Wide receivers have been prioritized by dynasty owners in recent years, as the movement toward running-back-by-committee and relatively short shelf-life of running backs has made them a more volatile commodity. Receivers can be productive well into their 30s and tend to be more consistent.

After 2017, we may be seeing a shift back toward the early-RB philosphy. The re-emergence of Todd Gurley, impending return of David Johnson, and sudden surge of talented rookie runners have left top-tier WRs more freely available. That said, we need to examine where the community and experts alike value each of these receivers ahead of startup drafts that are due to take place in the coming months.

The expert rankers at Rotoballer have assembled their early pre-NFL draft dynasty rankings at each position. Our rankings are broken down into tiers so you’ll know how we feel about each of these players and their outlooks for 2018 and beyond. Be on the lookout for the rest of our positional analysis articles and more dynasty content throughout the offseason!

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Dynasty Wide Receiver Tiered Rankings

 
 
Tier One

Odell Beckham Jr., DeAndre Hopkins, Mike Evans, Antonio Brown

OBJ is the near-unanimous top dynasty player in our rankings, with Kyle being the lone holdout (Todd Gurley is his No. 1 dynasty player, as you may have seen in his dynasty RB analysis). Despite missing most of the season with a fractured ankle, his stock shouldn't suffer whatsoever. Beckham had gone over 1,300 yards each of his first three seasons and is just 25 years old, making him the safest pick you can ask for at the top of a dynasty startup.

Hopkins vaulted back into the first tier after a monster season, despite spending half of it catching passes from the likes of Tom Savage and TJ Yates. He's barely older than Beckham and has only missed one game in his five-year career. It's not out of the question to think he might be more risk-free than Beckham because of the diverging trajectories of their respective quarterbacks.

Mike Evans is still held in high regard by dynasty owners even though he wound up as the WR21 in PPR scoring last season. His lack of production was symptomatic of the entire Bucs offense struggling without a consistent running game or a healthy Jameis Winston for much of the year. Evans will remain very much dependent on target volume, as he rates lower than the league average on catch rate for deep balls over 30 yards and even worse on yards after the catch, regardless of depth of target. Fortunately, he should still see plenty of volume. Evans was fifth in total air yards and 15th in market share even in a down year.

You could still make the case for Antonio Brown as the #1 overall pick in a redraft league, but his advanced age for an NFL player (29!) leaves him behind the top three WR in this tier.

Tier Two

Michael Thomas, A.J. Green, Julio Jones, Davante Adams

The order gets a bit muddled as soon as the second round hits, but you could make an argument for any one of these players as your WR1 if you choose to go with a running back first. Thomas is entering his third season in the prolific Saints offense and is about as consistent as they come. He caught less than five passes in a game only twice all season and finished sixth in total targets among all receivers.

A.J. Green had a down year by his standards, but he still finished with the third-highest target total of his career and managed to break the 1,000-yard mark. I had no reservations putting him as a top-10 fantasy asset due to his consistency.

Davante Adams has climbed the most among all WR, which is surprising since he was without All-Pro quarterback Aaron Rodgers much of the year. Brett Hundley seemed to have an affinity for Adams, targeting him 78 times in the nine games they played together before Adams' concussion, compared to 55 targets for Jordy Nelson and 48 for Randall Cobb in the same stretch. It's easy to pick the younger receiver and assume he will take up the mantle as the WR1, but all things being equal, Adams may not outproduce Nelson this year. He is inked for four years, however, so his fantasy floor is pretty safe from a long-term dynasty perspective.

Tier Three

Keenan Allen, Brandin Cooks, Amari Cooper, Tyreek Hill, Jarvis Landry, TY Hilton

Allen and Cooks both have finely-aging quarterbacks but should continue to put up good numbers for the next couple of years and should still be considered early picks. In a recent (still ongoing) RotoBaller writer dynasty mock, Allen and Cooks were taken as picks 2.2 and 2.3 respectively.

Amari Cooper has received more airtime than any other single player on the Fantasy Bomb podcast, but for good reason. He entered 2017 as the the seventh-ranked player in dynasty, but is now going as the 26th overall selection according to FantasyFootballCalculator. Arguably one of the biggest busts of the season, he is a clear buy-low candidate and an intriguing player who will now have Jon Gruden as a head coach with the possibility of no Michael Crabtree opposite him. This is a boom-bust pick at its finest.

Jarvis Landry was just slapped with the franchise tag, so unless a blockbuster trade happens in the coming months, his value should remain fairly static with Miami.

It's a bit surprising to see T.Y. Hilton ahead of Allen Robinson, who slipped to the top of tier four in our early rankings. Steve is especially bullish on Hilton returning to fantasy stardom, ranking him in the top 20 overall and ahead of Julio Jones. With the exception of a few elite players like Hopkins and Brown, most receivers' value in largely tied to their offense and QB situation. If we can't get more out of Andrew Luck than "I’m in the middle of sort of a little bit of throwing...", you can count me out of the running for Hilton or any other Colts receiver.

Tier Four

Allen Robinson, Alshon Jeffery, Doug Baldwin, Juju Smith-Schuster, Stefon Diggs, Corey Davis, Josh Gordon, Adam Thielen, Golden Tate, Demaryius Thomas, Sammy Watkins, Marvin Jones

Here's where things get sticky. The fourth tier is jam-packed with players that have WR1 potential and serve as the primary targets on their teams. Alshon Jeffery should see an uptick in value after a nice playoff run and huge touchdown catch in the Super Bowl that will stick in people's minds. Any concerns about Carson Wentz's injury can be thrown out the window as long as Nick Foles is still around.

Amidst relatively safe veterans like Doug Baldwin, Golden Tate, and Demaryius Thomas, we have far more exciting options available. Juju Smith-Schuster is not only the youngest receiver on this list, he was the youngest player in the entire NFL last season at 20 years old. Now that he's ditched the bicycle and put up impressive numbers as a rookie with 58 receptions, 917 yards, and seven touchdowns, it's almost shocking to see him this far down the dynasty ranks. Each of our experts had him in the same range between the top 30-40 overall players, but I suspect this may change as we get closer to the regular season.

Corey Davis is an interesting name to find here because his ceiling is arguably the highest, yet his 2017 production was by far the lowest (not counting A-Rob). A new coach and more dynamic offensive scheme could open things up for the passing game and third-year QB Marcus Mariota should take another step forward. This might be the best ADP value that Davis will have for years to come, so it's worth taking a chance on his talent.

Thomas, Diggs, Thielen, and Gordon are all risky picks at the moment since nobody knows who they'll be catching passes from over the next couple of years. Assuming Teddy Bridgewater recovers his role as the starting QB in Minnesota, both Diggs and Thielen become slightly less interesting.

Tier Five

Dez Bryant, Michael Crabtree, Sterling Shepard, Devin Funchess, Jamison Crowder, Jordy Nelson

Dez and Crab are ticking time bombs waiting to go off in the hands of any dynasty owner, not just because of their volatile tempers. Neither is a free agent, but both may find themselves wearing different uniforms in 2018. The Cowboys are loudly considering parting ways with Bryant to save themselves future cap space (and headaches). Crabtree may also be cut loose if the Raiders choose to get younger at the position, but that all depends on whether he fits the mold of a Gruden Grinder in his new coach's estimation.

If you're a win-now kind of dynasty player like myself and my man @chrismangano, then you are fine taking Jordy Nelson as your second receiver and going young at the position later on. It seems like he was written off years ago as being too old, but at the age of 32 there's no reason he can't give another five seasons of solid production in a high-scoring offense.

Tier Six

Emmanuel Sanders, Pierre Garcon, DeVante Parker, Kelvin Benjamin, Corey Coleman, Cooper Kupp

Risk abounds with this group of WR, as Sanders may be on the move, Garcon is coming off a serious injury, Benjamin is on a run-first team searching for a quarterback, and Coleman is... a Cleveland Brown. Upon further review, my own ranking of Garcon at 93 needs a major adjustment, as I believe he is due for a big year with Jimmy G at QB and should have a few good years left too.

DeVante Parker has been a massive disappointment and the QB situation alone can't be blamed. While the two-headed monster of Jay Cutler and Matt Moore is a scarier proposition than meeting the Demogorgon head-on, it still allowed Jarvis Landry rack up a career-best 112 catches and nine TD, while Kenny Stills also enjoyed his best season as a Dolphin. As a lanky, 6'3" first-round pick with elite athleticism, there is simply no reason he shouldn't have been better. He's worth the risk among this group of players, but should not be reached for in hopes that the light bulb suddenly switches on.

Tier Seven

Robert Woods, Martavis Bryant, Chris Godwin, Nelson Agholor

If you're looking for WR depth and upside closer to the eighth round, would you rather have the guy who's the third option on his own team and has a history of personal issues, or the second-year player oozing with potential and physical gifts? That might have been framed in a totally subjective way, but the point is that Chris Godwin, and Nelson Agholor for that matter, are both players whose fantasy outlook exceed Martavis Bryant. Bryant's size/speed combo and tremendous Sparq score that ranked him in the 89th percentile are great on paper, but he's yet to catch more than 50 passes in a season and his touchdown totals have gone down each season he's actually played, down to three last year.

Tier Eight

Larry Fitzgerald, Marquise Goodwin, Will Fuller, Kenny Golladay, Josh Doctson, Dede Westbrook

Now that Fitz is definitely back for another go, his ranking will surely be boosted in the next update. Even if it's just one more season of greatness, it surely places him among the top-25 WR. The great thing about dynasty is that even if your team tanks and you own aging assets like Fitzgerald, you can always trade him to a contender before playoff time and pickup some draft picks or rookies in exchange for your investment.

As you can tell by my ranking of him at 69, I am clearly enamored with Kenny Golladay's ability. Steve is not too impressed, having ranked him twice as high at 145! He is 6'4" with a catch radius of 10.18 and a 40 time of 4.50. In other words, Martavis Bryant but with a work ethic and without the character issues. He also plays at least half his games on turf and is part of a pass-heavy offense with a legit franchise QB. What else could you ask for in a dynasty asset?

Josh Doctson has all the talent, but hasn't put it together and now faces the prospects of a more conservative offense. Dede Westbrook may suffer the same fate as an under-used speed threat with great hands. While things can change in a hurry in the NFL, you can't assume that a rookie or second-year player will suddenly jump up in value because you want them to. None of the players at this point in our rankings or lower should be taken as anything but depth and/or upside fliers. Zero RB enthusiasts, you've probably filled your roster with receivers anyway at this point, so now's the time to load up on your rookie runners!

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