Wide Receiver Targets: Christian Kirk, Tee Higgins, Ladd McConkey (Fantasy Football)

Whether you’re drafting best-ball teams or have early home league drafts, you should target these three undervalued wide receivers currently being drafted outside the Top 50 of our FantasyPros Expert Consensus Rankings.

Top WRs Outside the ECR Top 50

With training camp ramping up across the NFL, our long national nightmare is finally over. Football is officially back. A full slate of preseason action is still a little over a week away, but we get a teaser on Thursday night when the Chicago Bears and Houston Texans travel to Canton, Ohio to face off in the Hall of Fame Game.

That means it’s time to start looking ahead to fantasy football season. Training camp and preseason action will swing player values over the next few weeks, so it’s important to identify outliers early in the process.

Christian Kirk (WR – JAX): ECR 51 | WR27

One year after finishing as the WR11 in fantasy football, everything went wrong in 2023 for Jaguars wide receiver Christian Kirk. Along with losing targets to a returning-from-suspension Calvin Ridley, a torn abdominal muscle would limit Kirk for much of the season, eventually forcing him onto season-ending Injured Reserve.

Despite those issues resulting in Kirk’s worst fantasy output (119.76 fantasy points) since his rookie season in Arizona, there are reasons for excitement heading into the 2024 NFL season. Kirk is 100% healthy and participating in training camp, and Ridley’s departure to the rival Tennessee Titans opens up more opportunities for Trevor Lawrence’s WR1.

Jacksonville did invest the 23rd overall pick on wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. However, multiple beat writers say he’s coming along slowly in early training camp practices. While this isn’t a major setback for the raw rookie out of LSU, it gives us even more reason to draft Kirk ahead of his current ECR of 51st overall.

Tee Higgins (WR – CIN): ECR 53 | WR28

After failing to come to terms on an extension with the Cincinnati Bengals, wide receiver Tee Higgins has instead come to terms with playing on the Franchise Tag this upcoming season. Although Higgins would have preferred the security of a long-term contract with Cincinnati (or elsewhere), the former Clemson wide receiver will look to cash in next off-season.

This upcoming season, Higgins will be motivated to return to his previous level of production that we saw in his first three NFL seasons. After finishing as the WR28, WR24, and WR18 from 2020-2022, Higgins only started 12 games in 2023, resulting in a WR51 finish in PPR scoring formats.

The presence of Ja’Marr Chase may limit his overall opportunities in Cincinnati, but there’s no reason why Higgins can’t significantly surpass his current ranking in the mid-50s. Assuming quarterback Joe Burrow remains healthy this season, Higgins should be considered a WR2 in fantasy football.

Ladd McConkey (WR – LAC): ECR 108 | WR46

For those digging deeper for undervalued wide receivers, look no further than Los Angeles Chargers rookie wide receiver Ladd McConkey. Despite never topping 800 receiving yards in any single season in Georgia’s run-first offense, McConkey has the skillset and potential opportunity to win fantasy leagues this season.

Los Angeles profiles as a run-first offense under HC Jim Harbaugh and OC Greg Roman, but that’s already baked into McConkey’s current Average Draft Position. We’ve gone too far in ranking players like Austin Ekeler, Devin Singletary, and Kirk Cousins, among others, ahead of the potential WR1 in Los Angeles.

McConkey’s explosiveness and play-making ability are already the talk of Chargers camp and he’s one big preseason performance away from jumping multiple rounds overnight. The rookie is unlikely to remain outside of the ECR Top 100 for much longer, so take advantage now before it’s too late.