Fantasy Football Preseason Predictions: WR Edition

Top 50 Wide Receivers: (Last updated: 8-3-15)

Which Wide Receiver(s) are first round picks in fantasy leagues?

Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham Jr.

In a point(s) per reception league, there are way more receivers that should go in the first round than in standard leagues. In standard leagues you could see no receivers in the first round or possibly Antonio Brown or Odell Beckham Jr. In PPR leagues, those guys should be first rounders, and you could also see Julio Jones, Demaryius Thomas, and Dez Bryant. In deeper leagues (14+ teams) Calvin Johnson and Jordy Nelson could also be first round picks.

Which Wide Receiver(s) not on this list will be on it by season’s end?

Cordarrelle Patterson and Tavon Austin

There are a couple that will be in the top 50 and probably even higher by season’s end. The first is Cordarrelle Patterson, who in his rookie season showed a ton of upside, but fell off the face of the earth in his sophomore campaign. Now he is over his sophomore slump, is extremely talented, has a good quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater, and is playing on a team that opposing defenses will need to put many in the box to stop Adrian Peterson. He could be a top 30 wide receiver by season’s end, maybe top 20. Patterson could be a good receiver to have on your bench to begin the season.

The other receiver that will be in the top 50 is Tavon Austin. He was a high draft pick in 2013 and hasn’t produced as a receiver in the NFL. But he has still shown NFL talent with his punt and kick returning and those skills will eventually result in him being a productive receiver. If Austin can have a healthy Nick Foles and not have to rely on Austin Davis, like he had to for most of 2014, he should be a top 50 receiver by season’s end. Austin could be a late round steal that could be an effective flex option during the season.

Which Wide Receiver in the top 25 of this list won’t be by season’s end?

Jeremy Maclin

Jeremy Maclin is a phenomenal athlete but people said the same about Dwayne Bowe and he didn’t catch a single touchdown for the Chiefs in 2014. Maclin is coming off the best season of his NFL career, but being part of an offense that limits receivers, especially in the red zone, Maclin fantasy owners could be in trouble in 2015. He should be a flex option at best in most fantasy formats to start the season, but don’t trust him as one of your top 2 receiver options.

Which Wide Receiver not in the top 25 of this list will be by season’s end?

Martavis Bryant

Ben Roethlisberger loves throwing the deep ball and Martavis Bryant is his deep ball receiver. Last year he missed the first six weeks but got off to a fast start catching six touchdowns in his first four games. He finished the season with eight touchdowns, which was more than T.Y. Hilton, Julio Jones, and A.J. Green, who are all ranked in the top 10 of these rankings. If Bryant can have similar success while playing all 16 games, he could have 50 catches, 950 yards, and 12 touchdowns.

Which rookie Wide Receiver is going to have the best rookie season?

Amari Cooper

This is up in the air for sure. Amari Cooper is the most talented but how good will he be with Derek Carr throwing to him? In Carr's first season with Oakland, the leading receiver was Andre Holmes with 693 yards. If Carr doesn't improve with Cooper in Oakland, Cooper could have similar numbers to Holmes last year. Kevin White was also an early first round pick but he’ll be stuck in a sticky situation with Jay Cutler being his QB with a team that already has Alshon Jeffery, Martellus Bennett, and Matt Forte, who is a major part of both the run and pass game. The last early first rounder was DeVante Parker who has the best QB situation of these early first rounders with Ryan Tannehill at QB, but Parker is coming off of foot surgery and is going to be in a WR group that includes Jarvis Landry, Kenny Stills, and Greg Jennings. Ultimately, Cooper will have the most fantasy value this year, strictly due to talent and targets. Expect him to be close to 1,000 yards this year and if he has good chemistry with Carr, the Raiders might have finally found a good QB-WR combo for the first time since the Rich Gannon-Tim Brown/Jerry Rice days.

Which Wide Receiver will benefit the most from playing with a new Quarterback?

Andre Johnson

It’s not often that a future hall of famer is set up to have improvement in his 13th NFL season, but Andre Johnson will be playing with the best quarterback in any of those 13 seasons in Andrew Luck. Johnson finished 2014 with less than 1,000 yards for just the fifth time in 12 years. Now he will be a piece of one of the most dominant offenses in the league. If Johnson stays healthy in 2015, consider him a top 20 receiver, especially in points per reception leagues.

What is one bold prediction for the 2015 season at this position?

Julio Jones will surpass Calvin Johnson’s 2012 record breaking 1,964 receiving yards in a single season.

When Jones is healthy he is one of the NFL’s best wide receivers, some might consider him the best. Having a quarterback as productive as Matt Ryan allows Jones to have his talents shine week after week. In 2014, Jones missed one game but still finished the season with 1,594 yards. If Jones had played all 16 weeks and got his average amount of yards per game in that game he missed, he would have finished 2015 with 1,700 yards. 1,700 yards would give Jones the sixth best single season yardage for a receiver. Jones’ improvement could come from the additional targets he may receive with Harry Douglas leaving the Falcons and joining the Tennessee Titans. 

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