Fantasy Football Ros Rankings (2017)

Last year, Brown was only the #12 VBD player overall after finishing #1 in 2015, as running back depth took a huge hit and his yardage dropped 550 from the year before. If Big Ben can stay upright, we should see him return to the top 5 this year so he is well worth a high first investment.

Julio is #1 in NFL history with 96.3 yards per game. With that being said, he is an increased injury risk over Brown and Beckham, plus he has been known to disappear from games at times. Still, he is as good of a bet as anyone not named Antonio Brown, so pull the trigger at #4 overall and cross your fingers for health.

Evans has seen his targets, receptions and yards increase each year of his career thus far. This year, the trend could change, however, as the Bucs finally added some complimentary pieces which should cut into his targets. Still, he is a quality first round pick, but may be passed up by A.J. Green as the #4 wide receiver.

Green missed 6 games to injury last season, but was on pace for his 1500+ receiving yards before he went down, which would have been his top season yet. There is no shame in taking him as high as #6 overall, but beware of the injury bug popping back up.

While some might worry that the presence of Brandon Marshall might hurt Beckham, you might instead consider that it should prevent as many double and triple teams. He should again be expected to produce 95+ yards per game and be among the league leaders in receptions. If he misses two games, however, he should fall to the back end of the first round.

With Cooks out of the equation, Thomas could see a bump from the 121 targets he saw during his rookie season. If he continues at this efficiency or better with 150 targets, he would enter the discussion as one of the elite receivers in football in his sophomore season.

You will hear touchdown regression tied to Jordy's name, but the matter of the fact is that we have heard that narrative about him every single season and he continues to produce huge TD rates. Double digits TDs and 1,000+ yards should be expected once again if he can stay upright at his old age.

Cooks was the #8 receiver in football last season with Drew Brees, and while the Patriots do have more weapons to spread the ball around to, they still have Tom Brady so Cooks should once again be a WR1, especially now that Edelman is out for the season.

Baldwin's touchdown rate was cut in half last year, as standard regression expected it to, but his receptions and yards increased once again. With Wilson healthy all season, we could see the receptions climb above 100 with the yards and touchdowns following accordingly.

Cooper was outperformed by Michael Crabtree for the second straight season, but he is still just 23 years old and has two 1,000 yard seasons to his name. The touchdown rate is bound to catch up eventually, at which point he would be a clear cut WR1, which he very nearly was last season.

Before getting injured in 2015, Allen was on pace for 190 targets. Granted, they have Melvin Gordon rolling now and several other quality wide receiver pieces, but a star gets the ball in his hands, and that is who Allen was showing us to be. If he stays healthy, he could be a top 8 wideout.

We finally were rewarded with the breakout everyone hoped for with Davante Adams last season, but much of it came through the 12 touchdowns. If he can't reproduce that absurd red zone efficiency, he may not have the yards to keep up with the Amari Coopers and Larry Fitzgeralds of the world.

While Thomas is still a quality receiver who is near guaranteed to see 90 receptions and 1,000+ yards, the Broncos' offense should limit him to the 5 or 6 touchdowns he saw each of the last two seasons. He is among the safest plays on the board, but without much of a ceiling, the third round is a bit too high for us.

The last time Dez was healthy, he finished as the WR #4, but that was before Zeke came into town. Now that they have one of the best running games in football and go against the toughest SOS for WRs, Bryant should take a big step back even if he stays on the field.

Since joining the Lions, Tate now has 90 or more receptions all three seasons. He is one of only a handful of receivers to accomplish that feat, and the others are all superstars. He is a terrific safe option in the 4th or 5th round of standard league drafts this season, but his ceiling is limited.

Hopkins played the full season and was still the #37 wide receiver behind the likes of Brandon LaFell and Sterling Shepard. He should rebound, but don't expect one that launches him all the way back into WR1 territory until he has a quality QB on his side.

If you are going to bet on any injury, make it Alshon Jeffery, who has the daintiest soft tissue in the league. If he is healthy, he is the clear #1 in the offense, but his ceiling is limited by Wentz' development.

Crabtree outperformed Amari Cooper as the top wideout in Oakland each of the past two seasons, but that should change in year three. Still, Crabtree is reliable and consistent, so if you took a chance on a a risky player early, he could be a solid complimentary piece.

Diggs clearly has a ton of talent at the potential to break out as a WR2, but lets not forget that Diggs finished behind Adam Thielen in receiving yards last season. Diggs was only startable in four games all of last season so just know that you are drafting a risky play with considerable upside.

Everyone has seemingly forgotten that Maclin was a borderline elite red zone threat until he ended up with Alex Smith. Now that Maclin is healthy and featured in an offense that led the league in pass attempts the past two seasons, the ceiling is huge if he can just stay on the field.

Over his past 16 healthy games, Watkins has been better than Amari Cooper. Add in the fact that the Rams threw for more yards than Buffalo last year and that Watkins now has less competition and there is no reason his draft stock should have taken such a severe tumble.

There is a lot of risk in drafting the NFL's receiving leader from last season. It isn't because of who Hilton is, but that his production is tied to Andrew Luck's health. Were Scott Tolzien his quarterback, we wouldn't be touching him in the 2nd round or maybe even 3rd round.

This athletic freak of nature joins a quarterback who will throw for at least 4,500 yards this season. With that being said, he is no longer the only weapon in his offense and Cousins likes to spread the ball around so temper your expectations a little.

Yes, Tyreek has unbelievable big play potential, but he is no longer returning kickoffs and doesn't seem built for a true WR1 role in an offense so it will take another season filled with huge plays to make him a top 20 WR. Plus, he has looked awful this preseason.

Jarvis has been consistent and reliable, but at the end of the season, he really faded quickly. Should Cutler get quickly comfortable with him, we could be looking at a top 15 wide receiver, but he may also be the bust of the year if Parker really does take the leap forward everyone is calling for.

Last year's receptions leader is among the safest plays in the draft and has outperformed Demaryius Thomas each of the past two seasons. He finished slowly to close the season, but part of that was because he was being double covered so often with John Brown injured.

When Bryant hs been on the field over the past few years, we have seen flashes of an excellent young wide receiver. With that being said, he will never be more than the #3 option in this offense so his upside will be limited by opportunity.

Sanders has at least 76 receptions and 1,000 yards each of the past three seasons. He is not a big touchdown guy, but you can rely on him to produce even with Trever Semien lining up under center for the Broncos.

Here, we have the most highly hyped wideout of the preseason. He is receiving glowing praises for his off-season improvements, and now that he is with Jay Cutler, who called him a faster Alshon, he may just live up to that potential for Miami this season.

The last time Garcon was playing for Kyle Shannahan, he led the league in receptions. Granted, Hoyer is not the greatest QB, but they will be playing from behind plenty and Garcon is clearly their top receiving option this season so he is a safe add.

Benjamin may be overweight, but he is still immensely talented and quite the red zone threat. Our big issue with him is that Cam Newton is not only a lousy passer, but that Cam is injured and a lousy passer so his ceiling is that of a mid-range WR2.

The Redskins lost several receiving assets, but took in Pryor, so Crowder's role should remain the same in an offense that should again surpass 4,500 passing yards. In PPR leagues, Crowder is terrific, but he remains a flex play in standard formats.

Thielen notched 69 receptions and nearly 1,000 yards last year despite starting only 10 games. It is clear that he and Sam Bradford have a connection, which should be trusted heading into this season. While Diggs is technically the #1 for Minnesota, it is quite possible Thielen ends up leading the Vikings in receiving again.

Cobb has been far surpassed by Devante Adams, but lets not forget just how talented he has proven to be over the years. Should Nelson or Adams end up injured, he is an immediate top 20 wide receiver, so regard him in the same light as a Derrick Henry.

Yes, Keenan Allen is back and Hunter Henry should get more opportunities, but Tyrell was the #13 wideout in fantasy last season and he looked terrific doing it. His ADP is far too low even considering the likely negative regression.

Jackson will still have some quality games each season, especially now that he is with the gunslinger in Tampa, but he disappears for too many games per season to be considered a reliable piece.

Every year, Decker is a top 15 wide receiver in terms of points per game. He is startable every single week that he is healthy. With that being said, the odds of that happening are lower than virtually any other receiver in football.

Every rookie WR drafted in the top 5 over the past decade has been a top 25 WR as a rookie. With that said, Davis appears to be 3rd on the depth chart in what is a clear-cut running offense, but there is huge potential here.

Jones started 2016 on a terror then faded away and burned plenty of owners who bought high. This preseason, he has mostly been forgotten because of recency bias, but now that Stafford is healthy, Jones may just end up having that breakout everyone expected last season.

Sneed is out for the first three weeks, but when he comes back, we could be looking at a big time breakout as Brandin Cooks' targets will all have to be spread out. Sneed has been extremely efficient when Brees has thrown his way early in his career.

Say what you want about Moncrief's yardage production, but he is a bonafide touchdown machine. The issue here, is that Andrew Luck may be injured for an extended time and Moncrief's fantasy value is directly tied to him.

Lee isn't going to win you any championships, but he is the #1 receiver on the team and has seen a big share of the intended air yards from Blake Bortles. He should never be started if you can avoid it, but he is as good of a reliable depth piece as you can find so that you can start in the case of an injury of bye week.

With Sammy Watkins in town now, Kupp's ceiling is limited, but he should still see plenty of targets. We are looking at someone who will be a possession receiver for Jared Goff for years to come and is polished enough that should he get the targets, he could be fantasy relevant from the get-go.

With Edelman out, many expect Hogan to step right into his role, but that is wishful thinking. They are not the same type of wide receiver. So while Hogan will see an increased role, the notion of drafting him in the top 100 is a bit much.

Brown is Mike Tagliere's dude this season, but every other accurate expert we've heard from loves Brown as an under-drafted breakout candidate now that he is healthy again.

With Willie Sneed suspended for three games, Ginn should be able to assert himself as Brees' #2, which as Brandin Cooks showed last year, can make a player a top 12 wideout. Ginn doesn't have that type of upside, but he was a top 25 wideout with a far inferior passer just two years ago.

Marshall was terrible in terms of efficiency last season, but he is now on the opposite side of Odell Beckham and will surely be open for many more of his targets this season. What's more is that the Giants should end up in the red zone quite a bit more often than the Jets did.

As expected, Wright saw an uptick in targets in Week 2 with Kevin White's injury, as Mike Glennon threw 10 passes Wright's way after giving him just four targets in Week 1. Wright hauled in seven of his 10 targets for 69 yards. He should continue to see nearly double-digit targets each week going forward, as the Bears should continue to play from behind and have few reliable receiving options. But Glennon's limitations and Wright's lack of explosiveness make him more of a PPR option than a standard-league option. He's your classic high-floor, low-ceiling player, which is plenty useful if your team is strong otherwise, but don't look to him to be a savior.

 

With Sammy Watkins out of Buffalo and Matthews in as presumably the team's #1 receiver, Matthews ceiling bumps to a low-end WR2. The Bills will be bad enough this season that they should have plenty of positive game scripts for the passing game.

While Britt is the safe option for Cleveland, Coleman is the upside play. We have seen a few big games from him and know what he is capable of. Perhaps he breaks out like Pyror did last season, but there is a better chance he ends up unstartable most weeks.

Mike Wallace gets it done every single year, and this time around should be no different seeing that Steve Smith, Dennis Pitta and Kamar Aiken all left Baltimore and Joe Flacco is a sure bet to be top 5 in pass attempts. Wallace is the clear #2 and should again be worthy of flex consideration.

Matthews has been a startable wideout over his previous 20 games, but with Corey Davis and Eric Decker joining the fray, he should take a major step backward. With that being said, he is still a safe WR5 to fill out a roster.

Shepard outperformed DeAndre Hopkins last season, but now he takes a backseat to Brandon Marshall in the Giants' offense and should be the #3 or 4 receiving option for a mediocre QB. Outside of an injury, he isn't startable any week in standard leagues.

With Enunwa now out for the season, Anderson is expected to step up as the top receiving option for the Jets. While they will be playing most games from behind, the QB situation is not ideal so his upside is limited to a WR3.

At the end of the Seahawks season, Richardson seemed to have passed up Kearse on the depth chart and made a nice little name for himself. It continued through the playoffs which begs the question as to whether he is due for a breakout in 2017.

Nelson had a big Week 2 against the Colts in place of John Brown, hauling in five of seven targets for 120 yards and a touchdown, and having a second touchdown catch overturned on replay. With Brown likely to miss at least Week 3, Nelson becomes an absolute must-add. Jaron Brown saw more snaps than Nelson against the Colts, but that's irrelevant. Nelson has scored in both games this season, and saw nearly 10 targets per game in the final three games of last season, showing that he's a solid fantasy option regardless of his snap count. With Arizona lacking explosive playmakers, Nelson is a threat to go off each and every week, and can be started with confidence this week against Dallas and every week until or unless John Brown returns.

Like him or not, Josh McCown just keeps throwing the ball to Kearse. His upside is nothing more than a low-end WR3, but with this volume of targets, he is a safe WR5 piece, and you can never have too much depth. Don't go crazy bidding on him, but he is better than keeping an Eddie Lacy or Kenny Britt.

After an incredibly disappointing 2016 campaign, Sanu has quietly had a very effective beginning to his 2017 season, catching 11 of his 16 targets for 132 yards. Between Atlanta's excellent running backs and Julio Jones, opposing defenses have plenty to contend with, which should allow Sanu to have a fairly decent floor each week as Matt Ryan will give him enough targets to stay relevant. He's unlikely to have huge weeks, even if Jones were to miss time with an injury. But for those in deeper leagues who just need some production out of a WR3 spot, Sanu is a fine option.

Blake Bortles got Hurns a dozen garbage time points in Week 2, so don't look at this game as though Hurns was dominant or anything close to it. With that said, he does possess a strong ceiling each week and enough of a floor to warrant starting in a pinch if he has a decent matchup.

He was tremendous in college as a possession receiver, and if given snaps, could be an impact rookie. He is a lottery ticket at this point.

 

Tavon is the biggest mystery of any receiver from week to week. You will likely get a handful of stellar performances and a number of disappearnces. With that said, he is still likely to end up a top 60 fantasy receiver.

If there's any silver lining to the Greg Olsen injury, it's that Devin Funchess should become much more involved in the Panthers offense. Funchess caught four of his seven targets for 68 yards in Week 2 against Buffalo, and his receptions and targets trailed only Kelvin Benjamin. Funchess has disappointed fantasy owners for his first two years in the league, but he at least has the opportunity to become an integral part of the Carolina offense with Olsen's injury. Cam Newton's ineffectiveness may limit Funchess's ceiling a bit, but his potential makes him an intriguing waiver wire add, both for the season and for a one-week fill-in against the Saints in Week 3.

Britt gets an upgrade at QB moving away from Goff, and is the only decent receiving option on a team that will be playing in positive passing game scripts all season. Britt is a discount and a safe bet for consistent play.

The Redskins drafted Doctson to be their #1 once Garcon and DeSean Jackson left. While Crowder and Pryor are taking plenty of targets, Doctson has the athletic profile to carve out a sizeable role in this offense.

Those who wasted a significant portion of their FAAB or a high waiver pick on Agholor after Week 1 were surely disappointed with the receiver's production in Week 2, as he caught just one pass for nine yards, though it was a touchdown catch. But Agholor's three targets against the Chiefs showed that he hasn't suddenly vaulted into a reliable option for either the Eagles or fantasy owners. Both Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith, not to mention Zach Ertz, appear to be Carson Wentz's preferred options, making Agholor a mostly touchdown-dependent option. Still, he's scored in each of the Eagles' first two games, so he's worth adding in the hope that he becomes Wentz's go-to red zone option.

Although the Seattle offense continues to look awful, Lockett's stock is rising quickly after his performance on Sunday against the 49ers. The stat line doesn't jump out at you - six receptions for 64 yards - but it doesn't tell the whole story. Lockett received nine targets and played nearly 75 percent of the snaps in Week 2, compared to only two targets and about 50 percent of the snaps in Week 1 against Green Bay. With Paul Richardson nursing a (grotesque) finger injury, Lockett's role should only increase going forward, making him a fine pickup both long-term and for this coming week against the Titans.

Alex Smith has never supported two fantasy wide receivers, but Chris Conley is a special athletic specimen who could change that narrative with this year's opportunity. He is well worth a lottery ticket and should Maholmes take over, Conley could explode onto the scene.

As we saw last season, Gabriel can put together a handful of games per season well worth starting him, but picking and choosing when the long touchdown might come will burn you more often than not.

Allison got involved in Week 2 against the Falcons with three catches on five targets for 24 yards, as Packers wide receivers started dropping like flies. Those injuries make Allison an intriguing waiver wire add, as both Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb could potentially miss out on Week 3's game against the Bengals. Allison totaled eight catches for 157 yards and a touchdown in the final two weeks of the regular season last year, and anyone who could have a prominent role in an Aaron Rodgers-led offense is worth monitoring. Allison isn't a play if both Nelson and Cobb suit up, and is only a dart throw play if one of them misses a game. But there are few options on the waiver wire with as much potential as Allison if things break right, so consider him a name to add and to deploy under the right circumstances.

Ross was drafted quite high, but it is purely based on his speed. He needs to work on his route running before he plays a big role in an NFL offense. He will also have to fight off Tyler Boyd for snaps.

 

The Vikings have made it clear that they expect Treadwell to be their #3 wide receiver, which means we could see a breakout, but unless Diggs or Thielen ends up injured, he won't be startable even as a flex.

Stills can run the deep route and score a long touchdown with the best of them, but he doesn't get enough work to be considered a flex play outside of bench weeks or when one of your starters is injured. He can be added to fantasy rosters, but you would be better off picking up a high-end backup running back for that final roster spot.

Just last week, Higgins was on the practice squad, and now he appears to be the Browns #1 wide receiver moving forward. Corey Coleman broke his hand, Kenny Britt has disappeared, and Higgins saw 12 targets last week. According to Matt Harmon, the wide receiver whisperer, Higgins ran a stellar route tree too, so he could be a breakout player with enough volume.

 

 

 

Williams may miss extended time and perhaps the season, and even if he plays, it will take injuries for him to be a week to week starter, but buying a lottery ticket here makes more sense than wasting a roster spot on a Chris Hogan type.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coleman put forth a solid effort against the Patriots in Week 2, with four receptions on six targets for 82 yards and a touchdown. With Willie Snead on the verge of coming back in Week 4, it's unlikely that Coleman has much staying power as a fantasy-relevant option. But, considering he's seeing more percentage of snaps in the early going than Ted Ginn, he makes a decent plug-and-play option against the Panthers for Week 3.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thompson scored the Bears' lone touchdown in Week 2 against the Bucs, and hauled in four of his five targets for 57 yards in the game. The Bears offense has been underwhelming (to put it mildly), and it's unlikely to look much better against the Steelers in Week 3. But Mike Glennon has to throw the ball to someone, and there simply aren't many reliable options in Chicago. Thompson will likely continue to trail Kendall Wright and perhaps Zach Miller in targets each week, but if he can continue to make the most of his opportunities, he could be a fantasy option later in the season.