WR Rankings
- Tyler Locket has 45 targets on the year, ranking 31st among wide receivers and alongside names that we haven’t really wanted to start lately like Tyler Boyd and Darnell Mooney. After combining for 58 PPR points over the first two weeks of the season, Lockett has produced just 33 PPR points over the last five games, and with Geno Smith at the helm we just can’t start him. He’s my WR41 for the week, and I would rather start options like K.J. Osborn and Randall Cobb at this point.
- Speaking of K.J. Osborne, I like him as a sneaky desperation start this week. His 16% target share on the season is as good as A.J. Green and Tim Patrick, and he faces a Cowboys defense allowing the 6th-most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers in Week 8. He’s topped 15 PPR points in three of six weeks, and profiles as a better play in shootouts like this week profiles as.
- With Davante Adams and Allen Lazard missing this week, Randall Cobb looks like the best start of the replacements. Cobb plays primarily from the slot and saw the third-most receiver snaps last week behind Adams and Lazard. He’s also third behind the same two names in wide receiver red zone targets on the Packers. While Marquez Valdes-Scantling returns from injury and will be the receiver out wide as the deep threat, Cobb should be the more reliable interior target for Aaron Rodgers.
- I haven’t ranked most of the Giants’ wide receivers yet this week, but I did try to make sense of them in my Sit/Start writeup:If at least two of that group returns this week, we can safely sit Darius Slayton, who was the first to return to the field last week and posted five catches for 63 yards on nine targets as the last man standing. Slayton did have 13 targets combined over Weeks 1 and 2 before his own injury, so he has seen some solid volume in three games this year, but that was before Toney had begun to emerge. He’s at best a deep league flex option.
Kenny Golladay has missed the past two and a half games with a knee injury, and is certainly the biggest name in this receiving corps. But as far as single-game target shares go, Golladay’s 25% target share from Week 2 is his best of the year, a number that has been topped by Toney twice, Shepard three times, and Slayton once. Golladay’s other three games have ranged between 19% and 14% target shares, and he has yet to catch a touchdown on the year. Golladay is merely a back-end WR3 or flex unless Shepard or Toney misses, and a reinjury is always a worry as well.
While Sterling Shepard is certainly always an injury risk, especially coming off of a hamstring injury, his upside is at least more enticing. In his three full games this year, Shepard has target shares of 31%, 29%, and 25%, and has finished as the WR21 (PPR) or better in each game. It’s a matter of risk here for sure, but it’s pretty clear that Shepard is a WR2 if he plays a full game.
Kadarius Toney is the true wildcard here, as he reeled off two straight top-30 performances over Weeks 4 and 5, including finishing as the WR5 in PPR leagues against the Cowboys with a 35% target share. It’s anyone’s guess where he fits in if all of the receivers are healthy, but it sure looks like he has forced his hand after that two-game stretch. He’s a WR2 with significant reinjury risk, just like the rest of this group. If they are all on the field this week, I would rank them Shepard, Toney, Golladay, and Slayton in that order.
Green=Strong Starter, Yellow=Solid Starter, Red=Look for Better Options