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!

Editor's Note: Our incredible team of writers won two writing awards and received 12 award nominations by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association. A big congrats to our very own Byron Lindeque (Golf) and Jordan McAbee (NASCAR) for both winning Writer Of The Year awards! Be sure to follow RotoBaller's analysis and advice all year long, and win more. Win More With RotoBaller!

 

Dynasty Wide Receiver Tiered Rankings

Tier	Rank	Player Name	Pos	Aaron	Pierre	Kyle	Steve
1	1	Odell Beckham Jr.	WR	1	1	2	1
1	3	DeAndre Hopkins	WR	2	2	5	3
1	5	Mike Evans	WR	3	5	10	4
1	7	Antonio Brown	WR	9	4	6	8
2	9	Michael Thomas	WR	7	9	8	9
2	12	A.J. Green	WR	15	10	14	17
2	13	Julio Jones	WR	12	16	16	20
2	15	Davante Adams	WR	12	25	15	15
3	18	Keenan Allen	WR	33	15	9	19
3	20	Brandin Cooks	WR	24	14	34	14
3	21	Amari Cooper	WR	19	20	23	27
3	24	Tyreek Hill	WR	38	23	18	23
3	25	Jarvis Landry	WR	21	19	24	39
3	26	T.Y. Hilton	WR	29	35	22	18
4	29	Allen Robinson	WR	25	27	39	28
4	32	Alshon Jeffery	WR	22	28	53	31
4	33	Doug Baldwin	WR	44	30	38	24
4	34	JuJu Smith-Schuster	WR	31	32	35	40
4	35	Stefon Diggs	WR	37	29	32	42
4	39	Corey Davis	WR	30	24	59	43
4	41	Josh Gordon	WR	45	38	31	49
4	42	Adam Thielen	WR	68	40	33	34
4	44	Golden Tate	WR	48	48	49	36
4	45	Demaryius Thomas	WR	46	46	50	48
4	49	Sammy Watkins	WR	41	45	69	67
4	51	Marvin Jones	WR	65	59	45	58
5	53	Dez Bryant	WR	47	65	77	55
5	56	Michael Crabtree	WR	51	49	88	63
5	57	Sterling Shepard	WR	56	52	65	82
5	58	Devin Funchess	WR	80	51	79	52
5	61	Jamison Crowder	WR	84	76	44	69
5	64	Jordy Nelson	WR	74	85	56	65
6	65	Emmanuel Sanders	WR	71	62	85	70
6	68	Pierre Garcon	WR	85	93	71	54
6	70	DeVante Parker	WR	89	73	83	61
6	71	Kelvin Benjamin	WR	77	81	93	56
6	73	Corey Coleman	WR	67	47	129	73
6	74	Cooper Kupp	WR	81	67	72	97
7	78	Robert Woods	WR	106	108	64	59
7	79	Martavis Bryant	WR	69	84	94	95
7	83	Chris Godwin	WR	86	68	99	104
8	88	Nelson Agholor	WR	142	64	58	100
8	92	Larry Fitzgerald	WR	73	119	86	90
8	93	Marquise Goodwin	WR	165	80	46	85
8	94	Will Fuller	WR	170	58	78	84
8	95	Kenny Golladay	WR	82	69	95	145
8	96	Josh Doctson	WR	93	94	130	76
8	98	Dede Westbrook	WR	88	90	100	121
9	107	Chris Hogan	WR	172	99	91	88
9	108	DeSean Jackson	WR	101	102	118	130
9	109	Marqise Lee	WR	105	109	176	62
9	113	Mike Williams	WR	107	78	170	106
9	116	John Brown	WR	125	121	146	81
9	117	Zay Jones	WR	115	118	124	117
9	119	Robby Anderson	WR	91	87	147	153
10	125	Rishard Matthews	WR	132	128	90	138
10	126	Tyrell Williams	WR	109	122	148	115
10	127	Randall Cobb	WR	135	82	137	143
10	128	Mike Wallace	WR	#N/A	174	107	98
10	131	Mohamed Sanu	WR	141	164	106	110
10	135	Donte Moncrief	WR	193	136	121	87
10	138	Willie Snead	WR	150	151	120	136
10	140	Ted Ginn	WR	128	185	126	135
11	145	Keelan Cole	WR	97	149	108	237
11	147	Jordan Matthews	WR	#N/A	126	142	178
11	149	J.J. Nelson	WR	134	179	145	152
11	150	John Ross	WR	175	170	168	105
11	151	Tyler Lockett	WR	#N/A	146	131	188
11	152	Jeremy Maclin	WR	196	137	139	149
12	160	Trent Taylor	WR	173	175	101	189
12	161	Terrelle Pryor	WR	149	140	158	191
12	165	Allen Hurns	WR	#N/A	167	#N/A	156
12	166	Kenny Stills	WR	189	147	151	163
13	171	Malcolm Mitchell	WR	#N/A	155	162	176
13	173	Curtis Samuel	WR	188	130	179	164
13	179	Eric Decker	WR	157	195	160	174
13	180	Danny Amendola	WR	133	200	#N/A	182
14	184	Paul Richardson	WR	#N/A	132	184	228
14	185	Taywan Taylor	WR	#N/A	135	#N/A	229
14	190	Laquon Treadwell	WR	#N/A	154	#N/A	213
14	193	Kevin White	WR	143	223	169	202
15	196	Mack Hollins	WR	#N/A	224	165	173
15	197	ArDarius Stewart	WR	#N/A	187	#N/A	190
15	199	Brandon Marshall	WR	#N/A	205	159	208
15	201	Cole Beasley	WR	176	219	#N/A	185
16	205	Phillip Dorsett	WR	#N/A	#N/A	188	205
16	209	Tyler Boyd	WR	178	216	175	226
16	210	Jermaine Kearse	WR	#N/A	241	#N/A	157
16	211	Dontrelle Inman	WR	#N/A	188	#N/A	212
17	213	Chris Conley	WR	#N/A	222	164	224
17	214	Josh Reynolds	WR	#N/A	186	#N/A	223
17	215	Taylor Gabriel	WR	158	235	#N/A	221
17	216	Josh Malone	WR	#N/A	206	#N/A	#N/A
18	221	Kendall Wright	WR	#N/A	236	#N/A	180
18	223	Seth Roberts	WR	#N/A	227	#N/A	197
18	224	Amara Darboh	WR	#N/A	240	194	204
18	225	Leonte Carroo	WR	182	226	#N/A	230
18	231	Markus Wheaton	WR	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	218
18	232	Demarcus Robinson	WR	#N/A	218	#N/A	#N/A
19	233	Travis Benjamin	WR	#N/A	248	187	220
19	236	Breshad Perriman	WR	#N/A	202	#N/A	243
19	238	Michael Floyd	WR	#N/A	204	#N/A	242
19	243	Kenny Britt	WR	#N/A	213	#N/A	239
19	244	Torrey Smith	WR	#N/A	257	#N/A	199
19	246	Jaron Brown	WR	#N/A	301	167	#N/A
19	247	Damiere Byrd	WR	#N/A	234	#N/A	#N/A
19	248	Jakeem Grant	WR	#N/A	276	193	#N/A
19	249	Brandon LaFell	WR	#N/A	256	#N/A	214
19	251	Terrance Williams	WR	#N/A	239	#N/A	234
20	254	Ryan Grant	WR	#N/A	238	#N/A	#N/A
20	255	Geronimo Allison	WR	#N/A	243	#N/A	#N/A
20	256	Braxton Miller	WR	#N/A	242	#N/A	245
20	260	Eli Rogers	WR	#N/A	273	#N/A	225
20	261	Jeremy Kerley	WR	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	249
20	262	Brice Butler	WR	#N/A	267	#N/A	231
20	267	Aldrick Robinson	WR	#N/A	209	#N/A	302
20	271	Cordarrelle Patterson	WR	#N/A	265	#N/A	255
20	274	Jarius Wright	WR	#N/A	261	#N/A	#N/A
20	275	Deonte Thompson	WR	#N/A	262	#N/A	#N/A
21	278	Albert Wilson	WR	#N/A	263	#N/A	#N/A
21	280	Russell Shepard	WR	#N/A	264	#N/A	#N/A
21	281	Kamar Aiken	WR	#N/A	291	#N/A	241
21	284	Tavon Austin	WR	#N/A	266	#N/A	268
21	286	Brandon Coleman	WR	#N/A	269	#N/A	#N/A
21	290	Malcom Brown	WR	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	272
21	293	Chris Moore	WR	#N/A	275	#N/A	#N/A
21	295	Tommylee Lewis	WR	#N/A	277	#N/A	#N/A
21	298	Tavarres King	WR	#N/A	278	#N/A	#N/A
21	301	Cody Core	WR	#N/A	305	#N/A	258
21	304	Jaelen Strong	WR	#N/A	302	#N/A	271
22	316	Alex Erickson	WR	#N/A	272	#N/A	314
22	319	Dameiere Byrd	WR	#N/A	294	#N/A	#N/A
22	322	Anquan Boldin	WR	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	298
22	325	Adam Humphries	WR	#N/A	344	#N/A	256
22	330	Pharoh Cooper	WR	#N/A	283	#N/A	324
22	341	Justin Hunter	WR	#N/A	350	#N/A	276
22	342	Victor Cruz	WR	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	313
22	343	Darrius Heyward-Bey	WR	#N/A	314	#N/A	315
22	354	Johnny Holton	WR	#N/A	322	#N/A	#N/A
23	356	DeAndrew White	WR	#N/A	328	#N/A	319
23	357	Josh Bellamy	WR	#N/A	324	#N/A	#N/A
23	360	Bruce Ellington	WR	#N/A	326	#N/A	#N/A
23	361	Trevor Davis	WR	#N/A	334	#N/A	320
23	362	Andre Holmes	WR	#N/A	327	#N/A	#N/A
23	363	Tajae Sharpe	WR	#N/A	355	#N/A	301
23	364	Bennie Fowler	WR	#N/A	329	#N/A	#N/A
23	365	TJ Jones	WR	#N/A	331	#N/A	#N/A
23	367	Cody Latimer	WR	#N/A	333	#N/A	#N/A
23	373	Chester Rogers	WR	#N/A	340	#N/A	#N/A
23	374	Jaydon Mickens	WR	#N/A	341	#N/A	#N/A
23	378	Chad Hansen	WR	#N/A	346	#N/A	#N/A
23	381	Roger Lewis	WR	#N/A	349	#N/A	#N/A
23	382	Justin Hardy	WR	#N/A	351	#N/A	#N/A
23	383	Ricardo Louis	WR	#N/A	352	#N/A	#N/A
23	387	Louis Murphy	WR	#N/A	360	#N/A	#N/A

 
 
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!

 

More Dynasty Rankings and Analysis

Check out all of RotoBaller's fantasy football rankings. Staff rankings are updated regularly for all positions and include standard formats, PPR scoring, tiered rankings and dynasty leagues.