Fantasy football season is back, and the start of legitimate NFL action will soon be upon us! As we gear up for fantasy drafts or look ahead to potential moves to make, we can start to examine who the top plays at each position might be. Today, we’ll take a look at the wide receiver position and which players should finish among the top-12. I’ve got Michael Thomas ousted as fantasy’s top wideout, Minnesota’s top receiver in the top 10, and Allen Robinson set for a strong encore to last year’s WR1 finish. Let’s get right to it!
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QB1 Predictions
RB1 Predictions
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1. Davante Adams (GB)
+1 vs. ECR
Who else but Adams? That’s what Aaron Rodgers has got to be thinking to himself once again in 2020. Adams has been the apple of Rodgers’ eye for the last three seasons, and there’s absolutely no reason to think that changes now. Over the past four seasons, Adams has been targeted nearly 10 times per game, and he commanded an impressive 23% target share in 2019, despite appearing in only 12 games. That’s 23% of the year’s total targets, not just the games he appeared in. The rest of the receiving corps is a mess, and volume alone should push Adams into another stratosphere in 2020.
2. Michael Thomas (NO)
-1 vs. ECR
Just a year removed from setting the single-season record for receptions (149), Thomas should be in line for another big target share, though another record-setting performance seems unlikely. Emmanuel Sanders is in the fold, Jared Cook began to develop as the 2019 season ended, Adam Trautman was drafted in the third round to be a playmaker, and a healthy Alvin Kamara should see his share of targets, too. Thomas falls off the top spot for those reasons, as Davante Adams’ untouchable volume will be too much to overcome.
3. DeAndre Hopkins (ARI)
+2 vs. ECR
Over the past three seasons, D-Hop has been unbelievable, averaging a robust 105/1,372/10 receiving line in that time. As the top option in Arizona’s offense in 2020, he’s once again primed for a big campaign. Kliff Kingsbury’s air-raid offense should be a good fit for the dynamic wideout, as he looks to add another top-3 fantasy season to his resume.
4. Tyreek Hill (KC)
+0 vs. ECR
Hill is explosive enough to be the best receiver in fantasy thanks to his elite play-making and speed and the high-octane offense in which he plays. I’ve got him pegged as the WR4 in 2020 because of the volume the three guys ahead of him should command. He’s gone for over 1,100 yards and nine touchdowns per season in his four years in the league, and after playing just 12 games in 2019, he’s expected to be fully healthy for 2020.
5. Julio Jones (ATL)
-2 vs. ECR
Jones has averaged 1,565 receiving yards over the last six seasons, with his lowest total coming in at 1,394 (2019). He isn’t the most prolific touchdown scorer (57 in nine years), but he’s consistently among the league leaders in receiving yards and is usually good for 85-100 receptions. Despite the Calvin Ridley hype, Jones isn’t ready to pass the torch to his young counterpart as rowdy Roddy White did for him so many moons ago. Expect another ho-hum 1,400 yards and a handful of touchdowns for arguably the most dominant receiver of his generation.
6. Allen Robinson (CHI)
+2 vs. ECR
This one may seem a little sacrilegious, but hear me out. A-Rob is the clear No. 1 option in the receiving game, and it’s not even close. He’s shown that he can post WR1 numbers with two sub-par arms at the helm (Blake Bortles and Mitch Trubisky, anyone?), and there’s a real chance he gets Nick Foles throwing him the ball in 2020. Foles would represent the best quarterback that Robinson has ever had and, combined with volume, he should be an easy top-12 option at his position.
7. Chris Godwin (TB)
-1 vs. ECR
Godwin broke out for an 86/1,333/9 line in 2019, finishing as the overall WR2. It’s not hard to imagine him coming close to those numbers in 2020, though a repeat performance seems unlikely. New quarterback Tom Brady is less likely to air it out than Jameis Winston was a season ago, and new pass-catching options in Rob Gronkowski and Ke’Shawn Vaughn may draw some looks away from Godwin. Still, even a mild decline in production should keep Godwin in the top-10 conversation.
8. Amari Cooper (DAL)
+3 vs. ECR
Dak Prescott should be energized and ready to prove a point in 2020, and Coop figures to be the biggest benefactor. Sure, he and Michael Gallup split targets at a nearly even share in 2019, but Jason Witten and Randall Cobb are gone, leaving 166 vacated targets in their wake. Rookie CeeDee Lamb might snag half of those, but the rest will be up for grabs between Cooper, Gallup, and Blake Jarwin. I don’t believe Coop falls off the map this season, and I’m certainly not a proponent of him busting.
9. Kenny Golladay (DET)
-2 vs. ECR
Kenny G has been placed on the COVID-19 reserve list, so there is a bit of uncertainty regarding his health this season. But if he is fully healthy, he’s a strong candidate to finish as a top-10 wideout. In 2019, he produced his second straight 1,000-yard season by going for 1,190 yards and a league-high 11 scores. Golladay finished as the WR6 last season, and he did so on just 65 receptions. There’s obviously room for regression, but if Matthew Stafford can play a full season, Golladay will get an upgrade in quarterback play and should push for another strong season.
10. Adam Thielen (MIN)
+3 vs. ECR
Volume, volume, volume! With Stefon Diggs off to Buffalo-er pastures, Thielen finds himself at the top of the receiving food chain in Minnesota. While Kirk Cousins won’t be uncorcking it 50 times a game, the offense should pass enough to support around 120 targets for Thielen. Given his high catch rate (INFO), playmaking abilities, and lack of competition for targets, he should have no problem ending the season as a WR1.
11. Mike Evans (TB)
-1 vs. ECR
There are a lot of mouths to feed in New England Tampa Bay this season, but Tom Brady is more than capable of getting Evans the ball and keeping him in the WR1 discussion. Evans has totaled at least 1,000 yards receiving in six straight seasons to open his career, averaging eight scores per season in that span. There’s little reason to believe his streak is snapped in 2020.
12. JuJu Smith-Schuster (PIT)
-2 vs. ECR
After a monster 111/1,426/7 line in 2018, Smith-Schuster took a huge step back in 20119, going for just 552 yards in 12 games. Injuries and instability at quarterback hampered his season, but Smith-Schuster is primed to bounce back in 2020. With Ben Roethlisberger back under center, the targets should be plentiful for a guy who drew 8.2 looks per tilt through his first two seasons.
Notable Exclusions
D.J. Moore (CAR)
ECR: WR12
Moore finished as the WR18 last season behind an 87/1,175/4 line. He took a big step forward in his second season, and he’s expected to progress again in his third. I believe Moore can be better in 2020 and finish as a high-end WR2, but there are better options ahead of him on this list. Teddy Bridgewater will man the quarterback spot for Carolina this season, and it’s yet to be seen how he’ll fare and how his play will impact the pass-catchers on the team. I like Moore as a top-15 option, but I’m not projecting a WR1 season.
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Zachary Hanshew is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Zachary, check out his archive and follow him @zakthemonster.
