Fantasy Football Wide Receivers you can Trust in 2018

The focus of this article is to prove which Fantasy Football Wide Receivers you can Trust in 2018 based on  consistency of past performances.  Any wide receiver mentioned in this article should be assumed healthy.  I’d try to come away from your draft with at least two of these players.  It’s completely doable considering the main names you’ll see in this article are players ranging from 1st to 4th round picks.

Fantasy Football Wide Receivers You Can Trust

If you already had your draft and do not own at least two of these guys I’d suggest exploring trade options.  These players are consistent on an elite level.  They would absolutely be worth the time and effort a trade would consume to upgrade your Fantasy Football Wide Receivers.

1.  Since 2015, 3 WR’s have finished >60% of their games as a WR1.  15.9 points per game is the minimum amount of points required to be considered a WR1 over those 3 years  in PPR leagues.  (25 game minimum)

• Odell Beckham Jr, WR1 in 71% of his 35 games played.
• Antonio Brown, WR1 in 64% of 45 games played.
• DeAndre Hopkins, WR1 in 64% of 47 games played.

2.  According to FFtoday.com, 7 WR’s have finished >60% of their games as a WR2 or better since 2015.  13.8 points is the minimum requirement to qualify as a WR2 in PPR leagues.  (25 game minimum)

• Odell Beckham Jr, WR2 or better in 71% of 35 games played.
• DeAndre Hopkins, WR2 or better in 70.2% of 47 games played.
• Antonio Brown, WR2 or better in 69% of 45 games played.
• Julian Edelman, WR2 or better in 68% of 25 games played.
• Michael Thomas, WR2 or better in 68% of 31 games played.
• Julio Jones, WR2 or better in 63% of 46 games played.
• Jarvis Landry, WR2 or better in 63% of 48 games played.

3.  12 WR’s with a 2018 ADP in the first 4 rounds played all 16 games in 2017.

• DeAndre Hopkins, Michael Thomas, Julio Jones, Keenan Allen, A.J. Green, Doug Baldwin, T.Y. Hilton, Larry Fitzgerald, Adam Thielen, Golden Tate, Jarvis Landry and Demaryius Thomas.

4.  Only 6 of those 12 WR’s played a full 16 games in 2016.

• DeAndre Hopkins, Doug Baldwin, T.Y. Hilton, Larry Fitzgerald, Demaryius Thomas and Jarvis Landry.

5.  In 2017, 27 WR’s logged >100 targets.  In 2016, 41 WR’s logged >100 targets.

Only 16 WR’s have logged >100 targets in both 2016 and 2017.

• DeAndre Hopkins, Antonio Brown, Larry Fitzgerald, Jarvis Landry, Keenan Allen, Michael Thomas, Julio Jones, A.J. Green, Demaryius Thomas, Mike Evans, Golden Tate III, Devante Adams, Brandin Cooks, T.Y. Hilton, Marvin Jones, Michael Crabtree

6.  In 2017, 7 WR’s logged >145 targets.

1. DeAndre Hopkins:  174
2. Antonio Brown:  162
3. Larry Fitzgerald:  161
4. Jarvis Landry: 161
5. Keenan Allen:  159
6. Michael Thomas:  149
7. Julio Jones:  148

Hopkins, Brown and Fitzgerald are the only 3 WR’s to have >145 targets in 2016 and 2017.

7.  In 2017, 8 WR’s finished with >90 receptions.

1. Jarvis Landry:  112
2. Larry Fitzgerald:  109
3. Michael Thomas:  104
4. Keenan Allen:  102
5. Antonio Brown: 101
6. DeAndre Hopkins:  96
7. Golden Tate:  92
8. Adam Thielen:  91

Landry, Fitzgerald, Brown, Tate, Thomas and Hopkins have caught >90 balls in 2 of the last 3 seasons.

Landry, Fitzgerald, Brown and Tate are the only 3 WR’s to catch >90 in 3 straight seasons.

8.  Since 2015, 3 active WR’s have recorded 14 touchdown seasons.

• Jordy Nelson (2016), Doug Baldwin (2015) and Allen Robinson (2015).

2 active players have recorded 13 touchdown seasons.

• DeAndre Hopkins (2017) and Odell Beckham (2015).

3 active players have recorded 12 touchdown seasons.

•  Devante Adams (2016), Antonio Brown (2016) and Mike Evans (2016)

1 active player has recorded an 11 touchdown season.

• DeAndre Hopkins (2015)

6 active players have recorded 10 touchdown seasons.

Devante Adams (2017), Odell Beckham Jr (2016), Antonio Brown (2015),

Allen Hurns

(2015),

Ted Ginn

Jr (2015) and A.J. Green (2015)

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9.  Since 2015, 2 WR’s have averaged >100 receiving yards per game for an entire season.

• Julio Jones: 101ypg (2016), 117ypg (2015)
• Antonio Brown:  110ypg (2017), 115ypg (2015)

DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green, T.Y. Hilton, Odell Beckham Jr, Keenan Allen and Alshon Jeffery are the only other WR’s since 2015 to average >90 receiving yards per game for an entire season.

10.  Since 2015, 2 teams have finished top 10 in total WR fantasy points all 3 seasons.

• Pittsburgh finished 2017 #1 overall, 2016 #5 overall and 2015 #1 overall.
• Atlanta finished 2017 #7 overall, 2016 #3 overall and 2015 #9 overall.

Green Bay, Detroit, Tampa Bay and Oakland finished top 10 in 2016 and 2017.

After compiling this list a few things stand out to me: D-Hop, AB, and OBJ are being drafted exactly where they deserve to be.  Julio Jones should be the clear-cut 4th wide receiver drafted but I’m often seeing Michael Thomas and Keenan Allen selected before him.  They’re not bad choices but Julio is dominant and deserves to be taken before Thomas and Allen.

T.Y. Hilton’s name made this list often.  His ADP is low due to the perception of Luck’s injury.  All news out of Indianapolis suggests Luck  is completely healthy, draft Hilton.  I don’t think you’ll regret it.

Mike Evans, Larry Fitzgerald, Doug Baldwin, Golden Tate, Jarvis Landry and Adam Thielen are great values at their current ADP.  When your league mates are drafting the Amari Cooper, Ju Ju Smith-Schuster, Stefon Diggs, Josh Gordon and Tyreek Hills of the world, capitalize on their mistakes and confidently grab one of the aforementioned WR with tremendous value.  Good luck to those of you who’ve yet to draft.

Raw data compiled from FFtoday.com

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