WR Rankings

Chase scored 403 PPR points last season, the fourth most ever by a wide receiver, and became the fifth player since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to win a receiving triple crown. In non-fantasy terms, he's been close to infallible since Cincinnati picked him fifth overall in 2021, grading out as elite in terms of speed (4.34 40), leaping (41-inch vertical), route-running and after-the-catch skills (6.2 career YAC average) -- all while sporting a denser-than-usual build (6 feet, 201 pounds) for a wide receiver. He's never averaged less than 16.4 PPR points, yet there arguably was a slight element of disappointment from a fantasy perspective before last season, as he'd been unable to maintain his frequency of big plays from 2021 (eight TDs of 30+ yards) once the Bengals started feeding him a steady diet of short targets in 2022 and 2023. It was only a matter of time before he combined both elements in a single season, although the extent to which that was true last year may not have been predicted even by Chase himself. He now enters his age-25 season as the popular No. 1 overall fantasy pick, with a near-perfect setup for continued production after he and running mate Tee Higgins finally joined QB Joe Burrow in signing long-term extensions with the Bengals. The nature of Chase's 2024 production was such that he can lose 10-20 percent of it in 2025 and still be a successful No. 1 pick, giving him plenty of leeway for regression in terms of touchdowns (17 last year) or team pass volume (38.4 attempts per game).

Kirk Cousins' departure from Minnesota last offseason dropped Jefferson from his familiar perch as an early first-round fantasy pick, leaving him as more of a mid-round-1 guy amidst concerns about Vikings QBs Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy. It ended up being good value, with an average of 18.7 PPR points representing Jefferson's lowest mark since his 2020 rookie season yet still enough to rank second among WRs in total points and fourth in points per game. There seems to be less concern about a new QB this time around, after Jefferson and Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell coaxed 35 TD passes out of Darnold. We don't yet know if McCarthy, last year's 10th overall pick, will end up being an upgrade, a downgrade or about the same as Darnold, but it's safe to say the 22-year-old's statistics will look better than his actual performance. O'Connell not only likes to chuck the ball around but also is among the best at scheming it up, and the Vikings have talented ancillary pass catchers (WR Jordan Addison, TE T.J. Hockenson) to take some of the heat off Jefferson without truly threatening his volume. If Jefferson goes in the middle part of Round 1 rather than the early part this year, it's seemingly a matter of optimism regarding RBs Bijan Robinson, Saquon Barkley and Jahmyr Gibbs more so than fears about McCarthy. Early ADP feedback has Jefferson safely in the WR2 spot, behind only Ja'Marr Chase.

Lamb's first four NFL seasons were marked by steady improvement, including a surge forward in 2023 when he scored 403.2 PPR points, the third most ever by a wide receiver. His momentum finally slowed last season, with Lamb dropping back to his 2022 rate of scoring (17.6 PPR average), although it took bad luck to push him down to what was still a high level, finishing eighth among WRs in both total PPR points and points per game. He might've finished as high as second or third, if not for the Week 9 game at Atlanta in which QB Dak Prescott suffered a season-ending hamstring injury and Lamb an AC joint sprain. The shoulder injury cost Lamb snaps in a couple other games and eventually led the Cowboys to shut him down for Weeks 17-18, although he first proved capable of putting up solid numbers with a backup quarterback, averaging 6.9 catches for 76.3 yards in the seven games both he and Cooper Rush started. Prescott should be ready for Week 1, but there's tougher competition for targets following a May trade for WR George Pickens. For all his merits, Lamb isn't on the same level as Justin Jefferson or Ja'Marr Chase as a downfield threat, which means he'll need to continue piling up cheap, easy receptions to get back toward his 2023 status as a tip-top WR1.

Collins is increasingly discussed with the "when healthy" qualifier -- partially a result of missing multiple games every season so far, and partially a reflection of there not being anything else to criticize. A 2021 third-round pick with 4.43 speed in a 6-4, 215-pound frame, Collins broke out alongside QB C.J. Stroud in 2023 with an 80-1,297-8 receiving line in 15 regular-season games. While the rest of Houston's offense took a step back in 2024, the only hiccup for Collins' production was availability. He finished the regular season at 68-1,006-7 on 99 targets, despite missing five games with a hamstring injury and playing fewer than half of Houston's snaps in three others. Looking at his past two seasons, the cumulative production was impressive, the per-game numbers even better, and then the per-route/snap metrics yet another level above. Collins is one of three players in the past decade with multiple seasons of 3.0 yards per route or better, joined by Tyreek Hill and Julio Jones. Among Collins' current peers, only Hill and Ja'Marr Chase are comparable in terms of both YAC skills and deep-ball prowess. The Texans hired a new offensive coordinator (Nick Caley) this offseason before adding WRs Christian Kirk, Jayden Higgins (Round 2) and Jaylin Noel (Round 3), giving the offense a new look after WRs Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell both suffered ACL tears last season. The real challenge for Collins is to avoid, or at least minimize, the soft-tissue injuries that cost him seven full games and parts of five others over the past two seasons.

After setting the rookie record for receiving yards, Nacua was even more productive on a per-game basis in his second pro season, averaging 7.2 catches for 90.0 yards even though a knee injury cost him five games and limited his snaps in three others. His 2024 average of 3.7 yards per route run was a league high, well above his 2.7 YPRR (8th) in 2023. Nacua is one of the strongest and most physical wide receivers in the league, with his ability to break tackles and win contested catches more than making up for average speed. He's a perfect fit in Sean McVay's offense, although the competition for targets got slightly tougher this offseason when the Rams swapped out a post-prime Cooper Kupp for a post-prime Davante Adams. It's otherwise a fantastic situation, as the team lacks secondary receivers that demand considerable target shares and still has QB Matthew Stafford playing at a reasonably high level. The two drawbacks are a sketchy injury history dating back to college and a lack of touchdowns (nine on 184 career receptions), but there are only a handful of WRs that project for similar quantities of catches and yards per game.