As the offseason rolls along, we are laying the groundwork for early best ball drafts, new dynasty startups, and everything else under the fantasy sun as we gear up for the next NFL season.
Below you will find 2023 fantasy football wide receiver rankings along with a profile for every ranked wide receiver.
These wide receiver rankings will move and be updated throughout the offseason as the landscape changes. I also have more detailed player write-ups in the tiers breakdown.
Fantasy Football Rankings:
2023 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings:
Updated August 31
1. Justin Jefferson: Jefferson has opened his career as the WR6, WR4, and WR1 in overall scoring and the WR9, WR4, and WR2 in per-game scoring. No player has ever had more receptions (324) or receiving yards (4,825 yards) than Jefferson has through three seasons in the league. Jefferson led the NFL in catches (128) and receiving yards (1,809) in 2022, tacking on nine total touchdowns. He accounted for 28.6% of the Minnesota team receptions (fourth among wide receivers) and 37.6% of the receiving yardage (first). Jefferson had seven games last season with 30 or more PPR points while the next closest wide receiver had five.
2. Tyreek Hill: Hill has been a WR1 in per-game scoring in each of the past six seasons, finishing in the top six in per-game output in five of those years. That includes being the WR3 per game a year ago in his first season with the Dolphins. Hill had one of the greatest wide receiver seasons of all time. He averaged a league-high 3.08 yards per route run running 578 routes. The only seasons that were better over the past decade from a wide receiver with over 500 routes per TruMedia have been Julio Jones in 2016 (3.23 yards per route) and Kupp in 2021 (3.12 YRR). Hill was targeted on a career-high 32.0% of his routes and averaged 2.93 yards per team pass attempt, both of which paced all wide receivers over the full season. Hill was also the only player in the NFL last season to be targeted on over 30.0% of his routes versus both zone coverage (32.5%) and man coverage (34.0%).
3. Ja’Marr Chase: Chase has opened his career as the WR5 and the WR4 in per-game scoring. Much of Chase’s efficiency stats took a dip compared to his rookie season since the Bengals were forced to pull in their vertical passing game, but he was able to make up for things with a massive spike in volume. Chase received 11.2 targets per game compared to 7.5 per game as a rookie. Chase went from a 23.4% deep target rate in 2021 down to 11.2% in 2022 but was targeted on 25.9% of his routes a year ago after a 22.2% rate in his first season.
4. Stefon Diggs: Diggs has been the WR3, WR10, and WR5 in scoring per game since joining the Bills. He is one of just two players (Davante Adams being the other) to have 100 or more receptions in each of the past three years. In 2022, Diggs was the Buffalo passing game as he accounted for 27.9% of the targets (seventh among wide receivers), 29.9% of the receptions (third), and 33.3% of the receiving yards (sixth). Attachment to Josh Allen makes Buffalo the most expensive stacking option at the top of drafts.
5. Davante Adams: Adams continued to perform at the top of his position in his first season with the Raiders. Adams received a career-high 180 targets, catching 100 passes for 1,516 yards and leading the NFL in touchdown receptions (14) for the second time in three seasons. Adams was third among all wide receivers in target rate per route run (29.1%), first in overall team target share (32.3%), and seventh in yards per route run (2.45).
6. CeeDee Lamb: Lamb had a true breakout in year three with 107 catches for 1,359 yards and nine touchdowns, all highs over his first three seasons in the league. He closed the year as the WR7 in points per game and was seventh in target rate per route run (27.4%). Lamb led all wideouts in receiving yards from the slot (867) but was also a top-15 in yards per route run outside. Kupp, Hill, Adams, and Chris Olave were the only other wideouts in the top-15 in both.
7. A.J. Brown: Brown was the WR6 in overall scoring and the WR8 in per-game output over his first season with the Eagles. Brown received a career-high 145 targets, setting career marks in receptions (88) and yardage (1,496) while matching his best season with 11 touchdowns. Brown averaged a career-high 5.2 catches per game while averaging 3.39 yards per route run against man coverage, which was fourth in the league.
8. Garrett Wilson: Wilson led all rookies with 1,103 receiving yards and won the Rookie of the Year award. What is impressive about Wilson’s season is that 16.3% of his targets were deemed inaccurate by the quarterback, which was the fourth-highest rate among all NFL wide receivers to have 100 or more targets in 2022. 18.8% of his 51 targets from Zach Wilson were deemed uncatchable while he also saw another 50 targets from Joe Flacco, 41 from Mike White, and five from Chris Streveler. Aaron Rodgers was 15th in on-target accuracy targeting wide receivers in 2022 while Zach Wilson was 32nd.
9. Amon-Ra St. Brown: Building off the strong second-half break out of his rookie season in 2021, St. Brown closed his second season as the WR11 in points per game, catching 106 passes for 1,161 yards and six touchdowns. St. Brown was second behind only Hill in target rate per route run (30.3%) among wideouts while he accounted for 33.3% of his team targets when he was on the field, which also only trailed Hill (36.2%). The only minor bugaboo for St. Brown is that he is more volume-dependent than the other wideouts we have touched on. His 6.5 air yards per target ranked 130th among wideouts while just 4.1% of his targets were deep targets, a rate only ahead of JuJu Smith-Schuster and Richie James among 140 wide receivers to run 100 or more pass routes.
10. Cooper Kupp: He is the per-game scoring leader among wideouts the past two seasons. Through all of the issues the Rams had, Kupp was still productive before missing the final eight games of the season due to an ankle injury. Through the first nine weeks, Kupp was second in the NFL in targets (93), second in receptions (72), fourth in receiving yards (813), and third in touchdowns (six) among all wide receivers. Kupp was leading the league with 33.2% of the team targets over that span. Matthew Stafford is healthy and the Rams have next to nothing outside of Kupp. Being 30 and opening camp with a hamstring issue do place some caution here. Our worst fears came true on the last day of August came true with Sean McVay saying that Kupp had a setback in his recovery four weeks later. Hopefully, this is not a situation similar to what we went through with Keenan Allen a year ago, but it makes Kupp a tougher click when there are other wide receivers surrounding his ADP that are on the front of their career arcs.
11. Jaylen Waddle: After a rookie season in which Waddle was used as a low-leverage puddle jumper, he was correctly showcased as a full-field asset in Mike McDaniel’s offense. After averaging 7.09 air yards per target as a rookie, Waddle averaged 12.6 air yards per look in 2022. After he played 54.0% of his snaps in the slot as a rookie, Waddle was inside for 19.9% a year ago. As a rookie, Waddle had just 8.6% of his targets on throws 20 yards or further downfield. That climbed up to a 17.7% rate this past season. Those newfound downfield opportunities allowed Waddle to raise his 9.8 yards per catch as a rookie up to a league-leading 18.1 yards per catch in 2022. There is some volatility here, however, with that usage. Waddle was the WR30 or lower in six of his final eight games in 2022.
12. Chris Olave: Olave was thrust into a lead receiving role with the Saints as a rookie. Olave was excellent in this rookie season, catching 72-of-119 targets for 1,042 yards and four touchdowns. Among all wide receivers to run 100 or more pass routes in 2022, Olave ranked sixth in targets per route run (27.7%) and eighth in yards per route run (2.43). If fleshing out his sample among rookie wideouts to play as much as he did, Olave’s 2.43 yards route run was only bested by Odell Beckham (2.76), A.J. Brown (2.71), Justin Jefferson (2.68), and Ja’Marr Chase (2.52) among rookie wide receivers over the past decade to run at least 300 routes in their first season.
13. DeVonta Smith: Smith built on a positive rookie season in 2021 (64-916-5) and turned in 95 catches for 1,196 yards and seven touchdowns in 2022. After a modest opening to the season, Smith caught fire over the back half of the year. Through Week 9, Smith was the WR30 in overall scoring and WR33 in expected points. From Week 10 through the close of the regular season, he was then the WR5 overall and WR6 in expected points. Over that span, Smith was tied for fourth among all wide receivers in targets, was sixth in receptions, and sixth in receiving yards. From Week 9 through the Super Bowl, Smith out-targeted Brown (107-to-104) while catching 10 more passes, although Brown had 10 more receiving yards and one more touchdown over that span.
14. Keenan Allen: Allen missed seven full regular season games and had two other games in which he only played 33% and 32% of the snaps due to ongoing hamstring issues. Despite the missed time, Allen was just as good as ever when fully healthy. From Week 12 through Week 18, Allen was third among all wide receivers in targets (75), third in receptions (55), and sixth in receiving yards (581) to go along with four touchdowns. His age (31 this past April) and injury history make Allen a better WR2 on your roster than a lead option, but when on the field he was still as good as always.
15. Tee Higgins: Higgins has gotten better for fantasy in each of his three seasons in the league, closing as the WR28, WR24, and WR19 in overall points to open his career. He did take a step back in per-game output last season, however, dropping from WR13 in 2021 down to WR20 in that department. He appeared in 16 games but had three weeks where he played just 37 combined snaps, which played a role in that per-game output diminishing. Higgins still managed 74 catches for 1,029 yards and caught a career-high seven touchdowns. He also carries some volatility as the Bengals leaned on Chase more than during his rookie season. Higgins was targeted on just 18.3% of his routes with Chase on the field last season as opposed to a 25.2% rate with Chase off the field.
16. DK Metcalf: Metcalf set career highs in targets (141) and catches (90) last season, turning them into 1,048 yards and six touchdowns. Metcalf received more volume and had more intermediate field usage, which aided a career-high 8.3 targets per game. After 20% or more of his targets were deep targets over each of his first three seasons in the league, Metcalf only had a 12.1% deep target rate in 2022. As a byproduct, his 30% intermediate target rate was his highest since his rookie season while his 53.2% short-target rate was a career-high. The downside is that he also had a career-low 4.3% touchdown rate, but Metcalf was targeted on 25.1% of his routes (WR16).
17. Calvin Ridley: Ridley was suspended for the entire 2022 season due to violating the league’s gambling policy. This was coming off a tumultuous 2021 season in which Ridley averaged just 9.1 yards per catch and 5.4 yards per target, which were by far career-low marks. Ridley dealt with a foot injury and noted his mental health was not where it needed to be over that span before he set football aside for the remainder of the 2021 season. We now have not seen Ridley play high-level football for two years, and he will turn 29 during the season. While there is a risk that Ridley never regains his early-career production, there is an immediate floor and upside outcome for a wideout that was the WR19 and WR4 in points per game over the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
18. Amari Cooper: Cooper was one of the most underrated pickups of the 2022 offseason, especially after the wave of wide receiver contracts doled out after his acquisition. Cooper caught 78 passes for 1,160 yards and a career-high nine touchdowns. He matched a career-high with 132 targets on the season while his 14.9 yards per reception was the second-best mark of his career. Cooper accounted for 26.0% of the Cleveland targets (11th among wide receivers) and averaged 2.08 yards per route run (WR17). Despite the strong campaign overall, Cooper did once again keep up his catawampus home/away splits, which have followed his career wherever he has been. He was eighth in the NFL in receiving yardage and ninth in catches at home compared to 39th in catches and 21st in yardage on the road.
19. Christian Watson: Watson showcased his big-play ability as a rookie to close the season. After just 121 total snaps and 14 targets through Week 9, Watson finally got healthy and received an opportunity to deliver as a playmaker. From Week 10 on, he caught 31-of-51 targets for 523 yards and seven touchdowns (with another rushing touchdown). Over that span, Watson was targeted on 25.6% of his routes (12th). He did run hot on touchdown output as he was the WR9 in fantasy scoring over that stretch but just the WR20 in expected points. Over those eight games, Watson still had four or fewer receptions in six of them. Due to the uncertainty of Jordan Love, Watson can be a massive value or miss in this area, but he is a strong bet to lead the Packers in target opportunity.
20. Deebo Samuel: The expected efficiency regression came for Samuel last season as his yards per catch fell from a league-leading 18.2 yards down to 11.3 yards per grab while the long rushing touchdowns from 2021 dried up. He went from the WR3 in points per game in 2021 down to WR29 last season. Samuel has yet to average 5.0 catches per game in any NFL season. He was still the WR14 in target rate per route (25.1%), but his 4.3 air yards per target were the lowest among all wide receivers with 35 or more targets. Just 5.3% of his targets were deep targets (129th) after a 12.4% rate in 2021. Samuel still led all wideouts with 42 rushing attempts. Also, you want Brock Purdy to start if you are investing in Samuel. When both Purdy and Samuel were on the field, Samuel had a 28.1% of the team targets.
21. D.J. Moore: Moore was the WR24 in overall scoring and WR35 in per-game output last season as he was once again derailed by quarterback play. After five years in the league, Moore has now finished higher than WR27 in points per game just once with a high at WR17. 21.2% of Moore’s targets were deemed inaccurate due to the quarterback last season, which was the second-worst rate among all wideouts with 100 or more targets on the season. Looking to break out of that cycle in 2023, Moore is now attached to Justin Fields, who was 30th in the league in inaccuracy rate targeting wide receivers in 2022 (19.1%). The addition of Moore can improve those rates. We have seen the additions of Stefon Diggs and A.J. Brown in recent seasons be tidal waves in turning around quarterback play. But with the passing acumen of Fields still a looming question and Chicago potentially being a run-heavy offense once again, Moore still takes a significant step of faith as more than a volatile WR2.
22. Diontae Johnson: Johnson signed a three-year extension last summer and went out and set an NFL record by having the most targets in a season (147) without a touchdown reception. Johnson was still the WR20 in target rate per route (24.0%) and the WR10 in team target share (26.8%) so we can expect some scoring regression to the mean here in 2023. The only question is how much upside do we have here paired with Kenny Pickett? Since entering the league in 2019, only seven wide receivers have had more receptions than Johnson. But out of the 96 wideouts to catch 100 or more passes over that span (Johnson has 356 career catches including the postseason), Johnson ranks 81st in yards per reception (10.7). Of the 17 wideouts to catch 300 or more passes over that stretch, Johnson is last in yards per catch.
23. Chris Godwin: Godwin set career highs in targets (142) and receptions (104) last season, but his performance was largely marred by returning early from ACL surgery from the year prior and then suffering a hamstring injury in the season opener. As a byproduct, Godwin averaged a career-low 9.8 yards per reception. His 5.5 air yards per target and 1.74 yards per route run were career lows by a wide margin. He is healthy entering this offseason, but the Bucs also have added quarterback concerns layered in after the retirement of Tom Brady to keep Godwin best used in fantasy as a floor-based WR2 in full-PPR scoring.
24. Tyler Lockett: Perpetually underrated for fantasy (and perhaps here again), Lockett has been the WR16 or better in overall scoring in each of the past five seasons. He has been the WR24 or better in per-game scoring in each of those seasons, which includes closing as the WR17 in points per game a year ago. Lockett did run hot last season in touchdowns as he was the WR25 in expected points scored. His 22.0% target rate per route was 30th while he had 24 fewer targets than Metcalf when the two were on the field together. Lockett will turn 31 this September.
25. Christian Kirk: Kirk set career highs in targets (133), receptions (84), receiving yards (1,108), and touchdowns (eight) in 2022. His 13.2 yards per catch were his highest since his rookie season. For fantasy, he was the WR12 in overall scoring and the WR19 in per-game scoring. While the breakout made Kirk a strong value last season, his underlying usage suggests that there is room for him to be overvalued this season. Kirk was targeted on 21.5% of his routes (36th among all wideouts with 100 or more routes run) with 1.79 yards per route run (32nd). He was a top-30 scorer in three of his final seven games as Zay Jones came on to close the season and now the Jaguars will have Calvin Ridley as a potential target threat.
26. Mike Williams: Playing 76% of the snaps, Williams has yet to play in every game since his rookie season and has played 80% of the snaps or more in just one season now in the NFL. When on the field, Williams was still a solid splash-play receiver. He averaged 14.2 yards per catch while his 9.6 yards per target were his highest rate in a season since 2019. Williams secured 67.7% of his targets, which was a career-high. But he was also targeted on just 20.1% of his routes (50th) and once again was a hyper-volatile producer. He had six weeks as the WR15 or better to go along with seven as the WR34 or lower. He had one of the largest splits versus man and zone coverage last season, being targeted on 31.8% of his routes against man coverage (10th) as opposed to 16.6% against zone (78th).
27. Terry McLaurin: Through four years in the league, McLaurin has been the WR30, WR20, WR32, and WR24 in points per game. McLaurin just has not been able to get over the hump due to quarterback play, something that is questionable once again heading into 2023. McLaurin was limited to just three top-12 scoring weeks and seven top-24 scoring weeks in 2022. Most of those came through sheer volume when Taylor Heinicke was starting. With Heinicke under center, McLaurin had 29.2% of the team targets and was targeted on 26.3% of his routes. With Heinicke off the field, McLaurin received 17.0% of the team targets with a target on 15.8% of his routes. A turf toe injury could have McLaurin out or be limited to open the season.
28. Brandin Cooks: Cooks completely fell off the reservation last season, dropping down to the WR40 in points per game after closing the 2021 season as the WR22 in per-game output. Disgruntled with the organization, Cooks averaged 4.4 receptions for 53.8 yards per game with three total touchdowns. Cooks will turn 30 this September with another new lease to climb back to the WR2-plus range for fantasy in Dallas. Cooks will have an immediate path to earn the vacated targets left over via Dalton Schultz in the offense. He has been a WR2 or better in seven of his nine NFL seasons.
29. Drake London: I love London the player, so I will take him higher than this ranking, but I also want to proceed with some trepidation based on his overall situation. London’s counting stats (72-866-4) were not as lofty as other rookie wideouts, but his efficiency and production within the parameters of his offensive environment were rock solid. London was targeted on 28.2% of his routes run as a rookie, which ranked fifth in the league among all wide receivers. He accounted for 29.3% of the Atlanta team targets (third among wideouts). London’s 2.09 yards per route run was 16th among all NFL wideouts last season and trailed only Chirs Olave among rookie wide receivers. But he was also 55th among all wide receivers in total routes run (415) despite running a route on 85% of the team dropbacks.
30. Brandon Aiyuk: It hurts to have Aiyuk in this area because he is a better player than given credit for. He was the WR15 last season in overall scoring and the WR25 in points per game as he set early-career highs in targets (114), catches (78), yards (1,015), and touchdowns (eight). But his role in the San Francisco offense paired with their low-volume passing game dampens the fantasy excitement overall unless Deebo Samuel misses time again. Aiyuk has nine WR1 scoring weeks since entering the league. Five of those have come in games Deebo Samuel has missed. Aiyuk had 20 or more PPR points three times last season and Samuel was absent for two of those weeks. In the 13 games that Samuel was active, Aiyuk was the average WR35 in weekly scoring (12.6 points per game), averaging 4.3 catches for 56.4 yards per game. For his career, Aiyuk has a 19.1% target rate per route rate with Deebo on the field compared to a 22.3% with Samuel off. We also outright may need Brock Purdy not to play at all. With both Purdy and Deebo on the field, Samuel had 28.1% of the team targets while Aiyuk was below a 1.0 YRR (0.93) on those snaps.
31. Mike Evans: Evans will turn 30 this August before the season. Evans notched his ninth straight 1,000-yard season in 2022, but his days of being a front-end elite wideout could be closing. Evans was targeted on 20.1% of his routes last season, which was 48th among all wide receivers to run 100 or more pass routes. His 1.75 yards per route run ranked 35th among the same group. Week 17 (10-207-3) showed that Evans still has the juice to pop for a spike week, but he also had just five weeks last season finishing higher than WR28.
32. Marquise Brown: Brown opened the season on a strong note while DeAndre Hopkins was suspended. Over the opening six weeks of the season, Brown was fifth in the NFL in receptions (43) and seventh in receiving yards (485) with three touchdowns. Over that span, Brown led the NFL in routes run (269) which inflated his counting stats, but he was 15th among all wide receivers in team target share (26.3%). Brown then fractured his foot and missed the next five games. Kyler Murray was then injured the following week after he returned and everything fell apart in this offense. Over the final six games of the season, Brown caught just 24-of-43 targets for 224 yards and no touchdowns. With Murray under center, 19.7% of Brown's targets were deemed inaccurate compared to a 30.6% inaccurate rate when any other Arizona passer was throwing to him (37.5% with Colt McCoy on 16-target sample). Brown gets a bump with the release of Hopkins, but we still need Murray to return for a large portion of the season to make Brown more than a volatile fantasy option.
33. DeAndre Hopkins: Hopkins was limited to just nine games in 2022 due to a suspension to open the season and then knee issues again to close the season. When on the field, Hopkins bounced back from his down season in 2021. He averaged 7.1 catches for 79.7 yards per game after 4.2 catches for 57.2 yards per game in 2021. From Week 7 through Week 16 while active, Hopkins was the WR7 in overall scoring and the WR4 in expected points. Hopkins turns 31 this June and his move to the Titans was a bottom-rung outcome for his potential landing spots after being released in Arizona. Hopkins will still command a high target share, but with the Titans still projecting to have a low-volume passing total paired with the potential that Will Levis makes starts this season gives him a scary floor paired with a limited ceiling.
34. Jahan Dotson: Dotson caught 35-of-61 targets for 523 yards and seven touchdowns across 12 games as a rookie. While the counting stats were lukewarm outside of touchdowns, it was how Dotson finished the season that gives him positive momentum heading into year two. Over his final five games of the season, Dotson was the WR16 in overall scoring and WR26 in expected points. Over that span, he was targeted 22.2% of his routes (24th among wide receivers) which was a higher rate than Terry McLaurin (21.4%). He averaged 2.18 yards per route in those games (WR16). We still have quarterback questions in Washington, but Dotson is a cheap year-two bet to make as a bench wide receiver.
35. Courtland Sutton: We are now five years into Sutton’s career and still do not have a large sample of him being more than a lid lifter. Closing 2022 as the WR43 in points per game, Sutton now has just one season inside of the top 40 wideouts in points per game. Last season, he did not manage a single WR1 scoring week. To his credit, he only had four weeks lower than WR40 over his 15 games, but Sutton was surpassed by Jerry Jeudy as a more reliable target in the offense. When both were on the field together, Jeudy was targeted on 21.0% of his routes while averaging 2.10 yards per route run compared to an 18.7% target per route rate and 1.21 yards per route for Sutton. Sutton was limited by being used as a downfield asset firsthand while Jeudy soaked more efficient targets and ran more efficient routes. 15.1% of his routes were deep routes (fourth among wideouts).
36. Michael Pittman: Pittman was 12th in the NFL in targets (141) and 10th in receptions (99) in 2022 but was 25th in receiving yards (925) with just four touchdowns. His 9.3 yards per catch were the same as Cade Otton’s and ahead of only Greg Dortch (9.0) and Russell Gage (8.4) among the 51 wide receivers to catch 50 or more passes last season. Pittman averaged just 6.9 air yards per target in 2022 (127th among all wide receivers to run 100 or more routes). Just 6.2% of his routes (132nd) and 4.3% of his targets (138th) were on routes or throws 20 yards or further downfield. It will be hard for Pittman to receive worse quarterback play or the scheme to be worse under Shane Steichen, but wideouts attached to rookie passers have been lackluster investments without even factoring in Anthony Richardson’s accuracy issues or the potential passing volume limitations he could have on the offense in 2023.
37. George Pickens: Pickens had a glass half/half-empty rookie campaign depending on where you are squinting. He was fourth among rookie wideouts in overall targets (84), catches (52), and receiving yards (801) while ranking third in yards per catch (15.4). Pickens ran the second most pass routes among all rookie wideouts (578) but was targeted on just 14.5% of those routes, which was higher than only Tyquan Thornton, David Bell, and Brandon Johnson. His 1.39 yards per route run ranked 10th out of 16 rookie wide receivers. Pickens averaged 14.8 air yards per target (10th in the NFL) while 32.1% of his targets were deep targets (20 yards or further downfield), which was sixth in the league at his position.
38. Gabriel Davis: Davis caught 48-of-93 targets for 836 yards and seven touchdowns. He still was a splash play option, averaging 17.4 yards per catch (second in the NFL for all wideouts with 30 or more catches) while another 14.6% of his catches went for scores (third), but it is the in-between consistency between big plays for Davis. Davis was targeted on only 16.0% of his routes (88th among receivers) and struggled again versus man coverage. Davis was targeted on just 12.3% of his routes against man coverage (126th) while averaging 0.78 yards per route versus man coverage (116th). Davis did play through an early-season ankle injury that may have hampered his hopeful breakout season, and the Bills did not bring in any wideouts that can push him off being someone who gets major playing time attached to Josh Allen.
39. Jordan Addison: The 2021 Biletnikoff Award Winner landed in a perfect spot to make an immediate impact in year one. In 2022, Adam Thielen was second in the NFL in routes run. Even if the Vikings do not play in as many jailbreak game environments, Addison should take on that full-time vacancy as the WR2 in this offense. He also gets viable quarterback play out of the gate, a strong offensive scheme, and an elite wide receiver on the field to draw attention for him to develop. On top of everything, Addison also has more of a path to opportunity should anything god forbid happen to Justin Jefferson.
40. Rashod Bateman: Bateman has also flashed the ability that made him a first-round pick in 2021, but he has had trouble staying on the field. After missing five games as a rookie in 2021, Bateman played in just six games last season due to a season-ending foot injury. When Bateman was on the field, he was averaging 19.0 yards per reception and 10.2 yards per target before the injury. He only played in six games and was still tied for third on the team with five receptions of 20 or more yards, behind Mark Andrews (nine) and Devin Duvernay (six). But with the additions of Zay Flowers and Odell Beckham, Bateman is a wideout that is going to have to thrive on being hyper-efficient over receiving a wealth of targets to give him a reliable floor.
41. Jaxon Smith-Njigba: There still is a question on if Smith-Njigba has the type of ceiling next level to contend with the alpha WR1s in the league. It is only a question because Smith-Njigba does still take some projection as a perimeter wide receiver. He ran just 85 total pass routes lined up outside in college. 95 of his 110 catches in college came from the slot while he ran just 15 total pass routes over three years at Ohio State with two or fewer wide receivers on the field. Smith-Njigba has zero pressure to carry a passing game right away in the NFL going to Seattle, but that also makes him a better bet as someone that has a stronger close to the 2023 season and a contingency bet should D.K. Metcalf or Tyler Lockett miss time. In 2022, Metcalf and Lockett combined for 46.7% of the team targets, 43.6% of the receptions, 48.6% of the receiving yards, and 50% of the receiving scores. Smith-Njigba suffered a wrist fracture that could have him sidelined to open the season. With a 3-6 window on return, the Seahawks have a Week 5 bye, further pushing his return and potential delivery for gamers towards the second half of the season.
42. Zay Flowers: For the context of how much water Flowers carried for Boston College this season, he accounted for 29.8% of the team receptions (sixth in this class), 36.4% of the receiving yardage (third), and 57.1% of the team touchdown catches (first). Flowers is 5-foot-9 and 182 pounds. He came out of Indianapolis registering in the 26th percentile in terms of athletic score while his 29.5-inch arms were in the second percentile at the position. That said, Flowers does project to play more in the slot in the NFL than the 31.9% rate he played a year ago. A common theme so far, Flowers is more of a reserve fantasy wideout for 2023 that has contingency value behind Rashod Bateman and Odell Beckham. He also is someone who can ramp up and take over more playing time as the season expands.
43. Jerry Jeudy: Jeudy is expected to miss “several” weeks, but it is the reoccurrence potential that is troublesome and knocks him down draft boards. If you are more risk adverse, Jeudy has yet to put together a full season through three years in the league but showed some promise to close last season after catching 67-of-100 targets for 972 yards and six touchdowns. Over the final five weeks of the year, Jeudy was the WR2 in overall scoring and WR9 in expected points. Jeudy had 11 games in which he played 60% of the team snaps. In those games, he averaged 5.5 catches for 79.9 yards per game and a WR20 finish. He was a WR2 or better in eight of those 11 games and lower than the WR27 just twice.
44. Treylon Burks: Burks caught 33-of-54 targets for 444 yards and a touchdown as he worked through missing six games as a rookie. Among rookie wideouts, Burks was seventh in yards per route run (1.75) and seventh in targets per route run (21.3%). Burks looked to be turning the corner as a rookie after games of 7-111-0 and 4-70-0 in Week 11-12. He then caught a 25-yard touchdown in Week 13 but suffered a concussion on the play that forced him to miss the next two games. By the time he returned, Ryan Tannehill was out of the lineup and this passing game was barely functional. Burks is another solid add at a suppressed cost since we want to take chances on year-two wideouts, but those latter issues could still exist for Burks this season. We also have the addition of DeAndre Hopkins standing in the way of Burks having a massive team target share and we should expect Will Levis to start games in 2023 while the Titans should remain a low-volume passing offense by nature, even if their record forces them to throw more. Burks not only will have to contend with Hopkins, but also should be limited to open the year due to a knee injury.
45. JuJu Smith-Schuster: Smith-Schuster will still only turn 27 years old this November, failing to recapture the early-career success he had as a fantasy option. Coming off catching 78-of-101 targets for 933 yards and three touchdowns with the Chiefs last season, Smith-Schuster has now been a top-46 scoring wide receiver in per-game output just once over the past four seasons. Over the first eight games of the season, Smith-Schuster caught 44 passes for 582 yards and two scores. Over his final 11 games, he caught 44 passes for 440 yards and one score. He still can be an effective slot receiver. His 2.03 yards per route run against zone coverage ranked 20th among wideouts, but his 1.30 yards per route against man coverage ranked 84th.
46. Michael Thomas: Nobody is expecting anything from Thomas these days, which likely includes the Saints. Thomas turned 30 years old this March and has played in just 10 games over the past three seasons. Thomas did still show that he has a pulse in his limited sample last season when he is available. Over the opening three games of the season, Thomas caught 16-of-22 targets for 171 yards and three touchdowns.
47. Skyy Moore: Moore was selected 54th overall in last year’s draft, but he managed to get on the field for just 29% of the offensive snaps, catching 27 passes for 267 yards and one touchdown. His 9.9 yards per reception were the fewest for any Kansas City wide receiver a year ago. Despite his rookie struggles, the departure of JuJu Smith-Schuster opens up the slot role to be Moore's this season. With Kadarius Toney's injury history and lack of usage as a full-field wide receiver, Moore has a path to being the Kansas City wideout that is the most consistent option and set up to make strides in year two.
48. Quentin Johnston: At 6-foot-2 and 208 pounds, Johnston logged a 94th percentile explosion score in the vertical plus broad jumps. On the field, Johnston’s athleticism shows up in that he averaged a robust 8.9 yards after the catch per reception (second in this class) while 49.9% of his yardage came after the catch (sixth). He was credited with 19 avoided tackles a year ago per Pro Football Focus, second in this class. He also tended to disappear and be more of a boom-or-bust performer. Johnston had 50 or fewer yards in half of his 30 career games played (7-of-14 this season). Johnston will not be thrust into carrying the Los Angeles passing game, but with both Keenan Allen and Mike Williams approaching their thirties paired with their health history, Johnston also will carry contingency upside..
49. Nico Collins: Collins led the Texans in targets in each of his final four games played last season, but he has lacked any steady fantasy appeal through two seasons in the league. Collins has just two top-30 scoring weeks through two seasons. Playing with an accurate vertical passer in C.J. Stroud can aid his cause. 25.8% of Collins’ targets in 2022 were deemed inaccurate while 55.6% of his deep targets were inaccurate. Collins still distinctly stands out among the Houston wideouts because they have a gaggle of slot archetypes in Tank Dell, John Metchie, and Xavier Hutchinson they are nursing.
50. Jakobi Meyers: Meyers is coming off a season in which he averaged 4.8 receptions for a career-high 57.4 yards per game. He even found his way into the end zone six times after scoring two touchdowns over his first three years in the league. If wondering how Meyers fits in with Hunter Renfrow on the Raiders, Meyers was effective last season when tasked to move out of the slot. Meyers was fifth in the NFL last season among wideouts in yards per route run outside of the slot (2.64). That sample was only 126 routes (fewer than every player above him). In 2021, Meyers ran 178 routes outside of the slot and averaged 1.87 yards per route run (43rd), so apply any small sample grains of salt. The one thing we do know is that Meyers will have a hard time rolling over his 22.8% (25th) and 23.6% (27th) target per route rates playing alongside Adams
51. Michael Gallup: Returning from an ACL injury last season, Gallup never got on track. He ended the season with just 39 catches for 424 yards and four touchdowns over 14 games and was well off the fantasy radar. Even expecting Gallup to have more juice this season a full year removed from the injury, he resembles the Dallas version of Courtland Sutton. We just do not have a large sample of Gallup being a consistently productive fantasy asset while the perception is greater. Gallup will enter his sixth season with no season catching 70 passes or more than six touchdowns, but he has an attachment to a good offense and added appeal as a contingency play.
52. Darnell Mooney: Mooney ended 2022 as the WR72 in overall scoring and WR64 in points per game. He logged five weeks as a WR3 or better in weekly scoring. Mooney accounted for 28.9% of the Chicago targets when he was on the field last season (sixth among wideouts) but was limited to just 26.0 routes and 5.1 targets per game due to the nature of the Chicago offense. D.J. Moore will oust Mooney as the WR1 while he enters a contract year with no ties to this current regime.
53. Jonathan Mingo: Mingo never had a 1,000-yard season in college and failed to top 379 yards before his season year, but he averaged 15.7 yards per catch over his career, 12th in this class. He had spurts of production battling through injuries, but the Panthers used tangible draft capital on him (39th overall) this spring to give him a clear runway in year one to playing time. The depth chart in Carolina only has Adam Thielen and D.J. Chark as initial roadblocks, two players that have underperformed in recent seasons. Even if Mingo is behind those veterans to open the season, he is drawing life to lead the Panthers in targets as a rookie while we know what the veterans are for fantasy. At 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, Mingo ran a 4.46 forty (90th percentile speed score) with a 90th percentile explosion score. Mingo also has some mitts. His 10 3/8-inch hands are in the 96th percentile for wide receivers.
54. Odell Beckham: Beckham sat out the entire 2022 season after tearing his ACL in the Super Bowl the year prior. Beckham will turn 31 this November and has not averaged more than 45.6 yards receiving per game in a season since 2019. The last time we saw him in a uniform for the Rams, he was averaging a career-low 11.3 yards per reception.
55. Elijah Moore: Moore had a disastrous 2022 season with the Jets. The team moved him from the slot early in the season and deployed him as a vertical field stretcher. From Weeks 1 through 6, Moore played 79.8% of his snaps out wide. He carried a depth of target of 15.0 yards downfield (seventh in the league over that span). 20.7% of his targets were deemed inaccurate per Pro Football Focus over that span. By the time the season ended, Moore was targeted on 13.1% of his routes and averaged 0.90 yards per route run. Those marks checked in 123rd and 121st among 143 qualifying wideouts last season. Cleveland used 11 personnel on 70.9% of their passing plays in 2022. That was 20th in the NFL still, but well up from the 53.4% (29th) and 45.4% (31st) rates that the team deployed under Kevin Stefanski’s first two seasons. That 11 personnel rate climbed up to 76.8% of the passing plays with Deshaun Watson under center compared to a 68.0% rate with Jacoby Brissett.
56. Jameson Williams: Williams only logged 78 offensive snaps as a rookie, catching just one pass (at least it was a 41-yard touchdown) on nine targets. He now is suspended for the opening six games of the season for violating the league’s gambling policy. Players suspended have historically been undervalued in fantasy drafts since replacement value is never fully priced in. But Williams not only is suspended, but has been stuck in a negative feedback loop all offseason. The staff has expressed that they want him to fully earn his spot while he will the rest of the preseason with a hamstring injury. The Lions still have a wide-open runway for Williams to operate as their WR2 when he is back on the field.
57. Marvin Mims Jr.: Mims gets elevation through the Broncos trading up to select him in the second round paired with the depth chart being shuffled this offseason. With injuries to Tim Patrick and the release of K.J. Hamler, Mims has an opening to have an immediate role in the offense. Mims has the makings of a player that gels with Russell Wilson's strengths as a passer that wants to hunt for big gains. In 2022, Mims averaged 17.0 air yards per target (second in this class) while a class-high 36.7% of his targets were on throws 20 yards or further downfield. Mims caught 20 touchdown passes over his three seasons with the Sooners. 19 of them were on throws 20 or more yards downfield.
58. Kadarius Toney: Toney has missed 15 games over his first two years in the NFL. He ran just 85 total pass routes with the Chiefs last season, but he was targeted on 31.8% of those routes, which led the team. Toney has been an efficient player when on the field. He has averaged 2.12 yards per route run (WR19 over the past two seasons) and has been targeted on 27.6% of his routes (WR7) but we still have to take a step of faith in him drawing playing time since 139 wide receivers have run more pass routes than him since he entered the league. It is hard to push back on making cheap swings on players attached to Patrick Mahomes that also have first-round draft capital.
59. Zay Jones: Jones turned in career-highs in targets (121), catches (82), and receiving yards (823) to go along with five touchdowns. Jones had scored just two touchdowns over the previous three seasons. A good amount of what Jones did in 2022 was volume driven as his 1.44 yards per route run ranked 64th at the position while his 10.0 yards per catch were 44th out of 51 wideouts to catch 50 or more passes. But with the addition of Ridley, Jones does not have to command as many targets and is a solid option in three-WR sets, and can be elevated in a pinch should Kirk or Ridley miss time.
60. Tyler Boyd: Boyd has been a steady WR3 and contributor for the Bengals, but over the past two seasons his 1.36 yards per route over that span are 33rd among 38 players with 1,000-plus pass routes the past two seasons. The only players with a lower rate in that department over that period are Adam Thielen, Evan Engram, Marvin Jones, K.J. Osborn, and Dawson Knox. Even with both Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins missing time last season, Boyd was only the WR48 in points per game.
61. D.J. Chark: Chark has just never been able to recapture the magic he had to open the 2019 season. Leaving Detroit after catching 30 passes for 502 yards and three scores, Chark has finished as the WR43, WR66, and WR58 in points per game since his breakout season. A thin target tree in Carolina is the last thing keeping the lights on. Chark can still get vertical at least. His 16.7 yards per catch in 2022 were fifth in the league among wideouts with 30 or more receptions.
62. Romeo Doubs: Doubs is WR2 on a Green Bay team that has our easiest passing schedule heading into the season. How many pass catchers can Jordan Love support is the largest obstacle in providing Doubs more than being a volatile option.
63. Michael Wilson: There has been a steady drumbeat that Wilson is the WR2 in Arizona and the preseason has done nothing to move us away from that as Wilson has played 100% of the snaps with Colt McCoy under center so far. While Wilson may not be a sexy pick attached to the Arizona offense, we are getting a day-two draft pick that is going to be playing full-time for almost zero risk in terms of roster allocation. Tack on that Kyler Murray could return earlier than many assume and Arizona should have fertile game scripts for passing targets. When Murray also does return, his mobility and scrambling should be reduced, forcing more pass attempts on those dropbacks.
64. Adam Thielen: Thielen will be 33 years old when the season kicks off, coming off a season in which he was the WR45 in points per game. Thielen was second in the NFL among wide receivers in routes run last season with Minnesota but was 42nd in actual receiving yards. Thielen could lead Carolina in receptions in 2023 but attached to a rookie quarterback given his age and recent performance, it is hard to see Thielen as more than a floor-based fantasy option built on target opportunity.
65. Hunter Renfrow: Renfrow missed seven games last season due to an injury and it had an impact on his play. He averaged a career-low 9.1 yards per catch. Through four years in the league, the only spike in Renfrow’s output came in 2021 when injuries to Darren Waller and the rightful cancellation of Henry Ruggs cleared a tarmac for targets.
66. Donovan Peoples-Jones: Peoples-Jones was pressed into becoming a full-time wide receiver last season and was a solid contributor. He ran a route on 92.5% of Cleveland dropbacks, which was 11th among all wide receivers in the NFL last season. When the dust settled on the season, Peoples-Jones secured 61-of-96 targets for 839 yards and three touchdowns. He was targeted on 16.9% of his routes (81st among all wideouts with 100 or more routes run) while averaging 1.48 yards per route run (59th). With the additions of Elijah Moore and Cedric Tillman, Peoples-Jones will be pressed harder behind Amari Cooper than he was a year ago.
67. Allen Lazard: In 2022, Lazard set career-highs in targets (100), receptions (60), and receiving yards (788) to go along with six touchdowns. We have a great understanding of what we have in Lazard. He is strong in the contested catch game and a solid isolation receiver that struggles with nuance and creating separation. Lazard was targeted on 26.6% of his routes with 1.93 yards per route run against man coverage last season, while he was targeted on 16.6% of his routes with 1.45 yards per route run against zone coverage. On a career-high in targets, Lazard still was driven by touchdown production. In games without a score, he averaged 9.7 points per game.
68. K.J. Osborn: Osborn ended 2022 on a positive note. Through 12 games last season, Osborn was targeted on just 13.1% of his routes, catching 30-of-52 targets for 262 yards and two touchdowns. Over the final six games of the season, Osborn was targeted on 18.5% of his routes, catching 32-of-41 targets for 408 yards and four touchdowns.
69. Rashid Shaheed: Shaheed averaged 2.60 yards per route last season in his first season but did so running just 188 routes. Shaheed did not play an offensive snap until Week 6 and played just 45 total snaps through the opening 10 games of the season. A depleted receiving corps paired with Shaheed making splash plays on limited opportunities forced him to get more playing time to close the season. Shaheed played 61% of the snaps over the final seven games, catching 23-of-28 targets for 385 yards and a touchdown. Over that span, Shaheed averaged 16.7 yards per catch, which was 10th among all wideouts. 50% of his targets resulted in a first down or touchdown over that stretch.
70. Alec Pierce: The Colts selected Pierce in the second round (53rd overall) last season. As a rookie, Pierce caught 41-of-78 targets for 593 yards and two touchdowns. Pierce was third among all rookie wideouts last season in routes run (477), but he ranked 10th in targets per route (16.4%) and 12th in yards per route run (1.24). Pierce will get another good look at playing time in his second season under the new regime.
71. Jayden Reed: Reed has some “squint and see it” comparisons to a poor man’s Stefon Diggs coming out of Maryland due to size, physical profile, and diverse usage in college. Both had nondescript showings at the Combine that did not match the way they contributed in the passing, rushing, and return game. He then received higher draft capital than expected this spring, being the sixth wide receiver selected in the draft. Popping for fantasy in his rookie season attached to Jordan Love would be a surprise, but Reed should immediately play in the slot for the Packers this season.
72. DeVante Parker: Parker showed that he still does have some juice as a vertical outside receiver, averaging 17.4 yards per catch, the highest rate since his rookie season. But Parker failed to stay healthy once again and failed to be a significant target earner. Parker missed four games due to injury, giving him just one complete season over his eight years in the league. He was targeted on just 14.9% of his routes, which ranked 102nd in the league at his position.
73. Rondale Moore: Moore showed some growth in his second season, but he only played in eight games after missing three games as a rookie. In six fewer games than his rookie season, Moore had just eight fewer targets (56), 13 fewer receptions (41), and just 21 fewer receiving yards (414) than he did as a rookie. 60.9% of his targets as a rookie came behind the line of scrimmage while just 4.7% were in the intermediate area of the field. In 2022, his target rate behind the line of scrimmage went down to 26.8% while his intermediate target rate rose to 14.3%. Moore's body of work in the NFL synchs up with where Colt McCoy operates while he starts the season. Kick him down the board in non-PPR formats.
74. Marquez Valdes-Scantling: In 20 games played a year ago, MVS reached 50 yards in a game just seven times and caught more than four passes in just two games. If it was not for the uniform he wears, we would be completely staying away, but Valdes-Scantling is still the betting favorite to play the most snaps among the Kansas City wideouts.
75. Curtis Samuel: Samuel started last season hot. Through seven weeks, he was 13th in targets (58) and ninth in receptions (39) among all wide receivers, turning those opportunities into 340 yards and two touchdowns. Then Samuel evaporated from the offense when the team transitioned to Taylor Heinicke and then Jahan Dotson started to flourish. Over the final 10 games of the season, Samuel only had 25 catches for 316 yards.
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