Fantasy Football: Week 3 rest of season rankings

Wide Receivers 16-30

My most popular

Reddit post

to date was

an article

where I mentioned that

‘s psychic connection with

was comparable to the Brees-Thomas connection and that it was too valuable for

to phase Lockett out of the WR1 role. I also pointed out that the Seahawks had never had the passing volume to support two WR2s under Pete Carroll. While both of these points were technically correct, the whole article was written under the assumption that Pete Carroll wouldn’t #LetRussCook. As a ‘Hawks fan myself, I’m very glad I was wrong about that one. Both receivers are playing like WR1s right now, but not every game with be a shootout and neither is the clear alpha dog, making me value them both as WR2s. If Russ keeps cooking, then Lockett-Metcalf could be a comparable tandem to Godwin-Evans last year.

Two sophomore wide receivers that I’m loving to take the next step this year are Diontae Johnson and Marquise Brown. Johnson has out-targeted JuJu Smith-Schuster 23-14 and taken a 33.3% target share in a good Steelers offense. He’s quickly carved out Antonio’s Brown’s role, giving him WR1 potential ROS. Hollywood Brown lacks Diontae’s potential due to the Ravens’ affinity for running the ball, but he’s the clear WR1 for his team and has been more consistent than last year.

Two receivers that I was right to fade going into the season are Odell Beckham Jr. and Cooper Kupp. While OBJ did have a decent Week 2, the concerns I wrote about in June were very present, especially in Week 1. The Browns offense is very run-heavy under Kevin Stefanski, Baker Mayfield doesn’t look great, and his chemistry with OBJ is still lacking. Cooper Kupp is another talented receiver suffering from a lack of targets. With only 11 total targets in the first two weeks, Kupp’s role is still being supplanted by Tyler Higbee‘s role. Try to sell both of these receivers for their name value, as their major parts of their offenses need to change for them to live up to their draft capital.

Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb has taken the mantle of best rookie wide receiver. In my Searching for 2020’s Breakout Rookie WR article, I ranked Lamb as the third most likely behind Jalen Reagor and Michael Pittman Jr. While Reagor and Pittman still have potential ROS, Lamb exceeded my expectations by immediately passing Michael Gallup on the depth chart. This Cowboys offense is good enough to make him a WR2 ROS, but he still carries risk of losing targets to Gallup, whose talent won’t just disappear. I would try to trade for CeeDee before he scores his first NFL touchdown and loses his under-the-radar value.