2015 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings (Standard Leagues)

Below are RotoBaller’s 2015 fantasy football wide receiver rankings for standard (non-PPR) leagues. These staff consensus rankings take the average ranks of three RotoBallers: Edward Gorelik (@edwardgorelik), Zach Wilkens (@LopsidedTrades) and Adam Sabol, , and they also covered PPR league wide receiver rankings in part two of this rankings list.

Be sure to also check out our 2015 fantasy football ranking dashboard which includes tiered positional ranks, dynasty/keeper league rankings, NFL rookie rankings, and lots more great rankings analysis.

Our awesome team of NFL contributors has been churning out lots of great content to help you dominate, and you can find it all in one place. Over the next few weeks, our best and brightest will continue to bring you tons of awesome draft rankings analysis to help you prepare for your fantasy football drafts, so stay tuned. Now let’s get to it.

Dynasty tiered rankings: Quarterbacks, Running Backs (Tier 1), Running Backs (Tier 2), Running Backs (Tiers 3, 4), Running Backs (Tiers 5, 6), Wide Receivers (Tier 1), Wide Receivers (Tier 2), Wide Receivers (Tiers 3, 4), Wide Receivers (Tiers 5, 6), Wide Receivers (Tiers 7, 8), Tight Ends (Tiers 1, 2), Tight Ends (Tiers 3, 4), Top 200 (PPR), Top 200 (Standard), Rookie Rankings (1-12), Rookie Rankings (13-18)

Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings

Standard League Scoring (Top 120)

Wide Receiver (WR) Rankings Analysis

By Zach Wilkens (@LopsidedTrades)

Much like how I like Carson Palmer more than most experts, I feel the same way about his #1 receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Fitz put up three double digit performances in Palmer’s five starts after returning from his first injury. I don’t think he’s a star anymore but he can still be really good.

I like both of Miami’s new additions at WR in DeVante Parker and Kenny Stills. I’ve previously written about Stills. Parker is coming off foot surgery which is troubling but I think he is an exceptional talent and WRs like that can make an impact immediately. I expect a slow start but I think he’ll be looking like the real deal once he is fully healed and has some game experience.

Keenan Allen is one guy I’m not so hot on at WR28. Believe it or not, he actually had more targets and receptions last year than he did as a rookie, he was just did less with those targets. Deep threat Malcom Floyd was likely a big factor in that and even though he’s old, he’s still back. I don’t think Stevie Johnson helps either. I expect numbers somewhere in between his first two seasons. That makes him a borderline WR2 at best.

Martavis Bryant is another guy I’m low on at WR36. Even at the end of the season he wasn’t on the field a whole lot. His low catch percentage (54.2%) coupled with a high drop rate are both big warning signs to me. His touchdown rate (8 TD on 26 catches) is extremely unsustainable. Big Ben has found success in the past with Mike Wallace who had a similar lack of efficiency and thrived on the deep ball but even Wallace was more efficient than Bryant was.

By Ed Gorelik (@EdwardGorelik)

I've been lower on Emmanuel Sanders than most others, entirely because of the addition of Kubiak and Peyton's regression. Although stats haven't shown the regression yet, Peyton's become far more dependent on his teammates than in years past given how much his arm has suffered from old age. With the addition of Kubiak and a more balanced offense, plus Sanders coming off of a career year in what was a high-passing offense, a regression is much more likely than a match.

On the flip side, Andre Johnson is a player I've been very high on since his move to Indy. On a team that lacks any other possession receiver, Johnson is going to be taking on the more consistent role in the best offense he's ever played in with the best QB he's ever played in. The Colts were first in the league last year in passing touchdowns and 5th in overall touchdowns scored, so Johnson is entering a situation with a lot of opportunity.

A player I find myself much higher on than the other RotoBaller rankers is Amari Cooper, who is joining Derek Carr in Oakland. Carr wasn't a very impressive QB in his rookie year, but he showed the kind of skills that a player like Cooper could work with- most importantly good timing on his passes. OC Bill Musgrave on average has targeted his WR1 130 times a year (or was on pace to), so this is high opportunity for a Rookie to pull out a WR2 year.

Two players I find myself very low on compared to the rest is Torrey Smith and Jeremy Maclin, with the same reasons for both. Neither are entering good offenses, neither fit well with their QBs tendencies (Maclin more-so because of Alex Smith's fear of throwing to a wideout, while Smith is going to hope that Kaepernick's rocket arm can learn the proper touch required to make him valuable), and they're both coming off career years while entering a new situation. Although Torrey only set a high in touchdowns last year and not yards, that's actually what bodes so poorly for him since a 10 touchdown performance on an offense that projects to be much worse is a lot harder to expect. I expect neither player to finish in higher than 30th amongst WRs.

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