Championship weekend got off to a phenomenal start on Christmas Day with the New Orleans Saints beating the Minnesota Vikings 52-33. Alvin Kamara rocked the fantasy football world with his six touchdown performance but can Tyreek Hill match him on Sunday? Our fantasy WR rankings bring you the top fantasy wide receivers for Week 16.
What to keep in mind heading into Week 16 and searching for the best fantasy football wide receiver
Firstly, these Week 16 WR rankings take into account all games played this week. That means that some players have already played as you’re reading this. Hopefully, you took advantage of the early edition of our rankings and started some of them.
Although Kamara stole the headlines, Adam Thielen continued to be one of the top fantasy football wide receivers in Week 16 with 23.7 points. Emmanuel Sanders also netted 13.5 points, although his expected value was dramatically impacted by the Saints focusing on Kamara.
The injury report is as important as it’s ever been in Week 16
As always, the injury report is a great resource to be used alongside our Week 16 fantasy WR rankings when searching for the top fantasy football wide receivers this week. Your wide receiver room probably more closely resembles an emergency room at this late stage of the season.
Of the top fantasy football wide receivers this season, a number of them are or have been on the Week 16 injury report. Tyreek Hill — who heads the top of our Week 16 WR rankings — is listed as questionable, as is Keenan Allen, Allen Robinson II, Marquise Brown, and Devante Parker.
Julio Jones, Kenny Golladay, and Michael Thomas are all out this week. The trio of talented pass catchers have been among the biggest WR busts of this 2020 NFL season.
Tyreek Hill tops the top 5 fantasy WR rankings
1) Tyreek Hill, KC vs. ATL
2) Davante Adams, GB vs TEN
3) Keenan Allen, LAC vs DEN
4) Adam Thielen, MIN @ NO
5) Allen Robinson, CHI @ JAX
Although he is listed as questionable this week, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill is an absolute home run hit at the top of our Week 16 fantasy WR rankings. Hill is the favored target of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and as a result, has the sixth most targets in the NFL this season.
Hill caught six passes for 53 yards and a touchdown against the Saints last week to lead the NFL in touchdowns. Due to a combination of receptions, touchdowns, and yardage, Hill is comfortably the top fantasy football wide receiver heading into Week 16.
His matchup against the Atlanta Falcons gives him the perfect opportunity to add to his already impressive fantasy football total of 318.4 points. The Falcons have allowed the second-most fantasy points to the wide receiver position this season. Atlanta has also given up the most receiving yards to the position, and Chiefs WR Hill has the second-most receiving yards in the NFL so far this season.
Consistent scorers and prime matchups
Behind Hill, Davante Adams and Keenan Allen have been two of the most consistent high scorers in fantasy football as per Phillip Caldwell’s Fantasy Football Consistency Score. Allen already has a double-digit game against a Broncos defense that allowed huge fantasy points to the Buffalo Bills in Week 15. Although Allen is listed as questionable at the time of writing, if he is good to go, he should be a must-start in your fantasy championship.
Chicago Bears wide receiver Allen Robinson has defied mediocre quarterback play to consistently produce for your fantasy football team this season. His matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars earns him a place in the top five of our Week 16 fantasy WR rankings. The Jaguars have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to wide receivers in 2020, allowing 26.1 points per game to the position.
Robert Woods rounds out the tier 1 fantasy WR rankings
6) Robert Woods, LAR @ SEA
7) Mike Evans, TB @ DET
8) Stefon Diggs, BU @ NE
9) Jarvis Landry, CLE @ NYJ
10) Emmanuel Sanders, NO vs. MIN
The theme of consistency and favorable matchups continues to define our Week 16 fantasy WR rankings. Robert Woods faces a Seattle Seahawks defense that has allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to wide receivers this season. Woods continues to be a more reliable option in this Los Angeles Rams offense than teammate Cooper Kupp.
As mentioned earlier, Sanders scored 13.5 against a Minnesota Vikings defense that had given up the third-most fantasy points per game prior to Week 16. At the time of writing, Mike Evans was set to play in Saturday night’s game against the Detroit Lions. The same premise for Evans applies as for Sanders, with a favorable matchup against a poor Lions pass defense.
Jarvis Landry blooming at the right time for fantasy football owners
Jarvis Landry has come into late-season form as the Cleveland Browns find a passing offense with quarterback Baker Mayfield. Although he is averaging just 12.3 points per game, he has four double-digit scores in his last four games. They also include two 20+ points performances against the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars. Landry has a prime opportunity to figure amongst the top fantasy wide receivers in Week 16 against the New York Jets.
The Jets defense has sacrificed 25.8 points per game and over 2600 receiving yards to the wide receiver position his year. Despite a surprise win over the Los Angeles Rams last week, expect Landry to score heavily on this defense.
Tier 2: Fantasy WR rankings for Week 16
- DeAndre Hopkins, ARI
- Calvin Ridley, ATL
- Amari Cooper, DAL
- A.J. Brown, TEN
- Justin Jefferson, MIN
- Tyler Boyd, CIN
- Chris Godwin, TB
- Cooper Kupp, LAR
- D.K Metcalf, SEA
- Terry McLaurin, WAS
Tier 3: Fantasy WR rankings for Week 16
- Brandon Aiyuk, SF
- DeVante Parker, MIA
- Tyler Lockett, SEA
- JuJu Smith-Schuster, PIT
- Robbie Anderson, CAR
- Michael Pittman Jr., IND
- Jamison Crowder, NYJ
- Cole Beasley, BUF
- Nelson Agholor, LV
- D.J. Moore, CAR
Tier 4: Fantasy WR rankings for Week 16
- Corey Davis, TEN
- Marvin Jones Jr., DET
- Brandin Cooks, HOU
- CeeDee Lamb, DAL
- Tim Patrick, DEN
- Chase Claypool, PIT
- Tee Higgins, CIN
- Jalen Reagor, PHI
- D.J. Chark Jr., JAX
- Mecole Hardman, KC
Tier 5: Fantasy WR rankings for Week 16
- Marquise Brown, BAL
- Sterling Shepherd, NYG
- KJ Hamler, DEN
- Tre’Quan Smith, NO
- Allen Lazard, GB
- Rashard Higgins, CLE
- Diontae Johnson, PIT
- Travis Fulgham, PHI
- Antonio Brown, TB
- Darnell Mooney, CHI
Tier 6: Fantasy WR rankings for Week 16
- Mike Williams, LAC
- Sammy Watkins, KC
- Darius Slayton, NYG
- Breshad Perriman, NYJ
- Danny Amendola, DET
- Laviska Shenault Jr., JAX
- Christian Kirk, ARI
- Russell Gage, ATL
- Kendrick Bourne, SF
- Hunter Renfrow, LV
Want more fantasy football analysis and news?
Be sure to follow us on Twitter: @PFN365 to stay up to date with all things around the NFL and the 2020 fantasy football season. Also, continue to visit Pro Football Network for NFL news and in-depth analysis while also seeing our fantasy football section for more coverage and up-to-date rankings.
Oliver Hodgkinson is an NFL Draft and NFL analytics contributor for the Pro Football Network. You can follow him on Twitter at @ojhodgkinson.