It’s a new year. Relying on 2023 alone when creating your fantasy football rankings for 2024 is dangerous, as much has changed across the landscape. Here is my early look at the wide receiver position and how I see the players stacking up for the upcoming season.
Ranking the Top Fantasy Wide Receivers
FIND MORE POSITIONAL RANKINGS: QB | RB | TE | DEF | K
1) CeeDee Lamb | Dallas Cowboys
2) Tyreek Hill | Miami Dolphins
3) Ja’Marr Chase | Cincinnati Bengals
4) Amon-Ra St. Brown | Detroit Lions
5) Justin Jefferson | Minnesota Vikings
6) A.J. Brown | Philadelphia Eagles
7) Garrett Wilson | New York Jets
8) Brandon Aiyuk | San Francisco 49ers
9) Michael Pittman Jr. | Indianapolis Colts
10) Nico Collins | Houston Texans
11) Puka Nacua | Los Angeles Rams
12) Chris Olave | New Orleans Saints
13) Davante Adams | Las Vegas Raiders
14) Marvin Harrison Jr. | Arizona Cardinals
15) Drake London | Atlanta Falcons
16) Amari Cooper | Cleveland Browns
17) Tee Higgins | Cincinnati Bengals
18) Mike Evans | Tampa Bay Buccaneers
19) Cooper Kupp | Los Angeles Rams
20) Jaylen Waddle | Miami Dolphins
21) DJ Moore | Chicago Bears
22) Deebo Samuel Sr. | San Francisco 49ers
23) Terry McLaurin | Washington Commanders
24) Rashee Rice | Kansas City Chiefs
25) Stefon Diggs | Houston Texans
26) DeVonta Smith | Philadelphia Eagles
27) DK Metcalf | Seattle Seahawks
28) Keenan Allen | Chicago Bears
29) Jayden Reed | Green Bay Packers
30) Christian Kirk | Jacksonville Jaguars
31) Zay Flowers | Baltimore Ravens
32) Malik Nabers | New York Giants
33) George Pickens | Pittsburgh Steelers
34) Hollywood Brown | Kansas City Chiefs
35) Tank Dell | Houston Texans
36) Brian Thomas Jr. | Jacksonville Jaguars
37) Ladd McConkey | Los Angeles Chargers
38) Chris Godwin | Tampa Bay Buccaneers
39) Xavier Worthy | Kansas City Chiefs
40) Jameson Williams | Detroit Lions
41) Calvin Ridley | Tennessee Titans
42) Courtland Sutton | Denver Broncos
43) Mike Williams | New York Jets
44) DeAndre Hopkins | Tennessee Titans
45) Jerry Jeudy | Cleveland Browns
46) Jaxon Smith-Njigba | Seattle Seahawks
47) Jakobi Meyers | Las Vegas Raiders
48) Diontae Johnson | Carolina Panthers
49) Christian Watson | Green Bay Packers
50) Brandin Cooks | Dallas Cowboys
51) Jordan Addison | Minnesota Vikings
52) Curtis Samuel | Buffalo Bills
53) Michael Wilson | Arizona Cardinals
54) Gabe Davis | Jacksonville Jaguars
55) Jahan Dotson | Washington Commanders
56) Tyler Lockett | Seattle Seahawks
57) Adonai Mitchell | Indianapolis Colts
58) Keon Coleman | Buffalo Bills
59) Rome Odunze | Chicago Bears
60) Romeo Doubs | Green Bay Packers
61) Khalil Shakir | Buffalo Bills
62) Adam Thielen | Carolina Panthers
63) Rashid Shaheed | New Orleans Saints
64) Dontayvion Wicks | Green Bay Packers
65) DeMario Douglas | New England Patriots
66) Josh Downs | Indianapolis Colts
67) Marvin Mims Jr. | Denver Broncos
68) Zay Jones | Arizona Cardinals
69) Joshua Palmer | Los Angeles Chargers
70) Rashod Bateman | Baltimore Ravens
71) Rondale Moore | Atlanta Falcons
72) Wan’Dale Robinson | New York Giants
73) Elijah Moore | Cleveland Browns
74) Quentin Johnston | Los Angeles Chargers
75) Darius Slayton | New York Giants
76) Troy Franklin | Denver Broncos
77) Jonathan Mingo | Carolina Panthers
78) Ricky Pearsall | San Francisco 49ers
79) Ja’Lynn Polk | New England Patriots
80) Alec Pierce | Indianapolis Colts
81) Odell Beckham Jr. | Miami Dolphins
82) Malachi Corley | New York Jets
83) Tyler Boyd | Tennessee Titans
84) Jalin Hyatt | New York Giants
85) Xavier Legette | Carolina Panthers
86) Michael Thomas | Free Agent
87) Treylon Burks | Tennessee Titans
88) Kendrick Bourne | New England Patriots
89) DJ Chark Jr. | Los Angeles Chargers
90) Marquez Valdes-Scantling | Buffalo Bills
91) Andrei Iosivas | Cincinnati Bengals
92) Cedric Tillman | Cleveland Browns
93) Darnell Mooney | Atlanta Falcons
94) Roman Wilson | Pittsburgh Steelers
95) Jacob Cowing | San Francisco 49ers
96) Michael Gallup | Las Vegas Raiders
97) Demarcus Robinson | Los Angeles Rams
98) K.J. Osborn | New England Patriots
99) Devontez Walker | Baltimore Ravens
100) Trey Palmer | Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Who Are the Best Wide Receivers To Draft in Fantasy?
Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams
The age curve at the receiver position is a moving target, and a serious bounce-back campaign could well be in the cards for Kupp.
Fantasy points (half-PPR) per catch in their age-31 season:
- Marques Colston: 2.50 points per catch (up 16% from age 30)
- Brandon Marshall: 2.61 points per catch (up 7.2% from age 30)
- Keenan Allen: 2.02 points per catch (up 2.5% from age 30)
Those are cherry-picked examples, and I’m not suggesting that every receiver ages the same way. I just want to highlight that digging a fantasy grave is a bit premature, especially as a part of an offense that was a top-five unit when healthy in 2023.
Currently, Kupp’s ADP is alongside that of other secondary receivers. Stefon Diggs and DeVonta Smith — two WRs that I give less of a chance to lead their respective teams in targets than I give Kupp — are in the late-third-round tier.
As good as Nacua was last season, his reception share did fall off a cliff from where it stood during Kupp’s first three games back (38% in Weeks 5-7 and 22.5% after that). Even if you like the second-year receiver to be Matthew Stafford’s go-to target, the fact that Kupp had two more receptions in the red zone despite playing in five fewer games is a valuable note for fantasy managers.
Jayden Reed, Green Bay Packers
How good was Reed down the stretch last season? Here are the top 10 receivers in yards per route run from Weeks 10-18 that saw at least as many opportunities as Green Bay’s WR1.
- Nico Collins: 3.72
- Tyreek Hill: 3.71
- Amon-Ra St. Brown: 2.72
- CeeDee Lamb: 2.70
- Puka Nacua: 2.69
- Michael Pittman Jr.: 2.54
- Rashee Rice: 2.48
- Deebo Samuel Sr.: 2.45
- Keenan Allen: 2.44
- Jayden Reed: 2.43
Seven of those names are being drafted among the first 24 receivers, with six coming within the top 24 picks overall.
I like Reed more than most, and even I don’t think he’ll offer the consistency of those elite names (there are currently four Packers receivers being drafted in the first 10 rounds). But the fact that he proved the ability to be efficient at a high level with Jordan Love earns him the title of Green Bay’s WR1 for me without much hesitation.
Reed is being drafted in the same range as the aforementioned Allen — I’d take that bet every day. Instead of changing franchises and counting on a rookie QB, Reed gets stability across the board.
Many of the receivers in this tier (Terry McLaurin, Chris Godwin, and Calvin Ridley) have far more questions under center than him.
This isn’t Christian Watson 2.0. This is a more stable profile that gets the benefit of facing mainly vulnerable defenses from Thanksgiving through the end of the fantasy season.
- Week 13 vs. Miami
- Week 14 at Detroit
- Week 15 at Seattle
- Week 16 vs. New Orleans
- Week 17 at Minnesota
