It’s Week 14 of the NFL season and the official start of the playoff season. Every lineup decision you make this week is make or break, go big or go home. To help you out, we’ve analyzed the top fantasy football wide receivers for Week 14 to compile our Week 14 fantasy WR rankings. In the biggest game of the year so far, who are the Week 14 must starts, sleepers, and busts?
What to keep in mind heading into Week 14 and searching for the best fantasy football wide receiver
With no teams on a bye in Week 14, there are less complications when setting your lineup. Gone is the need for anxious, last-minute trawling of the waiver wire trying to find a replacement for your star wide receiver. There is also no need to meticulously plan your lineup around unusual kickoff days and times. For the first time in two weeks, we should have a regular structure to the NFL weekend.
Players from neither Thursday Night Football team featured as the top fantasy wide receivers in our Week 14 fantasy WR rankings. Did you start a wide receiver from the New England Patriots or Los Angeles Rams anyway? Cooper Kupp’s five receptions for 33 yards and a touchdown would have bagged you 14.3 fantasy points in PPR leagues. However, no other wide receiver scored double-digit points.
The importance of the injury report and its impact on Week 14 sleepers and busts
As always, injuries to your wide receiver room can derail a championship bid. Make sure you keep a close eye on the injury report to avoid those catastrophic holes in your roster. Julio Jones and Kenny Golladay were officially ruled out on Friday and as such have been removed from these Week 14 fantasy WR rankings.
Because of Jones’ absence, Russell Gage figures to be one of the biggest Week 14 sleepers. Golladay missing another game in Week 14 makes him one of the biggest busts of the fantasy football season.
After suffering what looked like a serious injury in Week 12, Carolina Panthers WR D.J. Moore was expected to return in Week 14. However, he finds himself on the reserve list ahead of Sunday’s game. Because of the uncertainty over his availability he slips down our Week 14 fantasy WR rankings.
Keenan Allen tops the top 5 fantasy WR rankings
1) Keenan Allen, LAC vs ATL
2) Davante Adams, GB @ DET
3) D.K. Metcalf, SEA vs NYJ
4) Tyreek Hill, KC @ MIA
5) Tyler Lockett, SEA vs NYJ
After a tough Week 13 matchup against the Patriots, Keenan Allen makes his way to the top of the Week 14 fantasy WR rankings. Allen scored just 9.8 fantasy points in PPR leagues but has a prime matchup against a porous Atlanta Falcons defense. They have allowed 28.2 fantasy points per game to the wide receiver position in 2020.
As the most targeted wide receiver in the NFL, Allen has the most receptions making him a must-start in PPR leagues. He has the fifth-most fantasy points per game and that should increase that average against the Falcons.
Davante Adams has become a consistent fixture in our fantasy WR rankings, and Week 14 is no different. Adams leads all wide receivers with 26.3 fantasy points per game as a result of racking up 1029 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns this season so far.
Hill, Metcalf, and Lockett complete the top 5 fantasy WR rankings for Week 14
Only Tyreek Hill has more fantasy points this season than Adams. Hill faces a Miami Dolphins defense that has allowed over 2000 receiving yards to the wide receiver position, and Hill should score highly again because of that.
The Seattle Seahawks wide receiving duo of D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett have also become must start fantasy WR assets because of the increased potency of Rusell Wilson in the passing game. Metcalf is separating himself from Lockett in the latter stages of the season with an additional point per game.
They have a fantastic matchup against a New York Jets defense that has allowed over 25 fantasy points per game. Because of this, they both have a great opportunity to be amongst the top fantasy wide receivers in Week 14.
Stefon Diggs rounds out Week 14 tier 1 WR sleepers, must starts, and busts
6) Stefon Diggs, BUF vs PIT
7) Allen Robinson, CHI vs HOU
8) A.J. Brown, TEN @ JAX
9) Adam Thielen, MIN @ TB
10) Chris Godwin, TB vs MIN
After having five straight games with double-digit fantasy points, the last five weeks have been less fruitful for Stefon Diggs. He has three single-digit scores in the last five, including a season-low 3.9 points against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 12. Despite this, he remains one of the most consistent receivers in the NFL as per Phillip Caldwell’s Fantasy Football Consistency Score metric.
Diggs may be consistent, but A.J. Brown continues to impress. Due to his recent performance against the Indianapolis Colts and a matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he works his way into the top of our fantasy WR rankings for Week 14. The Jaguars have given up the fifth-most fantasy points to the wide receiver position giving Brown an incredible opportunity to score a playoff winning amount of points for your team. Therefore, Brown is a must-start WR this week.
Minnesota Vikings @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers should be a fantasy bonanza
The game between the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers should be a high scoring contest both on the field and for your fantasy team. Both teams have given up large numbers of fantasy points to the wide receiver position, with the Vikings giving up the third most and the Buccaneers giving up the ninth most per game.
Despite the emergence of rookie Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen continues to be heavily targeted in the Vikings passing game. In addition, his success in the red zone makes him a must-start WR most weeks, and this week is no different.
Chris Godwin gets into the top 10 of our fantasy WR rankings for Week 14 over teammate Mike Evans due to his higher points per game average. Godwin is simply a more reliable pair of hands as he has hauled in 81.7 percent of his targets.
Tier 2: Fantasy WR rankings for Week 14
1) Terry McLaurin, WAS
2) Justin Jefferson, MIN
3) Mike Evans, TB
4) Calvin Ridley, ATL
5) DeAndre Hopkins, ARI
6) Robert Woods, LAR
7) Robbie Anderson, CAR
8) Chase Claypool, PIT
9) Tyler Boyd, CIN
10) Jamison Crowder, NYJ
Tier 3: Fantasy WR rankings for Week 14
1) Tee Higgins, CIN
2) Amari Cooper, DAL
3) Michael Thomas, NO
4) D.J. Chark, JAX
5) Cooper Kupp, LAR
6) Brandin Cooks, HOU
7) DeVante Parker, MIA
8) Michael Pittman Jr., IND
9) Sterling Shepherd, NYG
10) Denzel Mims, NYJ
Tier 4: Fantasy WR rankings for Week 14
1) D.J. Moore, CAR
2) CeeDee Lamb, DAL
3) Marquise Brown, BAL
4) Diontae Johnson, PIT
5) Curtis Samuel, CAR
6) Cole Beasley, BUF
7) Marvin Jones Jr., DET
8) Jarvis Landry, CLE
9) Corey Davis, TEN
10) JuJu Smith-Schuster, PIT
Tier 5: Fantasy WR rankings for Week 14
1) Nelson Agholor, LV
2) Mike Williams, LAC
3) Tim Patrick, DEN
4) Allen Lazard, GB
5) Jalen Reagor, PHI
6) Brandon Aiyuk, SF
7) Darius Slayton, NYG
8) Deebo Samuel, SF
9) Keelan Cole Sr., JAX
10) Russell Gage, ATL
Tier 6: Fantasy WR rankings for Week 14
1) Jacobi Meyers, NE
2) Travis Fulgham, PHI
3) Jerry Jeudy, DEN
4) Mecole Hardman, KC
5) Christian Kirk, ARI
6) Emmanuel Sanders, NO
7) Scotty Miller, TB
8) Hunter Renfrow, LV
9) Darnell Mooney, CHI
10) Keekee Coutee, HOU
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Oliver Hodgkinson is an NFL Draft and NFL analytics contributor for the Pro Football Network. You can follow him on Twitter at @ojhodgkinson.