Wide receiver is one of the hardest things to sort about fantasy football, at least for me. Great WR’s are out there but it seems every year I take a chance on a guy who doesn’t work out. In both of my keeper leagues I am not keeping any wide outs and looking to start over. Of course I always think of Andre Johnson as the best fantasy wide out. However, there is a lot more to consider here. We have to take in to account who the QB is who is throwing them the ball, what kind of system their team’s run, and the like. With that being said let us take a look at my top five fantasy wide out rankings for the 2011 season:
1.Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons – he is a lock to catch 80 balls and gain over 1,000 yards. My bet here is Matt Ryan has a breakout year and the Falcons pass all over everyone. Of course that would make rookie Julio Jones and much sought after commodity, but not in the first few rounds. 2.Andre Johnson, Houston Texans – He has never caught more than 10 TD’s in one NFL season, but in terms of targets per game he leads the entire NFL. That means he will make a lot of catches and gain a lot of yards, but if your league values TD’s more he may not be your guy. 3.Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions – the problem with Calvin is we are all sort of waiting for him to really prove he belongs here. On top of that the injuries to Lions QB Matthew Stafford have certainly hurt him on the fantasy side. Calvin is a pretty safe bet, but check the Lions team injury report to see what is up at their QB spot 4.Hakeem Nicks, New York Giants – WR’s usually have a breakout year in year three, which is why Nicks is here. If he plays all 16 games he should put up massive numbers. On top of that Eli Manning trusts him. 5.Greg Jennings, Green Bay Packers – Jennings is a big play guy. That makes him valuable but maybe makes FF owners think about taking someone else in front of him. He is coming off four elite seasons in a row, and catches balls from one of the best QB’s in the NFL today.
Other notable wide outs include: Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Wallace, Arizona Cardinal Larry Fitzgerald, and Dallas Cowboy Miles Austin. All are worthy of first round fantasy draft consideration.
