Top 5 WRs for 2023

[polecatt 403]

WRs are the new RBs. It's the deepest and arguably most important position in fantasy football today.

Who will be the top 5 fantasy football WRs of the upcoming season?

My list is PPR, please specify if it's PPR, .5, or standard scoring

1  Tyreek Hill

2  Justin Jefferson

3  Cooper Kupp

4  Ja'Marr Chase

5  CeeDee Lamb

[weepaws 2,460]

Chase

Jefferson

Hill

Kupp

Diggs.   

.5 ppr.  

Perfectly done OP.  

[kcBlitzkrieg 17]

22 minutes ago, weepaws said:

Chase

Jefferson

Hill

Kupp

Diggs.   

.5 ppr.  

Perfectly done OP.  

Yep… 

Big Cedee fan but something about this season has me considering him just outside the top 10.  Dak and McCarthy is that something… 

[GobbleDog 816]

I'd been saying Jefferson first, but if I actually get the #1 spot I'll have to do some soul searching. I prefer Chase's qb, qb's o-line, and fact that defenses can't just focus on just him. Can't say that for Jefferson.  For now, I'll list em:

1) Chase 2) Jefferson 3) Hill 4) St. Brown 5) Wilson

I won't draft Kupp based on age, injuries, and team situation. Might prove me wrong, but seems riskier than necessary with my most valuable draft capital.

[GobbleDog 816]

25 minutes ago, kcBlitzkrieg said:

Big Cedee fan but something about this season has me considering him just outside the top 10.  Dak and McCarthy is that something… 

Might be wise. Meet Cowboys new OC - Brian Schottenheimer. Jerry Jone's stunning acquisition after firing high-scoring Kellen Moore.

[RareN64Dream 9]

Why are St. Brown and Wilson 4th and 5th, in your opinion? Just wondering. Why not AJ Brown, Amari Cooper, Mike Evans, Keenan Allen, Deebo Samuel or Jaylen Waddle?

I think all of them, Lamb and Kupp; some others in my mind I didn't mention. All have a chance to be top 5.

[GobbleDog 816]

23 minutes ago, RareN64Dream said:

Why are St. Brown and Wilson 4th and 5th, in your opinion? Just wondering. Why not AJ Brown, Amari Cooper, Mike Evans, Keenan Allen, Deebo Samuel or Jaylen Waddle? 

I think all of them, Lamb and Kupp; some others in my mind I didn't mention. All have a chance to be top 5.

Let's discuss

St. Brown - tackled inside five-yard line 7 times and still had six Tds. He'd be everyone's top 5 if he'd scored the others. Entering 3rd year, same qb, improved team, I'm buying.

Wilson - crazy talent displayed his rookie year with bad Qbs. I'm banking (here's the scary part) Rodgers problems last year were injury and/or team related. Wilson could be Devante Adams 2.0.

AJ Brown - my #7 and think he's one of the safer options. Mr. Consistent, no matter the team or qb. And not just each season, each week - very few dips. He's only 26 (peak time) and the Eagles haven't changed a bit. Could be higher ranked, but Eagles have a lot of mouths to feed. So I do like Brown, not so much D Smith, but that's another discussion.

Cooper - did ya see Watson last year... ugh. Reports out of camp aren't good either. Stinks for Cooper because he's a great Wr, but I see better options.

Evans - top 5? C'mon now. His adp is actually decent value. But Mayfield and possible Bucs tank mode might limit Evans (not to mention age).

Allen - likely his final year before Canton. Injuries becoming a concern, and older Wr's - even the greats, after they lose enough speed and separation, they go down hill quick. Don't know if that's happened yet, but feels risky.

Deebo - Ok ya named one I'm perplexed. He's THE MOST ELECTRIC player in the NFL. Look at the yac metrics, absolutely sick. But he doesn't get the downfield stuff. It's short targets and gadget plays. Some of that may have been Garoppolo's noodle arm, but even the few games with Purdy still short. Niners are a bit run-first too.  But he's so damn electric! If he finishes top 5 I wouldn't be shocked.

Waddle - tough to make top 5 as the #2 banana, even with Waddle's great talent. I do like his adp though. Sorta banking on Tua staying healthy, which he probably will, but there's risk.

Lamb - I'd like him a lot more if Dallas hadn't fired OC Moore. Now I don't know what to expect from Dak or Lamb.

What the heck, let's keep going - the two ya didn't mention.

Diggs - my #6 Wr. Hate the rumors that him and Allen ain't friendly. But whatever. They both did well last year and nothing changed team wise.

Adams - blew up last year connecting with Carr's deep passes. Guess what Garoppolo isn't good at? Also worried Vegas is in tank mode. Seems Adams thinks so too as rumors surfaced of him wanting out - though nothing specific said. At his adp, no thanks.

[Ray_T 591]

On 8/21/2023 at 11:32 AM, GobbleDog said:

I'd been saying Jefferson first, but if I actually get the #1 spot I'll have to do some soul searching. I prefer Chase's qb, qb's o-line, and fact that defenses can't just focus on just him. Can't say that for Jefferson.  For now, I'll list em:

1) Chase 2) Jefferson 3) Hill 4) St. Brown 5) Wilson

I won't draft Kupp based on age, injuries, and team situation. Might prove me wrong, but seems riskier than necessary with my most valuable draft capital.

you wont downgrade Chase due to the injury to Burrow?  or do you think that wont make a difference?

[Ray_T 591]

On 8/21/2023 at 11:22 AM, kcBlitzkrieg said:

Yep… 

Big Cedee fan but something about this season has me considering him just outside the top 10.  Dak and McCarthy is that something… 

well, for a couple years Dak had the luxury of playing in the worst division in football. 

now its possible that this could be the best division in football (or one of the better ones at least)

and with Cooks Being brought in, its possible CeeDee's not gonna be quite the target hog he was last year.   That said, I think the offense is actually gonna be more balanced and efficient but that might mean Ceedee doesnt quite put up the elite numbers he did last year.    dont get me wrong, he will still be good.  just not quite as good as last year statistically.

[GobbleDog 816]

47 minutes ago, Ray_T said:

you wont downgrade Chase due to the injury to Burrow?  or do you think that wont make a difference?

Burrow had a "calf strain" which sounded like nothing at first... til they said Week 1 was in jeopardy. Latest reports from training camp sound encouraging, but still not practicing. I'll see where things stand before my draft in two weeks, but my guess is he'll be fine. Considering how many hits Cousin's has taken for 3 straight years (why can't they fix that o-line?), he might be the one we have to worry about.

[weepaws 2,460]

1 hour ago, Ray_T said:

well, for a couple years Dak had the luxury of playing in the worst division in football. 

now its possible that this could be the best division in football (or one of the better ones at least)

and with Cooks Being brought in, its possible CeeDee's not gonna be quite the target hog he was last year.   That said, I think the offense is actually gonna be more balanced and efficient but that might mean Ceedee doesnt quite put up the elite numbers he did last year.    dont get me wrong, he will still be good.  just not quite as good as last year statistically.

Cooks is going to have a very good season, Gallup is back and he’s 100% healthy.  

[LaChup 154]

In no particular order.....

Jefferson

Chase

Hill

Kupp

Wilson

[weepaws 2,460]

That order looks a little particular.  

[JagFan 97]

Don’t sleep on Jeudy and Ridley.

Jeudy - I’m expecting Peyton to resurrect Russ’ career and Jeudy will be eating what he’s cooking.

Ridley - Expecting T-Law to take another step forward and there’s a lot of talent on this team to take the pressure off Ridley.  Ridley’s back with something to prove.

I could see both of these guys jumping into the top 5 PPR.

[GobbleDog 816]

1 hour ago, JagFan said:

Don’t sleep on Jeudy and Ridley.

Jeudy - I’m expecting Peyton to resurrect Russ’ career and Jeudy will be eating what he’s cooking.

Ridley - Expecting T-Law to take another step forward and there’s a lot of talent on this team to take the pressure off Ridley.  Ridley’s back with something to prove.

I could see both of these guys jumping into the top 5 PPR.

Jeudy is one I'm unsure about. Good receiver, but the elephant in the room is Wilson... lowest completion rate and passing rate of career. But still threw a deep accurate ball. I've read much of Wilson's problem was holding the ball too long (setting up deep throws) and getting into pressure trouble. My eyeball take on Wilson in Seattle was he always played by the seat of his pants, turning broken plays into winners. Play after play, year after year - quite amazing. Never a big yardage guy. Then wheels fell off last year. My wild guess is Jeudy probably finishes around his adp Wr 20+- given decent stats last year in spite of everything. But at this point I need to know last year wasn't the beginning of the end for Wilson before projecting Jeudy into top 10, let alone 5. We shall see...

I like Ridley especially if Lawrence takes a massive leap like many expect, including me. But nobody really knows what we'll get from Ridley after away so long. One of the more high risk/high reward picks.

[weepaws 2,460]

I like Kirk more then Ridley, and he’s three rounds cheaper. 

[Ray_T 591]

3 hours ago, weepaws said:

I like Kirk more then Ridley, and he’s three rounds cheaper. 

I value them about the same.

Ridley has a lower floor and a higher ceiling.

but because of that high ceiling I'd rank Ridley a bit higher than Kirk.    but I do agree, 3 rounds cheaper is likely too large a gap between these two players.  it should probably be one round.

[JagFan 97]

13 hours ago, Ray_T said:

I value them about the same.

Ridley has a lower floor and a higher ceiling.

but because of that high ceiling I'd rank Ridley a bit higher than Kirk.    but I do agree, 3 rounds cheaper is likely too large a gap between these two players.  it should probably be one round.

I agree it’s a toss up between these two right now.  Add Etienne, Engram, and Zay to the mix and there are a lot of mouths to feed in that passing game.  To take that next step, TLaw will need to spread the ball around.  This is probably going to lead to big games here and there for each of them and good luck guessing who from week to week.

[weepaws 2,460]

If it’s a toss up between Ridley and Kirk, then the value in ff goes to Kirk who’s cheaper.  I’ll take Kirk.  

[GobbleDog 816]

Ridley - high risk / high reward

Kirk - low risk / medium reward

I like both options.

[Ray_T 591]

12 minutes ago, GobbleDog said:

Ridley - high risk / high reward

Kirk - low risk / medium reward

I like both options.

I suppose your preference may even flip flop based on how your draft is going.

Kirk has a nicer floor, and if you feel you have a lot of risk in your team you have already drafted, maybe adding Ridley isnt high on your list.

alternatively if you have a lot of low risk players and maybe feel you are close but still a bit short of being a top team, you may prefer to take a chance on a guy like Ridley to see if he can push you over the top

[GobbleDog 816]

1 minute ago, Ray_T said:

alternatively if you have a lot of low risk players and maybe feel you are close but still a bit short of being a top team, you may prefer to take a chance on a guy like Ridley to see if he can push you over the top

I'm risk averse my first 2 picks, so don't mind a little Ridley risk if I'm picking near his adp (late 3rd-early 4th).  I usually look for a couple Wrs in rd 7 and Kirk is one. Based on my mocks, he's available about 50% of time.

It's weird, I've done lots of mocks on ESPN and Yahoo...  the players drafted vary wildly in mid-late rounds. Probably because each site has different rankings, so some drafters just pick near the top of whichever rankings they see. Made me realize why live drafts have such crazy results... because everyone is looking at different cheat sheets.  That's partly good because some gems fall later than they should, but also bad because ya can't predict nearly as accurately who goes where.

[Ray_T 591]

50 minutes ago, GobbleDog said:

I'm risk averse my first 2 picks, so don't mind a little Ridley risk if I'm picking near his adp (late 3rd-early 4th).  I usually look for a couple Wrs in rd 7 and Kirk is one. Based on my mocks, he's available about 50% of time.

It's weird, I've done lots of mocks on ESPN and Yahoo...  the players drafted vary wildly in mid-late rounds. Probably because each site has different rankings, so some drafters just pick near the top of whichever rankings they see. Made me realize why live drafts have such crazy results... because everyone is looking at different cheat sheets.  That's partly good because some gems fall later than they should, but also bad because ya can't predict nearly as accurately who goes where.

I'm the same as you.  I want my first couple picks to be rock solid.  if taking a chance on a guy in round 2 he better be a guy who has enough upside to give me a significant advantage over everyone else.

and I have noticed a wide variation in the mid late rounds too.  especially for WR because there are so many with reasonably similar point projections.

this is also why I do look at other publications as well other than fftoday (no offense to the site managers here) 

when I see a significant difference in a projection or ranking on a player between fftoday and (lets say football guys)  that actually tells me where i need to do my research because if they differ by that much, I want to know why.   

Quite often when I do a deeper dive I usually find that one site sees a risk factor(or an upside factor) that the other deems to be minor.   

a lot of times I also find that I like neither rating and do my own for that player.

dont get me wrong, I dont do a lot of this.    if fftoday has a guy ranked at 15 and football guys has him at 18 that could just be a slight difference of opinion (no research required).  but if they are ranked 11 and 25 thats more than just a slight difference of opinion.   getting that projection right (or wrong) can be the difference between winning or losing your pool in a close race.

thats where I focus my efforts.   I just dont have time to do a deep dive into every ranking.    The reason I use the fftoday rankings is because the number of rankings I need to amend is generally very small compared to other publications so its less work for me.  (so I guess in my opinion their ratings are better overall)

I dont agree on all their ratings but I agree on a higher percentage than I do with other publications.

[IGotWorms 3,315]

Chase

Jefferson

Hill

St Brown

Diggs