Rotworld’s Redraft Rankings are live and updated with every piece of news that is coming out of training camp. The rankings are a blend of input from myself, Patrick Daugherty, and Denny Carter. I have broken each position into tiers, where we feel each player within a tier should be drafted in a similar range. With a baseline set for every player’s value, the tiers can be extremely useful in finding steals and planning out an entire draft. This is how we think you should be drafting receivers this year.
Other positions:
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⭐ WIDE RECEIVER TIERS 2026 FANTASY FOOTBALL ⭐
▶ Tier 1
Ja’Marr Chase, Puka Nacua, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb
Like the running back tiers, we’re not going off the grid in the first round. This is the same group of wideouts that appear in the first round of drafts by ADP in almost the exact same order. One notable stand for us is on Justin Jefferson, who typically goes behind Lamb. Jefferson was a bust in 2025, but that came in the context of one of the league’s worst passing offenses. Now he gets Kyler Murray under center. Murray isn’t anything special at this point in his career, but he’s good enough, and that’s all Jefferson needs to put up elite fantasy numbers. Despite getting benched, Murray ranked 22nd in EPA per dropback in 2025, putting him in line with Caleb Williams and Justin Herbert. That’s more than enough to help Jefferson return to form.
▶ Tier 2
Drake London, Nico Collins, A.J. Brown, George Pickens, Malik Nabers, Rashee Rice
If you check out my breakdown of the Running Back Tiers, you’ll notice we’re generally out on the second tier of backs. That’s because the Tier 2 wide receivers are some of our favorite targets in this range of drafts. Every member of this group except for Pickens ranks top-15 over the past four seasons in targets and yards per route. Pickens is the only player who changed teams during those three seasons. In his lone outing with the Cowboys, he finished sixth in yards per route run and fifth in fantasy points. For Collins, Nabers, and Rice, injuries have been the biggest issue in recent seasons. Per usual, the Rotoworld rankings are willing to fade recent injury luck in favor of elite profiles.
▶ Tier 3
Tetairoa McMillan, Tee Higgins, Chris Olave, Zay Flowers, Ladd McConkey, Emeka Egbuka, DeVonta Smith, Garrett Wilson
Target-earning is a skill, and it’s one that leads to fantasy points. A receiver showing flashes of that skill early in their career is a good sign that they have the potential to be a true No. 1 receiver. Over the past decade, 25 wide receivers have earned an 18 percent target share in their rookie season and played at least two more years in the NFL. Only six members of that group did not finish as a WR1 within the next two years. Raise the bar to 20 percent and only two wideouts failed to hit a WR1 season. Those players were Chris Olave and Jerry Jeudy, both of whom did eventually post a top-12 season. McMillan, McConkey, and Egbuka are all in that two-year window right now. All three of them blew by the 20 percent target share threshold as rookies. Flowers, Olave, and Smith are still in their primes and have runways to dominating targets on efficient offenses. I doubt we see another JSN-level breakout this year. But, if we do, it will come from Tier 3.
▶ Tier 4
Mike Evans, Jaylen Waddle, Davante Adams, Terry McLaurin, Jameson Williams, Luther Burden III, Carnell Tate, Christian Watson
The “Better in Best Ball” moniker typically refers to a player with massive spike weeks but unpredictable production. I think there’s a strong argument that it should also refer to players with a high season-long floor. In redraft, the floor for any player on your roster is whatever you can scrounge together off the waiver wire. That might not sound like much, but it’s a hell of a lot more than bottoming out in Best Ball, where there is no waiver wire to save you. Evans, McLaurin, and Adams exemplify that safety. They are three of the eight players currently on NFL rosters with 5+ 1,000-yard seasons. Williams, Watson, and Burden were big-play merchants last year, relying heavily on deep shots to put up spike weeks. Our rankings ultimately come in a little cold on this group of receivers, but there are formats where all of them may look better.
▶ Tier 5
Rome Odunze, D.J. Moore, Brian Thomas, Parker Washington, Jordyn Tyson, Marvin Harrison Jr., Makai Lemon
This is truly a swing for the fences tier. Tyson and Lemon both enter the NFL with elite profiles but don’t have clear paths to No. 1 receiver duties in their respective offenses. Odunze, Harrison Jr., and Thomas were all strong prospects coming out of the 2024 class. Thomas is the only hit at the pro level so far. Like the other two, he struggled with injuries last year while other young wideouts ate into his role. That 1-2 punch rendered all three busts in fantasy circles. If any of these players live up to the standard set by their draft capital, they will be massive hits in 2026. The farther we get from draft day, the less likely that is to happen. This tier is not where you wanted to get your first or even second receiver from. On the other hand, if you have a receiver room that can handle some variance, this tier might provide a league-winner.
▶ Tier 6
DK Metcalf, Jordan Addison, Josh Downs, Michael Wilson, Jayden Reed, Courtland Sutton, Chris Godwin
Tier 6, on the other hand, has a lot of floor. Likely for that reason, Pat, Denny, and I aren’t all that interested. We are blow ADP on Metcalf, Wilson, Sutton, and Godwin. Unsurprisingly, those are the four oldest members of Tier 6. If you really want floor, the next tier has some options; Wan’Dale Robinson and Romeo Doubs, in particular, stick out. At this point in the draft, we still want to find someone who can be the player who defines the fantasy season. Reed and Downs are the best bets to be that guy. Downs was a target-earning phenom in 2024. Only Puka Nacua, Malik Nabers, and CeeDee Lamb were targeted at a higher rate per route. He suffered a myriad of injuries in 2025 and failed to live up to the fantasy hype. Now the deck has been cleared for him to take on a larger role with Michael Pittman traded and Alec Pierce currently recovering from ankle surgery. The same is true of Reed, who is a YPRR crusher with less target competition than ever before.
▶ Tier 7
Jakobi Meyers, Wan’Dale Robinson, Romeo Doubs, Xavier Worthy, Alec Pierce, Stefon Diggs, KC Concepcion, Quentin Johnston
Two of our biggest fades of the year come from Tier 7. The first is Alec Pierce, who is the only receiver in the past 20 years (likely longer) to hit 1,000 yards with an aDOT over 20. His role is not conducive to strong fantasy numbers, but he hit enough home runs last year to make it work. After signing a four-year deal to stay in Indy this offseason, it would have been reasonable to expect his role to change. An offseason ankle surgery that might cost him all of camp has likely put a stop to that. Quentin Johnston is our other massive fade. He finished fifth among all wideouts in touchdown rate last year and couldn’t crack the WR2 ranks. Over the past two years, Johnston has averaged 1.5 yards per route run while being targeted on 18 percent of his routes. Both of those marks sit comfortably outside of the top 50 receivers. Johnston needs touchdown variance on his side to post WR3 numbers. He will put up WR5 fantasy stats if he loses that good fortune.
▶ Tier 8
Matthew Golden, Travis Hunter, Michael Pittman Jr., Khalil Shakir, Omar Cooper Jr., Jayden Higgins, Deebo Samuel, Jalen Coker, Jauan Jennings, Rashid Shaheed, De’Zhaun Stribling
This tier is one of the major reasons it’s hard to fade early-round running backs. The late-round picks at RB are weak while wide receiver is teeming with upside. Hunter, Golden, and Higgins all fell between 1.3 and 1.5 YPRR as rookies. That’s not good, but it isn’t disqualifying either. The bigger issue for all three was a lack of playing time in conjunction with middling efficiency. Their teams have universally sung their praises this offseason, meaning that if they can take a step forward this year, the routes will be there for a true breakout. Cooper Jr. and Stribling are similar bets but without the year one flop. Cooper Jr. plays on a Jets offense that could be downright awful, but he is a first-round pick on an offense that will be forced to pass. Stribling, on the other hand, was an absurd reach with the No. 33 pick, but Kyle Shanahan has a history of turning unheralded players into viable fantasy options.
