
Andrew Ball's best NFL wide receiver stacks and tandems for fantasy football in 2025 drafts. His top targets include wide receivers from the Bengals, Eagles, Rams, and Lions.
Long before she was the biggest pop star in the world and Travis Kelce's girlfriend, a young Taylor Swift, with the help of pop-punk band Boys Like Girls, had a simple message for us: Two is better than one.
The release of that track coincided with Randy Moss and Wes Welker dominating in New England (2009), finishing as the WR2 and WR3. It's the best fantasy scoring season ever for wide receiver teammates. Other NFL franchises learned the lesson: Two is better than one.
Flash forward to today, and teams are negatively viewed if they don't have a second option in the passing game. Teams with two elite wide receivers deliver fantasy football gold. Here are the top wide receiver tandems in the NFL.
Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:- 2025 fantasy football rankings (redraft)
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Cincinnati Bengals: Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins
Ja'Marr Chase joined Cooper Kupp (2021) and Steve Smith Sr. (2005) as the only wide receivers since the turn of the millennium to win the receiving triple crown. He's never finished outside of WR1 territory and racked up 85.5 more PPR fantasy points than the next-best receiver, Justin Jefferson, last season. He's the unanimous WR1 for 2025 and widely considered the top overall selection in redraft leagues.
Remember that time Ja’Marr Chase scored 55.4 fantasy points 👀 pic.twitter.com/1t5T9c7kFe
— Sleeper (@SleeperHQ) May 16, 2025
The case for the Bengals as fantasy football's top duo is strengthened by Chase's dominance, but Tee Higgins isn't dragging his teammate down. He's the consensus best "second fiddle" in the rankings, above alphas like Garrett Wilson, Tyreek Hill, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, among others.
You, like me, may think that's a little rich for a man who's never caught 75 passes or topped 1,100 yards in any of his five seasons. He's also been maddeningly unavailable due to injury. He played 16 games in his rookie season, although he dropped a goose egg in the final week of the season after leaving early with an ailment.
There was also the pregame tweak that limited him to one snap during a fantasy playoff game in 2022.
Who can forget about the practice injuries in 2024, which cost him five total games? He's suited up in 12 games apiece in 2023 and 2024.
But, in the end, he's outstanding when he's active, and he's under a new contract that pays out incentives for being on the field. Higgins was the WR6 on a per-game basis last year, averaging 18.5 PPR points per game. His 10 touchdowns certainly boosted his final figure.
The Cincinnati defense was among the worst units in football last season. Their best pass rusher, Trey Hendrickson, is threatening a holdout, and first-round pick Shemar Stewart hasn't practiced due to contract disputes. Despite the change at coordinator, the Bengals' defense could be just as bad in 2025.
That's a bad thing for Bengals fans, but great for fantasy football. It forces Joe Burrow and company to score 28+ to win. Due to their concentrated usage of the offensive weapons, Chase, Higgins, and running back Chase Brown are all worth early-round selections on draft day.
Philadelphia Eagles: A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith
There is a certain demographic in the country, especially in Philadelphia, that will argue that A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith are the best tandem in the NFL. Unfortunately, in the fantasy football realm, they are on the same roster as the best running back in the league.
Last season was a worst-case scenario for the Eagles' receivers. Both missed three games with injury (and a fourth in a meaningless Week 18 game). However, even when they were on the field, they were afterthoughts.
Philadelphia called a run play at the highest rate in football, three percent more often than the Baltimore Ravens, who finished second, and it wasn't only because of their 14-3 record. Philadelphia also had one of the lowest pass rates over expected in the NFL.
Coaches realized early in the season, essentially Week 1, that Saquon Barkley was the engine of the offense. He and Derrick Henry are the only running backs to log more than 350 carries since 2014. Many, other than the non-human Henry, struggled in the year following a massive workload.
It's the primary reason Barkley isn't ranked as the top running back this time around. If we're anticipating a slowdown, or even worse, an injury, then the focus of the Philadelphia offense shifts back to the receivers. Unproven second-year back Will Shipley and veteran AJ Dillon currently round out the running back depth chart.
Despite the fewest targets per game (7.5) since his rookie season, Brown was still the WR12 on a per-game basis. It's the same story for Smith, who earned 6.8 targets per game and maneuvered squarely in WR2 territory (WR17).
Justin Jefferson was the WR5 last year in YPRR with 2.5
If AJ Brown had a season with less than 2.5 YPRR, it'd be his lowest ever. Going into year 7. Alien. pic.twitter.com/NWFSKR6Sh2
— Ron Stewart (@RonStewart_) July 10, 2025
Their costs this season accurately represent the watered-down 2024 campaign. Brown is ranked as the WR10, essentially at his floor. Smith's cost is even more valuable right now, outside of the top 24, despite being a WR2 in points per game every season since his second year.
Los Angeles Rams: Puka Nacua and Davante Adams
Chase and Higgins are the ADP kings of wide receiver duos, but Puka Nacua and Davante Adams aren’t far behind.
Los Angeles' breakout star, Nacua, is repeating as a first-round fantasy selection. The newbie, Adams, is a second or third-round pick for the second year in a row, despite donning a new uniform in 2025.
The Rams brought in the 32-year-old to replace Kupp. Kupp showed signs of decline at the end of the 2024 season. Adams, on the other hand, added another 1,000-yard campaign to his Hall of Fame résumé. It helped that his best buddy, Aaron Rodgers, peppered him with 10.4 targets per game.
The quarterback situation in New York helped him usurp the younger, future star in Garrett Wilson, who averaged 11 targets before Adams arrived. He won't have that luxury in Los Angeles. Nacua established himself as the top wide receiver for Matthew Stafford.
However, the Sean McVay-led offense, with a few exceptions, routinely produces multiple top-24 wide receivers in points per game, from Robert Woods to Brandin Cooks to Kupp and Nacua.
Season | WR1 (PPR PPG, Rank) | WR2 (PPR PPG, Rank) |
2017 | Robert Woods (13.6, WR19) | Cooper Kupp (11.8, WR28) |
2018* | Cooper Kupp (16.9, WR14) | Robert Woods (16.6, WR15) |
2019 | Cooper Kupp (16.9, WR7) | Robert Woods (15.5, WR13) |
2020 | Robert Woods (15.3, WR19) | Cooper Kupp (13.9, WR30) |
2021 | Cooper Kupp (25.9, WR1) | Robert Woods (15.2, WR18) |
2022 | Cooper Kupp (22.4, WR1) | Allen Robinson (8.5, WR64) |
2023 | Puka Nacua (17.6, WR6) | Cooper Kupp (13.7, WR24) |
2024 | Puka Nacua (18.8, WR3) | Cooper Kupp (14.6, WR22) |
*Cooks finished as WR20 (15.2 PPG) in 2018, giving the Rams three top-24 wide receivers
If we believe that Adams is better than Kupp at this stage of his career, then having two top-24 receivers should be a lock, barring an injury to Stafford. Adams is also still deadly in the red zone (at least eight touchdowns in all but one season since 2016). Both Los Angeles receivers are appropriately priced in redraft formats.
Detroit Lions: Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams
Is Jameson Williams the fourth-best second wide receiver? He’s not, but he may be a blossoming star.
He is, after all, a former first-round pick who essentially had a redshirt rookie year due to a college ACL tear and then sat out four games with a suspension to open his second year. By games played, Williams is entering his third season and is primed for a breakout campaign.
That is, if you don’t consider his 2024 campaign a breakout. 1,062 total yards and eight touchdowns certainly qualify, but the target (91) and reception (58) totals leave some to be desired. That ranked 40th and 42nd, respectively, among wide receivers.
There are a lot of mouths to feed on the Detroit offense. The buck starts with Amon-Ra St. Brown and the running game (Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery). Williams and tight end Sam LaPorta are next in the pecking order. Unfortunately, that’s what leads to a 17.3% target share for Williams, which dropped even further in the red zone.
However, his speed and ability to rack up yardage after the catch (497, seventh among WRs) are what make Dan Campbell yearn to feature him. We saw more plays designed for Williams last year, and coaches have spoken about how excited they are to take it a step further in 2025.
#Lions OC John Morton on Jameson Williams:
“He has been unbelievable. Unbelievable… I’m so excited to see him this year. It’s gonna be a breakout year for him. So, I can’t wait. I just can’t wait, man.” pic.twitter.com/jpfi4dOD2G
— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) May 13, 2025
Hopefully, for fantasy football, that brings consistency to his box score. He topped 120 yards and scored in three games last year, but also had two regular-season games with a single catch, for grand totals of nine and negative four yards.
What Williams doesn’t bring to the table, St. Brown does. St. Brown has been the WR7 or better since his breakout in the latter part of his rookie season in 2021. Barring injury, fantasy managers can pencil in 100+ receptions and 1,000+ yards. He’s also snagged double-digit touchdowns in each of the last two seasons.
The pair complements each other perfectly on the field. On our pretend gridiron, St. Brown is a set-and-forget first-round pick. Williams can be a complementary piece for managers who roster a consistent WR1. The Williams trump card can be found in the fifth round.
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