The 15 Best Wide Receivers in 2026 Fantasy Football

Last week we went in-depth on the running back position, and today we're going to break down our top 15 redraft wide receivers, Danny, going through, breaking down the cases, going in-depth. On Wednesday, we're going to go through kind of like 16 through 36 or so, and today we're going to go through those first, you know, four or five tiers of guys, the guys that you're going to be anchoring your fantasy teams with, maybe as your wide receiver one, if you're going with a running back-heavy build, or maybe you're going in the first round at at some of these top guys. But let's get it rolling.

Again, quick reminder: season pass is live right now. Redraft rankings are up to date. Our best ball product you guys can go out and get if you guys are drafting on Underdog. You get the overlay, you get the stacking stuff, you get the ownership tracker, the ADP tracker. All that stuff is available right now. But let's start it off with the top tier of wide receivers.

It is a very clear big three for most people: Ja'Marr Chase, Puka Nacua, Jaxon Smith-Njigba at the top. We both have Ja'Marr Chase as our wide receiver ones. I'll let you take it away with why he's kind of above the other two for us.

>> Yeah, realistically, when you look at the projection of the Bengals, Mason actually posted some of these. Obviously, you're doing your own as well, which I'm sure you'll touch on. This a team that's fifth in Vegas projection, over 25 projected points per game. When Burrow's healthy, we know we can project the offense out for 4,700 plus passing yards, 35 plus passing touchdowns, and Ja'Marr Chase has a claim to be the best receiver in the league. When you combine all these factors together, there's a reason why the last two years this guy's been a top three receiver. There's a reason why in five years he's been a top five receiver for four of them.

>> Yeah, and like you said, I'm doing my own projections right now. So far, through about half of the NFL, not one team has beaten the 4,939 passing touchdown projection I have for Joe Burrow and the Bengals passing offense. In Ja'Marr Chase's career, when he's healthy with Joe Joe Burrow in the last three seasons: 21 and a half points per game, wide receiver one overall during that stretch, 10.57 targets per game, 28.6% target share, um, 0.77 receiving touchdowns. Like, this is a guy that is a legitimate monster, and like you said, has a claim to be the best receiver in the league. And if I was starting a franchise, he would be my first pick as a receiver asset, even though he's 26 and some of the other guys are a little younger than him. You got this future Hall of Famer in the smack dab of his prime with a legitimate 5,000 passing projection on this offense. He would be my clear 1.03 behind the Jamir Gibbs, Bijan Robinson first two assets. Now, it kind of sucks taking a receiver in the first round versus a running back in the first round this year, in my opinion, but when you're getting Ja'Marr, a legitimate needle-moving 20 point per game receiver lock, then it's a little bit more stomachable, for sure.

>> I guess you mean also specifically at that area of the board, 'cause I'm sure once we go through mock drafts, the top of the second round is where all the prime running backs are. And then I feel like once you get to like pick 20, pick 21, it's more of a projection. Are you in on a Breece Hall, or are you in on, you know, maybe some of the riskier guys in that range, 'cause I would assume once you get to pick 20, you don't have access to Chase Brown, Derrick Henry, Amari Hampton, Ken Walker, guys like that.

>> Yeah, not in sharper leagues. If you're in a more casual league, maybe you'd get a Chase Brown sliding to you at that point. But yeah, Ja'Marr Chase, hook, line, and sinker, wide receiver one for us.

Puka Nacua for me, I haven't done the Rams or the Seahawks projections yet, so we'll see what happens when I actually work through these two guys. But when you look at Puka Nacua's career, he's never not been a top five fantasy receiver. And last year especially, except for that game in week six, and then of course he missed the game in in London against Jackson. I mean, we're looking at a legitimate needle-moving, game-breaking wide receiver one who this year, nothing's changed. You still have Sean McVay, you still have Matthew Stafford. Davante Adams is still the receiver across from him. We know that this this, uh, two tight end set Rams personnel is making, you know, mainstays across the NFL as everybody copying Sean McVay. I... Puka Nacua is easily, in my opinion, the 1.04 in fantasy leagues. I think that, um, you know, one of my buddies who's in my home league said this pretty well. He's like, "There's a very clear top four in fantasy this year. It's Bijan Robinson, Jamir Gibbs, and it's Ja'Marr Chase, Puka Nacua." And I'll get to why I don't necessarily see JSN in the same tier as these guys. And I actually don't know if he's going to drop down a tier for me into the Saint Brown Lamb territory once I do my Seahawks projections. But for me, the only concern I have for Puka Nacua is Matthew Stafford's health, realistically, and Puka Nacua's, you know, uh, mental well-being as well.

>> So, obviously we know in totality: 23.44 points per game, absolutely nails. Over a 30% target share, absolutely nails. Last two years: 3.78, 4.07 yards per route run, absolutely nails. Because that's exactly what Puka Nacua is. He is absolutely nails. But when you even look prior to the injury, man, like, you were getting, was that five straight weeks of top six production? Five straight weeks of over 22 points per game? Like, what are we talking about with Puka Nacua? He has the upside to lap the field at receiver. Before getting hurt, he was lapping the field at wide receiver. As impressive as JSN was, especially when you look at it in totality of the year, I could argue that if Puka Nacua never goes down, we could be talking about a 2019 McCaffrey. We could be talking about a 2020 Alvin Kamara. We could be talking about a 2007 Randy Moss. 2021 Cooper Kupp. 2020 Davante Adams. Like, the point per game equity you were getting from Puka Nacua, he could have flirted with 27, 28 per game.

>> Well, that's exactly my bold prediction going into the season: Puka Nacua goes 2021 Cooper Kupp. That was my bold prediction about Puka Nacua going into the season. And I'm so glad 'cause it's true this year as well that in the late first round, you there was a right answer. And thankfully, the my highest drafted player in all of the first round on Underdog last year was Puka Nacua. He was the guy you needed because Neighbors went down, Collins had a down season. Some of those other receivers going at the end of the first round, they they couldn't hold a candle to what Puka Nacua did. And again, the only concern you can possibly have, just like kind of McCaffrey last season, was the injury to, like, the injury history of his quarterback and maybe the mental stuff. There's nothing on the field when Stafford and Puka are out there that scares you off of this player in any form or fashion. And you can make the argument that he could be 1.01, 1.02 in full PPR receiver-heavy formats, maybe three wide receiver, two flex full PPR type of leagues. You can get there on Puka Nacua as potentially in the same tier as those top two running backs.

>> So, right fresh after the season started, actually, I believe when we did our way too early mock, I did take him at 1.01. And again, part of that is like we got more comfortability with the Bengals offense, especially Burrow cell. We got more comfortability with the workload splits with no Dave Montgomery, no Tyler Allgeier. But at the same time, there's a reason why there's a top four. I can argue Puka Nacua is the 1.01, 'cause when we look at it on a per game, like I said, first five games last year, we were talking legendary type of ceiling. We were talking about almost 27 points per game, over 35% target share. I love Davante Adams, but what if he takes another step back? What if he goes from 800 yards, 14 touchdowns to he doesn't have that type of touchdown equity and he's maybe more of a 21% target share player? Puka Nacua could legitimately have a 30% target share and 15 touchdowns from the reigning MVP.

>> Yeah, not to mention if you don't go just the first five games as well. If you extend it out and just remove the Ravens game that he, like, obviously that was removed 'cause he didn't play, but the game he left early and before, you're looking at a 24.7 point per game receiver. Like again, legitimate, you know, Cooper Kupp type of production in his prime. So, Puka Nacua, I don't think anything's going to change. They drafted another tight end. It's going to be just him and Davante Adams out there 85, 90% of the routes. They don't really have a third receiver that they're going to be working with. And like you said, if Adams isn't the dominant machine that he was in the red zone last year and Puka gets some of those touches in the red zone, it's curtains, man. It's curtains. He's going to have another season like this. And again, what else do we have to worry about except for his own health, his quarterback's health, and this off-the-field stuff? That's it. That's the only concern I have with him.

>> And you put it pretty easily. I love JSN. But realistically, with these top four players, with the two running backs, and with Chase, and with Puka Nacua, at the end of the day, if any of those four players can make a claim to "you cannot win your fantasy league unless you have me," they have to be the their top four. They have to be the consensus S-tier.

>> Yeah, which is why again, I don't have JSN in this tier. He does work his way into this tier consensus-wise for us, and maybe we were

>> I'll capitulate.

>> Yeah, maybe you're capitulating on the spot here and moving JSN down. And here's the problem with JSN. JSN had everything go right for him last year, everything. He had a 35.9% target share last season. That is insane. 3.71 yards per a run, that is insane. The Seattle Seahawks, philosophically, probably won't change much this year, right? They are one of the best three defenses in football. They just won the Super Bowl. But the Seattle Seahawks last season were a, uh, what what were they in total pass attempts? 29th in total pass attempts last season. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, I'm not going to sit here and say that Rashid Shaheed and Cooper Kupp and all these guys are going to take targets away from him 'cause they're not going to. He's going to be clearly the alpha of the team still. But you're still clearly the alpha of the team with a 29% or 30% target share versus a 35.9% target share.

>> So, for reference, um, they are also the biggest or one of the biggest regression candidates in terms of points per game in the entire NFL. And obviously, a couple of those factors play in. They were just at such an elite level last year. The efficiency was off the charts. He had Kubiak, you know, dialing up the plays. We look at the projections. So, they were at 28.14 team points per game last year. And Vegas still has them projected for eighth. So, it's not like we're saying, "Oh, they're going to fall off to the 15th best offense or the 18th best offense." They're ranked number eight here. 28.4 to 24.88 projected points per game in 2026. That would be a 3.52 point per game drop-off.

>> That's a big deal, man. And not only that, but like the Seattle Seahawks last season, they had two veteran running backs that were keeping the offense on schedule. And now you have a rookie running back who's going to lead the charge. We don't expect, based on what my conversation with Dr. James Freddy, for Zach Charbonnet to be on the field until probably November, most likely. So, is that going to hurt the offense? Is that not going to keep them on schedule? Does the, uh, like again, it could regress in the other direction. The defense, you know, loses some steam, and they throw the ball a little bit more. I guess my thing is just philosophically, the Seahawks were a bottom-five team in in seconds per play, pace of play offense. They're not. They're not trying to throw the ball 600 plus times. They don't want Sam Darnold to try and win them games. They want their efficiency, the run game, and the defense to win them games, as they should. Mike McDonald is maybe the best defensive play-caller in football.

>> And again, this is not to take anything away from JSN. He was arguably in real life the second best receiver, arguably in real or in fantasy a top-tier receiver in fantasy. I'm not taking that away from him. But also, like again, you paid Shaheed. Tory Horton could be a little bit better this year, obviously going into year two. Cooper Kupp played extremely well in the Super Bowl. I mean, you guys know my thoughts on Mr. A.J. Barner. And obviously, I'm being a little facetious here because JSN...

>> 4-5% of that target share down just from a couple of those guys stepping up here and there. That's That's going to affect JSN in a major way. It's going to take him from a 21 point per game receiver, which like I said, everything going right, all the big plays hitting, that kind of thing. Now he's a 19 point per game receiver, an 18 and a half point per game receiver, which is not all that dissimilar from what I have projected for St. Brown and Lamb.

>> And full transparency, like when you're splitting hairs between the top-of-the-line receivers, like you kind of have to poke holes. Obviously, JSN's a stud. If you take him in the mid-first, you're probably taking a player that realistically, unless he gets hurt, is probably not going to miss. I would say with JSN, he's probably going to finish anywhere between like wide receiver three and wide receiver five this year. But, can he truly test for wide receiver one knowing just how advantageous the situations of Chase and Puka Nacua are? That's where my question is.

>> Exactly, which is why I have Chase, Puka, and McCaffrey as a tier three to five. And then I have JSN, St. Brown, Lamb as a tier of six to eight. Because to me, they're a lot closer in projection. So, anyways, we can move it on here. We have St. Brown and Lamb technically 'cause our combined rankings have them this way. St. Brown for me came out higher in the projections than Lamb, and it's not necessarily anything to do with being anti-Lamb, anti-anti, or pro-St. Brown. It honestly is just that the Lions projection is so extremely bullish for me 'cause of their schedule, the indoor nature of their gameplay. Jameson Williams and Sam LaPorta obviously major target earners, but they also do open up things for St. Brown efficiency-wise. And when you look at, you know, the best season of Lamb's career is better than the best season of St. Brown's career. That's undeniable. In the best-case scenario, Lamb probably has the higher ceiling because I generally think he's a better receiver than than Amon-Ra St. Brown. However, the consistency of the 18-plus points per game that St. Brown has given you in three straight seasons, the fact that the Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has had some injury issues, which is a downside risk of CeeDee Lamb, and the fact that George Pickens now being there, in my opinion, does not allow for CeeDee Lamb to repeat his 2023 production, in my opinion. But, I do think these guys are going to be neck and neck all season, back and forth, who's better, who's not better. If you have to take this decision, who is the better pick, you might not know from September to October to November to December. They might just back and forth. Either way, you're anchoring your receiver core with one of the best in the league.

>> Yeah, ultimately I feel like both are worthy of top eight overall picks. If you prefer the safer side with Amon-Ra St. Brown, I'm not going to fight you 'cause realistically you have, what is that? Four straight years being a top-10 guy, three straight years being a top-five guy. And unfortunately, from CeeDee Lamb's perspective, his 2025 and his 2024 were marred by both injuries to him as well as injuries to Prescott 'cause we know what CeeDee Lamb working at his best looks like. In 2023, this guy literally peaked fantasy football on points. As impressive as Ja'Marr Chase was in 2024, where he literally had 23.7 points per game, you can look back. CeeDee Lamb outscored him on the season. Last couple years, obviously 2024, Dak suffers a season-ending hamstring injury. CeeDee Lamb also dealing with an AC joint sprain gets shut down the home stretch. Last year, we know Week 3 against Chicago Bears. I'm getting super excited for that game. First play, we try to give him an end-around. He ends up freaking spraining his ankle, missing the next three games. And people will just look at the season in totality, and they'll be like, "Oh, George Pickens came in. CeeDee Lamb only 14 points per game. Therefore, George Pickens big-time effect on CeeDee Lamb." That's what a lot of people are going to be saying this offseason. They're going to have CeeDee Lamb as their wide receiver seven. They're going to say, "You can't select him anywhere close to the top 15 'cause George Pickens is just as good of a bet a half round later." That is where I'll go back and say, "Did you guys watch how the offense operated when CeeDee Lamb was healthy?" Like CeeDee Lamb, before the Cowboys legitimately got eliminated, if we just take the splits where he was on the field and we exclude the Chicago game and we exclude the games after Minnesota when the Cowboys were officially eliminated from contention, the only thing he was lacking Saint Brown in was touchdowns. 0.3 touchdowns per game was a historical outlier for CeeDee Lamb. And that was also off the fact that, Corey, how many times were we watching Sunday slates, CeeDee Lamb wide open in the back of the end zone, he's dropping the pass. CeeDee Lamb wide open down the field, he's dropping the pass. I do think that the injury had an effect on the overall game that he was playing, but realistically, you look at the overall metrics. 27.2 point percent target share with George Pickens on the field. 97.6 receiving yards per game. The guy was on pace for nearly a 1,700 yard year if you just took this sample and projected across 17 games. On top of that, we see the routes per game. We know the offense is going to be at 4,500 yards, 35 touchdowns if Dak's healthy. Realistically, when I'm looking at these two players, I view them relatively interchangeably, but if one of them's going to be the guy you need, I would prefer CeeDee Lamb. So, ultimately, you want to take them seventh and eighth overall, sure, be my guest. You want to take St. Brown 'cause he's been safer, sure, be my guest. But also, the other factor here is that I'm taking the 31.7 while also acknowledging that Jamo was a non-factor in the first half of the year, and Sam LaPorta didn't even play in the second half. So, we could be talking about the only real difference there being the touchdowns.

>> Yeah, I guess my pushback to that would be, without Montgomery, I think they will be a more pass-heavy team. Um, yeah, but again, pick your poison. You want the clear-cut, easy projection, St. Brown, better at playing through injuries than Lamb, has three double-digit touchdown seasons other than Lamb's one, essentially. It's Most of the time you've been better off taking St. Brown. Because Lamb has Pickens, I don't believe he has double-digit touchdown upside because Pickens is so good in the red zone, so good at the catch point, so good at jump balls. It's kind of like Puka and Adams to some degree where it's like Adams is so good in that role that I do expect Puka to have a lower touchdown total than what Ja'Marr would have on his up, uh, his upside scenario. So, again, we're picking, we're, you know, nitpicking some of the best receivers in the league because that's the decision on the clock.

>> You guys picking 1.06, 1.07, 1.08 in your in your fantasy drafts, you got to decide.

>> And I would say the way I would describe the St. Brown versus Lamb decision would be on 50 to 80% of scenarios: if you want the safer projection for 18 points per game, take St. Brown. It's better to clear the last few years he has been that projection. But if you want to be taking the guy who you think has top three overall fantasy upside at the a portion of the first round...

>> Actually, Pickens or Ferguson miss anytime, for sure.

>> Yeah, the implied perspective if any of them miss time. The implied perspective if CeeDee Lamb just frankly holds onto the football a couple more times. Like, what if Dak Prescott throws for 5,000 yards and 35 touchdowns? I think you can only make the case for two other quarterbacks of the receivers we mentioned, with Stafford and Burrow being at that level.

>> I don't have Goff that far off, to be honest with you. I I think the Lions are just going to boat race a bunch of teams this year, and and it's a large part schedule-related.

>> So, initially in the off-season, I was like, "Oh, pick seven, pick eight, you kind of miss out on the top four, but you also, you know, it's a pretty flat tier." If you can get one of these two receivers wrapped back in the second, take any of those anchor running backs. To me, if you have pick eight or later, that is the ideal start in your fantasy league.

>> Yeah, 1.09 through 1.12 to me are worse picks than than the first eight. But, I do structurally like the idea of getting two running backs, which is more 1.09 to 1.12 territory. So, it actually don't like the answer to the question, "What's the worst pick this year?" To me, it's 1.09, 1.10, because 1.11, 1.12, you get to double-tap running backs typically, whereas in some leagues, if you take one running back at 1.09, you may be reaching up the board on like a James Cook or Jonathan Taylor or Chase Brown, whereas at the back half, you're maybe not getting in the second round, not the best player. Um, but, structurally, I don't love the idea of taking JSN, Lamb, and and St. Brown in the first round, just because, um, you might miss out on some of those running back tiers, and you have a worse wide receiver one than the Puka and Chase teams.

>> Yeah, which is reasonable. The way I kind of look at it right now is how I have these rankings: CeeDee Lamb, St. Brown, McCaffrey in that six through eight range. If you compare them with anybody like Saquon, Achane, Henry, Walker, Hampton or above, I obviously like that. But given current ADP, too, like you might be facing the decision of, "Do I take Drake London and have a wide receiver, wide receiver start, or do I try to push a running back up the board like Jeremaih Love?" Like, people are going to have that decision point.

>> All right, so we made that change officially on the fly. Let's move into the next tier where we have Justin Jefferson and Drake London. Now, with both of these guys, the reason that they're not in the tier with St. Brown and Lamb, JSN, 'cause they have the ability to be in that tier. There's no question about these guys being some of the better receivers in the league. Um, the question for Justin Jefferson is the same question we had last year. Obviously, it was a big problem that J.J. McCarthy was the starting quarterback. Even when Carson Wentz was starting games, you saw that middle portion of like September to October where Jefferson started heating up a little bit, but then, you know, things start happening injury-wise. We had Max Brosmer games in there. Like, it was a complete train wreck. Now, obviously, I'm not expecting 11.85 fantasy points per game from Justin Jefferson. He's definitely going to be better than that, but how much better? Is he capable of hitting his 20-point per game ceiling with Kyler Murray at quarterback? Because say what you want about, oh, uh, J.J. McCarthy and stuff, but Kyler Murray has been partially due to, you know, blame for the Marvin Harrison lack of breakout. Like, there's been a serious problem with Kyler Murray getting his number one receiver the football in Arizona. Now, was that just a Harrison problem? Was that a change of environment problem? Is Kevin O'Connell going to make everything right? We have no questions about Justin Jefferson, the talent. The only question I have is about the offense and how it's going to operate with Addison, with Hockenson, now Jauan Jennings coming in. Is Jefferson capable of being 2022 Justin Jefferson again?

>> So, I'm going to have a little bit of a tangent here because ultimately, I feel like people are very disingenuous to the splits with Justin Jefferson with McCarthy versus any other quarterback. How many times have you seen that flown around this offseason? Guys, before 2023, he was catching passes from Kirk Cousins, who was a lock for 4,300 yards and 28 touchdowns every year. The one year without Kirk Cousins, who by the way, obviously, you infamously took Garrett Wilson over Justin Jefferson, what happened in that season that nobody saw coming? Sam Darnold matched, if not exceeded, Kirk Cousins' production from the past.

>> They went 14 and 3 and were the eighth highest-scoring team in the NFL. They averaged over 25 points per game. So, people are like, "Oh, well, what what's Kyler Murray close to or closer to? Sam Darnold the 2024 or previous Kirk Cousins?" That is not the conversation point here. The conversation point here is that when Justin Jefferson was doing that, it was a top 10 Vikings offense. You know where they currently rank in Vegas projection, Corey?

>> 19.

>> 21st in the league behind the the Giants, the Colts, and like the Bucs, the Commanders, teams like that. So, it's like, yeah, I will acknowledge that Justin Jefferson might be the best receiver in the league. I will acknowledge that Justin Jefferson will be a lot better than he was with J.J. McCarthy. But, people are just assuming he's going to be a 19-20-plus point per game scorer because he, when he was producing with Sam Darnold and Kirk Cousins, that's what he was giving you. I think there's going to be some type of middle ground there.

>> The middle ground for me is actually kind of what he was with Wentz.

>> Yeah.

>> Um, 16.3 points per game, 30% target share, 10 targets a game. Didn't score a single touchdown, by the way, in any of those games. So, maybe it's a little bit better. It's an 18.5 point per game receiver or whatever. Um, Jefferson's hard to figure out, man. I I have him ranked in the early second round, and the reason for that, even though he doesn't go there, he's 9.7 ADP on Underdog. Remember, Underdog is a three-wide receiver start format. Um, structurally, I like taking Gente, Chase Brown, James Cook over Justin Jefferson because I think that the running back position is quite strong at the top this year and not very strong beyond the RB2s of the world. So, for me, I'm going to probably be passing on Justin Jefferson because I do think that Kyler Murray is a lot closer to Carson Wentz as a passer than he is to Sam Darnold or Kirk Cousins.

>> Yeah, like when you're talking about those guys consistently giving you 4,500 yards, 28-plus passing touchdowns, each of those would be a career high for Kyler.

>> Yeah, I don't think Kyler Murray's recapturing his 2020 self. Now, I would love him to because I I have dynasty shares of him, and I'd like him to stay on the on the Vikings long term. And, you know, we overrated Kevin O'Connell's ability to turn any quarterback into gold last year. Kevin O'Connell is legitimately a top five candidate to be fired first right now, legitimately. Like, it it sounds crazy that in one calendar season we went from, "Oh my god, he turned Sam Darnold into a functional quarterback who just won the Super Bowl," to "this guy could get fired if this doesn't work out with Kyler Murray."

>> And what was crazy about Sam Darnold, obviously going into 2024 nobody could have predicted it, but like now with hindsight bias that he is a Super Bowl champion, that the last two years have been very good, you can make the case that the the the flip really switched when he got that last game of the season against the 49ers 'cause I think he played really well in that game. They brought him in for insurance for J.J. McCarthy. J.J. McCarthy hurts his knee, and then obviously we know what happened in 2024, so maybe Sam Darnold his train was really starting at the end of 2023.

>> Well, yeah, and Mac Jones is going to do have the exact same career trajectory. He looks like Chris Olave with his new haircut right now, so let's keep it rolling here.

>> My guy.

>> Drake London. Where? Well, let me ask you really quick on Jefferson. Where is he ranked for you overall?

>> He's at 11th overall, but like you said, he's in the midst of the tier with like James Cook and Achane and Jonathan Taylor. Obviously I have him ranked a little bit lower than people do. Like, that's where I have him ranked, but if you wanted to argue like, "Hey, I would take Chase Brown over him, Hampton over him, Walker over him, Henry over." Like, I wouldn't go that far, but I would at least see that scenario out. He's 11 for me.

>> Achane, Barkley, and and Chase Brown are the ones that are ranked over him for me that are like the non-consensus takes.

>> You want to hear my spicy take too? Because a lot of people are going to want to put Jefferson up there with St. Brown and Lamb. To me, he's far closer to Drake London, and that's why we're going to be talking about him right now. Drake London, we know what the situation is. Not great quarterback play, but we got an elite number one receiver. 30.4% target share. And this was the only guy that was pacing with Puka Nacua and Jackson Smith-Njigba prior to getting hurt. Wide receiver one on the week. Wide receiver one on the week. Wide receiver 11 on the week. Wide receiver five. Wide receiver one. That sample size before he got hurt against Carolina. And then keep in mind, he was dealing with a knee sprain after that. I believe it was a...

>> He had a back injury early on in the season even too that he was playing through.

>> Yeah, and again, I I believe it was a grade two PCL or MCL sprain that kept him out that month, but clearly never recaptured that form. If we take those first 11 games, Corey, the guy was legitimately a, like, a 19 and a half point game type of wide receiver. So, realistically, if we can get him back at 28 plus percent of the targets, I do believe a lot more in Tua Tagovailoa compared to what they had at quarterback last year between a one Achilles tendon type of Kirk Cousins, and a no, I mean, at this point, does Michael Penix have both of his ACLs intact?

>> I, like, I'm going to say something maybe really outlandish. I have more faith in Tua Tagovailoa just from the standpoint of getting the number one receiver the football. I have more faith in Tua Tagovailoa than I have in Kyler Murray.

>> Yeah, I think that's valid.

>> ...quarterback situations. And I I do have Tua Tagovailoa projected for 13 starts. So, I do think he will be the predominant quarterback in Atlanta. This front office and coaching staff has absolutely zero commitment to Michael Penix. The only person with commitment to Michael Penix is the owner of the team.

>> This. So, Drake London could very well be the wide receiver version of 2025 Jonathan Taylor. Yeah. Like, can we, can we point that out?

>> He can actually, as crazy as it sounds, I I think he can be the 2024 Justin Jefferson where we're all questioning the quarterback and Tua has like a pretty decent season for Atlanta. Throws for, what do I have him projected for right now? I'm just curious. The pace of the Atlanta Falcons offense, keep in mind with Penix starting four of these games who I think is an inferior quarterback to Tua Tagovailoa: 3,800 passing yards, 26 touchdowns is what I have the Falcons quarterbacks projected for, predominantly Tua Tagovailoa being a big part of that.

>> So, when we just isolate out the games post-injury, Corey, this literally looks like the chart I was showing you when we talked about JSN and Puka. 32.8% target share, 2.89 yards per route run, nearly 33 routes per game. Like, we're talking about a possession receiver that was still at over 9 yards per target. We're talking about a guy that was at 90 receiving yards per game. Oh, by the way, 67 receiving touchdowns per game. It's probably going to continue at a 6'4", 210-lb frame. Like, Drake London has all the makings to have that truly monstrous 1,500-yard, 10-touchdown year. I have him ranked as my 13th overall player. I do think, obviously, in that range, I want to lead with one running back and one receiver. So, if you don't get access to CeeDee Lamb or Amon-Ra St. Brown or Justin Jefferson, who probably should all be off the board by the 10th pick in most leagues, to me, if I can get Drake London plus any of those running back projections, I feel very good 'cause, like I mentioned to you off camera, Corey, I do think at the end of the board this year, a hero wide receiver is my ideal structure.

>> Yeah, I I I again, I'm not really of the same opinion. I I I don't like taking Jefferson and London because I I I don't like what it does to me structurally.

>> Fair.

>> But, at the same time, if I have Jefferson ranked at the 1-2 turn, like I I feel like London needs to be right there with him, and I can make the argument for London over Jefferson. I can do it.

>> 11 and 13 for me right now, respectively, and honestly, it's taking everything in me not to rank London higher, but I I feel like I could call by either.

>> ...have to move London where Jefferson is, or I'm going to have to move both of them below Jeanty and Hampton and and some of those guys. Like, I would not take Kenneth Walker or Derrick Henry over either of them, but I could take Jeanty and Hampton over both of them. And those guys, keep in mind, I already have Barkley and H and and Chase Brown over them.

>> Yeah, so like, realistically, you want to lead wide receiver upside. I do think once London is off the board and you get to like the Nico Collins, the A.J. Brown, guys like that, as As as I like their projections, London's the last of the receivers that I think has a legitimate path to being the wide receiver one overall.

>> Yeah. No, that's exactly how I feel about him, too. It's. By the way, too, like my Falcons projections: 68.5% of the targets going to London, Bijan, and Kyle Pitts. A very consolidated offense.

>> Yeah, which makes total sense. And people do forget that the reason why Pitts truly broke out down the stretch is when he was dealing with a knee knee sprain, so.

>> Exactly.

>> Um, yeah. All right. A.J. Brown, Nico Collins, Rashid Rice, and DeVonta Smith. Let's kick it off. I just mentioned, I guess, a little bit of slander that I don't think any of these guys have the top three overall ceiling, but the closest two it would be the wide receiver one for Drake May, 'cause who knows? Could A.J. Brown pull off a 2007 Randy Moss? That would have to be the comp.

>> Yeah, and I think the challenging part for me about this tier is like, for me, for example, I'm very much paying attention to this area of the board because I have the first pick in my home league. I'm going to be taking Jahmyr Gibbs. So, I have to sort through if I take a receiver at the two-three turn or two receivers potentially at the two-three turn, which guy do I prefer to fall to me? Because I think that in most people's leagues, whoever's picking like the Bijan, Gibbs, Ja'Marr Chase's of the world, this is going to be what you're looking at as some of the best players plus Brock Bowers most likely on the board. So, for me, A.J. Brown represents the best blend of ceiling and floor because I know A.J. Brown in his career has been one of the best receivers in football, top 13 receiver in five of his last six seasons. I don't read too much into the start of 2025 where up until like the Giants game, he was not a very good fantasy pick at all. Some people were talking about ranking him in the mid wide receiver three range and that kind of thing. Like, he really turned it on down the stretch. I do think he was mentally dejected away from the Philadelphia offense. And as I've brought up many times, A.J. Brown has never, outside of one season, that first season in Philadelphia, been on a football team that has thrown the ball more than 550 pass attempts on a season. And I do think the New England Patriots will be the most pass-heavy team he has ever been on once I get to their projections. And that is a huge thing 'cause he's the clear number one for a young, accurate, exciting quarterback who was second in MVP voting last year with Demario Douglas, Quez Watkins, Booty, and, you know, Stefon Diggs on one knee as his number one, two, and three receivers. Like, A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs both would have easily been wide receiver one on that team last year.

>> Yeah, I'm on the same page, and I'm actually going to get a split just to how dominant the Patriots offense was 'cause if you take a lot of the efficiency metrics, like they were the best performing offense in the league. We'll talk about some of the cons 'cause of course their schedule is a lot harder this year. Maybe, you know, year two of the Maye experience, like teams are going to like figure out the offense a little more. Okay, this is what look maybe Drake struggles with. We saw, for example, that kind of happened in the playoffs. I'm not as concerned in that capacity 'cause I think Drake Maye is the type of superstar quarterback that'll continue...

>> Josh McDaniels is smarter than that, too.

>> That's a very good point, too, 'cause Josh McDaniels has proven time and time again in the Brady era, obviously first year with Drake Maye, like he is a legitimate offense coordinator. Just don't trust him as your head coach. I'm looking at you, Raiders.

>> Yeah, and if I look at A.J. Brown splits week 16 to 18 last year, 17.6 fantasy points per game. You get this version of A.J. Brown on a Philadelphia team that was, you know, struggling to throw the ball, didn't have their offensive line. Like, I I think this is the baseline for what I would expect on a median for A.J. Brown. And if you're getting 17 and a half points per game at the two-three turn, that is an incredibly good pick.

>> So overall, I do agree. Again, I think there are some question marks because, like I said, even though I am a lot higher on the Patriots offense, they are the number one biggest regression candidate, almost six points per game less by Vegas projections this year versus what they finished last year. Again, part of that is just they're going to have a tougher schedule. You're a first-place team in the AFC East this year versus you had a fourth-place schedule last year. And the other factor that I do have is I'm quickly going to share my screen to show, but you know what I'm going to show here, Corey. Um, it's not great when you look at the reception perception and you see 54th percentile against man, 16th percentile against zone, 45th percentile against press. I don't think it's the end all be all 'cause ultimately we're believing that in a better situation, a more motivated AJ Brown, he's going to be able to get back to that 2024-2023 level. But I also think there is a risk here. It's not like he's 25 years old making this transition. He is 29 years old. There is an evident decline in terms of the separation. I do think the two-three turn is an acceptable price range, but if he starts going like 16th overall, 17th overall, 18th overall as the season starts, that's where I'll get a little bit more worried in the cost.

>> Yeah, I I mean, I'm expecting very similar production to 2022-2023. And the reason I I see that is just 'cause I think everything you said is true about the Patriots. However, do we project a year three quarterback to get worse when he's 23? Do we project Josh McDaniels to not know how to work with two way better receivers than what they had last year? They add Eli Rader as a second tight end. Hunter Henry's still there. They have their other ancillary pieces still like Kayshon Boutte. And I think their run game can be quite good this year between Rhamondre Stevenson and Stevenson. Even if they like philosophically like regressed, I I do actually think the additions they made help with that a lot because you aren't rolling the exact same players out there, the exact same offense out there.

>> Yeah, and I guess this doesn't really relate to AJ Brown because he wasn't on the Patriots last year. But keep in mind, like, the Patriots were a near 29 point per game offense and they're currently projected out as the number 17 scoring 22.93 points per game.

>> I don't agree with that. They're going to end up higher...

>> ...agree either. So I don't agree either. I personally would probably have them more in the fringe top 10 range, top eight to 10 range, but...

>> ...that the, like, Chicagos of and Jacksonvilles of the world as far as like how good of an offense are they going to be? I I think that the Patriots can be right there. And a lot of it is just due to the fact that I believe in the quarterback and I believe in the offensive coordinator.

>> Yeah, ultimately depending on where you lie on that pendulum, depending on where you lie on is A.J. Brown still prime A.J. Brown or is A.J. Brown maybe 85% of prime A.J. Brown. That's going to determine whether you're in or out on A.J. Brown at cost, but I think it's very undeniable. If he does work out, we are getting prime A.J. Brown, we're getting a quarterback that can threaten for an MVP in his third year. It's a worthwhile risk, man. You take Jaylen Waddle, you take Jahmyr Gibbs, you take Bijan Robinson, he falls to you at the end of the second round, totally fine making that pick. It really just depends again where he ends up going. If he's going above like Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley and guys like that, I can't push him there, but I think he could be the head of the next tier.

>> Yeah, I mean, I got a five-time wide receiver one tethered to a second and MVP voting third-year quarterback. Sometimes fantasy football is easy, is all I'll say about A.J. Brown.

>> Yeah, valid. He's my 21st overall player, so I'm right in line where he goes.

>> Yeah, I have him at 19. I have him over Kenneth Walker, for example, which is not going to be a popular take, but um, let's talk about Nico, 'cause Nico is another one of these guys just like A.J. where I I think people are going to overthink him, but again, I got a three-time wide receiver one in points per game here who's still 27 years old, and I just did the Texans projections, and I'm actually I I was pleasantly surprised with what I came out of for C.J. Stroud. Setting a career high in passing yards, a career high in yards per attempt, career high in completion percentage, and a career high in touchdowns. And the reason I feel that way about C.J. Stroud is A, I I like the offensive line additions over the last couple of years. I I think that they're doing things to make the offensive line better, and I I think the reason that C.J. Stroud performed so poorly last year at times was the complete and utter lack of a run game, and I I think David Montgomery will stabilize this offense around Nico Collins, who again, from a ball knowledge standpoint, lines up at X receiver on the outside against your Sauce Gardners and Patrick Surtains of the world every single week. And when you have Tank Dell coming back from injury, 19 months removed at the start of the season, he's going to be back on the field for training camp based on all reports. You have Jayden Higgins and Jaylen Nowell going into year two. All that tells me is that Nico

Collins has some help around him and has some ability to actually get some damn one-on-ones on the outside.

Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned it cuz obviously I am the Nico guy of this channel. I absolutely love Nico Collins. I think if you're just taking real-life NFL wide receivers, he'd be much higher than what we're ranking him in fantasy because ultimately we've had the optimism that C.J. Stroud would take that step and unfortunately since his rookie year has only gone downhill, but there is upside. Year two with K.L.E. Obviously you mentioned just the weapon score. You maybe get Tank Dell back. Jaylen Nowell for example or Jayden Higgins takes a step up. Dalton Schultz is steady top 20-ish type of option at tight end. Again, he's not a world breaker, but if he's going to be your number four target in the offense, you absolutely take that.

I do think like you said though, the number one most important thing is adding balance to this offense. If a team knows you all you have to do is load up on Nico Collins and there's no other threat on that offense, no run game, no significant superstar talent at receiver, star talent at receiver to be able to take over the top, yeah, you can load up. You can play a guy press man on Nico. You can shade a safety over the top because you knew Nico's going to line up majority of his snaps at the X wide receiver outside position. But I do think with everything supporting him around, could we see more of a efficient get back to the touchdown rate he was a couple years ago and then all of a sudden we're seeing Nico Collins be a legitimate top seven, top six overall receiver in fantasy. He's shown it before. Does he get back up to that level? I'm much more willing to take that risk at the two-three turn as opposed to the top 12 pick he was last year cuz realistically, I think it's only better than what the case was last year and he's gotten eight to 10 picks cheaper.

Yeah, that's that's the thing is like he's just as good as he was last year when he was a first-round pick. And if you look at the games that he underperformed in, look at the defensive coordinators that were able to keep him outside of a top 24 scoring week. Rams defensive coordinator, Todd Bowles in the Tampa Bay Bucs, Mike Macdonald in the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers I believe he left early in that game for what it's worth. Then you also have the Buffalo Bills and Sean McDermott. Jessie Minter in week 17. Like you have these like smart defensive coordinators that know what to play against the number one receiver. Some of those teams having, you know, physical shut down number one corners as well. Like To me I just look at Nico Collins as exactly the same projection as last year only basically a round cheaper.

Yeah, cuz we saw the two years prior 17 and a half points per game. It's like we wanted more when he was at the one two turn where it's like, okay, 17 and a half we're more so going to need you to be at the 18 and a half 19 plus range. But if you're getting 17 and a half points per game from the 21st overall pick paired next to a Bijan Robinson, a Jahmyr Gibbs, a Ja'Marr Chase, a Puka Nacua, he could be your second selected player. To me that's far easier because if you're getting 22 points per game from those elite top of the board first round talents like again, Bijan, Gibbs, and Chase specifically, Puka specifically, then at that point it's like you just add Nico Collins' 17 and a half and you're already off to a 40 point upstart compared to your competition.

I know and as much as I don't want to start my draft, let's say Jahmyr Gibbs, A.J. Brown, Nico Collins cuz I'll be kind of behind the eight ball at running back. I might just not have a choice. Like if Breece Hall and Kyren Williams are the top running backs on the board like and Bowers is gone and and that kind of thing, it's just going to be hard to pass on these like hook, line, and sinker wide receiver one projections in my opinion. So let's try and speed this up a little bit. Obviously Rashee Rice, I would prefer him to A.J. Brown and Nico Collins assuming everything was hunky-dory and Mahomes would be healthy and he would have no issues, but there's at least we're ranking these for best ball purposes as well right now. So there's also the factor that you have to play into the risk mitigation of taking too much Rashee Rice at this current moment in time. So for me, once we get cleared on certain things, I'll be fine taking Rashee Rice in the mid second round. Just for now, I believe where do I have him at the moment if I look at it. I'm pretty high on him. I have him at 23 and you and I are basically in lockstep and nobody's really burying him too much because of what the upside he represents is, but um you can't rank him much higher than where we have him at the same time.

Let me put you to the test, Corey. Can you tell me a tangible difference in tier if we had a healthy Rashee Rice versus Justin Jefferson?

No, I can't and you know what I'll do you one further. Uh he should be the first Kansas City Chief off the board. He should be ahead of Kenneth Walker. I think he's a more significant fantasy asset than Kenneth Walker. On Underdog, it's a three wide receiver start and in home leagues that are full PPR, I think he represents a bigger advantage at wide receiver than Kenneth Walker does at running back. But that being said, structurally I understand wanting to get the running back sooner. So, I think it's actually a lot closer than people think though.

But good thing the Bijan and Gibbs range get exposure to Rashee Rice because he's currently deflated in market cost.

Yeah, I mean

is valid, but like also like it's not like I'm saying, "Oh, I have him at 15th overall." Saying, "I have him at 24." The risk risk. But guess what? You know what mitigates risk? When you have a 22-point per game hammer you're paying or you're playing him with.

Imagine getting him, Bijan, and Neighbors on the same team and it working out positively. Like imagine how insanely overvalued or undervalued your two wide receiver one producers would be.

You win your league at the draft if they're healthy. Obviously, there's a ton of risk there. You can easily lose your league at the draft if that happens. But we're swinging to finish first. There's a reason why Sal went up there, a fifth overall. Everybody expecting him to take Saquon Barkley and he looked the camera dead in the face and said he wanted Christian McCaffrey.

You have to take some risks sometimes.

You have to take risk and hey, guess what? If Rashee Rice ends up being an 18 and a half point per game receiver, uh Patrick Mahomes is healthy in week one, like he could be the risk you needed to take in the first three rounds of your draft.

Yeah, exactly. Neighbors I'm a little bit more pessimistic on just because the health of it. I'm not really that worried about Rashee Rice's health. I'm worried about Mahomes's health. I'm worried about Rashee.

You see him sprinting away from the cameras after he got released?

He like James when I talked to him about oh is it a problem he's not able to rehab he's like it's not a it's not an issue. He's able to get away from the facility that he was staying he's already out of prison now. So it's like whatever. It's it's not that big of a deal it's a non-story by the time like the reason I was hammering the crap out of him in best ball drafts cuz he was falling to the 30s at time and I'm like I yeah exactly. It's a closing line value play at the very minimum because I think he will be a mid second round pick by the time we get to training camp and and preseason. I don't expect Mahomes to be pacing like guaranteed timelines. I think it's possible we don't know until week one against the Broncos if Mahomes is healthy or not. But at the same time like Rice even in that situation will probably be a mid second round pick.

Yeah, I'm on the same page with Rashee Rice. I do think he's got the most upside where we do this video come August he could legitimately be in the tier with Jefferson and London if not maybe even heading it. So we'll see what it ends up happening in that trend line. We can talk about Devonta Smith next again we talked about one former Eagle now let's go to the current Eagle. The only concern here for me is the passing projection of this offense. I have zero concern about the talent level of Devonta Smith taking over as the one.

Yeah, if we pull up the splits of Devonta Smith without AJ Brown it it's pretty obvious when you look at okay when these when these two guys are not on the field together and and Smith is operating as the alpha it's night and day that he is one of the best receivers in the league. He can perform as a number one receiver and I love the addition of Olamide Zaccheaus and Eli Stowe. I think they are very good compliments to Devonta Smith who without AJ Brown has produced at a 14 and a half point per game clip. If you take out 2022 that first year of AJ Brown being there when Devonta Smith was still just a second year wide receiver and not to the full capability of what he was you can actually see it. I think it was a 17 point per game once it actually loads here. Okay, it's including 2023 it's just the last two years then but either way AJ Brown not being there opens up a lot of targets. And again this is an offense that doesn't throw the ball a ton. So, operating as the number one receiver is very, very helpful for DeVonta Smith because he can actually get those 8.5, 29% target share type of looks. Him not scoring a lot of touchdowns and and that kind of thing is the reason he doesn't have a higher point per game output from what I was pulling up here.

Well, I mean, I don't know, it's only four games, but bro, 3.84 yards per hour run. I was just loathing about how good Puka Nacua was at 3.78.

Yeah, like this is an insanely efficient receiver and I I'm of the opinion and not everybody's maybe of this opinion that that Jalen Hurts might have a passing resurgence. That is the number I was looking for. It was 2024 in the two games that A.J. Brown missed. DeVonta Smith performing at a super, super high level. Extremely small sample size, of course. There is risk with DeVonta Smith going this high in drafts. He's not actually going, for what it's worth. He's a third round pick consistently in most leagues. I have him ranked inside of the second round and I do believe that I might be one of the only ones too, and I am. I have him at 24. He's my 24th overall player. I'm very comfortable taking him at the two-three turn. I would take him over, you know, your George Pickens, your Chris Olaves of the world who some people would prefer, but I like number one receivers tethered to offenses that project to be what, ninth in the NFL in terms of Vegas projection right now. So, um yeah, I think he can do it. I think he can be the guy and I think Mac Hollins and those guys are going to help the offense and I think Manney is going to do wonders for Jalen Hurts's passing.

Yeah, no, I think that's reasonable, especially if you're on the more pro Eagle side of the passing pendulum there. I do think losing A.J. Brown, even if he was disengaged last year, is going to be a risk. I love Mac Hollins the prospect, but at the same time, I would take A.J. Brown the player, what we've seen as what I Philadelphia, over both Mac Hollins and Eli Rogers. I do think that is a significant loss. When we look when we look at the overall projection, too, they are currently as the 13th ranked offense in Vegas projection, but it is a more of an increase from last year cuz last year they were at 22.3 raw points per game. This year they're projected out at 23.81, so it is more bullish from a Vegas perspective that maybe they stabilize a little bit, maybe some better vibes.

Barkley will play a lot better this year, too. Barkley will play a lot better this

Uh, repeat that, sorry.

I think Barkley plays a lot better this year, that helps the offense. I'm going to be more in the 25 to 26 points per game once I actually project them out, I would imagine, but yeah, I mean

Yeah.

I think both Devonta Smith and Saquon Barkley are slightly undervalued for what I'm projecting for Philadelphia. I understand being pessimistic on Hurts cuz, you know, it could go the Kyler Murray direction where they're looking for a new quarterback next year. I just don't think that's going to be likely with everything they have around him, a stable, good, well-coached team, good franchise, good front office, you know, they made some additions that I think are going to be significant, and I do like the addition by subtraction aspect of the locker room of losing A.J.

And at the risk of being called a Cowboys homer, uh, truthfully, understand if you're getting rage baited by this, I am joking around. Who knows, maybe the passing offense a little better off if they hand the reins to Tanner McKee.

Yeah, that is a rage bait and a half. Um, that's [laughter] like saying Trey Lance would be a better quarterback for you guys. Um, speaking of the Cowboys, let's talk about George Pickens, Tee Higgins, Malik Nabers, Marvin Mims, Zay Flowers. Now, that's how this tier was constructed. Chris Olave, because he's lower for me

Because Chris Olave's lower for me right now because of the the blood clots thing, I'm just kind of hedging my bets a little bit. Once he's cleared for training camp, which I expect him to be, I'm going to move him back up, and he would be in this tier, and maybe even close to the head of this tier. However, I'm going to comfortably just move him down a little bit just for now because it can be a very serious thing.

So, for uh, those at home wondering, the first three or yeah, the first three tiers we have exactly the same. The C tier, the only difference is I have, uh, Devonta Smith in the D tier. I have A.J. Brown, Nico Collins, and Rashee Rice in the C, Devonta Smith in the D tier, and my D tier would be George Pickens, Devonta Smith, Chris Olave, Malik Nabers, Zay Flowers, Tee Higgins in that order. So, it got jumbled up a little bit when we were doing the consensus, but I am curious cuz Igbuka does show up for us here. So, you must have him very aggressively ranked cuz he is at my He's at my wide receiver 22. So, I'm shocked he jumped this far.

Yeah, so let's talk about Pickens and Higgins are very straightforward. Pickens and Higgins are number two receivers on some of the best passing projection offenses in football. And as you said for Lamb, we are not of the opinion that Pickens probably repeats what he does this season unless Lamb misses time again. So, Pickens and Higgins are both crystal clear 15-point per game projection receivers because to be a 15-point per game projection receiver, you're probably somewhere between 1,200-1,300 yards, seven to nine touchdowns, give or take. And that's what I expect for both of these players given the situations that they're in.

So, I'm curious so if you also add Lamb here cuz I'm curious what the site has in terms of the split between where people have Lamb versus where the people have Pickens cuz I do think the people that have Lamb lower in their overall rankings like Zach, like Avery, like I wouldn't say Davis is lower, but relative to the field here. Versus if you put up Pickens, they're probably at the top of the group for Pickens, I would assume.

Uh, yeah, Zach, Avery, yeah.

sense. They think the the split's a lot tighter than that. And I think when you when you factor in touchdown upside and stuff, maybe that's how they're getting there. They think that Pickens maybe has the eight to 10 touchdowns, Lamb more the six to eight touchdowns or whatever, but I generally have I share your opinion, which is that Lamb when he's healthy is going to be more the 17-19 point per game receiver, clear number one, 1,408 versus Pickens more the 1,207 type type number.

Yeah, and again, that's not really an indictment on Pickens. It's just acknowledging the fact that last year went Pickens' way. I do think it's going to bounce back towards CD Lamb cuz if you ask me going into last year how I'd rank the receivers, I'd probably have CD Lamb as like the fourth or fifth best receiver in the league, and I would have had George Pickens more so in the 15 to 20 range, 20 to 25 range. Obviously with the breakout year for Pickens, like Pickens is probably closer to the top 10 to 12 guy and maybe you have like JSN and Puka above Lamb now, so he's like six for you, but I still do think if you had to rank out the top 20, top 25 receivers in the league, most lists should have CeeDee Lamb above George Pickens. There's going to be people out there that are like, "Oh, I love what George Pickens did last year more than Lamb." But it's like, you can't just forget that the guy had almost 1,812.

Yeah, what does the team think of these two guys is the important part and the team knows that Lamb is the guy. And 15.2 points per game in the games with Lamb. That's almost exactly what I would expect from George Pickens right now. So, the fact that he had 26.3 points per game in the game and this is including games that Lamb played in but left early against the Bears, for example, like you said, um George Pickens had, you know, 17 and a half fantasy points in that game with with Lamb leaving early as well. So, yeah, the Green Bay game, the Carolina game, those were his big performances and Lamb was not in the lineup for those.

Yeah, exactly. I'm on the same page with you here. Very solid click if you're getting it, you know, the early to mid-third round, but not one that I'm clicking and expecting he's going to produce what he did last year.

And Tee is the exact same situation. Only, here's the thing with Tee that I really love because Tee goes lower than Pickens. We have never, ever seen Ja'Marr Chase miss time with Tee healthy and Burrow healthy. So, there is the upside that Tee can be this year's Pickens where Chase misses four games with a hamstring pull and Higgins has a 19-20 point per game season because in those games that that Chase was out, he's averaging 25 points per game like what Pickens was doing without Lamb. So, we've seen Higgins already be a top-12 receiver twice. We know that the passing projection for the Bengals is absolutely elite. Like I said, 4,939. That's the the passing yardage and passing touchdowns I have on Joe Burrow this year. I believe he is going to be the MVP of the NFL this year. That is my prediction of who would be MVP at the quarterback position. So, for me, Tee Higgins is discount George Pickens this year because I think they're almost exactly the same projection, only Higgins goes eight to 10 picks later.

Yeah, I think that is reasonable. The way I kind of look at it is we've talked about this on stream a couple of times. We've talked about this with, you know, some of the YouTube chat, but if if I look at Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, I think Lamb's slightly worse than Ja'Marr Chase, and George Pickens is slightly better than Tee Higgins. So, the way I have the gaps is I have Ja'Marr Chase at three, and I have Tee Higgins more so at like the 33 to 35 range, I believe, in my rankings.

36. Yeah, and me and Sammy are, you know, 29 and 28, respectively. We're right there with where we have Pickens, essentially.

Yeah, versus with with with Lamb and Pickens, I have them at, I believe, what, six and 26, I want to say.

Yeah, like it's it's Again, I believe Tee Higgins is just as good as George. So, that's why I'm like kind of on the same page with with Sammy there. He's probably at the same opinion. But, let's rattle through these last couple again. Malik

if healthy, I First of all,

He'd be in the Jefferson-London tier.

He's going to start on the pup. This is my expectation of Malik Nabers. Cuz if he wasn't going to start on the pup, and I thought there was a good chance he'd be ready for week one, he'd be right there with A.J. and those guys in that tier. And if he definitely was going to start in week one, he'd be right up there with Jefferson and Lamb and London, probably.

Yeah, he'd probably be wide receiver six for me if he was fully healthy entering week one.

Yeah, and he I just don't think he will be. Based on my conversation with James and everything that we know about ACL injuries and clean-up procedures, clean-up procedures, generally, according to James, I'm quoting him here, delay your timeline by about a month. So, he was already playing fast playing fast and loose with the timeline surgery to week one. Now, after the clean-up procedure, it's probably going to delay his timeline to make him start on the pup. He's still a good receiver, but if you're drafting him in Underdog drafts, you got to draft eight receivers and draft safer receivers. You got to draft, you know, extra quarterbacks and tight ends to help you advance those teams. If you're drafting him in a redraft league, you better be drafting with a bunch of tacos and an ESPN two wide receiver one flex to the point that you can take guys in the eighth, ninth round that can help you get through the first six to eight games that you're not going to either have Malik Nabers period or have Malik Nabers playing at his highest levels.

So, let's be perfectly clear to people as well. You see that 31.5 ADP, obviously we have him ranked by Underdog standards, but I still have him lower than the overall ADP. I have him ranked as my 34th overall player because ultimately, especially for those of you that are in more standard redraft leagues, when you're in Underdog, all that matters realistically is if you get to week 14, 16, 17, having the guy that can literally win you the week. And Malik Nabers has shown in his career that he can win you the week. If you're in more of a standard redraft league where every week freaking matters, winning or losing your matchup can determine

Probably a really fourth-round player.

Probably I would even go further. He might be closer to like a mid-fourth, four-five turn cuz it's like you know inherently if you're making that click, you're probably not going to be getting at least 80-plus percent in Malik Nabers until week four or week five.

I think it'll be later than that, man.

That's what I mean. Like it could be week seven, week eight, week nine.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Like if he misses the first four to six games on PUP, like the PUP is six games, is it not? Or is it four?

Four.

Four. Okay, so if he starts on PUP and he misses the first four games, he won't be 80-plus percent of the routes, in my opinion, until at least week six. And that's if everything goes right from here on out. So, that's the that's the timeline you're playing with here. So, the reason I have him higher actually than he goes on Underdog is because I can draft a three-quarterback build. I can draft a three-tight-end build. Help my advance rate. I can draft

Right.

eight receivers, take Wan'Dale Robinson, Jakobi Meyers types to help me advance Malik Nabers. In a redraft league, like unless you have an IR spot, two wide receiver, one flex, and you're playing with your college idiot buddies who have no idea how to win fantasy, in the Flock league, like where people know what they're doing, I'm curious to see where he goes if he's going to start on PUP.

I am very curious if he falls to round five.

Yeah.

That's kind of my prediction.

Like when there's that much money on the line and that much at stake and everybody knows how to win fantasy leagues. Like you're basically making sure that you have to hit on your round eight to 12 picks so that you can advance Malik Nabers and make the playoffs in that league.

Yeah. Yeah, I'm on the same page with Malik Nabers. It's all a risk tolerance thing. Have him as my wide receiver 14, but realistically if you told me that we are guaranteed to get the pup, we are guaranteed to get setbacks, which probably is about, you know, an 85-90% likelihood, but it just hasn't been announced yet. I wouldn't even be shocked if his ADP fell closer to the like the 38-39 40 range.

Yeah, no, exactly. That's exactly where I'm at with it, too. So, I'm going to do something here, Danny. Let's cut off the conversation here. Let's cut off the conversation here. We will talk about Emeka Egbuka and Zay Flowers in the next video, which is wide receiver uh 15 in our consensus rankings through wide receiver 30 or 36 or however many we get through. But, the reason I wanted to cut it off here is because I am of the opinion mainly that Emeka Egbuka should be this high. I am probably mainly of the opinion that Zay Flowers should be this high. I want it to be more so our consensus, and you have a law of in some of these other guys a little bit higher than I do. So, I do think they belong in the next conversation because I don't really realistically think that both of us came to a consensus on Egbuka and Flowers being this high.

Well, so Flowers I have right on the same page here. I have him at 15. So, I'm with you on

to talk about Flowers and then save Egbuka for the next video, then?

Let's do that, then, cuz we could talk about Flowers. Uh Egbuka was a weird one with the consensus cuz I actually do have him two tiers lower than this.

Okay. So, let's talk about Zay, then, because in both of our rankings combined, yeah, you have him at 35, I have him at 37. So, he is kind of more so in this territory. With Zay Flowers, you had a guy last year 29.1% target share, top 13 overall finish in points per game, top seven finish overall on the season. That was with a lot of things going wrong. He only scored five touchdowns. A couple of those got called back due to penalties and that kind of thing. I remember specifically the one that screwed me out of my flock league playoff spot. He had fumbles. He had happen. But, 1,200 yards as a third-year receiver is insanely impressive when you factor in that Lamar wasn't himself, came in and out of games, missed some games last year. We get Lamar Jackson of old and Zay Flower's season goes from 1,205 to 1,408. And that's a wide receiver one, top 17 point per game type of finish.

So, I think Zay Flowers is one of the most interesting clicks on the board and a guy that I'm going to be taking a ton of, especially if his ADP is going to stay at this range. Because when I tell you this, Corey, the Ravens right now, by Vegas projection, number six ranked offense in the league, over 25 projected points per game, 25.47. Lamar Jackson, currently the quarterback two in fantasy off the board. Clearly, everybody is bullish about this Ravens offense. You look at the receiving weapons, I mean, overall offensive weapons, period. The only real main competition for pure touches would be Derrick Henry, who's an aging running back

And that's who I'm talking about, the receivers who Elijah Serratt and Jacobi Lane I like, but they are third and fourth round receivers that they took.

Rashod Bateman, is he ever going to take a step and be a thousand yard receiver? I would tend to think no.

I think Andrews isn't even a starting top three receiver by mid season.

But that's my entire point. It's like, when you look at the overall offense and you say, "Okay, who are the main focal points of this offense?" It's Derrick Henry, it's Zay Flowers.

And then you can say in the red zone it's Mark Andrews, but probably between the 20s and 10s are beyond his his

That's a projection, too. Like, yeah, like is Mark Andrews even 50% of the player he was when he was, you know, the consistent 850 and 12 touchdown guy?

Yeah, he's not

He looks like a shell of himself.

Yeah.

So, when I'm looking at this offense, you got Declan Doyle coming in who's going to put more of an emphasis on the short passing game. And I would say that's the one thing that Zay Flowers realistically been missing, cuz he's been a guy that can affect down the field. He's a guy who can create these big plays. But what was his number one strength we had for him coming out of college?

Yards after catch play.

And Declan Doyle coming from the Lions lineage, working under Ben Johnson, who famously

he's the Amon-Ra guy? So, we do the Amon-Ra Oh, who's going to be his What if Zay Flowers is Amon-Ra? Cuz Zay Flowers by reception perception data, by PFF receiving grade, yards per route run, he's every bit as good of a receiver as those types of players.

Like he checks every box.

It just because he gets only screen passes and downfield shots last year doesn't mean he can't run a 13-yard dig route for a first round for a first down. He can do it. His reception perception data has been pristine for 3 years.

So Corey, it's crazy that I'm in the spot now making this prediction because you've always been the Zay Flowers guy and I've, you know, joked around like Josh Downs outscored him a couple years ago, which by the way was a fact. I'm willing to say, given the new shape of where I think this offense is going to be directed, with my faith in Declan Doyle, with my faith in the overall projection of this Ravens offense, what if it's this year's JSN?

Yeah, I think it's possible. He's entering a contract year just like JSN was. And also, too,

Same class.

brain trust of head coach offensive coordinator, Jim Harbaugh, and and John Harbaugh, sorry, and Todd Monken last year combined 123 years old. Jesse Minter and Declan Doyle combined 73 years old between the two of them. Declan Doyle's the youngest offensive coordinator in football, and their first course of action was to let their top two tight ends behind Mark Andrews walk in free agency and draft two receivers in the first four rounds.

We might have Zay Flowers too low.

We might. And we have him the like some of the higher ones on the side. I guess I'm more so in the middle of the pack here with the 37 overall, but I have the Ravens projected for 514 pass attempts. It'll be their highest total in the Lamar Jackson era. Since that that one year, sorry, where Mark Andrews had that monster year in 2021. Since that year, they haven't exceeded 500 pass attempts.

Yeah, I see it. And I also notice with Zay Flowers, he had 1,200 plus yards, six touchdowns, 27% target share. It's like you get, you know, a random spike. We always famously have joked this guy hasn't been the touchdown scorer, but maybe all he needed was Declan Doyle to unlock that. Like know

like what if that was what if the whole Mark Andrews, Charlie Kolar, Isaiah Likely, and Derrick Henry in the red zone plan was all Todd Monken and John Harbaugh, which based on what we're hearing in New York right now about oh, it's going to be a run-heavy offense, we're going to do X, Y, and Z. It probably was John Harbaugh who was the CEO of that Ravens team.

Yeah, like when we look at the first 2 years as a reason why I was saying oh, maybe Zay Flowers has a limited ceiling, but objective objectively speaking, year 3, you look at the target share, you look at the yards per hour run, you look at the overall yardage, you look at the finishing fantasy in 17 games. It's like he evidently took that third year leap, and we don't know what year 4 could be in store.

Yeah, and that was exactly my point when he was a top five breakout candidate for me last year is that he's been so good to this point in his career, what's who's say he doesn't take a step? And we didn't get the Lamar Jackson of 2024, but if we did, Flowers would have had 1,400 yards

That's another very key point is he did all that, 1,200 yards, five touchdowns, that type of yards per hour run, that type of target share with Lamar Jackson dealing with all of the If we get MVP

lowest per game output, lowest rushing attempts per game output of his career, one of his worst seasons by far of his of his career, Lamar Jackson.

Yeah, maybe maybe maybe I'm talking myself into having Zay Flowers close to the head of this year, who knows? We'll we'll see where it ends up going.

Yeah, this is like the these are the 15 point per game projection receivers for me and Malik Nabers, who's obviously better than that, but we don't know how healthy he's going to be. So, yeah, that's the top 15 or so receiver rankings that we're going to get through. Obviously, on Wednesday, we're going to go through kind of the 16 through 30, which is more your mid-round receivers, your 13, 14, maybe 15 plus point per game upside, but the floor is lower type of projections there. So, yeah, stay tuned for that. We're going to have some other videos this week. We'll do some more Underdog drafts, some more team reviews. Make sure you guys are subscribed down below. Like the video if you enjoyed this. Let us know if like this format of us going really in depth on the top rankings. We'll of course by August and whatnot do rankings tier lists that are a little bit more succinct, a little bit more players covered in one video. But because this is like our initial redraft best ball stuff, like you can hear us literally the grind the gears are turning throughout the video of stuff that we're changing our opinions on talking through. So, we literally moved JSN down mid video in this one. So, there's there's something to be said for doing these initial rankings in this in-depth format and hopefully you guys are enjoying it. Hopefully you made it to the end. Get the season pass if you guys want early access. It's the same exact price as it was last year, but you get it for a month and a half 2 months longer. I am recovering from a bachelor party this weekend that has my liver in knots. Um, but uh, yeah, definitely check that out. Check out the best ball tool as well. Go draft some of these players on Underdog. Go get your early discounts on certain guys. And um, yeah, make sure you guys are stay tuned to everything we have going for the rest of the summer. Everything I mentioned will be down below in the pinned comment. Like, subscribe. Peace out. And we'll talk to you soon.