Top 52 WR Rankings For 2025 Fantasy Football Drafts

You, yes you, are likely starting more wide receivers than any other position in your lineup every single week. So, let's nail these final rankings for the wide receiver position ahead of the 2025 fantasy football season, a summer of research. Watching tape, recording over 50ish shows has brought us to this moment. Hayden, again, let's nail these for the people so they nail their drafts and win their fantasy leagues this year.

It's exciting. The entire, what, top 12 in our rankings are like 27 years or younger than that. So, like, a big part of my process for this video is like wide receiver 25 to 45. That's where I think a lot of leagues are going to be won and lost, finding some values there because especially as we went through our redraft ADPs, where like a lot of the running back and quarterback prices and even some of the elite tight ends early, and we're like, we have to hit on these wide receivers that go around seven, eight, nine, 10, 11. Uh, so that's what this video is going to largely be about.

100%. If you checked out those cheat code videos on Yahoo and ESPN, you know, especially rookie wide receivers and a few other values that we laid out, we'll definitely touch on a number of names, over 50 of them today. If you enjoy yourself at any moment, if you're new to this channel, be sure to hit that subscribe button because we don't end once your draft is over. We want to help you win your fantasy league in the rest of the season as well.

Okay, we have to kick things off with all the running backs that we loved. There still has been zero debate all offseason long of who the 101 is in drafts this summer and the one wide receiver is at the top. That is Jamar Chase of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Why? Nothing changed after winning the triple crown. Um, he averaged more half PPR points per game than three different teams at wide receiver did last year. The Patriots, the Steelers, and the Saints. All of the wide receivers on those teams did not match Jamar Chase. Nothing's changed.

3.7 points per game more than the wide receiver two. I mean, think about how many of your weeks you stress it out through Sunday Night Football, through Monday Night Football, and you're losing or winning by 0.8. Uh, Jamar Chase just gives you that boost every single week. So, he is really the difference maker. And on top of it, like when he does have true wide receiver one weeks, three times last season, 36, 50, and 38 half PPR points per game. Again, it basically wins you your matchup on any given week.

All right, number two is CD Lamb. And I also want to make this designation. You have CD Lamb as your second overall player when it comes to full PPR and half PPR scoring ahead of the four running backs that we all love that were at the top of our running backs rankings list. Hopefully, you all tuned in that video as well. Why are you so comfortable taking CD as the 102 this year?

Well, think about all those stats we just mentioned with Jamar Chase. If you look at the last two seasons, C CD Lamb's actually the wide receiver one overall in points per game. So, that's pretty crazy. He averaged 103 yards per game back in 2023. Last year in the Dak Prescott games, that was at 82 yards per game. It's an in-house higher. They were top three in wide receiver usage and back-to-back seasons. They have no running backs on the team right now. The ball's going to CD Lamb and he's really good. And by the way, he's also not going to have the same amount of coverage uh over the top of them just because they have George Pickens on the other side.

Dak Prescott only played in eight games last year. That man, CD Lamb was the wide receiver 10 in points per game. The year prior, Dak played in every single game. Hopefully, we're getting that this year. CD Lamb was the wide receiver two in points per game. The year before that, Dak missed five games. CD Lamb was the wide receiver eight in points per game. So, even with Cooper Rush or whoever the hell else the Cowboys trotted out there, uh, CD Lamb was still a top 10 scorer at the position.

Okay, we could have, I think, technically had a teardrop right there, but let's continue on with a couple more names to at least make it a top three. And we'll include Justin Jefferson here. Uh, Jay Jeff, part of the Minnesota Vikings. Why does he still belong in this elite group despite the quarterback change?

I mean, he is leading the NFL history in yards per game um through his entire career. Yeah, not bad at all there. Um, so yeah, I think like the difference between the last couple years and this offense is just going to be I think more balanced, more runs, fewer downfield shots. Like Justin Jefferson with Sam Darnold last year was phenomenal on those. He averaged 88 yards per game, which is like just in line with the other top guys. I think the other two teams are going to pass more than the Vikings, so that's why I have him like third or fourth. And that hamstring injury, at one point I was like pretty nervous about it, but now that he's back in the lineup and stuff, you at least feel a little bit better um that night.

Jordan Addison suspended to open the year as well. This team has really searched for a wide receiver three. Like Jaylen Naylor just hasn't grabbed it at all. Tyquan Thornton hasn't grabbed it. They're still trying to make possible trades or pickups to do that. We have seen when this team didn't have Jordan Addison on the roster that, you know, coverages really shifted in the direction like true double teams, like real bracket coverage. Hopefully, we don't get that here. Uh, I do want to point out that Justin Jefferson actually caught more touchdowns last season than Puka Nacua has in his first two NFL seasons already. And per Jared Smalla, Justin Jefferson's 2.5 yards per route run last year were actually a career low. Uh, but that's still ranked fifth among 84 qualifying wide receivers in the league. Not bad when it's your worst statistical season in that one category.

Yeah, All-Pro pretty pretty much.

That drops us down to tier two in our wide receiver four. Let's actually say my wide receiver four here because we have different ones. This is Puka Nacua for me of the LA Rams. Uh, we know after week one and really during preseason, he dealt with a knee injury, but when he returned from week eight on, he averaged seven and a half receptions for 95 receiving yards with three receiving touchdowns. That receiving touchdown thing is the key to unlocking like the massive ceiling season that we're hoping for at one point Puka Nacua reaches. And a big part of that is hopefully Matthew Stafford is healthy, remains healthy and gets them there because I think Puka, while he hasn't been a red zone threat so far in his NFL career, he definitely has the skills to do it.

He can finish as the wide receiver one overall this season in his 28 career games above 50% snaps. So remember, he got thrown out that one game. He's left some games early. He's averaging 96.8 yards per game. For reference, Justin Jefferson's all-time record that I just referenced, 96.5. So, it's actually Puka Nacua if you kind of filter out some of those things. First targets per route last year, wide receiver one overall at 14%. First downs per route also number one. Like phenomenal, phenomenal football player. Uh, I have nothing bad to say about him. It's just the Matthew Stafford risk a little bit. DeVonta Adams in town, but like he can easily get this thing done. A quick aside on the Matthew Stafford update, Jordan Rodrigue, while she's no longer a beat writer for The Athletic for the LA Rams, she's still probably the closest writer to the LA Rams out there. She said that all systems go for week one, but she believes that this back injury is going to linger and is going to be a thing for the entire season. And so it's what exactly we have been discussing, we have been talking about that week one, we know he's going to be in the field unless there's a setback, but then it's week seven, week 11. I do think Puka because he is so powerful, can still win and be a top five, top seven, top 10 with a backup quarterback like we saw CD Lamb do it. It's more of like the tertiary or secondary options on that team that I would give a bigger ding to if uh if Matthew Stafford misses time.

Fair.

Yeah, totally fair. And also Jimmy G is a much better backup than most teams have. And yeah, like you said, Puka, it's easy to get him the ball like four yards down the field. Like most backup quarterbacks can do that.

So, so, so powerful. That's the first word that pops into my head when I think of Puka Nacua. Okay, you're going on a limb here with your wide receiver four, a player we all love. But this is where you have Nico Collins of the Houston Texans.

Here are the wide receivers with more yards per route over the past two seasons. Nobody. Just him. He's number one in that number. I mean, he's a phenomenal player. It's not just the downfield stuff. And there was a time where he was actually had the highest uh next-gen stats, miles per hour, because he was absolutely hauling ass, but he also get him in the screen game. And this is also just a team that I don't think they're going to be able to do the same offense that they've had the last couple years where they're trying to be balanced. Give the ball to Joe Mixon a bunch of times. We don't even think that Joe Mixon is going to play that much, if at all, this season. They're going to pass the ball more and the rookies that they drafted are probably backups to start the season. This offense is all about two players. It's Nico Collins. It's CJ Stroud. And for my money, I think that Nico Collins has like solidified himself as a top five real-life guy. And there's not that much target competition with a good quarterback here. So, I feel really comfortable with his his floor and his ceiling. I do think there's a chance that he absolutely takes off and catches more like easy passes in this offense just out of out of necessity.

The Mike Shanahan tree is a fantasy cheat code. We know that even with a different play caller last year, weeks one through five, he was the wide receiver three in points per game. This is somewhat like the Kenneth Walker stance that we made on the running back side that Nico just hasn't been able to stay healthy for like a full 17 games. But if he does, he will be viewed as a top five, top seven talent at the wide receiver position. And to me, it can be difficult to predict when injured guys get injured, especially when they are 6'4", 225-pound phenoms like Nico Collins is.

And you remember how he got injured? It was because he was finishing off his like 65-yard touchdown run into the end zone.

Hamstring. We'll take that every time. We'll definitely take that every time. He's going as wide receiver six in terms of home league ADPs when you combine ESPN, Sleeper. Uh, so I really love that you have Nico Collins as your wide receiver four.

Okay, that takes us to our combined wide receiver six. This is Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Detroit Lions.

I mean, what is there to say? It's just going to be the either the leading the league in touchdowns or near near that or catch a 100 passes as usual. That's the two outcomes that Amon-Ra St. Brown has done. This is an offense that's not going to be as good, but still third in projected points. Man, I don't even know what there's negative to say about him. It's like the easiest like projection ever.

Yeah, 12 touchdowns last season, 92 yards per game over his final eight contests of the year. Then he was wide receiver five in points per game. He was wide receiver four two years ago, wide receiver 10 in points per game three years ago. He also has the sixth highest share of red zone targets across the NFL. Look, we've talked about it with the Lions, how they're having a new center, other offensive linemen will step in, a new play caller on top of it. Even had offseason surgery, I believe, but and you see practice clips of Amon-Ra St. Brown just torching opposing DBs in joint practices. So, Amon-Ra St. Brown along that one-two punch is a phenomenal selection where other years we'd probably have to take him as like the 107 or 108.

Yep. It's the depth of all these guys and wait till like the we get these sophomore guys that are coming up next.

Yep. Well, there's the first one. Drake London is our wide receiver seven. Why?

I think he has a chance to be the wide receiver one overall if he can stay healthy. He's been dealing with like what his back, it's his toe, it's everything. It's been years. It's been just week to week. So, he should be fine for week one stuff. I really hope he's out there because he was already number one in expected fantasy points based off of his usage. He got tons and tons and tons of targets last year. Was six in receiving yards per game. He was actually six in expected touchdowns, too. He did not have a quarterback that could throw him the football. He does now. He actually has what, three or four quarterbacks can throw him the football. Um, so I feel really good about the quarterback situation there. And then also just more opportunities downfield, which we did not see in this Giants offense last year. He can do it. And Russ was actually helping George Pickens have like the most downfield targets or catchable downfield targets uh of all of last season. So there's everything that can go right from Neighbors assuming he can stay healthy. He led the NFL in targets per game last year at 11.3. Why can't he just do that again along with better quarterback play and his left tackle and Andrew Thomas being out there on the field? Because there are some major offense splits when Andrew Thomas misses. I mean, there was that stretch of the season from week seven to week 14 where he like really couldn't crack that 10-point barrier on any given week. But guess what? He was still a top 10ish scoring wide receiver across the entire season. So, I am so excited for what Drake London can do during his second season.

And that brings us to his former teammate at LSU. Crazy to see these guys next to each other heading into 2025. Brian Thomas Jr. of the Jacksonville Jaguars as our wide receiver eight.

Yeah, by the way, LSU Tigers, that's Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson, Drake London, and Brian Thomas. Like, there's a chance it's like literally the top four receivers in the game. Uh, pretty impressive stuff. So yeah, with with Brian Thomas from week 12 on, the only wide receiver to have more half PPR points was Jamar Chase over his last seven games, 96 yards per game, 11 targets per game. He was the complete focal point of the offense. What he was doing was not only just winning downfield, but like press man coverage slant routes was awesome at those like little shallow crosses. He was creating explosive the screen games, end zone stuff. So he can pretty much do everything.

And I'm expecting the same old stuff with Liam Cohen. There's going to be a more explosive offense. There's going to be more easy button stuff now that they know what they have. It's not just like some deep threat. He can do literally everything. There's no ceiling or cap on on his ceiling really.

Nope. Not at all. And Liam Cohen is becoming, if not already being one of the best at scheming space for his playmakers. Uh, we know despite all of the wide receiver injuries the Bucs had last year, they were top eight in terms of 11 personnel usage. They're going to space it out. They'll condense it. They'll manufacture touches to their guy. So Brian Thomas Jr. is going to get some designated targets, designated touches every single week and he can win both down the field. We saw the slot phase in college, that's for sure. And then we even saw an expanded tree last year as a season went along, especially when M. Jones was his quarterback. So I'm really really excited to see what happens this year with that group.

Okay, we have a couple more names I believe in this tier and that goes to Garrett Wilson next of the Atlanta Falcons as our wide receiver nine. Last year he was the wide receiver six in usage and he's always felt like this close to like really breaking out into that like top 10 status. I think this is the year where he can get it done. This what the Falcons have been doing under new offensive system over there. Just throw the ball a ton and I think that you're going to see more downfield shots with Michael Penix and Garrett Wilson can do that. There's actually like a bunch of reps even in those like three games where Penix's just like letting Garrett Wilson make a play on the ball and he has an awesome catch radius. He can do a lot of the slot stuff. Choice routes, screen game, all that stuff. You saw that at USC. You've seen that in glimpses for the Falcons. I think this is the year where he kind of finally puts it all together and finishes like a no-doubt about a top 10 guy. Really high floor. Uh, I think maybe a little bit underrated ceiling for people that have not appreciated Garrett Wilson's game.

Yeah, that Falcons offense got really stagnant with Kirk Cousins. They were quite limited in his mobility, what he could do. Uh, and despite that, Garrett Wilson had an exceptional season. Granted, in the final games that Michael Penix did start, they faced just about the three worst defenses in the NFL, but he absolutely torched them. And it's especially when he lines up in the slot. I mean, 231 slot routes last year, he was targeted 73 times on those. They want to get him the football. when you see him lined up inside. And he also had the highest end zone target share of any wide receiver in the NFL last season, 60%. The next closest was at 46%, a 14% gap between number two. Uh, just quick aside, just on strategy overall, we've talked about it a lot. The 101 is really nice to have because you, you know, get to have Jamar Chase on your team. I really like having one of the top six picks because it can be about the top four running backs or you can add C. Lamb onto there. But then we've discussed it constantly. They're like 15 round one quality players this year. And I would tag it at the end of this Neighbors, Brian Thomas, Wilson, you know, grouping. So you can get one of these receivers and Austin Ekeler or Derrick Henry or whoever the hell else you want at the running back position. And that's a really fun one-two punch to go home with after last year. The one-two punch felt abysmal.

Yeah, that's all completely fair. If you can get two of these wide receivers at pick 11, pick 12, I think that's pretty damn impressive.

Okay, next up is AJ Brown. Not the best season that we've seen from AJ Brown last year, but Hayden, I think that there are some, you know, qualifying factors into that.

Yeah, he was the wide receiver 16, a wide receiver 37 usage. The only reason why he had that low of usage is because once he returned to lineup in week six, he had that little injury early on. Jalen Hurts only had to complete 47 passes while trailing over the next 14 games. That includes all the way to the Super Bowl. They were obviously 14 and 0 during that stretch. So, there was just like no reason to throw the ball in the third and the fourth quarters. Uh, I just expect that not to be as smooth this year. Like the defense might not be as good. They've lost some guys. Saquon Barkley might not be ripping off 75-yard touchdowns like he was the previous season. There just might actually just pass the ball a little bit more throughout the season just by choice. So, everything's just just going better for AJ Brown this year than last year. Like last year was like the worst-case scenario. It was only that because the Eagles were so good.

Exactly. Like he as an individual still posted the second best yards per route run only behind Puka Nacua. Then when you look at versus man coverage, he was easily the best at 4.31 yards per route run. And just to reinforce what you said, Eagles trailed for 62 total plays in the fourth quarter all of last season.

62. That's where a lot of the passing and statistics and production happens across the league.

He just had to deal with Saquon Barkley running the football, you know, 16 times for over 30 plus yards. So, like, yeah, >> if the Eagles are a little bit worse or have longer drives cuz they were dead last in pass attempts last year at 25.7, then that could just give us along with health a much much better AJ Brown season and he could be, you know, reemerged back into that top 12 overall picks in fantasy football.

Yeah, I think like the hard part with him is I had to put Garrett Wilson and then even like in full PPR T. Higgins ahead of him just because like the usage is like it's night and day and it's nothing against AJ Brown like you said like the per route stuff is still the best best in football.

Another second-year wide receiver in this group. This is Ladd McConkey of the LA Chargers. Why does he deserve to be just a couple spots behind Neighbors and Brian Thomas Jr.?

I thought he was the best rookie on film last year. All like the per route metrics among the rookie class, he was also number one in those. He only had seven targets behind the line of scrimmage. He can absolutely do that. His like quickness and agility after the catch is sensational. So, if they wanted to get him like in the manufactured department, they absolutely could. Uh, they probably don't because he's always seems like he's about to like crawl off to the sidelines because he's, you know, this big. Uh, but also when they move him to the outside, 35% targets per route when lined up as an outside wide receiver. He was like mossing people. He looks sensational in camp and stuff. So, I think he's like one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. I think like maybe the Chargers be a little bit more balanced this year now that they have Gus Edwards. Uh, but man, like everything about his rookie season is like this guy's going to be a superstar, not just a regular star.

Yeah, over the final 10 games, he averaged 88 yards per contest with a low of 52. So it was like really really stable stuff from Ladd McConkey. Everyone always gets frustrated that Greg Roman offenses run the football and sure they were 27th in pass attempts per game last year, but he was also second in the NFL in targets off of play action. So I understand you don't have to have a good running game to be successful in the passing game. Uh, it does help though and so Gus Edwards can even open some things up to again one of the most targeted players off of play action last year in the NFL and that's Ladd McConkey.

Okay, last name in this tier and this is T. Higgins who finished tied for wide receiver two in points per game last year and unfortunately because of all these elites and alphas we have to rank him as the wide receiver 12 right now.

Yeah, I rank him even uh higher than that in full PPR. He just gets the ball like ridiculous levels. So last year's wide receiver four usage and one of the four or three wide receivers ahead of him was actually Chris Godwin who played half the season's not anywhere near this list anymore. So, like there's a chance he finishes with top five numbers once again. He was the number one wide receiver in expected touchdowns per game because the Bengals are always in the red zone and he could just jump over everybody. He's so big that they throw him a bunch of fades down there. So, he gets utilized downfield. What was new last year and you mentioned this without Tyler Boyd and just more of just the spread Bengals offense, >> more stuff underneath. So, that gets his production and the stability uh higher. And then like unlike a lot of the guys right next to him, if something happens to one of his teammates, he goes up a full tier. It's like a little bit harder for Ladd McConkey and AJ Brown and Garrett Wilson to get up there. But if something happens to Jamar Chase, T. Higgins goes right next to CD Lamb and Justin Jefferson.

As you said, a drop of three yards in his average depth of target from 2023 to 2024. Tyler Boyd leaving was a main part of that. The first time under 10 yards in his career. So we just got more gimmies. We got more consistency from T. Higgins, who at times when it was like a real trio at wide receiver, kind of had to live in the contested catch jump ball game down the sideline >> down the field.

Okay, those are our first two tiers. Again, if you're new around here, if you're enjoying this content, if this is going to help you win your league, hit that subscribe button, leave a thumbs up. It is totally totally free to all of you. And I just want to outline the content that we have once the season rolls along. We'll have an instant reaction show on Sunday night after all the games are complete. So you can listen to that or watch it on Sunday mornings. We also have waivers on Monday nights as well. Then we get to Tuesday, the flagship show of Stats Versus Film. Yes, it's back in your life. We talk about every single team every single Tuesday. Then we'll have positional rankings of running backs and wide receivers. Plus, we're adding a new show this week this year of trades you should make, rest of season rankings, all that type of stuff. So, nearly a new video every single day of the week once the season rolls along. So, if you want to be into that stuff and win your league, freaking hit that subscribe button.

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Tyreek Hill lands as our wide receiver 13 to start tier three. Your confidence level in this one, Hayden, is what?

Confidence is not the right word. Um, his upside versus the rest of this tier is is evident. Um, but last year there was definitely some like real signs. So his efficiency uh I look at like once you get the target, what's what do you do versus the average wide receiver? The two previous seasons 17% better, 31% better. Last year was only 2% better than the average wide receiver in the NFL. And not only was just the the target efficiency down, but also just like the amount of targets like completely went away uh against two high shell defenses, which they see more than anybody. His targets per route uh dropped down to 16.7%. That was like at 35% the previous year. So, they just kept getting the ball to Johnny Smith and to and to uh Devin Singletary. The upside is Johnny Smith's no longer there. Devin Singletary has been dealing with a little bit of an injury here. So, I think that they probably will throw Tyreek Hill the ball more this year than they did last year, but he can also get traded. He can be released. There's a bunch of ways that this thing can kind of go. So, like, you're signing up for this roller coaster. My price on that is right after the elite quarterbacks from round three, I would roll the dice on Tyreek Hill, but I think everyone understands what they're signing up for.

To answer my own question, I do not feel great about it. But, as Rich Reebar pointed out, this is easily the cheapest we've been able to draft Tyreek Hill in years. When we have not been able to select him lower than wide receiver seven since the 2018 fantasy football season and now we're getting him as wide receiver 13, wide receiver 12 on all the platforms you all are on. There's so many outs for this to go bad. Okay, Tua gets hurt, offensive line stinks, >> everyone's just kind of figured out this Mike McDaniel passing game. At the same time, while all of those happened this past season and years before, this offense was freaking electric. They were still for multiple seasons hitting 20 plus 30 plus yard passes over and over and over again. He was finding these valleys and canyons to sit in and curl back into. I just don't have a lot of confidence. If you want to play it a bit safer, move on and select other wide receivers. But again, after that top 12, I think we can pick a lot of nets, poke a lot of holes in every profile from here on out. And so to me, that's why I ranked Tyreek Hill at the top of this one because we've already seen him be, you know, a top six, top five score at the position.

I mean, if he goes anywhere near where he was the previous seasons, like he was the guy you absolutely needed in fantasy. So, like that's like the upside case. So, I think he is worth the risk in in round three for all those reasons that you just outlined. He is also dealing with an oblique and he's had like wrist surgery and like that's been a problem. I will say this, Tyreek Hill still looks like an absolute athletic freak. Like he is so shredded. We saw that sprinting video and stuff. So, I don't think it's like athletically what's what's went wrong. It's just like the timing of it and Mike McDaniel's decision-making on who's trying to scheme up the ball to. I would have to assume that the ball starts going back to Tyreek Hill.

Again, there's a clear teardrop to me from T. Higgins down to Tyreek Hill and all these other names. And we'll get into those other ones now because there's going to be a lot of positives, but also a lot of concerns on top of it. And that brings us to DeVonta Adams who was our combined wide receiver 14. Uh, let's say if Matthew Stafford was totally healthy, 25 years old entering this season, shoot, I'd have DeVonta Adams probably right next to T. Higgins' name in that tier. Uh, I'm really excited for it. But he might be the player despite looking awesome at the end of last year who might suffer the most if we have to turn to Jimmy Garoppolo.

Yeah, once he was on the Jets last year, he was the wide receiver eight on wide receiver two usage. He was he was balling by the end of the season, so he doesn't look quite as fast, but the releases are still awesome. His ball tracking is phenomenal. He's very physical, and that's all the type of stuff that Sean McVay appreciates. So, he's going to be a factor in the red zone. Uh, the Rams last year were second in wide receiver usage like collectively. Cooper Kupp finished much higher in fantasy standings than you would think because he completely fell off, but there was a point in the season where Cooper Kupp was like actually a real fantasy asset. Then obviously Puka Nacua goes crazy. So, it really comes down to how much ball can Matthew Stafford play? And then DeVonta Adams, obviously, there's just like age risk associated with this, but I do trust in him. He's like one of the smartest wide receivers in the game, if not the smartest guy. So, it's a perfect like football pairing in LA.

Does it surprise you that he's going as wide receiver 19 in home leagues, wide receiver 18 on Underdog, and he's, you know, four or five spots ahead for us?

Yeah, I think people are just pretty nervous about the risk of it all, and so am I. But I do think that if everyone's healthy, I'd be pretty surprised if he wasn't at least like a fantasy wide receiver two.

And I'll add, and people might laugh, Demarcus Robinson leaving this team left a team-high 12 end zone targets. We also have Cooper Kupp on the table. As I previously mentioned, Puka had fewer red zone touchdowns than Demarcus Robinson and Cooper Kupp over the last two seasons, whereas DeVonta Adams has more than all three of those. He's had, you know, 12, I think, combined over the last two years. He is awesome in that area in the short field and that could be a major reason why they added him to this team because they've been searching for that really since Odell Beckham helped them do it when winning the Super Bowl. He was that go-to target for them in that area. So, DeVonta Adams and touchdowns uh go together quite well.

Okay, we're here with the Old Guard. Mike Evans is our wide receiver 15. Hayden, is this a slight move up recently just based on the news?

Yeah, I mean the Chris Godwin stuff is just making me very nervous and that was what I was going to talk about here. Um, pretty substantial splits from Mike Evans this last season. Without Chris Godwin, he caught seven passes per game for 94 yards. With Chris uh Godwin, that was only at 4.2. So, almost a drop in three receptions per game and 52 yards, which is like wide receiver 20-ish numbers even with the positive of him just being dominant and in touchdowns. So, I think A.M. Mitchell is going to be awesome and pretty much do a a very good Chris Godwin impression that eventually Chris Godwin will be back in the mix. You've lost your offensive coordinator. So, I don't think that he's going to repeat what he did this previous season. You do have to rank somebody 14th, 15th, 16th overall. And I do feel like he's probably the best nomination for it.

Buckle up for our A.M. Mitchell ranking. Just everyone prepare yourselves for that. Yeah. I mean, I'm excited for Mike. This offense is just centralized. You know, it's Mike Evans, it's A.M. Mitchell, it's Bucky Irving. That is what it is. He's hit a thousand yards every single season he's played so far. Uh, this team is going to score points. They're projected for a lot per Vegas, per the betting markets. So yeah, why not continue to have Mike Evans here? Uh, he certainly has continued to perform at that level even if he misses some time.

Okay, next up for us as wide receiver 16 is Garrett Wilson. He'll be drafted earlier in your home leagues because if you use our rankings, uh, you probably will not get him thanks to me because I rank him as wide receiver 19. Uh, but I'll give you the floor here. Talk to me about GW.

Yeah, I mean, full PPR, he's he's going to catch a bunch of passes. Are the Jets going to score any points this year? Probably not. They're projected for the fourth fewest points in the training camp stuff has not been very pretty. Um, that said, like last year there was a lot of usage going to the wide receivers and he like you said he was what the wide receiver 20 um in points where it's just pretty much in line with your ranking. They're not going to come anywhere near the amount of pass volume as they did this previous season. Obviously a lot of that comes from the Davante Adams side of this, but I think there's a chance they go like top eight in wide receiver usage to bottom eight, if not like the very worst this season. It's all going to go to Garrett Wilson, but I think you're signing up for like 95 receptions for four touchdowns. So, I think your league format is going to kind of make that decision on if you should be all the way out on Garrett Wilson or let him fall to you.

My issue has not been Garrett Wilson's talent. I think he's awesome, a sick separator. Uh, it's just more about the situation. Like, the number one piece of feedback I receive when people ask why I'm fading Garrett Wilson this year is, "Well, he's going to be number three or top three in target share this season." He's already seen a whole bunch of targets in more pass-happy offenses. You know, he was eight wide receiver eight in targets per game last year, fifth in total targets and he finishes the wide receiver 23 in points per game. We know the previous season he was wide receiver 35 in points per game. So again, I think as an individual player, he's going to have some amazing games. I just do not trust this passing attack of where it's at right now and feel like this wide receiver 16, 17, 18 area makes a lot of sense. I mean, we talk about all the time, depending on what platform you use, like on Underdog, these guys are, you know, third round picks. In your home leagues, these might be fourth round picksish in that area. Um, we're siding with like elite quarterbacks or a lot of running backs in those areas, too, if you can't tell based on our discussions here.

Yep. All the elite quarterbacks over him.

That brings us to our next name and one that we are well above consensus on. He's going as wide receiver 20 Underdog even later in your home leagues. That is Xavier Worthy. Why? Last 10 games of his rookie season, including the playoffs, he averaged 75 total yards per game, which is like right in line with these rankings. The Chiefs are projected for a lot more points this year than they were averaging this previous season. I think that's like true. We've seen that in all the acquisitions that they made. This team wants to throw the ball downfield after being like pretty much dead last in all the uh air yards metrics from the last couple seasons. They've found a left tackle that they really believe in. and even like last year as a rookie when he was like very clearly still developing as a 21-year-old rookie. Uh 16th in expected touchdowns. So, I think this is a guy that can like just absolutely break regression models and just keeps ripping long touchdowns and stuff. Like, if somebody's going to do that this year, I do think that Xavier Worthy is a good candidate of that. And just in general, 21-year-old early declares in the first round are the type of profiles that we want to be betting on. They get better quickly and I think that's what's going to happen with Xavier Worthy. I'll save this for the Rashee Rice conversation, but my Xavier Worthy final ranking does depend on if we get any news of an expected suspension from Rashee Rice if that's anywhere from four to eight to 10 games. Sounds like we're not going to get that until September 30th. So, I'm going to have to go into the season ranking Worthy here because, as you know, despite his long speed, he really made his mark in that short to intermediateish game last year. But finally, if the rhetoric outside of or out of Kansas City is that the deep passing game is back, then no one benefits more than Xavier Worthy this season. That's for sure.

Okay. Next, the newly paid man, Terry McLaurin, is our wide receiver 18. One of my favorite stats. He had 11 red zone touchdowns in the first 80 games of his NFL career. Last year with Jayden Daniels, 10 red zone touchdowns. So, he gets a quarterback that can actually throw the football consistently to him and he starts scoring a lot of touchdowns. Now, I'm not saying he's going to match that same mark, but uh at least we saw his game expand, but really kind of shrink in the shortened area of the field, too.

For sure. So, yeah, this is a complicated one. I'm not making any like adjustments based off of the contract. He should be in good shape, ready to go. Um, but last year he scored what 13 touchdowns. My model based off of where his usage and where the targets were would only expect him to score six touchdowns. So that was like the biggest gap of any wide receiver just kind of dunking on my model. He also had that what like that 85-yard one of the longest receptions of the entire year where he's like wiggling out of in and out of traffic. We can't expect that stuff. He was the wide receiver 22 in yards per game. He was the wide receiver 32 in usage. He's going to be more efficient than those numbers, but like how does he get back into that top 12 conversation? He's going to have to run exactly pure like he did this last season, which is possible. It's a good offense, good quarterback, yada yada yada, but I just don't think it's the most likely scenario. So, we're kind of splitting the gap here with their ranking of where his usage is, where he finished last year, and kind of that middle ground, which I do think is the way to attack this.

Okay, we've talked through two wide receiver twos so far on their team and T. Higgins and DeVonta Adams. Let's throw a third into this equation because George Pickens is our wide receiver 19. Uh, one of your favorite picks when we went through your perfect ideal draft in a video previously.

If he's available in the fifth round, you're getting him based off of our rankings. He's one of my favorite picks. I rank him like really aggressively. Even like in full PPR, like the three-four turn, I think it's appropriate. Here's like the big thing with George Pickens. Over the last two seasons, the Steelers were 31st in pass attempts. Over that same two-season sample, the Dallas Cowboys were third. We're talking about a difference in hundreds of routes perhaps for George Pickens this year on top of the quarterback upgrade that George Pickens is getting. He's also a player that's kind of like slowly progressed. Uh, this is a contract season. He's kind of been a knucklehead uh throughout his career. He should be ready to go make a bunch of money if things go well here. Uh, what can go wrong on that? But yeah, Cowboys first in expected wide receiver points in the over the past two seasons. Also first in wide receiver points over that exact span. There's room for George Pickens here in this offense, even if we do rank C.D. Lamb aggressively.

From Charles Robinson, who I think was one of the most underrated, underappreciated insiders across the league, quote, "Several in the Dallas Cowboys organization have been impressed with how much time George Pickens has spent with C.D. Lamb since arriving. That includes prior to camp and both in football and social situations. It seems like how Puka Nacua, you know, meshed with Cooper Kupp really quickly." Quote, "A number of staffers said it was clear Pickens just needed a reset and clean slate. He's embraced it in Dallas. If you are using our rankings, you will end up with George Pickens on your team." Again, he's our wide receiver 19 on Underdog is going as wide receiver 22. Hayden, cover your ears in everyone's home leagues right now with your friends and family. He's being selected as wide receiver 26.

Yep, let's do it. What can go wrong here? But I'm actually I'm a believer in George Pickens. I always have been. By the way,

If you want our rankings, we can send them to you in PDF form. The best way to get them is to sign up for Underdog using promo code THE SHOW. That link is in the description down below. Plus, you can draft some basketball teams. That is the best way to prepare for your home leagues. Again, we'll send you a PDF of our rankings if you use promo code THE SHOW and sign up for Underdog right now.

Okay, we close out this tier with actually a name in this entire show that we might disagree on the most. This is Jackson Smith-Njigba. For me, the third-year wide receiver is my wide receiver 15. For you, he's wide receiver 25. State your case.

>> Yeah. So, this is the one where I just like the more I researched it, the more I have some problems with the offense that he's going to be part of. Last year, 37 routes per game led his draft class. When we were doing our video on the third-year wide receivers, they were second in neutral pass rate. I think we might lose seven, eight routes per game from him. And I think the neutral pass rate is going to go way down. And then also if you look at the Kellen Moore stuff when I was doing research on Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, no screens in this offense go to wide receivers. There's like no manufactured touches. Obviously JSN's more than that type of player. But they're also going to ask him to go win on the outside. And he had 33 outside routes versus press coverage last year. He had 38 yards on them. He had three receptions only on them. One of them was a screen. So, I think he's just going to be in a different role. Uh, which I don't love. I think that he's like a really awesome slot wide receiver that can win on the outside, but like not my favorite on the outside. But really, it's just kind of like the Kellen Moore offense. It's just we this is the reason why we're high on Kenneth Walker. So, like I'm just putting all of my my chips into the running back discussion. JSN's a good player, but I just think that the offense is going to work against him.

>> What you said, I'm the exact opposite. The closer that we get to the season, the more and more I'm into Jackson Smith-Njigba and wish I talked about them more heading into the summer and throughout the summer. This Seahawks team and it might just be overrated by the betting markets out there and look, we talked about the running backs in the backfield in the outside zone and we definitely want to invest in that. If you don't draft Ken Walker, go and draft Zach Charbonnet, but this team is expected to score just as many points as the Houston Texans, Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Atlanta Falcons. All those wide receivers go at least a round or a round plus above. Now, they're better talents, of course, don't get me wrong. Yeah. But I think JSN in this offense could do really well. He's a very different player than Chris Olave. He's a very different player than Rashid Shaheed. Let's also remember that last season in New Orleans, they had so many injuries at the wide receiver position that they kind of ran too many tight end sets and all that type of stuff. So, >> I I kind of am excited like after DK Metcalf's injury, he was 10th in receptions per game, ninth in yards per game, and also had five touchdowns on top of it. And I think the play-action passing off of the running game that we're really excited about could be a real cheat code for JSN this year. So, again, we get into the murky waters of round three of which wide receivers you like the most. I'm actually ranking him again higher than even Mike Evans on this list as wide receiver 15. And I wish I had said that like a month or two ago.

>> Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you're you're right in line with the market. So, I'm like the one that's kind of fully out on him. Um, so yeah, I had to make the the more negative case there. I just think it's just going to be a structure of the offense and we'll see how many screens and whatnot. And then also like how much he can improve as a real outside wide receiver because back in the preseason when I was watching them, uh, Cooper Kupp would line on the inside uh, more than JSN would line on the inside. Now, they're going to use a bunch of condensed formations and they're still going to be two slot wide receivers on the field. Um, so I'm not expecting like full bust, but like he goes like right next to what the elite quarterbacks do, at least on Underdog. And like to me, it's like it's not even a discussion.

Now we go to tier four and we lead things off with our first rookie wide receiver discussion. This is Terrion McMillan, T-Mac of the Carolina Panthers as wide receiver 21.

>> Loved him as a prospect. My comps, T. Higgins, Alshon Jeffery, even like there's some Marvin Harrison Jr. in there as well. uh 108, 110 yards per game as a true sophomore and junior. The Panthers aren't going to be awesome, but I think they're going to be a little bit underrated this year on offense. And I think that he's a perfect scheme fit with what Bryce Young likes to do, which is like right when the ball's snap, throw that thing about 25 yards to the sideline. Uh and that's what T-Mac is really good at. And plus, I think that he's underrated kind of like Drake London where you can give him some screens and he's got a little bit of uh pizzazz for a bigger guy yards up to the catch-wise. So, I thought he was just overthought as a prospect and I just thought he looked like a really good X wide receiver and that's what the Panthers needed.

>> Think about the dots that Bryce Young threw to like David Moore and outside breaking routes along the sideline that were dropped. Uh the interception that wasn't an interception against the New Orleans Saints, the winning touchdown against the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles that Xavier Lee just dropped down the field.

>> Terrion McMillan's not going to be dropping those damn passes. You know, like this is just a perfect fit. As you said, Bryce is an anticipatory passer. He throws it before wide receivers even break on their routes. And the synergy that they already have in that area, I think is really worthwhile. They work together a lot this offseason. A lot already. And an underrated aspect, I think, of T-Mac's game is his yards after catch capabilities. I mean, he forced 29 missed tackles last year. The Panthers leader was at eight, eight last season. And so, not only is going to be the best jump ball contested catch player, he's also going to probably be their best yards after catch player. I do think he's going to have corners in his hip pocket more often in the NFL than he did in college. But as the season goes along, I think he'll kind of develop that and work through that and even get stronger as a player, too.

>> Yeah. I think that the downside case with him is like very similar downside case to what Marvin Harrison dealt with is that they're going to ask him to run the most difficult routes against press man coverage as the X wide receiver. There's not going to be as many gimmies as a lot of the other wide receivers. So, it just really comes down to like I thought he was a great prospect. You thought he was a great prospect and there's really not that much target competition in Carolina if he's as good as we think he is.

Speaking of Marvin Harrison Jr., he is next up for us as wide receiver 22. If you use our rankings, you will not roster Marvin Harrison Jr. this year because he's going as wide receiver 14 over on Underdog. He's going as wide receiver 17 in your home leagues. Why are we slightly down just by a little bit on Marvin the second season?

>> I'm down a lot by a bit with Marvin Harrison and not even close. I mean, let's just

>> Your wide receiver 27. I just want to put that on the table here.

>> Yeah. Okay, that's great. Uh he was the wide receiver 41 last year on wide receiver 38 usage. So like I'm anticipating the second-year leap which he will get. You guys are ranking him as if he's like going to turn into an absolute monster, which is possible,

>> but I don't think that's going to happen. The offense just does not want Marvin Harrison to be this monster target guy. Last year, there were as a team 28th in wide receiver usage, uh, and zero receptions behind the line of scrimmage, zero screens for Marvin Harrison. He had 52 yards per game. That's going to go up, but he only had 3.6 receptions per game. And a lot of our listeners are in full PPR leagues. You're leaving like three, four receptions on the table versus some of the other guys you're drafting in that range. All of his numbers are going to get better. He's going to be better at the catch point. The timing is going to get better. He's probably going to get a couple manufactured touches, a little bit more inside, but you guys are expecting a massive leap. And I don't think that the Cardinals want to do that. It wants to be James Conner, Trey McBride, and then Marvin Harrison while he has to go face press man corners.

>> We loved Marvin Harrison Jr. as a prospect, right? We were really hesitant to take him as like the 14th overall pick or the 12th overall pick that he was going last year. It just didn't make any sense.

>> Then we watched week one and it just wasn't good at all. It did not feel right. And then it didn't get that much better after the first couple weeks uh against the Rams was like his only real peak contest. And then when you go back and review the entire season, I mean PFF again charted him with 47 tight window targets. He caught seven of them. So this offseason he gets in the lab, works the tries, works the buys, works the traps, gets a little bit bigger. Also might slow him down a little bit. Who knows? And then yeah, he forced just one missed tackle last year. One. Um he's not even the primary pass catcher on this team. Like that is Trey McBride. The offense flows through that. So look, I am of the belief that we can see a much better version of Marvin Harrison Jr. this season. I just don't know if I would take him ahead of so many of the pass catchers that many people are in the home leagues in Underdog right now.

>> Yeah, I'm anticipating a big jump from him, but it's coming from wide receiver 41 up.

>> I mean, 95 targets outside the numbers last year versus 29 middle of the field. Same play caller, same quarterback who doesn't attack the middle of the field on top of it. So, look, I think some of the wishcasting of how this role is going to completely change is wishcasting, but I'm also open to it. I'm not as down on him as you are. So, okay, let's turn the dial the opposite direction and get really amped and pitch the people on why they should take wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter as our 23rd player here.

>> I just went back and like read what I wrote about him pre-draft just as a reminder of what we're talking about. 97 receiving yards per game with 15 touchdowns. He was dominant in the screen department. He had 21 screen receptions uh in that really bonkers Colorado offense.

>> Liam Cohen calls as many screens as anybody in the league. A lot of them are going to go to Travis Hunter. Liam Cohen said he's going to play 80% of the snaps. That might turn into close to 100% of the routes. They're going to probably pick their poison on as a corner, probably as a quarterback three. U so I just think that he's going to play a lot more offense than people are expecting here and he's going to get a lot of the easy button stuff there. And I think that he has like a lot of room to grow as a route runner. He's like so bendy and fluid. Awesome at the catch point. Like the upside case. I don't think it's going to happen this year. He reminds me of Justin Jefferson. Reminds me of Odell Beckham. Like that type of guy. I think it's going to take more development because he is kind of relatively new to playing the position and practicing. But man, by the end of the season, if a couple things break his way, he can be like one of the guys you absolutely needed.

>> If you use our rankings, you'll end up with Travis Hunter on our team. And I think you'll thank us at the end of the season. I mean, he's going as wide receiver 32 in your home leagues, wide receiver 31 on Underdog, and again, he's our wide receiver 23. All all off all offseason long, you and I have said he's going to play 80% of snaps on offense. Liam Cohen just said that in an interview with Rich Eisen. Um, I think Cameron Wolf, who's a reporter on NFL Network, said he is going to be a full-time wide receiver and then grow on defense as the season goes along. One of my favorite memes of the offseason was from Coach Speak Index that like James Gladstone says that Travis Hunter doesn't get tired, Trevor Lawrence says that. Deion Sanders says that. Uh, you know, every single person attached to Travis Hunter says he never gets tired. Yet

>> Dave

>> Schlop in your home league believes he's not going to be able to play a full lot of snaps. By the way, like thousands, thousands of feet difference when we're talking about elevation here when playing in Colorado versus Jacksonville. So Travis Hunter is going to be on the field. They did not trade next year's first round pick for Travis Hunter to not score touchdowns this year and to play more quarterback. So the dude's playing wide receiver and I would uh bank on that heading into 2025.

>> Just real quick, what was like your comps for Travis Hunter? Did he like remind you of anybody? Like was it that

>> he just moves so differently? Justin Jefferson's the easiest one. Just the movement, the fluidity, the ball in his hands, the ball skills, all of it. It is wildly underappreciated and uh if he was listed again as just a pure wide receiver, he would go much earlier than this. So, you're getting a steep discount just because people fear he's going to play more cornerback. It's not just going to be uh 100% pie of snaps. He's going to play more than 100% of snaps. Might be 80 and then 50% or 40% or 30% on defense. So, this is kind of like the Kyren Williams dip last year we got from being listed as a punt returner, I feel like. And that worked out well for us, too.

Okay, now we go to Courtland Sutton, who's kind of on the opposite end of the spectrum here as wide receiver 24, but tell us about one of your favorite players in the league.

>> I mean, have you guys watched him last year, the season before that, or this preseason to just not come down with like some of the most ridiculous grabs in the end zone? So, yeah. I mean, like to compare him to Marvin Harrison, Courtland Sutton was wide receiver 18 last year on wide receiver 11 usage. He was 11th in expected touchdowns per game, and he comes down with a lot of them. Bo Nix is probably going to get better in year two uh with Sean Payton. There's a lot of room for improvement, especially throwing like these big dig routes uh and having a little bit better anticipation. That's all going to help Courtland Sutton out there, man. Like he's a really good player in the to me like in his prime. That's the best football he's ever played after having that injury way way long ago in an ascending slashgood offense and he was already really productive. Like why is he 15, 20 spots worse in the rankings versus where he finished last year? I I I don't know.

>> It's a fair question. I didn't chart this, but anecdotally, it felt like 95% of Bo Nix passes this preseason went in Courtland Sutton's direction as well.

>> Smart. They didn't go to Marvin Mims, I'll tell you that.

>> So, uh, yeah, Courtland Sutton, he kind of seems like a boring pick at the wide receiver position, but it is one of those that has definitely paid off and could even more so this season.

>> He's not even boring, though. Like, I that's what I don't understand. Like, I I have I have fun watching Courtland Sutton. All right, we are true sickos. The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and over again, expect different results. That's what we are doing this year with Calvin Ridley as our wide receiver, 25. Hayden, talk about preseason. They need him on the field. He is easily their go-to player. As you have pointed out, it's like a 100 pick difference between Calvin Ridley and the next closest pass catcher in drafts. What we've seen with Calvin Ridley in the preseason is, you know, they get him on condensed splits for a quick out route for 10 yards, motion him into tight splits, the DBs try to pass it off, so that gives him natural separation, gain of 13 yards. Then this middle of the field sit route when C.J. Stroud, the first overall pick, gets 4.4 seconds to throw, that's a gain of what, 36 yards. So, they're going to try to manufacture their entire passing game around Calvin Ridley. And I can't wait for it.

>> Nobody talks about this, but they have the first overall quarterback. You know, this is going to be a much better team. Uh, they also have offensive line upgrades and continuity on the uh offensive line coach with the offensive coordinator. And last year, I didn't realize this, there were huge splits after the DeAndre Hopkins trade. I actually even forgot DeAndre Hopkins was a freaking Titan in the first place, but uh from week eight on, uh Calvin Ridley was a wide receiver 24 on wide receiver 16 usage. By the end of the year, he led all wide receivers in air yards. Um, a lot of those went into the bleachers. This year they will not because C.J. Stroud is a very good passer. So yeah, I'm ranking him pretty much where he was finishing this last season and I think that there's even room for a little bit of improvement because I think that C.J. Stroud, even if he kind of has some chaotic decision-making and take a couple sacks here and there, I think the ball will mostly go to the wide receiver accurately and aggressively. So I think some decent room for to run here.

>> Wide receiver 31 in your home leagues. That's where Calvin Ridley is going. Yeah, I mean a few weeks back Craig Horbrook on this channel pointed out that Calvin Ridley to accentuate what you just said is basically being drafted as if Will Levis is still his quarterback. So like where he finished last season is where you're able to get him now and the entire environment is going to be totally totally different. Okay,

>> but real quick, I was like looking at his Pro Football reference page. This is his 31-year-old season. It's only his seventh NFL season, right?

>> It's like so insane. Like I don't even know if the age cliff applies to him or are we doing that by season or by his actual age, but he's not played that much football in the NFL.

Buckle up because in your home leagues, our next wide receiver is going as wide receiver 39. Even on the sharp platform of Underdog, he's going as wide receiver 34. For me and you, A.J. Egbuka ranks as the wide receiver 26. Why?

>> He was an awesome prospect. I mean, pre-draft I had him as my 13th overall prospect. My comps for him, like the upside comp was Cooper Kupp. The like kind of baseline comp for him at maybe at the low end was like Robert Woods. And he's looking more like Cooper Kupp if you ask anybody in the Tampa Bay organization. He's Ohio State's all-time leader in receptions with C.J. Stroud in 2022 alongside like some absolute studs. He averaged 89 yards per game. This was a more of a pro-style offense with Chip Kelly uh this past season going against Jeremiah Smith and he was still awesome. Uh man, he's going to play inside and outside. I don't think that Chris Godwin's gonna play that much early on. I don't think he's gonna look the same as he did previously anyways. But I thought that A.J. Egbuka could be like a complete target volume player and that's what he looks like. He's making diving plays in the preseason and he's mossing people in training camp clips. Like he's kind of showed us that he's an awesome football player and that's what he's going to be this year.

>> People have not adjusted enough based on the news of Chris Godwin, which by the way, we're ranking 52 wide receivers today. Chris Godwin is not going to be in that list. He is coming back from a significant injury. As we pointed out, it's just not an ankle dislocation. It's also fractured bones, torn ligaments, high ankle sprain, all that jazz. That's it's all included there. And they haven't adjusted enough based on what he's been doing in this offense, right? Like he's lining up at every single spot. Plus, Jalen McMillan's going to miss a handful of games open the season. This team has two wide receivers and has supported two wide receivers constantly. And those other two wide receivers missed like 151 dropbacks last season. Like Mike Evans even has hamstring issues dating back multiple seasons. So look, Egbuka is a rookie wide receiver, the third that we're talking about here. So copy and paste this stat.

>> But since 2019, and Ron Stewart pointed this out, 14 rookie wide receivers have posted 16 plus points per game from week nine and on. That is why we draft rookie wide receivers. They define back halves of fantasy seasons. So, I can't wait for A.J. Egbuka to do this and pay off for all our viewers and listeners.

>> And in week one, when we're doing the rankings on this channel, I think I'll have him as a top 30 guy like pretty pretty comfortably.

>> Yep. I'm with you. Next up, back to this conversation. Jaylen Waddle is wide receiver 27. If we didn't feel great about Tyreek Hill, how do we feel great about Jaylen Waddle as wide receiver 27?

>> This is where you have to like become a conspiracy artist uh with Jaylen Waddle and how to rank him because if it's off of any stats last season, he belongs nowhere near there. Uh from the weeks 8 through 16 with Tua back in the lineup, he had a 13% target share. That was after Johnny Smith and Devon Achane, not to mention Tyreek Hill. This thing can go absolutely right though if some things break his way. Both Tyreek Hill and Achane are dealing with injuries. There's obviously no Johnny Smith here as well. Jaylen Waddle signed long-term for this team. Is actually one of like the foundational players on the offense like contractually. He's a very good football player. I don't know why he wasn't getting the football last year. It's a mystery to me what what the hell happened even with Tua on the field. But to me it's like a youngest player in the prime of his career that's paid well who's a first round pick has awesome guy as well. He's on Tua's good side. Like to me I can just see how this goes right. I cannot make any statistical argument for why he should be ranked here. It's more like conspiracy time and I do think that things are lining up uh his way.

>> I've seen some Dolphins fans tweet out that they believe he's going to be the number one wide receiver on the team this season. Like

>> yeah, I can't give you a percentage chance of that happening, but just the ability for us to get that at wide receiver 27 for us um makes me a little bit intrigued. That's for sure. He's getting paid too much money and is too talented of a wide receiver to be finishing like he has in the previous seasons. It really makes no sense how that's been happening. He's also made of glass too, like everybody else in Miami. It's just part of the the profile they like.

Okay, next up is DeVonta Smith. Truly one of our favorite players in the league, at least for me. I mean, the Slim Reaper is fantastic. And despite the Eagles, you know, not throwing often and him competing with A.J. Brown for targets at the same time, he was still wide receiver 17 in points per game. So, it's kind of one of those where sure you can watch the games, but just don't look at the stats for DeVonta Smith, but then you'll reload it and every single week he's finishing around that wide receiver 20 mark.

>> Yeah, this one's always so complicated because his usage is like in the wide receiver 40s, like how many points he's expected to score. He's so good and Jalen Hurts is so good at throwing the deep passes, uh, that he usually just gets gets it done. So last year in terms of 20 plus air yard targets, these deep targets down the field, he had the fourth best wide receiver completion rate. And some of those when you go watch those are like in the back of the end zone dragging his toes on a 40-yard pass. Um, so everything went really right for DeVonta Smith last year and he was still what, like you mentioned, like a a mid-range wide receiver two. Um, so I think something would have to happen to A.J. Brown for DeVonta Smith to like get all the way up into that category. So kind of broke a couple ties against him, but it's nothing like against him the player. He's an awesome player. It's just they don't pass the ball much.

Okay. Another big disagreement between you and I is his next name. That is Jameson Williams. He is my wide receiver 24 and I believe he is your wide receiver 35. What's going on?

>> Just it's like very similar to the DeVonta Smith. Uh, he's most likely going to slightly beat me, but I think it's a little bit harder for him to like reach that massive ceiling. I think there's some limitations as a player and there's just too many other targets and they're too balanced on offense for like him to fully get there. So like last year wide receiver 42 and wide receiver 42 usage that was on a team that was the the what the best in points per game

>> per game.

>> Yeah. So like in that offense where everything was dominating, he was dominating. He was still at the wide receiver 22. So I think that's just something I'm kind of factoring in here now that the Lions are projected to score more than a touchdown, fewer per game than last year.

>> So I'm taking the opposite end. Uh, I don't think Dan Campbell can lie and it feels like anytime Dan Campbell gets the podium he just hypes up Jameson Williams. I mean, this was the offseason winner, offseason camp buzz winner last year, and he's getting it all over again. They're saying he's taking this game to the next level. I believe it. He's kind of transformed from being just this burner down the field, vertical shot demon to running routes and especially getting the football in his hands on drags and slants and overs and, you know, winning after the catch. On top of that, uh, Ian Hartitz, our buddy, pointed out that only A.J. Brown, Mike Williams, and George Kittle managed to crack 1,000 yards on fewer targets last year since 1992. Uh, we know that Jameson Williams did that last season as well. So,

>> I'm excited for this. You know, he's what a fourth-year player if I'm not mistaken, and has missed time for a number of reasons, injury and off-field stuff and yada yada. So it kind of feels like we're kind of getting year two Jameson Williams full go.

>> and so I'm I'm factoring that in my brain as well.

>> Yeah, this is like I don't feel comfortable ranking him where where I do. So

>> okay,

>> you know, it's just I think that his target numbers are not going to look like the guys I ranked ahead of him. That's

>> So you're saying the math can't be math and I'm like to hell with math.

>> It's a figment of people's imagination.

>> Repeat what happened last year no matter what. Next tier, tier five, DK Metcalf is our wide receiver 30, one of the later quote unquote wide receiver ones on the board and now he's attached to Aaron Rodgers.

>> Yeah, that's kind of good news, I guess. Um, but it's a slow-paced offense and Rodgers was way more up and down this last season um than he was with the Packers, obviously. So, we'll see. I think he's going to run like the most difficult routes over there. He's like not a manufactured touch guy, so there's like always like a cap to like how many receptions that he can have. Like he's by far their number one guy in Pittsburgh. Um, which has not been the case throughout his his career. So like that's where the upside kind of comes in. But I think I know who DK Metcalf is. Like he's he's an exciting downfield threat. Uh getting a little bit better in terms of like the route tree, but not like not as as physically imposing as you'd think for how great he looks. Um, I do think that there are some like some weaknesses in his overall game. So, I think he's like a low-end true wide receiver one, if that, uh, on an offense that I don't feel great about.

Zay Flowers is next, wide receiver, 31. Um, I kind of feel like Zay Flowers is who he is, to use your phrase, in this Ravens offense. And I don't know how he can take a tier up, a step up to be like a top 24 wide receiver scoring or in the NFL. Like, this team is so good at, you know, running the football and then play action off of it. Again, sucking in the linebackers and then creating this cavern over the middle of the field. But they were 31st in pass attempts last year per game at 27 and a half. And while he is a burner and Lamar Jackson has an arm, these two guys just really haven't connected consistently on downfield passes. He caught 11 of 23 uh two years ago and then last year eight of 21 20 plus yard targets. So I think that is the area if this goes nuclear, that's where it really checks the box. He'll finish as a wide receiver three if he's kind of keeps that up. And then I think he has wide receiver two uh outcomes just if he gets really lucky on the downfield stuff, which he absolutely can. Lamar Jackson is like at his absolute peaks right now, but under 30 routes per game, which is like what I mentioned with JSN who's at 37. So that's a pretty big difference across the entire season. So he needs long touchdowns because when they get to the three-yard line, we know where the ball's going.

Okay. I've wanted us to be known as a Ricky Pearsall show all summer and I think we're finally there. Uh, wide receiver 32 in our rankings in home leagues. He is still going as wide receiver 38. Um, I'm so in on Ricky Pearsall this season for a multitude of reasons. I think he's my highest drafted player this entire offseason. I mean, he led 49ers wide receivers last year in yards per route versus man coverage. Something that Brandon Aiyuk used to do. Uh, I think he's going to be given kind of the easy releases as we talked about with Calvin Ridley early on. Deebo used to get all of those in terms of motioning into stacks and splits and fly motions and all that stuff to give him free releases. And when he got that against the Lions last year, he was just wide open on a whole bunch of targets. Plus, I think his game has grown in terms of, you know, digs, over the middle, that type of stuff. He wasn't just this typical slot receiver that I think a lot of people pegged him as coming out of Florida. I really enjoyed him as a prospect. And then Hayden, and I'll let you speak to this, the other part is just like the running back position, all the wide receivers can't stay healthy in the 49ers either. He's the last one left.

>> It is true. Yeah. Just real quick on the Pearsall stuff, uh, watching his rookie tape, it was not like the regular slot wide receiver stuff at all. Like he was awful against zone and was awesome against man coverage. Like you mentioned, that's the kind of profile that you want to bet on the second year making a leap just because zone is about timing and just being on the same page with your quarterback, which you can't do when you're in the hospital with a gunshot wound. You can do it when you're the only wide receiver that's on the football field all throughout training camp. So, yeah, the latest on Jauan Jennings is there's a contract dispute plus uh this calf injury. There's like some rumors that he could even end up on IR. That might be even like a contractual thing because he has a bunch of incentives. So they put him on IR, he's not going to be able to reach his incentives that might get him back in the lineup. There's a lot going on. It's never easy with 49ers in their contracts, but he's not practicing right now and Ricky Pearsall is. And that was kind of what you're hoping for if you've been drafting them like you have.

>> Yeah. The easiest schedule in the NFL, too. And like the three guys that I've been drafting all summer, Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, and Ricky Pearsall. And they're the only ones that are healthy. And like when it's just a trio of an offense like this, then that trio goes to the absolute moon. So I might be uh full sending it this year. That is for sure. Okay.

>> Next is Matthew Golden. Another rookie wide receiver. You rank him ludicrously high, which I totally love. As your wide receiver 29.

>> Yeah. So as a comp pre-draft, Stefon Diggs, Will Fuller, like he has tons of speed. He's kind of got that shiftiness that Stefon Diggs has. Obviously, it takes a long time to turn into Stefon Diggs, the route runner. Uh, but 4.29 in the 40-yard dash. In college, they use him on those cheap motions, which is something that LaFleur in this entire uh system has run on. He scored multiple touchdowns on double moves because he's got that speed and he kind of sells. He's got really good body control. I thought really impressive pylon routes in the end zone, too. So, like to me, he's like fits exactly what the Packers have been missing. They need like a man coverage winner on the perimeter. That's where he's lined up uh in the scrimmages. It's where he's lined up in camp and in the preseason. Uh, he's by the way one of the only um healthy wide receivers. Jaden Reed has been dealing with a foot injury. So yeah, man, like the Packers are underrated in like how many wide receiver fantasy points they've collectively scored. So over the past two seasons, they're sixth in that category. It's just been chopped up between like five different players. That's because they weren't good enough. If you one guy separates, he's going to absorb a lot of that. I think that Matthew Golden's good enough at football uh to to inherit a bunch of it.

>> As we've talked about in your home leagues. I mean, you can leave with T-Mac, Travis Hunter, A.J. Egbuka, and Matthew Golden and only reach like a round for each and feel tremendous about all of your wide receiver rooms as like your wide receiver three and beyond.

>> That would be nuts. The point you just made about the Packers wide receivers, look,

>> Jaden Reed, we get frustrated with because he only lines up in three wide receiver sets.

>> Christian Watson, super high variance, now injured. You know, Dontayvion Wicks also high variance, questionable hands. Romeo Doubs, about as vanilla as you can get and to steal a line from Matt Harmon, if he was 10% worse than he would be like a wide receiver four on an NFL roster. There's a reason why they finally spent a first round pick on Matthew Golden. Like to play him in every single personnel grouping, every single play, and to be out there all the time. So, I'm really excited for what Golden can be here during his rookie season.

>> Yeah, I think he would go a lot higher if he was a little bit better analytically. And a lot of people in the Dynasty streets were not fans of Matthew Golden, man. Young players from Texas with that speed. That's a that seems like a good profile to attack.

>> And I also love that, you know, when it was at Houston to his jump to Texas during that final year. I thought there was a massive leap in terms of his play, his progression, and I think you can even talk yourself into there being another one from Texas to the NFL this past offseason, too.

>> Agree.

Okay, just in your head, draw a little line here because I think there's a bit of a tier break next because we're gonna We're gonna ask some major questions. Okay, D.J. Moore is up next with the Chicago Bears. As our wide receiver 34, this is one we are considerably lower on than market on Underdog. He's going as wide receiver 24 in your home leagues. It's even earlier, Hayden. Wide receiver 21 in friends and family leagues.

>> Why are we skeptical of D.J. Moore this season?

>> Well, last year I know things like did not go well, but collectively the wide receivers were sixth most in receptions. They were fourth in wide receiver usage entirely. So, I think you have to like can kind of counteract like the amount of volume that these guys had versus like the upgrades of just what the offense is going to look like. Like even those bad teams were those bad weeks, the wide receivers were catching a lot of passes. I don't

>> screen because that's all they knew how to do.

>> It was like literally the only thing they can do and they weren't even good at it. They were just at least catch the football. So, last year uh wide receiver 29 and wide receiver 19 usage. I think he's going to hold the line, but there's a lot of targets coming for him. Lovelin, Luther Burden can kind of do some D.J. Moore stuff. I do like that D.J. Moore is like not playing as much X wide receiver in this offense. Like to me, this is just like not where he wins. Get him in the slot, get him in the flanker position, throw him some screens. So, I think Ben Johnson's going to use him better. I don't think that we're going to have like that he's going to be the true number one wide receiver that you get with all the guys that you can be ranking ahead of him right here.

>> 100% agree with all of that. I even saw this week practice reports that he was lining up as a true running back because of injuries to Roschon Johnson and Khalil Herbert. I don't hate that

>> because uh he's actually really good with the football in his hands and they probably should have done that a bit more often previously versus true X wide receiver stuff.

>> Yep.

>> So he can do a whole bunch of things. I just don't know if he's going to reach the expectations people have for him as like the quote-unquote wide receiver one now on a Ben Johnson team. I don't want to attach Amon-Ra St. Brown's name to D.J. Moore.

>> No, no, no, no. Yeah, I think he should be used like Debo Samuel. He's not quite as physical as Debo Samuel was obviously. So, and we didn't even mention Roman Wilson in that rant. Like Roman Wilson can turn into a clear guy.

>> Yeah, Rashee Rice is next. Um, I even feel like you have fluctuated on this one. My issue with Rashee Rice is if we didn't get a suspension this year, which at one point in the offseason we thought was possible until kind of this plea dealish happened. Um, I would have ranked him literally as the wide receiver like 13, you know, he would have been up there around the A.J. Brown, Ladiens just after that, but ahead of the question marks that we got in Tyreek and DeVonta because when he's on the field for the Chiefs, to me, he is the focal point of the passing game. He lives in the area that Patrick Mahomes has dominated across the league in that intermediate short portion over the last three to four years and he's been good at it since, you know, week 12 of his rookie season. That includes the playoffs, Super Bowl run, the start of last season, too. But at this time, Hayden, it kind of feels like we're going to get an eight-game suspension, maybe 10 is what the NFL wanted. And then at best, it's a six-game suspension after the only thing that we know is he's going to play for the first four games. That's the only certainty we have with Rashee Rice's 2025 season.

>> What's crazy, that's not even certain because they can reach a plea agreement at any moment, too. It's like, it's very complicated. I think he's going to miss half the season. We'll figure out exactly where that's going to land. I just look at the redraft rankings and I'm seeing wide receiver values that I can kind of just like supplement and then have the late season hammer and Rashee Rice. It's kind of just like me for redraft leagues. I'll be like, I know ball. I know these redraft settings and in full PPR redraft I can take Rashee Rice for the upside swing and I know I can find wide receivers in the default rankings to kind of plug in the weeks. So to me like that's where like I keep moving him up and as we get closer and closer to redraft season, which is obviously right now, but also like full PPR, I think that it's worth kind of taking the chance on him but I I I would set his higher lower for missed games at eight. I think it's going to be six, eight or 10.

>> Um, and that might be in October, November. That could be September, October. So we just don't know about that. But in full PPR red, like you said, he's he's going to be a a absolute machine in December when you're going to need him the most. Next is Chris Olave as wide receiver 36. A really good player when he's on the field and now in possibly a bottom two offense with Spencer Rattler starting and then maybe Tyler Shough in week four. Talk to me.

Well, that's not going to be pretty. Um, like you said, they're projected for the second fewest amount of points here. Chris Olave is really interesting because we look at that first downs per route run stat, which is an awesome stat and like Chris Olave is like stands out like a sore thumb on that versus where he goes in drafts. He's obviously a good player. What I've liked about Chris Olave in the preseason is Kellen Moore has actually given him a couple screens, which you've never seen pretty much in his profile before. So, I think he's going to have more receptions this year. It just comes down to the Saints are going to be way worse this year than they have been the previous couple seasons. Like Derek Carr, for all of his flaws, he would throw the ball downfield like very well. And I'm just not sure if we're going to get that from Shough and Rattler this season. So, I think you're just going to like see his profile kind of change where he catches more passes, fewer like 40-yard touchdowns than previously before. I don't know exactly what to do with that, but I also think that Rashid Shaheed's like a player that's like actually threatening Chris Olave in some capacity, too.

>> Interesting. We also have Brian Heath on the show this summer. He pointed out that if you're talking about league-winning players for wide receivers, it's first downs per route run is a metric that carries over and Chris Olave is one of the top producers in that this past season. Has been throughout his entire career so far. I'm with you, the offensive change that it's going to be a lot more quick hitting, shorter passes. They're going to run a lot of plays because that's what Kellen Moore has done at every single stop. Uh, I just wish we had a different quarterback throwing him the football. That would help out a lot. But I'm I've still been drafting a ton of Chris Olave this summer.

Yeah. And real quick on the concussions, I get a lot of comments on that. He's more likely to miss time with a concussion. Like he's more likely to get one. That's just like how concussions work historically. And also if he does get a concussion, you're going to miss four games, six games, eight games, their whole season because of how many he's had. So that's a part of the risk profile. At the same time, most NFL players don't get a concussion in that exact season, but if he does get one, that would be definitely bad news.

Okay, next is Rome Odunze. I actually have him ranked as the number one Bears wide receiver over DJ Moore. Your thoughts on Rome this year?

Everything about this like is somebody that should break out this year. Like offense should be better year two, the draft picks.

But you're concerned.

He's athletic. Like I like that. How many times is he going to drop the damn football? It's not just that. Like I thought his timing and zone coverage ability.

Well, it's just it's just one of these like situations where like I'm scared that his dad's going to pop in. Sure. But he's uh I'm sure he would kick my ass. I saw Rome Odunze at the airport. I was on the same flight with him one time. That dude's chest is out of control. Anyways, he was just like not as polished as I thought he was as he was going to be. And then I've kind of seen that same thing uh in throughout the preseason and sometimes in camp, too. So, he's got a lot of runway. He's like the type of profile that should break out. I I have him much better this year than where he finished last year. Um I'm a little nervous that like he's not going to be quite as good as we were hoping for uh in the pre-draft stuff.

Yeah, I would really hate it if someone clipped that out and tweeted James Adun with this. Uh if anyone wants to be inside jokes here, James would put together compilation reels of Rome being wide open down the field with the quarterback that he's still attached to this year, mind you. I love that.

Pure dropping touchdowns, you know. No, I I think he's going to end up as the number one pass catcher for this team. But I will say like the preseason hasn't wowed me at all and I was kind of hoping for a little bit more in terms of second-year leaps because we saw that with Ricky Pierall for example. We've seen it with other second-year receivers and Rome Odunze I thought was kind of and the zone stuff was a big issue too in terms of he and Caleb just like were not on the same page and but you know Ben Johnson can iron out a whole bunch of those details. So I'm certainly not out on Rome this season that's for sure.

Jauan Jennings, one of your favorite players in the league, dominated in zone coverage last year, but as you said, question marks about the start of a season.

Yeah, I mean, if I knew that he was fully healthy, I would have him like by like where JSN is. Like, he was awesome last year. Um, he was he's a member of the 10% first downs per route club. Only 14 wide receivers did that. He was 13 expected touchdowns last year. Uh even with like Aiyuk and Deebo in the offense, he was still top 24 in usage over the entire course of the season per route against zone coverage, fourth best. When Jauan Jennings is out there, he's kicking your ass. He's awesome in zone coverage. He can be a touchdown guy in this offense. And at the same time, it doesn't sound like they want to pay him a lot of money and he's got this calf injury and calf injuries are very notorious. Um so there's some uncertainty here. I do think that if you can get a discount on Jauan Jennings, he's definitely worth the upside. I think he's a good player.

Okay, we got to hustle through this. Next up is Jerry Judy as our wide receiver 39. Uh I don't really have anything to say about Jerry Judy. I rank him much lower than where he's going in drafts right now, but I think I am being impacted by just the Browns in general, whether that is Joe Flacco or Dylan Gabriel or Jador Sanders. And really Jerry Judy broke out when it was gunslinger Jameis Winston throwing the football last year.

Gunslinger Joe though, there's a little bit something to that. But you and I believe that the Sansancy is going to slightly tweak his system when it comes to less throwy, more runny.

Yes, I agree with that. And the offensive line scares me and everything scares me. That said, over his last 10 games, he did average 96 yards.

Totally.

So, you can cut that in half and this thing could still be all right here. That's on 10 targets, too. So, um, yeah, in full PPR, you like them more than in half PPR because it's the Browns.

Okay. And also touchdowns are part of that everything. But the Browns could also surprise people. Who knows what happens once the NFL season kicks.

I thought Judy looked better last year than he has ever had like on film.

Deebo Samuel is our wide receiver 40. I feel like for a large majority of the summer, I was the only person in the fantasy football world that was actually excited for Deebo Samuel this year. You know, the OTA clips came out. Maybe he looked a bit heavy to some people. For me, I'm just excited to see what Deebo Samuel does in a Cliff Kingsberry offense. I mean, Cliff manufactured weeks of wide receiver six and wide receiver 14 for Zay Flowers last year. Multiple top 25 weeks for Noah Brown, Deon Brown. We know that Deebo last year dealt with pneumonia when his yards per out run once he came back, excuse me, yards per game dropped from 67 to 37. And despite all that, he was still a tackle breaker. 93 touches last season, he broke 25 missed tackles. And a player like that is just needed in this offense. We have Terry on one side of the field 95% of the time on the left side and then they get to move Deebo Samuel around and do some cool stuff with him. And if I get a cheap cheap ticket to this Washington Commander offense, I'll gladly take it. And that's been Deebo Samuel all summer.

Yeah, I do really like that. Obviously, there's some running back uncertainty, too, which plays into Deebo Samuel. It's also a team that like leads the league in fourth downs and third down conversions. They like kind of stay on schedule and then go for it on fourth downs. I think Deebo Samuel is going to be a part of that stuff. So it really comes down to is like is he no longer the same player because of injuries or was that kind of a one-year stint because he was in the hospital with pneumonia, another lingering injury. So that's the question I think it's kind of unknowable at this point, but there is definitely room for upside versus this ADP. There's also some signs that like maybe we don't get the same player ever again. So I think we're in the boom bust category, but like there's definitely room for a boom here.

Yeah, and we're about to talk about offenses that are projected for like near the bottom points scored in the league and uh Deebo's is near the top. So, yep. Anytime more touchdowns and more points are involved, I'll take that risk all day long.

Speaking of, Stefon Diggs is next as wide receiver 41. Projects as the Patriots wide receiver one this season.

Yeah, he turns 32 coming off that ACL, but he's been practicing since he got off that boat and that party. Um, last year before the party, wide receiver seven in ESPN's open score. Um, he's also a member of the 10% uh first downs per route uh club. So, he he kind of looks pretty good. um like earlier on and then in camp I haven't seen like a bunch of buzz over him. Makes me a little bit nervous here. So I

He chased that dog that got away from him. I don't know if you saw that.

That was nice. That was he looked athletic uh and and that um so it really just comes down to like how much of a Drake May bump are we going to get this year because the offensive line looks better year two over there. Um I think there's a lot of uncertainty with Stefon Diggs, but I can see him being like a feisty wide receiver three.

Yeah, we really don't have any rookies left. I just want to remind you that Wednesday of this week we'll have an entire rookie show. So we'll bring up Kyle Williams' name. We'll bring up maybe even Faton Chisum's name since he made the 53-man roster. We're going to talk about every single rookie that is drafted or not at this moment, their current standing in the depth chart, and what we predict for them this season. So, be sure to hit that subscribe button and join us for that show. A former Patriots wide receiver who according to a certain dog that breaks news occasionally on Twitter is now being linked back to the New England Patriots. This is Jakobi Meyers. Hayden.

Yeah, I don't know what the trade scenario is going to be like. Um, he obviously wants more money. He deserves more money because last year he was good. He was wide receiver 15 in usage. After the Davante Adams trade, he averaged 73 yards per game. He was a wide receiver 23 over that same span. That was like most of the season, by the way. Um, so he's finished much better than this ranking. There's obviously some uncertainty because it's a new play caller. You added a couple guys in in the draft. Um, and it's a contract year where they could phase him out by the end of the season. So like initially I had him like much higher than this. Uh, because Geno Smith's a massive quarterback upgrade at the same time. There's just a little bit more volatility about how he's going to kind of fit in. Two tight end sets. Is he going to be playing more outside than the slot? So, there's more uncertainty than I would have hoped, but I do think there's a chance that he could be a good pick here, too.

Josh Downs with Daniel Jones at quarterback. Uh, when we did our year three wide receiver show, year three wide receiver show.

Josh Downs is an electric football player. Looks amazing on tape. Maybe in a different offense. Truly in a different offense would be ranked much higher than this, but we have to play the cards that we've been dealt. Yeah, he was awesome. Like I came away doing that research watching him, I was like, he looks like one of the better wide receivers in the whole league. Like one of the best slot wide receivers. So, uh, seven games without Anthony Richardson, he has a 30% targets per route, 2.4 yards per route run, which is like close to pretty much elite. 65 yards per game. So, that's much better than where he's priced at currently. I also think that Daniel Jones cannot throw the football downfield right now. And Shane Steichen like kind of wants that. It's going to be the Gardner Minshew effect. There's a lot of receptions to be had and I think that Josh Downs could be the best player uh in the receiving core depending on where we're going to fit Tyler Warren in here. So,

Right.

I do think the Tyler Warren addition takes a little bit away from Josh Downs. We've seen tight end screens. We've seen obviously manufactured targets for him, first targets where I think those typically would have gone to Josh Downs in previous years.

Okay, Jordan Addison, we mentioned suspension. Is it three games to open the year?

Three games. Um, he's been amazing when on the field and you know maybe if that suspension wasn't clouding my brain he'd be ranked much higher than this because whenever he's on the field he uh catches touchdowns and catches long passes.

Yep. I think just part of the Vikings discussion though applies to him. He had 37 routes per game. That's the second most in his draft class last year. I don't think he's going to get that many because it's no longer Sam Darnold. By the way, Sam Darnold Jordan Addison's connection was like perfect. So Jordan Addison is a really good player, really good offense. I think it's just going to be a different structured offense. you're missing the first three games. Some negative touchdown regression coming his way, too. So, um, he's fine.

Next up is Darnell Mooney. I would say a very forgotten man when it comes to the offseason because he's been dealing with, I believe, a shoulder injury if I'm not mistaken. It sounds like he's on track for week one, but maybe he misses week one. Anyways, he'll play close to the start of the season. The Atlanta Falcons led the NFL last year in 11 personnel, three wide receiver sets. They don't have a fourth wide receiver. Uh, it is Drake London, it is Darnell Mooney, and it is Raymond Calais. So, they need him on the field, and he outscored this figure in this standing by a lot last season.

People are nervous about this freaking little AC joint injury. It's not that big of an injury. So, even if he misses the first two weeks of the schedule, like, it's going to be totally fine. One of my favorite stats doing research for this, Darnell Mooney was the wide receiver one overall in completions per game of 20 plus air yards downfield. Nobody caught more downfield targets per game last year than Darnell freaking Mooney. He looked like a way different player on tape in my opinion as well. So I think he's just a better football player than this ranking. His stats last season were better than this. Michael Penix can be an upgrade over Kirk Cousins. So like to me like one of the reasons why I'm breaking ties earlier against wide receivers is because like this tier like throw in a Darnell Mooney. I think that you can end up having like a wide receiver three like you just had last season.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba is next as we mentioned. Uh we would all love JSN to play in two wide receiver sets. Maybe it happens at points this season, but uh LaFleur has been hesitant to do that so far. And you can't really play and rank a player who is stuck in three wide receiver sets much higher than this.

23 and a half routes per game over the last couple seasons for him. So, and he's limping. I watched that fight last week and he's limping over to the to the

Yep. Still hobbled. Rashid Shaheed, who you think is going to compete with Chris Olave for targets, top targets on the New Orleans Saints, sits here as our wide receiver 47. My bags are packed with with Rashid Shaheed this summer. I've been drafting a lot of him because his value has been incredible, I'll say.

Yeah, he just film bros love Rashid Shaheed, of course. So,

he's close to Jameson Williams in talent. I'll say it.

Yeah, I I'll say it, too. The the upside case for him this year is just Kellen Moore. more plays, more manufactured touches, more underneath stuff, which you've never seen with Rashid Shaheed. I think he can actually do it. Um, so I just think he's going to have way more receptions this year than he's ever had.

Okay. I'm going to throw these other names on the board. All right. And you can pick one or two that you want to talk about. Michael Pittman is our wide receiver 48. Then it's Keon Coleman as wide receiver 49. Cooper Kupp wide receiver 50. An injured Khalil Shakir. I want to point that out. High ankle sprain for a slot wide receiver who makes his mark by winning after the catch. who only plays really in three wide receiver sets as wide receiver 51. That's why we're much lower than him on consensus. Like on Underdog, Khalil Shakir is going as wide receiver 45. And then we'll close this thing out with Jalen Higgins, the second round pick rookie for the Houston Texans.

I think there's kind of a teardrop from Shaheed to this next group. Um,

yeah,

I would say Keon Coleman's like the most interesting because it's the year two for him and like the Bills are like begging for somebody to break out in the offense aside from James Cook and Josh Allen. Something I have been noticing in Buffalo that defense might not be very good which like we never say they've lost secondary how much have you seen the Demar

lots of DBs

the Demar Hamlin tape right now at safety right now has been horrific.

And then they expect Cole Bishop to like kind of step up but Cole Bishop has not stepped up yet. No, I'm kind of getting the like it's not gonna be like the Bengals. They have too much talent up front and they actually have a good quarterback one, but man, like this I think the defense could be like a lot more suspect than people are expecting. So, I think there's there could be like plenty of pass attempts in this offense. So, I don't know what that means for Shakir or for Cole Keon Coleman or Dalton Kincaid. Probably one of those guys is going to end up being a pretty good pick. So, take a take a chance on one of them.

Yeah, the the Bills beat I don't think is very loud. They do a really good job. It's not very vocal when it comes like across all 32 teams. And apparently Keon Coleman's been doing great. Uh, you know, I thought he looked slow in year one kind of like he did at FSU where we thought maybe a power slot projection was best for him. They have a lot of slot receivers. We talked about Khalil Shakir. Dalton Kincaid has to play there if he's going to. Josh Palmer has also played there in the past. Keon Coleman also had like fluky broken plays last year that ended up being big wins for him in fantasy football and spiked weeks.

But if he can just become like more consistent drive in drive out, then I could see a step up here. Um, I did want to bring up Cooper Kupp's name.

So Marquez Valdes-Scantling was just cut by the Seattle Seahawks. So their wide receiver three is Tory Horton. We'll talk about him in the rookie show on Wednesday. But the only thing standing in Tory Horton's way and being a wide receiver two on his team is uh Cooper Kupp who has not been the beacon of health so far. So just something to keep in mind.

Yeah, definitely. So career low yards per target success rate yards per catch for Cooper Kupp last season.

Yeah. And that's despite like 16 targets in week one. That got me super amped for the 2024 season and Cooper Kupp, which

I swear he looked good for half the season and then the second half I was like this is a a clone.

All right, that does it. That's 52 names ranked for all of you. Again, we'll hit on all the rookies in tomorrow's show. We also have quarterbacks and tight ends to close out this week on Thursday and Friday. If you want our draft guide, if you want the PDF, use promo code THE SHOW. Sign up in the link in the description down below for Underdog. And that will be sent to the email that you used to sign up. Again, we already have a running back video of this. We have plenty of content once the season rolls around and in fact starting next week. So, hit that subscribe button, leave a thumbs up. Let's try to get to 2,000 likes if we can for all the people that have joined us for 90 minutes here. We really, really appreciate that. Shout out to all of you. Shout out to Weaves and Mosho behind the scenes up the villa. We'll talk to you guys soon. See you.