It’s been a month since I wrote an article, and I apologize for that. Life became hectic the week before the NFL season started. After that settled down, I began a pretty strong bout of depression where for a couple weeks, the only thing I could do was go to work. I forced myself to go to school because my students deserve to have a teacher in their corner, no matter what state I am in. I came home and could not eat, sleep, or do anything productive. It took some time, but, with the help of my therapist, husband, and our three dogs, I am mentally back to where I should be. I share this not as an excuse, but as a reality of life. Mental health is beyond important. I strongly encourage anyone, whether you have experienced big trauma or not, to utilize a therapist. I’ve done it for the past 13 years of my life and I am such a better person for it.
Now that I’ve been vulnerable, let’s talk football. What is happening in the league this year??? Rashid Shaheed, Chris Godwin, Nico Collins, Justin Jefferson, and a tie between Alec Pierce and Jameson Williams round out the Top 5 WRs in .5 PPR. The 10 fantasy sources in my weekly research had the following consensus rankings for these players as of August 21st:
Shaheed: WR52
Godwin: WR35
Collins: WR14
Jefferson: WR5
Pierce: Outside the Top 75
Williams: WR50
These Top 48 WRs from preseason rankings have either suffered personal injury or their QB has: Tyreek Hill, Justin Jefferson, AJ Brown, Puka Nacua, Deebo Samuel, Cooper Kupp, Jaylen Waddle, George Pickens, Keenan Allen, Jayden Reed, Christian Watson, Rome Odunze, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, DeAndre Hopkins, and Jordan Addison. That’s 31% of this group that has dealt with injury in some way within the first two weeks of the season. WOOF.
My in-season articles will be similar to my preseason articles with a couple of differences:
- Instead of ten sources, I will only use eight. PFF does not offer free in-season rankings and I am determined to use free rankings for this study to help the average player. Goingfor2.com does not have weekly in-season rankings
- The eight sources are CBS, ESPN, The Fantasy Footballers, Fantasy Life, Fantasy Pros, NFL, Rotoballer, and Yahoo!
- In each Tier, I will select one player I believe will exceed their consensus ranking this week and one that might struggle to reach this week’s consensus ranking
Check out my first article to understand this season-long study: The Best Side-by-Side WR Ranking Comparison From 10 Sources.
^Already played on TNF (Thursday Night Football)
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WR1 TIER
| PLAYER | OPP | RANK | Average | Mode | High/Low | Range |
| CeeDee Lamb | BAL | 1 | 1.4 | 1 | 1-2 | 1 |
| Ja’Marr Chase | WAS | 2 | 2.5 | 3 | 1-4 | 3 |
| Justin Jefferson | HOU | 3 | 3.1 | 3 | 1-6 | 5 |
| Amon-Ra St. Brown | @ARI | 4 | 3.3 | 4 | 1-4 | 3 |
| Rashee Rice | @ATL | 5 | 5.1 | 5 | 4-6 | 2 |
| Nico Collins | @MIN | 6 | 5.8 | 6 | 5-7 | 2 |
| Davante Adams | CAR | 7 | 8.4 | 8 | 7-12 | 5 |
| Brandon Aiyuk | @LAR | 8 | 9.6 | 9 | 8-12 | 4 |
| Marvin Harrison Jr. | DET | 9 | 9.8 | 10 | 7-15 | 8 |
| Devonta Smith | @NO | 10 | 10.1 | 7 | 7-14 | 7 |
| Tyreek Hill | @SEA | 11 | 11.3 | 10 | 6-16 | 10 |
| ^Garrett Wilson | NE | 12 | 11.3 | 12 | 9-14 | 5 |
UPSIDE
Davante Adams has the highest upside this week against the horrid Carolina Panthers defense. Yes, Andy Dalton will be starting for the Panthers at QB, but his start will not strongly affect this defense that allowed Quinten Johnston 2 TDs last week, matching his total from his 2023 rookie season. Adams also went for 110 yards on 9 receptions with a TD against the Baltimore Ravens defense. He’s still got it.
DOWNSIDE
Tyreek Hill is the obvious choice because Tua landed on IR this week. In the last two weeks, the Seahawks have faced the Broncos and Patriots, so we cannot say what their defense will do against a juggernaut like Tyreek. The only player the Seahawks defense allowed to get over 50 receiving yards this season is TE Hunter Henry.
WR2 TIER
| PLAYER | OPP | RANK | Average | Mode | High/Low | Range |
| Chris Godwin | DEN | 13 | 12.9 | 13 | 8-16 | 8 |
| Chris Olave | PHI | 14 | 13.5 | 11 | 10-19 | 9 |
| Mike Evans | DEN | 15 | 14.3 | 13 | 12-18 | 6 |
| DK Metcalf | MIA | 16 | 15.9 | 16 | 11-20 | 9 |
| Malik Nabers | @CLE | 17 | 16.8 | 16 | 14-19 | 5 |
| Zay Flowers | @DAL | 18 | 17.8 | 18 | 15-20 | 5 |
| DJ Moore | @IND | 19 | 18.8 | 20 | 13-24 | 11 |
| Jameson Williams | @ARI | 20 | 19.1 | 20 | 17-22 | 5 |
| Drake London | KC | 21 | 21.4 | 21 | 16-26 | 10 |
| Stefon Diggs | @MIN | 22 | 23.4 | 27 | 20-27 | 7 |
| George Pickens | LAC | 23 | 24.3 | 27 | 21-27 | 6 |
| Rashid Shaheed | PHI | 24 | 24.4 | 24 | 21-28 | 7 |
UPSIDE
Rashid Shaheed is currently the WR1 in .5 PPR scoring after two weeks. The only person more excited about this statistic is my friend @cooterdoodle on Twitter. The Eagles have allowed 242 passing yards a game this season, 6th highest in the league. Jayden Reed and Darnell Mooney both made explosive, long plays for a touchdown against Philly. That is Shaheed’s calling card.
DOWNSIDE
Chris Godwin and Mike Evans are at risk of underproducing this week against a top 5 passing defense against the Denver Broncos, only allowing 134 passing yards a game this season. The Broncos shut down Seattle’s WR trio of Lockett, Metclaf, and JSN for a total of 11 receptions for 129 yards with no TD in Week 1. Last week against the Steelers, Pat Freiermuth led the team with 4 receptions for 39 yards with no TD. No other player had more than 2 receptions.
WR3 TIER
| PLAYER | OPP | RANK | Average | Mode | High/Low | Range |
| Tank Dell | @MIN | 25 | 25.3 | 22 | 22-30 | 8 |
| Amari Cooper | NYG | 26 | 26.0 | 29 | 23-29 | 6 |
| Calvin Ridley | GB | 27 | 27.3 | 25 | 24-30 | 6 |
| Jaylen Waddle | @SEA | 28 | 30.8 | 28 | 26-37 | 11 |
| Jaxon Smith-Njigba | MIA | 29 | 26.4 | 26 | 22-32 | 10 |
| Michael Pittman Jr. | CHI | 30 | 29.0 | 31 | 21-32 | 11 |
| Xavier Worthy | @ATL | 31 | 30.5 | 28 | 26-39 | 13 |
| Brian Thomas | @BUF | 32 | 32.1 | 31 | 29-38 | 9 |
| Terry McLaurin | @CIN | 33 | 32.9 | 33 | 31-36 | 5 |
| Diontae Johnson | @LV | 34 | 33.8 | 34 | 30-36 | 6 |
| Demarcus Robinson | SF | 35 | 34.6 | 35 | 32-37 | 5 |
| Khalil Shakir | JAX | 36 | 37.1 | 37 | 33-44 | 11 |
UPSIDE
Calvin Ridley has received at least 5 targets in both games this season and reached at least 50 yards with one TD. While the circus play of Will Levis scares me, Ridley is one of two players on the Titans who has more than 50 receiving yards (Pollard has 52). He faces a Packers defense that has allowed 232 passing yards per game and given fantasy-relevant games to AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Alec Pierce in the past two weeks.
DOWNSIDE
Out of 67 WRs with 10 targets or more this season, Terry McLaurin has the lowest yards per reception average at 4.9. There are nine WRs with ypr average of 20.0 or more. I don’t see Cincinnati as the opponent who will let McLaurin run free. The Bengals have only allowed 128.5 passing yards per game and gave Patrick Mahomes his tenth game with 2 or more interceptions since the start of the 2021 season.
WR4 TIER
| PLAYER | OPP | RANK | Average | Mode | High/Low | Range |
| Christian Kirk | @BUF | 37 | 37.8 | 38 | 36-39 | 3 |
| Jayden Reed | @TEN | 38 | 39.5 | 41 | 34-48 | 14 |
| Jerry Jeudy | NYG | 39 | 40.5 | 37 | 37-47 | 10 |
| Tee Higgins | WAS | 40 | 40.5 | #N/A | 19-51 | 32 |
| Courtland Sutton | @TB | 41 | 41.0 | 39 | 35-48 | 13 |
| Ladd McConkey | @PIT | 42 | 41.1 | 40 | 36-49 | 13 |
| Tyler Lockett | MIA | 43 | 43.1 | 41 | 41-51 | 10 |
| Brandin Cooks | BAL | 44 | 45.1 | 43 | 42-54 | 12 |
| Rome Odunze | @IND | 45 | 45.3 | #N/A | 42-50 | 8 |
| Jakobi Meyers | CAR | 46 | 45.6 | 47 | 37-50 | 13 |
| Jauan Jennings | @LAR | 47 | 48.7 | #N/A | 36-58 | 22 |
| Quentin Johnston | @PIT | 48 | 46.9 | 46 | 41-54 | 13 |
UPSIDE
Rome Odunze suffered an MCL sprain against Tennessee in Week 1. Despite this, his snap percentage went up to 94% with teammate Keenan Allen sidelined. Allen is out for a second straight game and the Colts could not stop Houston’s Collins and Diggs from each catching 6 balls and let Malik Willis complete 12 for 14 passes last week. If Odunze and fellow were to have a week to break out, this would be it.
DOWNSIDE
Who has more yards on the Jaguars; TE Brenton Strange or WR Christian Kirk? Strange does with 65. Kirk has 29 yards on 7 targets and 2 receptions this year. Want to know something else Strange? They both have a reception for 30 yards on the season… I avoided Kirk the entire preseason because of my love of Brian Thomas and lack of belief in the Jaguars ability to be a good team. He faces the Bills this week. The Buffalo secondary held the Dolphins duo of Hill and Waddle to 7 receptions, 65 yards, and no TD. The week before? Marvin Harrison Jr. had 1 reception for 4 yards. Wait for Kirk to have a good week in the future and trade him away.
WR5 TIER
| PLAYER | OPP | RANK | Average | Mode | High/Low | Range |
| Gabe Davis | @BUF | 49 | 48.5 | 44 | 44-55 | 11 |
| Keon Coleman | JAX | 50 | 49.3 | 46 | 46-56 | 10 |
| Darnell Mooney | KC | 51 | 49.5 | 52 | 40-54 | 14 |
| Andrei Iosivas | WAS | 52 | 51.5 | 53 | 45-55 | 10 |
| DeAndre Hopkins | GB | 53 | 53.1 | 57 | 46-57 | 11 |
| Adam Thielen | @LV | 54 | 53.7 | 54 | 45-58 | 13 |
| Romeo Doubs | @TEN | 55 | 55.0 | 57 | 50-63 | 13 |
| Tyler Johnson | SF | 56 | 55.3 | 56 | 40-63 | 23 |
| Christian Watson | @TEN | 57 | 55.5 | 61 | 44-68 | 24 |
| Alec Pierce | CHI | 58 | 55.7 | #N/A | 49-59 | 10 |
| Greg Dortch | DAL | 59 | 56.4 | #N/A | 52-60 | 8 |
| Jalen Nailor | HOU | 60 | 58.8 | 59 | 48-68 | 20 |
UPSIDE
Darnell Mooney has a chance to have another fantasy-relevant week against the Chiefs, who have allowed the 2nd most passing yards this season. 256.5 per game. The Chiefs CB Trent McDuffie is shutting down opponents’ WR1, holding both Zay Flowers and Ja’Marr Chase to under 40 yards. But, the TE1 and the WR2 on the Ravens and Bengals made some significant waves. Darnell could find the endzone in a game the Falcons will surely play from behind.
DOWNSIDE
Christian Watson on the season has 5 targets, 3 receptions, 13 yards, and a TD. We are currently in the “bust” part of Watson’s “boom or bust” potential. I expect that to continue this week. With Malik Willis under center last week, the Packers passed 14 times and rushed 53 times. Yes, you read that correctly. The Titans allow the least amount of passing yards per game at a staggering 114.0 ypg. Malik Willis passed for 122 yards last week. Leave Watson on your bench until he proves can catch more than 3 balls a game.
Thank you for reading this article! I’m glad to be back at it again.
Always hit me up on Twitter (X) @topherk44 with any questions/comments/concerns/compliments/copayments for my student loans!
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