The Best Side-by-Side WR Ranking Comparison From 10 Sources

Here I am, on the last evening of July, grieving the loss of summer as I am a teacher. Tomorrow, I start getting my classroom together before reporting for Professional Development on August 7th. There is certainly joy in this though! Summer ending leads to cooler weather, a routine that my ADHD-self thrives in, and most importantly, football. However, my husband would assume that football season has already begun with my tireless endeavor of crowning the Tulane Green Wave as National Championships in the long-awaited resurrection of the NCAA Football game. 

The end of summer is providing me with a new opportunity as well. I am writing my first-ever fantasy football article for Goingfor2.com after being added to the team of writers earlier this month! This is an endeavor I have flirted with for a long time, kind of like how the Dallas Cowboys flirt with being playoff contenders. The difference between them and myself is I’m actually doing it (Go Pack Go).

My articles for the 2024 season will be comparing weekly RB & WR rankings from 10 reputable and common fantasy football resources. The rankings used in alphabetical order are CBS, ESPN, the Fantasy Footballers, Fantasy Life, Fantasy Pros, Goingfor2, the NFL, PFF, RotoBaller, and Yahoo!  Understanding how various websites rank players differently can impact not only upcoming drafts in redraft leagues but in your week-to-week matchups. 

Here’s the most extreme WR example for you: Rashid Shaheed ranked WR56 as of July 31st at 8:44pm CST. His range of rankings is from WR48 to WR81+. Yes, his rankings have a total range of 33. I listed WR81+ because NFL.com does not have him listed in their top 80. Bonkers, I know. As you will come to see in my writings, other players have outrageous rankings (and it is not because a website doesn’t rank them).

Players will be presented in tiers of 12 and listed as WR1, WR2, etc. I will examine one player per tier (maybe two on a big outlier week) and present my findings on the others without an elaborate explanation. 

*My favorite player in each tier based on the data alone (ok, and maybe a little personal bias towards Zay Flowers)

WR1 TIER

PLAYER	RANK	Average	Mode	High/Low	Range
CeeDee Lamb	1	1.1	1	1-2	1
Tyreek Hill	2	1.9	2	1-2	1
Ja’Marr Chase	3	3.3	3	3-4	1
Amon-Ra St. Brown	4	4.3	5	3-5	2
Justin Jefferson	5	4.4	5	4-5	1
A.J. Brown	6	6.0	6	6-6	0
Garrett Wilson	7	7.4	7	7-8	1
Puka Nacua	8	7.6	8	7-8	1
*Marvin Harrison Jr.	9	10.0	9	9-13	4
Davante Adams	10	10.6	9	9-13	4
Chris Olave	11	11.5	11	10-17	7
Drake London	12	12.9	14	10-18	8

Embed from Getty Images

Drake London of the Atlanta Falcons is a hot topic this season. With Kirk Cousins slinging him the ball, could he ball out and be a WR1 like these rankings are predicting? 6 of the 10 websites see London a Top 12 WR. However, the Fantasy Footballers and Goingfor2 have him ranked 18 and 17, respectively. If you are like my main league and met through the Footclan online forums, then how the Ballers rank players will greatly impact where London goes in our draft vs Matthew Berry stans who will sprint to the podium for London because Fantasy Life has him as WR10. That’s at least a round of difference.

WR2 TIER

PLAYER	RANK	Average	Mode	High/Low	Range
Mike Evans	13	13.0	13	11-15	4
Brandon Aiyuk	14	14.5	13	10-19	9
Nico Collins	15	15.9	15	13-21	8
Deebo Samuel	16	16.9	18	12-22	10
Jaylen Waddle	17	17.6	16	14-24	10
DK Metcalf	18	17.9	16	15-22	7
Michael Pittman Jr.	19	18.6	20	11-24	13
Cooper Kupp	20	20.4	24	15-25	10
Devonta Smith	21	20.5	20	16-23	7
*DJ Moore	22	21.1	19	19-26	7
Malik Nabers	23	24.4	26	18-29	11
Amari Cooper	24	24.6	22	20-34	14

As we get lower in rankings, the range will start to increase for most players. Michael Pittman Jr. does not have the highest range in this tier, but it could certainly be the most impactful. ESPN leads the charge as the only source ranking Pittman as a WR1 while the Fantasy Footballers once again anchor these rankings at WR24. His average is centrally located between the high/low rankings, letting us know that most of the sources value him as a mid-WR2.

WR3 TIER

PLAYER	RANK	Average	Mode	High/Low	Range
Stefon Diggs	25	25.6	29	21-29	8
George Pickens	26	25.8	28	18-32	14
Tee Higgins	27	26.2	27	23-31	8
Tank Dell	28	27.6	29	21-36	15
*Zay Flowers	29	29.2	24	24-36	12
Christian Kirk	30	30.0	36	27-36	9
Terry McLaurin	31	32.2	31	29-37	8
Keenan Allen	32	32.7	32	30-33	3
Calvin Ridley	33	33.0	None	25-40	15
Diontae Johnson	34	34.4	35	28-38	10
Chris Godwin	35	34.4	35	30-40	10
Rashee Rice	36	36.3	38	31-41	10

The Pittsburgh Steelers shocked us all this offseason with not only obtaining Russell Wilson but also Justin Fields. I don’t know if George Pickens is celebrating or nervous about these new leaders. Russell Wilson did throw 10 TD’s to Courtland Sutton last year and DJ Moore’s season catching passes from Justin Fields produced a Top 6 fantasy season, along with a contract so fresh the ink is not completely dry.

There is hope for Pickens, as demonstrated by the NFL’s WR18 ranking. The mode tells us a different story though. The average demonstrates WR18 may be a bit far-fetched, as it is closer to the lower side of the rankings than the higher side. Goingfor2 is the only source ranking him below WR30 at WR32, but 7 of the 10 sources, including Goingfor2, have Pickens ranked below his average. Be wary of using a single source for rankings.

WR4 TIER

PLAYER	RANK	Average	Mode	High/Low	Range
Jayden Reed	37	36.4	37	31-44	13
DeAndre Hopkins	38	37.7	38	33-44	11
Marquise Brown	39	37.8	32	32-59	27
Jaxon Smith-Njigba	40	41.8	43	36-45	9
Christian Watson	41	41.9	40	39-51	12
Ladd McConkey	42	43.3	46	39-49	10
Rome Odunze	43	43.7	40	39-49	10
Jordan Addison	44	43.9	46	38-47	9
Courtland Sutton	45	44.3	42	39-55	16
*Brian Thomas	46	46.7	48	37-52	15
Tyler Lockett	47	46.8	47	41-50	9
Xavier Worthy	48	47.0	43	41-54	13

Marquise Hollywood Brown finally has a QB he can look up to, literally. His short stint in Arizona did not meet the tall expectations of being the first WR taken off the board in the 2019 NFL draft. Ok, the height jokes are done. His range of rankings is MASSIVE. Remember when I said, “Be wary of using a single source for rankings,” at the end of the WR3 tier? 8 of the 10 sources list Hollywood between WR32-39, with NFL and Yahoo! being the highest on him.

ESPN has him ranking at WR42, meaning the Fantasy Footballers tanked every aspect of his ranking for this exercise placing him at WR59. One of the Ballers (cough, Mike) has him listed as WR78. I just choked on a piece of cantaloupe as I typed that… Matt Harmon of Reception Perception fame has WR30 on Yahoo!’s rankings. Just between those two highly reputable sources, that’s a range of 48. Trust your gut on what to do with him. Woof.

WR5 TIER

PLAYER	RANK	Average	Mode	High/Low	Range
Keon Coleman	49	50.4	51	42-59	17
Jakobi Meyers	50	50.7	50	45-56	11
Jameson Williams	51	51.5	56	44-61	17
Curtis Samuel	52	52.0	50	48-57	9
Mike Williams	53	53.5	52	47-57	10
Joshua Palmer	54	55.9	58	43-73	30
Romeo Doubs	55	55.9	58	44-65	21
*Rashid Shaheed	56	56.1	59	48-81	33
Brandin Cooks	57	56.2	51	50-70	20
Jerry Jeudy	58	57.0	53	53-60	7
Khalil Shakir	59	58.1	55	45-69	24
Josh Downs	60	59.8	57	53-67	14

Now we are getting down to players who will maybe play some flex, but primarily as a bye week or injury filler. Joshua Palmer has shown some promise at times, but not everyone is buying into it. I am happy to report that the Fantasy Footballers are actually the highest on Palmer at WR43. All of Palmer’s rankings are fairly spread out: 43, 49, 53, 53, 55, 56, 58, 58, 61, 73. The NFL has the lowest ranking on him. On Sleeper, WR43’s ADP = 94.2, WR58 = 133.1, and WR73 = 172.8. Respectively, those are rounds 8, 11, and 14. Start asking your league mates where they get their rankings. It could prevent some painful situations in your draft.

WR6 TIER

PLAYER	RANK	Average	Mode	High/Low	Range
Adam Thielen	61	61.4	65	54-67	13
Gabe Davis	62	62.3	62	57-66	9
Darnell Mooney	63	64.3	63	46-77	31
*Dontayvion Wicks	64	64.4	64	58-74	16
Jahan Dotson	65	64.6	64	60-74	14
Demario Douglas	66	65.5	63	59-71	12
Adonai Mitchell	67	65.9	65	60-75	15
Ja’Lynn Polk	68	68.6	None	61-79	18
Xavier Legette	69	69.3	72	61-76	15
Jermaine Burton	70	69.9	68	55-78	23
Michael Wilson	71	70.1	72	67-77	10
Quentin Johnston	72	70.1	74	61-77	16

The former Chicago Bears WR Darnell Mooney finds himself on a new team with a former rival as his quarterback in the ATL. In 2021, Mooney gave us a top-24 season while only scoring 4 TDs. Yes, he was the only viable target on that team, but he did something with that spotlight. The Fantasy Footballers are hogging the high/low category in this week’s article as they once again have the highest ranking on Mooney at WR46. They believe he can be a weekly flex play! ESPN is right up there at WR49. The average paints a portrait of modern realism, forcing the limelight away from the high outliers and on the 5 rankings ranking him WR63-69. Both the NFL and Yahoo! rank him at WR77. CBS does not have Mooney in their top 60 WRs. 

Some quick takeaways:

• Atlanta WRs are the most volatile in their respective tiers
• Marquise Hollywood Brown is ranked WR39 and Darnell Mooney WR63 in this week’s study. The Fantasy Footballers have Mooney ranked as WR46 and Brown at WR59
• Knowing your sources is one thing; knowing your opponents changes the game
• Players like Mike Evans, Keenan Allen, and Jerry Jeudy with low ranges should be the easiest to predict where they will be drafted in the majority of drafts
• Players like Amari Cooper, Tank Dell, and Joshua Palmer must be watched more closely in drafts. Larger ranges, as described in the WR5 tier, can literally expand across numerous rounds. Know where you rank these players and when you will actually attempt to go for them
• I’m stoked to be doing this work this season

If you made it this far, I appreciate you. Seriously. This is my first legit article and I hope this is something that you can benefit from in your upcoming drafts and throughout the season. Always hit me up on Twitter (X) @topherk44 with any questions/comments/concerns/compliments/Cheesecake Factory gift cards! 

ATTN Dynasty Commissioners: Do you want to do something cool for your league? How about a 1-hour live show dedicated to YOUR league? Team-by-team breakdowns, rankings, and more. For details and to book a show, visit: GoingFor2.com/plp.