As the clock ticks down to the start of the 2021 NFL regular season, fantasy football drafts are kicking off at a record pace, and more and more people are trying their hand at the ever-expanding game. Keeping you up to date with the latest changes and movers as the preseason moves along, here are the latest fantasy football WR rankings for 2021.
2021 Fantasy Football WR Rankings | 1-10
Note: These consensus rankings were created with 0.5 PPR scoring in mind and will fluctuate as we get closer to the season. Please check back regularly for any changes.
WR Rankings | 1-5
- WR1 – Davante Adams, Green Bay Packers
- WR2 – Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs
- WR3 – Calvin Ridley, Atlanta Falcons
- WR4 – Stefon Diggs, Buffalo Bills
- WR5 – DeAndre Hopkins, Arizona Cardinals
These are the best of the best in WR rankings for fantasy football in 2021, but even then, there are tiers amongst them.Â
Adams and Hill are in a group of their own and, quite frankly, can be flipped depending on your mood — there is little separating them. Where Adams will lead in overall volume, Hill comes back with explosive plays. Last season, Hill was the WR2 while averaging 19.0 ppg (0.5 PPR), recording WR2 or better games in 74% of games. The only player better was Adams.
Thanks to 18 touchdowns, Adams was the WR1 while averaging 21.5 ppg. Additionally, Adams has a three-year average of 7.5 catches for 92 yards and 0.88 touchdowns per game. No matter your choice, there is no wrong answer.
Ridley is going to dominate. He was a WR1 with Julio Jones on the team and now has the opportunity to be the WR1 overall. Ridley was on pace for 329 PPR points and 1,749 yards in the seven games without Jones in the lineup last year. He averaged 7.14 receptions on 11.29 targets for 109.9 yards and 20.56 PPR points.
Stefon Diggs can build on impressive first year in Buffalo
When a team makes a blockbuster trade to acquire one of the best players at their position, take that as a message that they want to prioritize them. That is what happened with Diggs and the Bills. Diggs ended last season as the WR3 in PPR formats with an astonishing 20.5 points per game. Playing on 89% of the snaps, Diggs led the NFL in targets (166), receptions (127), receiving yards (1,535), and tied for 12th in touchdowns (8).
The Bills went from a 54.9% pass rate in 2019 (26th) to a pass-happy 61.7% in 2020 (11th). Furthermore, only the Arizona Cardinals (217 snaps) ran more plays with four-plus wide receiver sets than the Bills (198).
Here is a fun fact. Did you know that Hopkins has seen 150+ targets in six straight seasons and has finished as a top-five receiver in five of them? So why should we expect anything different this year? He is a top-five WR in fantasy football rankings in 2021.
WR Rankings | 6-10
- WR6 – Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings
- WR7 – DK Metcalf, Seattle Seahawks
- WR8 – A.J. Brown, Tennessee Titans
- WR9 – Keenan Allen, Los Angeles Chargers
- WR10 – Terry McLaurin, Washington Football Team
It took no time at all for Jefferson to establish himself as one of the NFL’s premier deep threats and an emerging all-around receiver. He did what no other wide receiver in the league’s history had done by turning 125 or fewer targets into 1,400+ yards. Jefferson also led all rookies last season with 88 receptions and tied for the second-most touchdowns with 7.
When you move away from PPR scoring, targeting WRs in rankings likely to lead their team in touchdowns is a smart strategy. For the Seahawks, that is Metcalf. But he is more than just that. Metcalf took a noticeable step forward in Year 2. He recorded 83 receptions on 129 targets for 1,303 yards and 10 touchdowns as the WR7, averaging 17.0 ppg. For perspective, Metcalf is one of just nine WRs since 2000 to record 2,200+ yards in his first two seasons.
On just 106 targets in 2020, Brown was the WR12 with 1,075 yards and 11 touchdowns. Amongst receivers who saw at least 50 targets, Brown had the fourth-highest points per target (2.3) and was seventh in points per reception (3.48). Since the NFL merger in 1970, Brown is fifth all-time in receiving TDs by a receiver in their first two seasons (19). He will not see 160+ targets with the addition of Julio Jones, but Brown is still an elite option that should be selected in Round 2 of fantasy football drafts.
Keenan Allen deserves more respect
Allen is the most underrated WR in not just fantasy football but the NFL. The veteran wideout has at least 97 catches in each of the last four seasons. In 2020, Allen had 992 receiving yards and tied a career-high 8 touchdowns in 14 games. In his 13 games with Justin Herbert under center, Allen averaged 10.6 targets, 7.4 receptions, 73.4 yards, 0.6 TDs, and 18.6 fantasy ppg.
Despite playing with Dwayne Haskins, Alex Smith, Kyle Allen, and Taylor Heinicke the last two years, McLaurin has somehow recorded 2,037 yards and 11 touchdowns. Ryan Fitzpatrick is a significant upgrade at QB, and McLaurin has top-six upside if things break right this season.
2021 Fantasy Football WR Rankings | 11-20
Rounding out the rest of the top 20 shows the incredible depth in fantasy football WR rankings for 2021.
WR Rankings | 11-15
- WR11 – Allen Robinson II, Chicago Bears
- WR12 – Robert Woods, Los Angeles Rams
- WR13 – CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys
- WR14 – D.J. Moore, Carolina Panthers
- WR15 – Amari Cooper, Dallas Cowboys
Where I said Allen was the most underrated WR, Robinson has a claim to make for that title. Robinson finished 2020 as the WR9 in fantasy, averaging 16.4 points per game (13th) with 102 receptions on 151 targets for 1,250 yards and 6 touchdowns. He will be great with Andy Dalton but could be exceptional with Justin Fields.
While never the trendy name, Woods has been as consistent as it gets despite sharing the field with Cooper Kupp. Over the last three seasons, Woods has finished as the WR11, WR14, and WR14 in PPR formats. Now, Woods gets an upgrade under center in Matthew Stafford. In drafts, Woods is being undervalued yet again (WR17 on Fleaflicker) but has weekly high-end WR2 upside.
In this range are both Cowboys WRs Cooper and Lamb. On any given week, both Lamb or Cooper could blow up. On any other team, they would be the dominant alpha. The most significant boost to both Cooper and Lamb is the return of Dak Prescott. In their five games together, Cooper was the WR8 (17.8 ppg) and Lamb was the WR11 (17.1 ppg).Â
I love Moore. Anyone who knows me knows this. I will climb to the top of every water tower to defend his honor. In three years, Moore compiled 208 receptions, 3,156 yards, and 10 total touchdowns. He is No. 5 in franchise history in receiving yards before turning 24.Â
WR Rankings | 16-20
- WR16 – Julio Jones, Tennessee Titans
- WR17 – Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- WR18 – Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams
- WR19 – Diontae Johnson, Pittsburgh Steelers
- WR20 – Tyler Lockett, Seattle Seahawks
Unlikely to see the same volume he has grown accustomed to with the Falcons, Jones is still elite despite age concerns and will be a perfectly fine WR2 in fantasy.Â
You are not going to find a more consistent WR than Evans. Since entering the NFL seven years ago, he has surpassed 1,000 yards every year and scored 8 or more TDs in five seasons. Evans has finished as a top-12 fantasy WR five times and never outside the top 24. But does he have the upside you look for from WRs in this range of fantasy football rankings?
Johnson underwhelmed last season, but the volume will be there in 2021. From Week 10 and on, he was the WR6 in PPR (17.8 ppg), including a mid-game benching due to drops in Week 14. Expect him to once again lead the Steelers in targets and receptions this season. I just hope the efficiency rises in Year 3 (33rd in points per target with 1.54).
2021 Fantasy Football WR Rankings | 21-30
Which WRs currently have low-end WR2/high-end WR3 status?
WR Rankings | 21-25
- WR21 – Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals
- WR22 – Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- WR23 – Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings
- WR24 – Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals
- WR25 – Chase Claypool, Pittsburgh Steelers
Similar to what we saw last season before Joe Burrow’s injury, the Bengals will need to throw the ball a ton in 2021. Both Ja’Marr Chase and Higgins find themselves going nearly back-to-back in both WR rankings and fantasy football drafts.Â
Out of the three Steelers WRs, Claypool has the highest potential upside. His game relies on deeper targets, as his team-high 1,431 air yards and 13.0 aDOT (average depth of target) would indicate.
Thielen had a strong bounce-back season last year, finishing as the WR8 (14.5 ppg) and setting a new career-high TD total (14). With that said, touchdowns are by no means a predictive stat, and Thielen is on the wrong side of 30.
WR Rankings | 26-30
- WR26 – Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers
- WR27 – Odell Beckham Jr., Cleveland Browns
- WR28 – Kenny Golladay, New York Giants
- WR29 – DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles
- WR30 – Robby Anderson, Carolina Panthers
Aiyuk blew up from Week 7 and on, averaging 7.5 receptions on 11.7 targets for 94.7 yards and 0.7 TDs per game. While playing in just six games during this span hurt his overall standings (WR19), his 20.8 points per game were third-highest. But can he do this with George Kittle and Deebo Samuel on the field at the same time?
Do not draft fantasy football players based on their names. Do it based on their recent output. For as incredibly talented as OBJ is, he is not the WR1 you remember. Still, he can be a reliable WR2 coming as a discount on draft day due to his injury history.Â
The Panthers were 3 targets to Curtis Samuel shy from being one of just three teams in the NFL who had three WRs with 100 targets (Bengals and Steelers). Leading that group was Anderson with 136 (eighth in NFL). Yet, he is going three rounds later than Moore in current drafts.
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