Week 3: WR Expert Consensus Rankings Between 8 Sources

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)

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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