Fantasy Football 2019: WR Rankings and Tiers

There are so many wide receivers you need to know for your fantasy drafts, so let's group them into 11 tiers.

You have seen my quarterback tiers and my running back tiers, but the king of PPR fantasy leagues is the wide receiver position. There are a plethora of options who can help differentiate your squad from your competition. Study up on the wide receivers with fantasy relevance as we gear up for the 2019 NFL season.

Tier 1

The Superstars

These are the guys who will get most of the targets for their real-life teams and your fantasy football teams. There aren’t many of them, but if you are drafting in the mid-to-late first round, there is a good shot you will be able to get at least one of these guys on your team.

• DeAndre Hopkins, Houston Texans
• Davante Adams, Green Bay Packers
• Julio Jones, Atlanta Falcons
• Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs
• Michael Thomas, New Orleans Saints
• Odell Beckham, Jr., Cleveland Browns
• JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pittsburgh Steelers

Tier 2

The next best 

These next few players are WR1 for their respective teams, but they are just not in the same league as the first group. 

Note: For the purposes of this article, I am adding A.J. Green here even though I am not sure he will return until Week 5.

• Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Bucs
• Antonio Brown, Oakland Raiders
• Amari Cooper, Dallas Cowboys
• Keenan Allen, Los Angeles Chargers
• Stefon Diggs, Minnesota Vikings
• Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings
• Julian Edelman, New England Patriots
• A.J. Green, Cincinnati Bengals
• T.Y. Hilton, Indianapolis Colts

Tier 3

One step away

These players are really close to being in the second tier. I can see at least four or five of these guys breaking out in 2019. If you draft running backs in Round 1 and Round 2, you will want one of these receivers in Rounds 3-4.

• Kenny Golladay, Detroit Lions
• Tyler Lockett, Seattle Seahawks
• Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay Bucs
• Mike Williams, Los Angeles Chargers
• Allen Robinson, Chicago Bears
• D.J. Moore, Carolina Panthers
• Brandin Cooks, Los Angeles Rams
• Robert Woods, Los Angeles Rams

Tier 4

PPR beasts

If you play in a PPR format, you will certainly want to have some shares of these players. These guys could easily have 10-15 points per week receiving, which is fantasy gold.

• Jarvis Landry, Cleveland Browns
• Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams
• Tyler Boyd, Cincinnati Bengals
• Corey Davis, Tennessee Titans
• Sterling Shepard, New York Giants
• Adam Humphries, Tennessee Titans
• Keke Coutee, Houston Texans

Tier 5

Hype train guys

This tier is filled with guys who are getting hyped up in the preseason. The problem here is that there is no guarantee that these players live up to the hype, and fantasy owners need to have a backup plan just in case these picks turn sour.

• Calvin Ridley, Atlanta Falcons
• Christian Kirk, Arizona Cardinals
• Curtis Samuel, Carolina Panthers
• Dante Pettis, San Francisco 49ers
• Robby Anderson, New York Jets
• Sammy Watkins, Kansas City Chiefs
• Dede Westbrook, Jacksonville Jaguars
• Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos
• Will Fuller, Houston Texans
• Donte Moncrief, Pittsburgh Steelers

Tier 6

Solid middle round guys

These receivers are not necessarily the “sexy names” that fantasy owners love to draft, but they are solid receivers who can help solidify your receiving corps.

• Alshon Jeffery, Philadelphia Eagles
• Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals
• Emmanuel Sanders, Denver Broncos
• Tyrell Williams, Oakland Raiders
• Marvin Jones, Detroit Lions
• Devin Funchess, Indianapolis Colts
• John Brown, Buffalo Bills
• Jamison Crowder, New York Jets
• Geronimo Allison, Green Bay Packers
• Josh Gordon, New England Patriots

Tier 7

Deep flyers

These guys might not be the starters yet, but I love their ability and I want to try to stash as many of these players late in drafts as I can. 

• N’Keal Harry, New England Patriots
• James Washington, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Michael Gallup, Dallas Cowboys
• Zay Jones, Buffalo Bills
• Anthony Miller, Chicago Bears
• Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Green Bay Packers
• Parris Campbell, Indianapolis Colts
• Andy Isabella, Arizona Cardinals
• DaeSean Hamilton, Denver Broncos

Tier 8

Veterans who often get overdrafted

These are the players who many fantasy owners draft hoping for stats from years ago. 

Note: I will always take a younger player with upside over an aging veteran on the downside of his career. 

• DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles
• Golden Tate, New York Giants
• Mohamed Sanu, Atlanta Falcons
• Quincy Enunwa, New York Jets
• Kenny Stills, Miami Dolphins
• Ted Ginn, New Orleans Saints
• Chris Conley, Jacksonville Jaguars
• Marquise Goodwin, San Francisco 49ers
• Chris Hogan, Carolina Panthers

Tier 9

Inconsistent guys

This tier is filled with guys who will be slightly inconsistent throughout the season and should be used on a game-to game basis only. That is not to say I don’t like this group—I do—but it’s just hard to trust them each week.

• Cole Beasley, Buffalo Bills
• Rashard Higgins, Cleveland Browns
• Jaron Brown, Seattle Seahawks
• Danny Amendola, Detroit Lions
• Nelson Agholor, Philadelphia Eagles
• Trey Quinn, Washington Redskins
• Hunter Renfrow, Oakland Raiders
• DK Metcalf, Seattle Seahawks

Tier 10

Wait and see guys

This tier is filled with guys who have some talent, but they have at least two or three other players standing in their way of getting enough playing time to be fantasy relevant.

• Deebo Samuel, San Francisco 49ers
• D.J. Chark, Jacksonville Jaguars
• Tre’Quan Smith, New Orleans Saints
• Terry McLaurin, Washington Redskins
• Preston Williams, Miami Dolphins
• Miles Boykin, Baltimore Ravens
• Marquise Brown, Baltimore Ravens
• Robert Foster, Buffalo Bills
• KeeSean Johnson, Arizona Cardinals
• AJ Brown, Tennessee Titans
• Jalen Hurd, San Francisco 49ers
• Mecole Hardman, Kansas City Chiefs
• Jake Kumerow, Green Bay Packers
• J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, Philadelphia Eagles
• Diontae Johnson, Pittsburgh Steelers

Tier 11

Just say no

No matter what happens, I can assure you that these players will not be on any of my rosters. 

• Randall Cobb, Dallas Cowboys
• Paul Richardson, Washington Redskins
• Josh Doctson, Washington Redskins
• Willie Snead, Baltimore Ravens
• Albert Wilson, Miami Dolphins
• DeVante Parker, Miami Dolphins
• Marqise Lee, Jacksonville Jaguars
• John Ross, Cincinnati Bengals
• Antonio Callaway, Cleveland Browns