as a WR1 in fantasy in 44% of his games. With Mooney ranking 11th in route wins, per Playerprofiler.com, we can’t dismiss the possibility that he’s only beginning to scratch the surface of his talent.

With rookie QB Justin Fields enduring growing pains and Andy Dalton doing Andy Dalton things, Mooney suffered through pitiful target accuracy last year (84th per Playerprofiler.com). If Fields continues the ascension that he flashed over the back half of 2021, Mooney could be headed for a top-12 fantasy showing in 2022.

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Derek Brown is a fantasy analyst at FantasyPros. For more from Derek, check out his archive and follow him @dbro_ffb