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Macs Vert Pod
2026 Fantasy WR Rankings
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All right. We have your twenty twenty six as promised wide receiver rankings, in my opinion. Again, this is a four-tier system, just like the quarterback rankings I did. I did t uh four tiers. And I did 50 receivers. 50 receivers through four tiers. So let's get going. Let's get started. Tier one. These are your alphas. These are more than likely first or second round draft picks in your fantasy football draft this year. These are the guys that will be starting the entire season on your fantasy football team. Unless knock on wood, something very, very bad happens. So number one, I have Puka. Two, I have Jamar Chase. Three, Jackson Smith and Jigba. Four, Amon Ra St. Brown. Five, I have AJ Brown. Six, I have CeeDee Lamb. And seven, I have Justin Jefferson. So the first, I would say the first four guys, uh in no particular order, Puka, Jamar, JSN, and Amon Ra St. Brown, that's probably wherever you look, those are probably going to be the top four guys. Now, positions five, six, and seven, AJ Brown, CeeDee Lamb, and Justin Jefferson. You might not see these guys in your tier one when you look at, you know, ESPN or Fantasy Pros, wherever you may be looking, uh, as far as oh yeah, and I forgot to mention this is all PPR. So my rankings are assuming you're in a PPR uh league. So 2026, if your league is not doing PPR, uh you guys got to get with the times because that is it's just the standard. Um, but I put AJ Brown as my number five. Uh for the most part, I see him around wide receiver eight through ten. Uh, but I put him at number five because of the talent that he is. Um you also got to take and put it in consideration how bad he wants to play for the Patriots and how bad the Patriots wanted him. And they don't really have an alpha wide receiver one or wide receiver two. And because they don't have a go-to guy as a receiver, I think he is going to get a ton of targets. Uh, I couldn't even tell you who their number number two receiver is, but whoever it is, probably not a number two receiver in the NFL. So with all that being said, AJ Brown, he demands a lot of targets and he is going to get a lot of targets. Uh, it looks like this is a a great relationship between coach, player, and team. Uh they're all on the same page, and I think he is going to get peppered with targets. So um very good value. If you're able to get AJ Brown, in my opinion, the fifth best receiver in this year's 2026 fantasy football rankings. Uh, if you're able to get him, um, you know, if you're able to get him as, you know, your ninth or tenth, as the ninth or tenth receiver taken, um, be happy about that. And if you have pick, I don't know, 10, 11, 12 in your fantasy football draft this year, and AJ Brown is your your pick, your first pick uh towards the tail end of the first round, I would pick it with confidence because I think he's going to be that good this year. And then C D Lamb, uh, we're seeing a lot of George Pickens, uh rightfully so after his his season last year, but I still think that C. D. Lamb is the clear number one in this offense. Uh, I still think he is the better receiver, uh, more versatile receiver. He can play on the outside, he can play on the inside. Whereas George Pickens is um, I would say more of a down the sideline deep ball receiver. Uh not as good, not that he's bad, but not as good as CeeDee Lamb is across the middle of the field. And CeeDee is a great talent, a great talent, top five receiver, in my opinion. So I have him at six, and then Justin Jefferson at seven, which is crazy. Here we are in 2026, and because of the quarterback play so bad for the Minnesota Vikings, Justin Jefferson is the seventh, in my opinion, uh best receiver. And I see him right around this range, I see him around six, I see him around seven. Uh, but in my opinion, Justin Jefferson is better than Amon Ross St. Brown, I think he's better than Jackson Smith and Jigba. Puka, I I mean Jamar, I think Justin Jefferson is the best receiver in the league. And he had JJ McCarthy throwing him the ball last year and was still able to go over a thousand yards receiving. So even on his even in his worst years, his worst year is better than a lot of people's best year. A lot of receivers' best year. And I think Kyler Murray has enough experience in the NFL, uh, has proven that he can get the ball to a number one receiver. Uh I expect Justin Jefferson's stats to go up, you know, maybe two, three hundred yards and a couple more touchdowns just by not having JJ McCarthy throwing him the ball. So as long as Kyler is the quarterback, I don't expect Kyler to be some MVP type quarterback this year, but uh the the difference between Kyler Murray and JJ McCarthy is huge. Very big. So I got Justin Jefferson in wrapping up my tier one alphas. So again, that's Puka, Jamar, JSN, Aman Ra, AJ Brown, CeeDee Lamb, Justin Jefferson. Moving on to tier two. And this tier, I have it labeled as too many duds to be an alpha receiver. And what I mean by this is these guys have the talent, have the ability, have had most of these guys have had really, really good seasons in the past, and maybe even alpha receiver numbers in the past, but at the same time, they're gonna have dud games. You know, you're gonna start these guys, and you know, they're gonna have just as many points as the tier one guys, three out of the five weeks, and then you're gonna get two weeks where you're like, How did I get five points? How did I get seven points? How did I only get eight or nine points out of this guy? Uh so this list is kind of extensive extensive, but let's get into it. Number eight, Nico Collins, number nine, Drake London, George Pickens, number ten, Rasheed Rice, number eleven, Zay Flowers, twelve, Smitty, thirteen, Olave, 14, Garrett Wilson, 15, T Mac, Tetera, McMillan, 16, Omeka Abuka, 17, T. Higgins, 18, Jalen Waddell, 19, Mike Evans, uh 20, and DJ Moore, 21. So all these guys listed off from eight to twenty-one in my fantasy football 2026 wide receiver rankings. All of these guys, they're gonna have some great games, and then they're gonna have some duds. So uh be cautious with these guys. I wouldn't take any of these guys with my first pick, with my number one overall pick. Uh, so picks one through twelve, there's just too much risk for for bad games. You know, maybe it comes down to you know, your last couple games of the season, and you need one of these guys uh to show up and show out so you can make the playoffs in your fantasy football league. You can 60 to 65 percent be sure that these guys are gonna show up for you, but that's not the 75, 80 percent that um you're gonna get out of the tier one alpha guys. So all good receivers. Most of these guys are receiver ones on their team. So Nico, Drake, Rasheed Rice, Zay Flowers, Smitty's gonna be a receiver one this year, Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, uh T-Mac, Emeka Abuka, Mike Evans, I think is gonna be uh a receiver number one for his team, and then DJ Moore. Obviously, he's gonna be wide receiver one on the Bills. So of all those guys that I listed, there was only three. Actually, there's only two guys uh out of this list wide receivers eight through twenty one, uh, tier two. Only two of those guys are receiver twos. So think about it like that, you're still getting a wide receiver one uh in this section, but uh those two guys are T. Higgins and Jalen Waddell. Now, Jalen Waddell might very well end up being wide receiver number one on the Broncos. I wouldn't be surprised if he is, but the Broncos still have Cortland Sutton, so it's not a guarantee that Waddle is the number two uh or number one receiver. Um and then T. Higgins, that's a guarantee. T. Higgins, great talent, um, great catch radius, but we know Jamar Chase, as long as he's on that Bengals team, he will be wide receiver number one. So through the first two tiers, all these guys are the number one receiving threat on their team outside of Jalen Waddell and T. Higgins. So if you if you're looking for receivers, I would say there's 19 wide receiver ones that you can be fairly confident. Okay, moving on to tier three. This these guys are boomer bust for me. Uh there might be a couple rookies in there, there might be some surprising names in here as I list them off, but each and every week, these guys are boom or busts. So instead of, you know, a couple dud games, these guys, it might be half and half. It might be half the time. They have a really good week. They get you 15 fantasy points, and then the other half, they just they poo the bed. You know, I want to say the S word, but we'll keep it family-friendly here. So these guys, starting at 22, is Terry McLaurin, 23, Ladd McConkey, 24, Devonta Adams, 25, Malik Neighbors. Now, Malik Neighbors, we all know, if you don't know, I'll go ahead and let you know. He's had cleanup surgery on his knee. Uh he did tear his ACL early in the 2025 NFL season, and we we would thought we would have thought he would have been back by now, but he's had uh cleanup surgery on that knee, and there's a lot of reporting going out that um we don't know how healthy he's gonna be this year. So Malik Neighbors honestly would would be in that tier one alpha section, but he drops down to two he drops down two tiers because, you know, the the injury with his knee and the reports that I'm hearing, as well as quarterback play, in all honesty, out of the Giants, you know, that how how much can we trust Jackson Dart? We just need to see more. So that one might be a surprise for some people. So I had to kind of take a second and talk about that before I go through the rest of the tier. 26, I have Luther Burden. Now, I think he is going to be wide receiver number one on that team over Roman O'Dunze, but we'll just have to wait and see. You know, he could be the number one receiver and it'd be 800 yards receiving. I don't know. Maybe it's Colston Lovell and maybe it's the tight end on that team. I I feel strongly about Luther Burden being a good receiver, but I'm not strong enough to put him in the top 25. 27, I have Cortland Sutton, 28, Jamison Williams, 29, Christian Watson, 30, Carnell Tate. Okay, here's a here's a rookie here. Um I have him in the boomer bust section. You know, although he's a rookie, we don't know if he's boomer bust. And we do know he's going to be the number one receiver on his team, but he is a rookie. So I'm gonna guess that you know, rookie seasons for wide receivers, I I I feel pretty good. I feel pretty confident and safe putting them in the boomer bust spot. Uh, especially with some someone at his talent. I'm not gonna put him up too high, I'm not gonna put him put him down too low. So Carnell Tate at 30, DK Metcalf, 31, Romo Dunze, 32, at 33, Marvin Harrison Jr., 34, Alec Pierce. Here's another guy, Alec Pierce, that we're hearing reports about his ankle surgery, and we are hearing that um it's just not the best best news for Alec Pierce. So he is the number one receiver on his team. He was already a boomer bust guy. Uh uh literally, I think he had the most yards per catch last year. He had a thousand yards, but if you look at how many catches he had, I want to say he had like, I don't know, give me plus or minus ten catches, uh, sixty catches. So when you got guys in the Alpha One that are 115, 120, 130 catches, um, and they're getting well over a thousand yards, but they're getting you a lot of points because of it, you know, it's PPR. It's points, points per reception. Alec Pierce, he's not gonna get you that many catches. That's just what we've seen through his body of work in the NFL. He might get you a thousand yards, but he's not gonna get you a lot of catches. So he really is boomer bus. Um, and then again, with the injury, um I would not be confident taking him at any point, honestly, in the draft, in your fantasy draft this year. 35, I have Brian Thomas Jr. This guy was a tier one or tier two, probably tier two receiver last year. Uh a lot of people picked him high in their drafts because of what he did as a rookie. And he kept a lot of teams. He kept a lot of fantasy owners out of the playoffs last year because he was one of those players. You draft him super high in the draft, and you feel like you have to start him. You know, it's been four weeks and he hasn't had that breakout game yet, and you're like, it's coming, it's coming, and it never comes. And sure enough, you waste three-fourths of your fantasy season starting a guy that should not be starting. Production's just not there. And that's another reason why I think go get that, you know, first round pick. You know, you're who wherever you are, one through twelve, go ahead and just take Josh Allen. Because you know something like that's not gonna happen to you. You're not gonna you're gonna start Josh Allen every week, and there's no way he is just gonna kill your team like a Malik Neighbors did. Or not Malik Neighbors, I'm sorry. Brian Thomas Jr. did last year. So 36. I have Chris Godwin, and that wraps up the tier three boomer bust tier. So that was wide receivers 22 through 36. Um, yeah, a lot of these guys, all these guys, I mean, they're boomer busts. Christian Watson, number one receiver. Has he had a thousand yards yet? I don't think so. Is he gonna have a thousand yards this year? I don't think so. I was saying on my last pod, I don't think I'm taking a single Packer on my fantasy team this year. I mean, there's no one really gets a lot of production. You know, maybe Josh Jacobs, but he's going through some off-the-field issues, and he's also a little bit older as well. Uh, some other number one receivers, Terry McLaurin. This is a guy that he gets right about a thousand yards every year. Uh he's not gonna win you a league, he's not gonna lose your league. He's your number he's a number one receiver. You can't go wrong with that, but he very much so is boom or bust. Lab McConkey last year, bust. Lab McConkey, his rookie year. Boom. Uh who else? Cortland Sutton, very touchdown bias. If he doesn't have a touchdown, Cortland Sutton's pretty much a bust, not startable. DK Metcalf, very, very boom or bust. Marvin Marvin Harrison Jr., honestly, he is just bust. And that's why I have him towards the the the latter half of my my tier three at uh ranking number 33. And that might be a little bit too high because Marvin Harrison Jr. just hasn't produced in the NFL. Uh I think he's listed here just off of hype and uh what's the word? Hype and man, I don't know what the what's the word I'm trying to think of. Stereo, he has like the stereotypical build, the stereotypical uh frame. I don't know what it is, but uh enough with him and then Brian Thomas Jr. I guess he's their number one receiver. Um but maybe it's Parker Washington. So there's a few number one receivers on this list as far as the boomer bust tier. And don't get me wrong, you can never go wrong with drafting a number one overall or number one receiver on a team. So you know that guy's gonna get targeted. So you can draft these guys with confidence. I just wouldn't draft them very high. You know, I I don't think I would draft them in rounds one through three. And then tier four. Uh I stopped my list at 50 receivers at 50 rankings. Once we get past 50 guys, you really shouldn't be starting um or digging this deep into receiver, receivers past 50. Um there's you know, there's not really 50 plus guys producing enough points to to even be starters on your team. So tier four is hopefully these guys aren't your starters. Okay. There's some talent here. These guys could end up being fantasy winners for you. These guys could be league winners for you, these guys could surprise us all. And they could be really good for your team. But let's make them surprise us. Let's take these guys later in our draft. Let's not reach for any of these guys. Um and if the season were to start today, I would just hope that none of these guys that I that I mentioned are starting for your team. Uh if so, if these guys are starting week one on your fantasy team, um, I think you might have the lower hand. You know, I think your opponent might have the upper hand upper hand. So, at number 37, Michael Pittman Jr. 38, Ricky Pearsall, 39, Quentin Johnson, 40, Jordan Tyson, the rookie for the New Orleans Saints. 41, Parker Washington had a hell of an end to the season last year and pretty much looked like their number one receiver. But that was four or five games. So how much can we trust that? Uh not a lot, not a lot in my opinion. 42, Michael Wilson. This guy is ranked below Marvin Harrison Jr., but he produced more than Marvin Harrison Jr. did last year, and it and it was clear as day. 43, Makai Lemon, 44, Jordan Addison, 45 Shakir from the Buffalo Bills, 46, Josh Downs, 47, Wandale Robinson, 48, Jacoby Myers, 49, Jaden Reed, and 50, Jalen Coker. So these are some notable guys that could have, you know, honestly, of this list, the guys that I think that actually could go for a thousand yards, just a few, uh, maybe Michael Pittman, possibly Ricky Pearsall, Quentin Johnson, and honestly, that might be it. That might be it. Three guys, my top three Pittman, Pearsall, Quentin Johnson. All the other guys, you know, if I had to take an overunder on 1,000 yards receiving for the 2026 NFL season, I'm taking the under on all those guys. So quick. Recap uh on tier four Michael Pittman, Pearsall, Quentin Johnson, Jordan Tyson, Parker Washington, Michael Wilson, Mikhail Lemon, Jordan Addison, Khalil Shakir, Josh Downs, Wandale Robinson, Jacoby Myers, Jaden Reed, and Jalen Coker. So one last thought before we wrap up this receiver rankings pod, strategy. So I'm big, and this will kind of transition into the next pod, which is going to be the running back rankings. I am big on the importance of receivers. I think receivers are more important than running backs for your fantasy football team. So if you're able to get two guys out of tier one and tier two, if you can get two guys in tier one for your fantasy football team, I think you're automatically a playoff team in your fantasy football league. So out of Puka, Jamar, JSN, Amon Ra, AJ Brown, CeeDee Lamb, Justin Jefferson, if you get two of those guys, I think you've put yourself in position to be a playoff team in fantasy football. And then, you know, most likely it's going to be you'll get a tier one guy and then a tier two. And in order to do that, you're probably going to have to take receiver with two receivers out of your first three picks. Um I would suggest whatever your first two picks are, for me, number one's quarterback. But most likely you're not going to go that route. So whatever your first two picks are, I would go receiver. Okay. So I would go best available receiver for your first two picks. Uh I wouldn't take a running back until round four. Now, if you get crazy value, if you get someone to drop, a running back to drop, you know, to you, let's say you get, I don't know. Let's say you get to pick 12 and Jonathan Taylor's there. You know, fourth overall, running back, uh, overall, he's 10. Um, you know, maybe take Jonathan Taylor in that situation. Yeah, you always have to read the drafts and see uh what's what's in front of you. But all that's to say is I would load up on receivers and just play a zero running back strategy. I would try to get alpha receivers and then just get starting running backs. That's always been my my cup of tea. I will go all out to get a really good receiver, a couple really good receivers, maybe my third receiver, you know, kind of a boomer bust guy, uh, because then I need to come back and get some running backs. But I'm okay with just having starting running backs, like the number one running back on a team. So um I'm for instance, I would be okay with getting AJ Brown and let's say AJ Brown and George Pickens. So I take A.J. Brown and George Pickens, and then now when I'm up to pick next, I the running backs that are available for me are Bucky Irving and Javante Williams and David Montgomery. Those guys aren't at the top of the list for running backs, but Javante Williams is a starter. He's getting the ball every game. Lots of touches. Bucky Irvin, the starting running back, he's getting lots of touches. David Montgomery ranks number 24 in the running back right now. Uh not my rankings, but uh fantasy pros rankings. I'm okay with having that. I'm just as confident confident having David Montgomery as my starting running back on my fantasy football team than I am having Aston Genty or James Cook. To me, it's the same. They're both starting running backs, and that's all that matters. Running backs that get the ball, running backs that get carries. Now I understand James Cook has he's had more output uh over his career than, say, maybe a David Montgomery, but um I'm just so okay with that because again, running backs get injured at the highest rate of any of these positions that that we talk about in fantasy football. So you're already taking a high risk of taking Jonathan Taylor or James Cook or Devon A. Chain, and then they they getting them getting hurt, and then the guy that you're playing against that has two really good receivers and David Montgomery, he's fine because he's got a starting running back. So, and then when you when you take running backs, you know, you take your first two picks running backs, then you kind of forget about it. Then you kind of forget, well, I got my two starting running backs, and you think in a world of everyone's gonna be healthy. So then you kind of neglect the running back position, and then you're left with, you know, just those two guys, and you just gotta as your starters, and you just gotta kind of hope that they stay healthy. So we'll go more into the running back and the running back strategy and the running back tiers that I have. This four-tier system has gone pretty well, so I'll probably do that for for my next pod, the running back rankings. And looking at the list right now, I'll probably stop it. I'll probably stop it at 45. You know, I think 45, ranking 45 running backs is the way to do it. So stay, stay, stay tuned to the pod. Uh, we'll be back hopefully tomorrow with the running back rankings. Stay blessed. Peace.