Preliminary 2016 Fantasy Football Rankings: Wide Receivers

Lastly in my first set of rankings we have the WR. I’ll throw up my TE ranks and a top 250 later this week.

Wide Receivers
Elite Starters (1-5)	Very Good Starters (6-13)	The #2s (14-24)
Antonio Brown | PIT | 4	Dez Bryant | DAL | 12	Amari Cooper | OAK | 34
Julio Jones | ATL | 5	Mike Evans | TB | 16	Randall Cobb | GB | 38
Odell Beckham JR | NYG | 7	Allen Robinson | JAC | 17	Doug Baldwin | SEA | 42
A.J. Green | CIN | 9	T.Y. Hilton | IND | 21	Demaryius Thomas | DEN | 44
DeAndre Hopkins | HOU | 11	Jordy Nelson | GB | 23	Jeremy Maclin | KC | 45
	Brandon Marshall | NYJ | 26	Jarvis Landry | MIA | 47
	Julian Edelman | NE | 31	Michael Crabtree | OAK | 50
	Alshon Jeffery | CHI | 32	Sammy Watkins | BUF | 52
		Eric Decker | NYJ | 54
		Michael Floyd | ARI | 58
		Keenan Allen | SD | 59

Not much for disagreements in the top tier where the biggest gap I have with IDP is AJ Green who I have as WR4 and ADP has as WR 7. In Tier two I want to highlight two players who I have as starters in a 12 team league that ADP says are fringe #2 WRs. T.Y. Hilton and Julian Edelman. Hilton gets Luck back this season, hopefully with an improved line, but even without Mr. Luck last season Hilton managed to put together an 1100 yard season with 5 touchdowns. Give Hilton back one of the 5 best QBs in the league and you aren’t going to regret making him your #1. Edelman’s ranking is just faith again in a return to normalcy. Obviously if he’s not ready for camp his promise goes down but for now I’m not going to penalize him for a recovery that appears to be on time with little concern. In the #2s category is where things start to get interesting. Starting with Michael Crabtree, yes he’s the Raiders #2, but he should be just as valuable in fantasy. He had 146 targets last season and 9 TDs, but he only had 922 yards and yes that’s scary but I think Carr gets better with his accuracy and his ability to highlight both Crabtree and Cooper’s skills and I think it will be a boon if you show faith in Crabtree. I currently have him WR20, ADP has him WR 36 or a mid to low 2 compared to a fringe 3. Our next stop is my last in the tier and a place where I’m more than likely in these initial rankings, Keenan Allen. This will be rectified for now, I’ll blame it on injury concerns. So not too much to talk about in my top 24, but it’s about to get interesting.

The #3s (25-39)	Tier 5 (40-62)	Tier 6 (63-85)
Jordan Matthews | PHI | 61	Corey Coleman | CLE | 103	Tyler Boyd | CIN | 180
Donte Moncrief | IND | 64	Laquan Treadwell | MIN | 107	Justin Hardy | ATL | 187
Marvin Jones | DET | 67	DeSean Jackson | WAS | 109	Corey Brown | CAR | 189
Larry Fitzgerald | ARI | 70	Vincent Jackson | TB | 111	Terrance Williams | DAL | 190
Emmanuel Sanders | DEN | 73	Andrew Hawkins | CLE | 113	Josh Doctson | WAS | 195
Golden Tate | DET | 74	Tavon Austin | LAR | 116	Philip Dorsett | IND | 196
Tyler Lockett | SEA | 77	Michael Thomas | NO | 117	Tre McBride | TEN | 199
Kelvin Benjamin | CAR | 80	Kendall Wright | TEN | 119	Jaron Brown | ARI | 200
Brandin Cooks | NO | 85	Stefon Diggs | MIN | 123	Breshad Perriman | BAL | 202
Torrey Smith | SF | 89	Markus Wheaton | PIT | 125	Devin Funchess | CAR | 203
Steve Smith Sr | BAL | 92	Dorial Green-Beckham | TEN | 128	Kenny Stills | MIA | 204
Pierre Garcon | WAS | 95	Robert Woods | BUF | 133	Rashad Greene | JAC | 207
Allen Hurns | JAC | 96	Kamar Aiken | BAL | 135	Kenny Bell | TB | 210
John Brown | ARI | 99	Danny Amendola | NE | 137	Mohamed Sanu | ATL | 217
Sterling Shepard | NYG | 101	Brandon Coleman | NO | 141	Jordan Payton | CLE | 218
	Quinton Patton | SF | 143	Jermaine Kearse | SEA | 221
	Kevin White | CHI | 145	Devante Adams | GB | 223
	Will Fuller | HOU | 147	Ted Ginn | CAR | 224
	Devante Parker | MIA | 171	Marquise Goodwin | BUF | 226
	Nelson Agholor | PHI | 172	Marqis Lee | JAC | 229
	Ty Montgomery | GB | 173	Sammy Coates | PIT | 230
	Jamison Crowder | WAS | 175	Mike Wallace | BAL | 233
	Albert Wilson | KC | 177	Cecil Shorts | HOU | 234

Marvin Jones is my first split here in the #3 WR range. Yes I think Tate gets more targets, but I think the difference is going to miniscule and even if I switch the two, Marvin Jones is much better than WR39. Up next are two players that I am 19 spots different than in opposite directions. I’m 19 spots lower on Cooks (probably too low), and 19 spots higher on Torrey Smith who I think is being criminally underrated. Cooks is probably an oversight but I think he regresses a little from last season’s totals, Smith is going to be the deep option in a Chip Kelly offense that hopefully goes back towards an inside-out run game and calculated deep shots. Even if he’s just getting more targets because of more plays I think he’s worth the lotter ticket in #3 WR territory. Moving forward we meet a Mr. Garcon, who as I look more closely, is the #2 WR in Washington, but he’s probably the third or fourth pass catcher behind the TEs and will have Doctson pressuring him all year. I have him too high, but this is an exercise for me as much as you. Someone has to catch passes in Cleveland and not all of the rookies are going to perform right away, so I’ll take a flier on Andrew Hawkins once again in Hue Jackson’s offense. Oh, by the way, Hawkins isn’t currently a top 97 (drafted) WR. It turns out when I get to tiers 4, 5, & 6 I look more and more to upside. Anyways, our next Robert Woods. Woods is someone I probably need to give up on, but he’s been a favorite since he came out of USC. He’s the #2 in Buffalo and I believe in Taylor, but as I write this I think I’ve over shot the ranking on Woods. Next I have a trio of players on good, or what I expect to be good offenses. Amendola in NE, Coleman in NO, and Patton in SF. The first two are self-explanatory, as they should be fairly good and useful pieces in very good offenses and I have both about 30 spots higher than their ADPs. The last is Patton who should be the #2 and slot and slot receiver over the middle in a Chip Kelly offense which is a very nice piece to take a chance on to me at WR53. Ooh something new, a pair of second year receivers who I’m much lower on than their ADPs. I liked Parker coming out of Louisville and he showed flashes but there are a bunch of mouths to feed in Miami and I think Gase is going to want Tannehill to spread that wealth around. As for White, I was skeptical last season both pre & post draft, but the targets are there and I may come move him up, but it’s going to be a slow process. I currently have Parker WR58 (ADP 27) and White WR56 (ADP 33). Crowder was better than expected year one in Washington and should be solidified as the slot receiver no matter what ends up happening with Doctson, Garcon, and Jackson. Crowder is currently WR85 according to ADP and I have him at WR61. The last pair of players that I will write about here are Justin Hardy and Corey (Philly) Brown. Both have questions about specific roles within their current rosters. But Hardy has upside that I like, and Brown has produced the last couple of seasons. So that’s our first look at WR this season, more to come.