Week 1 Fantasy Football Rankings: WR (2024)

Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle hope for a Chargers track meet, Stefon Diggs and Garrett Wilson square off on Monday Night Football, and Diontae Johnson looks to put his shaky 2022 behind him.

Other positions: Quarterback | Running Back | Tight End/Kickers/Defense

Updated 9/10 at 11:55 AM ET. Removed Jerry Jeudy and DeVante Parker.

Week 1 Receivers

WR Notes: I think CeeDee Lamb has one more tier to jump, and Sunday night in New York would be a wonderful place to start. Lamb caught 14 balls in two games against the G-Men a season ago. … Don’t count me amongst the group who believe DeVonta Smith could further narrow the production gap with A.J. Brown this season. Brown remains one of the league’s true alphas who could upset the Justin Jefferson/Ja’Marr Chase/Tyreek Hill top-three apple cart. … I spent part of the summer wondering if Amon-Ra St. Brown has peaked. He’s a compiler who is more efficient than explosive and lacks surrounding weapons to take the pressure off him in the passing game. I also know Week 1 won’t be the time for such concerns. This game is guaranteed to shoot out, and ARSB is going to do his PPR part. He could also be a special talent who makes my “concerns” seem silly. … The Jets are a rough Week 1 assignment for Stefon Diggs. In two games a season ago, Gang Green held Diggs to a scoreless 8/130.

Jaylen Waddle could be feast or famine in 2022, but he feasted so hard in the Dolphins’ high-scoring contests. Vegas expects one such tilt with the Chargers this week. … Chris Olave rings in 2023 against a Titans defense that silver plattered the most receiver fantasy points in 2022. Mike Vrabel’s unit added only Band-Aids in the draft and free agency. … Downgrading at quarterback, Davante Adams has been dogged by questions about his happiness with the Silver and Black. He has a tough opening-week test in the Broncos, though Adams got Denver’s Patrick Surtain-keyed unit for a combined 16/242/2 in a pair of 2022 performances. … No one has more to gain from Aaron Rodgers’ arrival in New York than Garrett Wilson. Even with The Three Stooges at quarterback last season, Wilson posted a respectable 14/170/0 line against Sean McDermott’s defense across two appearances. … Keenan Allen just won’t go away. Now he has OC Kellen Moore calling the shots instead of dead-ender Joe Lombardi . Most importantly, Allen survived the summer healthy.

We could debate Calvin Ridley until the cows come home. We, in fact, did that this summer. I’m still not sure what to think. What I know for Week 1 is that Ridley is the No. 1 in an elite offense with an enviable dome matchup in the Colts. … Beyond Ridley, I just can’t trust Christian Kirk or Zay Jones as a WR3. Kirk and Jones did their jobs in 2022, but they have new jobs for 2023. … Instead of ranking DK Metcalf ahead of Tyler Lockett after he averaged 1.5 fewer PPR points than Lockett per game last season, I am going to not do that. Beyond Week 1, the problem for Lockett will be Jaxon Smith-Njigba stealing slot snaps. I expect JSN to be eased in this week after missing so much practice time, but it won’t take long for the training wheels to fall off. … Deebo Samuel is one of those players I can no longer get a grip on. Samuel is reported to be in better shape this season. The rushing experiment appears over, however, and Brandon Aiyuk could overtake Samuel as the Niners’ top traditional wideout. … Terry McLaurin (toe) is getting close to cleared for Week 1. When/if he does, he will be facing a Cardinals defense that will likely prove to be one of the league’s worst.

You could see it happening in real time this summer: The fantasy world remembering Diontae Johnson was good. Not that the drops have gone away. Or that Kenny Pickett’s sensational summer will translate to real games. A man with Johnson’s targets history is simply worth betting on in what at least appears to be an improved offense. … Behind Johnson remains George Pickens, who had another summer hypefest of his own. He remains best treated as a boom/bust WR3 who could flip matchups on smaller catch counts. … What’s one last bet on D.J. Moore? If nothing else, he has much enhanced big-play ability with the Baker Mayfields of the world swapped out for Justin Fields. … New Chargers OC Kellen Moore has promised One Weird Trick with Mike Williams: Occasionally funneling him targets that aren’t 1-on-1 boundary passes. Supplementing his big outside plays with some over-the-middle layups would make Williams a far more reliable WR2. … Christian Watson (hamstring) is already hurt again. So is Romeo Doubs (hamstring). That’s not so much Jayden Reed’s music as it is “avoid the Packers’ skill corps at all costs.” Almost never fully healthy in 2022, we needed a clean start to the year to truly trust Watson as a WR2.

I am ranking Michael Pittman as if he will be an extension of the Colts’ running game, catching one low-percentage dump-off after another. … Whatever it is, Drake London’s got it. Unfortunately, “it” doesn’t necessarily include a quarterback. Of course, even if Desmond Ridder is terrible, the Falcons have strongly suggested they are going to pass more than they did under Marcus Mariota regardless. London could end up drastically outperforming ADP. … DeAndre Hopkins still profiles as a compiler, but Treylon Burks (knee) is practicing in full for Week 1. Would it be all that surprising if we were ranking Burks ahead of Hopkins in a few weeks’ time? … Mike Evans’ deep game and Chris Godwin’s short-area feel like quarterback-proof skill-sets. Enter Baker Mayfield, who has never met a receiver’s game he couldn’t kill. Mid-range WR3 could be an overly-optimistic bet. … Even with Travis Kelce (knee) sidelined, Skyy Moore is the only Chiefs wideout who can be “trusted” in 12-team re-draft leagues. … I’m not ready to play Elijah Moore until the Browns demonstrate they actually know how to use him. … There isn’t a single Ram worth betting on in Cooper Kupp’s absence. Perhaps Tutu Atwell’s big-play ability if you insist. Van Jefferson will see more targets.