2010 WR Rankings

2010 WIDE RECEIVER RANKINGS

There are a lot of familiar names in the top 10, but after that things really get interesting. Old standbys like Terrell Owens and Roy Williams have been replaced in the top 20 by some exciting newcomers (Michael Crabtree, Hakeem Nicks, Mike Wallace to name three) who look like they could be fantasy No. 1s in the near future.

There's also a lot of uncertainty because of injury (Wes Welker), suspension (Santonio Holmes) or contract disputes (Vincent Jackson). You'll want to remain flexible in the case of late breaking reports on any of these players before your draft.

Unfortunately, we may have to wait for the regular season to see how the distribution of passes plays out as teams like Chicago (Johnny Knox/Devin Hester/Devin Aromashodu/Earl Bennett), Oakland (Louis Murphy/Darrius Heyward-Bey/Chaz Schilens), Arizona (Larry Fitzgerald/Steve Breaston/Early Doucet) and Denver (Demaryius Thomas/Jabar Gaffney/Eddie Royal) figure to have new looks on offense. There are likely to be breakout WRs lurking in all those situations, but your task is to find them in the later rounds. Good luck.


1. Andre Johnson
2. Randy Moss
3. Calvin Johnson
4. Larry Fitzgerald
5. Roddy White
6. Reggie Wayne
7. Greg Jennings
8. DeSean Jackson
9. Brandon Marshall
10. Marques Colston
11. Steve Smith (Panthers)
12. Anquan Boldin
13. Sidney Rice
14. Steve Smith (Giants)
15. Michael Crabtree
16. Dwayne Bowe
17. Chad Ochocinco
18. Hakeem Nicks
19. Mike Wallace
20. Mike Sims-Walker
21. Hines Ward
22. Pierre Garcon
23. Wes Welker
24. Vincent Jackson
25. Robert Meachem
26. Donald Driver
27. Santana Moss
28. Kenny Britt
29. Jerricho Cotchery
30. Derrick Mason
31. Dez Bryant
32. TJ Houshmandzadeh
33. Jeremy Maclin
34. Johnny Knox
35. Steve Breaston
36. Lee Evans
37. Percy Harvin
38. Braylon Edwards
39. Santonio Holmes
40. Mike Williams (Bucs)
41. Early Doucet
42. Terrell Owens
43. Louis Murphy
44. Devin Hester
45. Nate Burleson
46. Kevin Walter
47. Malcolm Floyd
48. Golden Tate
49. Chaz Schilens
50. Mohamed Massaqoi
51. Demaryious Thomas
52. Donnie Avery
53. Bernard Berrian
54. Mario Manningham
55. Devery Henderson
56. Anthony Gonzalez
57. Jabar Gaffney
58. Chris Chambers
59. Eddie Royal
60. Laurent Robinson
61. Arrelious Benn
62. Dexter McCluster
63. Devin Thomas
64. Austin Collie
65. Jacoby Jones
66. Lance Moore
67. Jacoby Jones
68. Joey Galloway
69. Antonio Bryant
70. Nate Washington

8/11 Bust of the Day: Dez Bryant

Dez Bryant has already made quite a name for himself, and he hasn’t played a down in the NFL yet.

Bryant, a decorated wide receiver at Oklahoma State, had to sit out most of his junior season because he lied to the NCAA about meeting with Deion Sanders. Then, after being selected in the first round of April’s NFL Draft by the Cowboys, he made waves a few weeks ago when he refused to carry the shoulder pads of veteran WR Roy Williams, violating a longstanding rookie tradition.

In the long run we may look back and laugh at such nonsense when Bryant morphs into the next Michael Irvin, as many observers are predicting for the youngster. The 6-foot-2, 225-pounder certainly has the size and the ball skills Irvin displayed coming out of The U, and I have no doubt that, if healthy, Bryant will supplant the underwhelming Williams sooner or later and crack Dallas’ starting lineup. But his health is a concern, as he’s currently nursing a sprained ankle suffered July 30, an injury originally expected to keep him sidelined for 4-6 weeks. And that means he’s already going to be behind the curve, always a dangerous proposition for rookie WRs, who tend to not make huge impacts to begin with.

It’s not that I don’t think Bryant will turn out to be an exceptional pro long-term or have any value short-term. It’s just that I think people (especially Cowboys fans) will recognize the name and the skill set and tend to overvalue him on draft day. Dallas QB Tony Romo has a lot of mouths to feed (Williams, Miles Austin, Jason Witten, Felix Jones ...), so a projection of, say, 700-800 yards and 5 TDs for Bryant in his first season is more than fair. But there are a lot of receivers who can put up those numbers, and many are likely to go later in your draft than a big name like Bryant. He’s promising, but a fantasy No. 3 at best right now.

What the Mike Martz hiring means to you

The mad scientist is back in the NFL.

The Chicago Bears hired Mike Martz as their offensive coordinator on Monday in the hopes of reviving a stagnant offense that was a huge disappointment in 2009.


Martz, best known as the offensive guru behind the St. Louis Rams' "Greatest Show on Turf" of the early part of the last decade, had been out of football last year. The move is particularly significant for fantasy owners because Martz, unlike some other first-time coordinators we see get hired from time to time, brings a signature offensive style to the table. Thus, we should have a good idea what to expect out of Bears skill players in 2010.

We all know what Martz accomplished with the Rams - a pass-heavy offense based on precision and timing that set league record books ablaze and made stars out of Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce.

It'd be hard to expect the same acrobatics out of the Bears offense in 2010, so let's take a closer look at Martz's accomplishments as an offensive coordinator after his fallout in St. Louis. Martz spent 2006-07 as an assistant in Detroit, a team with a serious talent deficit. Still, he helped QB Jon Kitna twice pass for 4,000 yards in a season. He coached WR Roy Williams to his best pro season (1,310 yards, 7 TDs in 2006). He squeezed a career-high 61 catches and 520 receiving yards out of RB Kevin Jones that year. He made unheralded WRs Shaun McDonald and Mike Furrey fantasy relevant (and they haven't been heard from since).

Sure, the Lions never became world-beaters under Martz's guidance, but he did get production out of players who've done little or nothing otherwise in their NFL careers. In Martz's next stop, in San Francisco in 2008, he helped seven players rack up more than 300 receiving yards. Again, there was no Super Bowl appearance for the 49ers and no records were set, but Martz's track record stayed intact.

So we know what to expect out of the Bears in 2010 under Martz: Jay Cutler will get back to being a 4,000-yard passer and throw more TDs. Matt Forte will continue to get a lot of pass-catching opportunities (although his rushing stats aren't likely to improve). And the Bears' young receivers - Devin Hester, Johnny Knox, Earl Bennett, Devin Aromashodu - should all see spikes in their stats. There's more raw talent in the Windy City than at Martz's last two stops, and the mad scientist may be able to do some real damage this time.

Hot Pickups: Week 6

FIVE STARS (Out of five)

QB MATT HASSELBECK, Seahawks: Just in case someone in your league got impatient and dropped him, Hasselbeck reminded owners he can be a fantasy force when healthy with his 241-yard, four-TD effort Sunday against Jacksonville. He's definitely usable when he's got a favorable matchup, and there will be a bunch of those this year, including against Arizona this week and later in the year against St. Louis, Detroit, Houston and Arizona again.

WR MILES AUSTIN, Cowboys: Could Austin be that big-play, Terrell Owens-like receiver Tony Romo has missed all year? His monstrous 10-catch, 250-yard, 2-TD performance should be a resounding yes. There are a number of reasons to be pessimistic - Roy Williams was out; Austin had just 4 catches entering Week 5; the bulk of his yards came after the catch; and the Chiefs are god-awful. But if Wade Phillips has any interest in keeping his job (sometimes I'm not so sure), he'll find ways to keep getting Austin the ball following Week 6's bye. There's a lot of upside here.

FOUR STARS

WR JEREMY MACLIN, Eagles: If it weren't for Austin's outburst, we'd all be talking about Maclin's 6-catch, 142-yard, 2-TD day. He'd had a pretty quiet rookie campaign before Sunday, but let's just say the Bucs defense has been susceptible to the kind of long bombs Maclin was born to catch. I'm not sure how consistently Maclin will be targeted from here on out - Kevin Curtis (knee) had been ahead of Maclin on the depth chart, and teammate DeSean Jackson was coming off two huge games before catching just 1 pass Sunday - but the rookie could break off a big play or two against Oakland or Washington in the next two weeks.

TWO STARS

TE BENJAMIN WATSON, Patriots: You know tight ends aren't consistently targeted in the Pats' offense, and Watson is no exception. However, he caught his third TD pass of the season Sunday (he had 2 in Week 1 against Buffalo), and he's going against the awful Titans and Bucs defenses in successive weeks. As long as the head injury he suffered Sunday doesn't turn out to be too serious, Watson could be worth the gamble if you're fishing for a TD.

Photo by The Associated Press

Week 5 recap

- Turns out Hot Pickup Jerome Harrison (8 rushes for 21 yards) was just a mirage. Jamal Lewis carried the rock 31 times for 117 yards for the Browns and apparently is their No. 1 option. And hold off on Mohamed Massaquoi's coronation as a fantasy starter after his 1-catch effort in Cleveland's field goal-fest with the Bills.

- Rashard Mendenhall (15 carries, 77 yards, TD) continues to make his case for a big chunk of the carries for the Steelers after Willie Parker returns from injury, which could happen next week.

- Tony Romo salvaged what could have been a disaster against K.C. thanks to a TD pass very late in the fourth quarter and another in overtime. Most of the credit goes to Miles Austin (10 catches, 250 yards, 2 TDs), who may have jumped up the Cowboys' depth chart while ineffective Roy Williams was on the shelf.

-Is Larry Johnson (21 carries, 37 yards, 1.8 average) anything more than a fantasy bench player at this point?

- Brandon Jacobs owners have to be steaming after watching Ahmad Bradshaw plow his way to two TDs against Oakland, when their guy has only one rushing TD on the year. But Jacobs had two cracks down near the goal-line before the Giants subbed in Bradshaw for his first TD. Regardless, they're both still looking like good week-to-week options.

- Jeremy Maclin's skills (6 catches, 142 yards, 2 TDs) were finally unleashed in Philly on a day when teammate DeSean Jackson managed just 1 catch for 1 yard. We might see a similar story next week if Oakland's Nnamdi Asomugha is blanketing Jackson and Maclin is free to roam.

- That's the Roddy White (8 catches, 210 yards, 2 TDs) we drafted.

- Thanks for nothing, Mike Sims-Walker (inactive - violation of teams rule).

Sit 'Em: Week 4

- FRED JACKSON at Dolphins: Freddie J has been a fantasy revelation so far, but he's got two major strikes against him this week: Miami's defense is one of the league's toughest against the run (66 yards allowed per game), and Marshawn Lynch returns from suspension this week. Hold onto Jackson, but sit him this week and wait to see how the Bills' timeshare pans out.

- MATT CASSEL vs. Giants: Let's think about this: He's coming off a game where he threw for 90 yards, his top target (Dwayne Bowe) has a hamstring injury and might not even play, and he's facing the league's top pass defense. It all adds up to keeping Cassel on your bench, unless you're desperate.

- TJ HOUSHMANDZADEH at Colts: He's a borderline play in PPR leagues this week, but even that's troublesome with Seneca Wallace under center (without Walter Jones protecting him) for the Seahawks. TJ hasn't topped 62 yards or scored a TD yet this season.


LAST WEEK'S PICKS:

- Carson Palmer led the Bengals to a big upset of the Steelers, but it wasn't helpful for fantasy purposes (183 yards, 1 TD), as I predicted.

- Joseph Addai got the job done (13 carries, 63 yards and a receiving TD) against Arizona. But Donald Brown (112 total yards) won't back down in his push for more playing time.

- Roy Williams had his highest reception total of the season (a whopping 4, for 75 yards) against Carolina but still hasn't justified his lofty draft status.

Sit 'Em: Week 3

- CARSON PALMER vs. Pittsburgh: Carson's had his share of trouble with the Steelers over the years (who hasn't?). He didn't play against them last year but threw just 1 TD against Pittsburgh in two games in 2007. And the Steelers' D is pretty good again.

- JOSEPH ADDAI vs. Arizona: This dude's act is getting old: 74 yards rushing in two games. He also had only 6 carries on Monday night against Miami. And the Cardinals' run defense has been quite good so far. Get ready, Donald Brown.

- ROY WILLIAMS vs. Carolina: Is this guy really a No. 1 WR? Is he a fantasy starter? Based on last week's one-catch effort, the answer right now is no. Put him on the shelf until further notice.


LAST WEEK'S PICKS:

- Devery Henderson had a ho-hum 3 catches for 71 yards last week.

- Pierre Thomas had only one catch for -4 yards and still hasn't carried the ball this year. His knee injury has made him a huge bust so far.

- Ben Roethlisberger threw for 221 yards and 1 TD against Chicago.

Drama in Dallas

Love them or hate them, you’ve got to admit the Dallas Cowboys sure know how to keep things interesting.

There’s never a lack of drama with America’s Team, and this week has been no different, from the pinkie injury heard ‘round the world to the latest case of Pacman being Pacman. The ‘Boys began their season starring on HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” and the plot twists have only gotten better as the year has unfolded.

Sometimes the circus atmosphere is almost too much to take, but fantasy owners need to keep tuning into the latest dispatches from Big D. The reason is the vast amount of skill players on the Cowboys’ roster – in fact, if you play in the average 10- or 12-team league, there’s a good chance your roster includes at least one guy who wears a giant star on his helmet.

With that in mind, let’s examine some of the biggest storylines emanating Dallas from a fantasy perspective and how they affect your squad.

Start with the news of Tony Romo’s broken finger, which will keep the quarterback out for perhaps the next four weeks. I’ve actually heard some TV talking heads suggest replacing Romo with boring Brad Johnson is a good thing because of all the kid’s boneheaded miscues, and maybe there’s a little truth to that. However, in fantasy, we don’t really care that much about turnovers as long as a QB is producing, and Romo (14 TDs, 281 yards a game) has statistically outperformed most of his peers. It’s going to be a rough few weeks for anyone who’s been riding high thanks to Romo this year.

However, there’s reason for optimism. When Romo returns, he’ll have arguably the league’s best receiving corps at his disposal, thanks to Dallas’ acquisition of Roy Williams from the Detroit Lions for a boatload of 2009 draft picks.

Williams was unhappy, underused and underperforming in Detroit but has been handed his personal “Get Out of Jail Free” card just as the self-imploding Lions placed quarterback Jon Kitna on injured reserve, ending his season. Williams wasn’t pleased to see Calvin Johnson getting all the targets in the Motor City, but I doubt you’ll hear many complaints from him for the time being, despite having to share the ball with Terrell Owens, Jason Witten and Co. He won’t be the No. 1 option and might not even be the clear No. 2 on his new team, but his fantasy value is certainly no less than it was with the lowly Lions.

Williams is a major talent in his prime, and once Romo gets back under center, opposing secondaries will have to pick their poison among those three receivers. That means perhaps some inconsistency at times, but you’ll want Owens and Witten in your lineup every week and Williams as the matchups dictate. That also means it’s safe to drop Patrick Crayton and Miles Austin.

I know what you’re thinking: What about Johnson, the Cowboys’ placeholder QB until Romo returns? Is he worth picking up? Well, probably, if you’re putting Romo in your IR slot or just searching the waiver wire for someone interesting. Johnson’s not going to be gunslinging or running around like a headless chicken out there, so temper your expectations – he’ll do his best to keep Williams and T.O. happy with a few deep passes a game, but mostly he’ll be dumping the ball off to Witten and relying even more on Marion Barber, who could be in for some busy afternoons with backup Felix Jones out two-to-four weeks with a hamstring injury.

As for the ‘Boys on the other side of the ball, what had been a fairly mediocre fantasy defense gets worse with the indefinite suspension of Adam “Pacman” Jones and the injury to fellow cornerback Terence Newman. I’d still probably start the Dallas D against the St. Louis Rams this week, though.

And that brings us back to the poor Lions. The results of the trade are mixed for Johnson: He’s clearly Detroit’s top receiver now, but he’s stuck with directionally-challenged Dan Orlovsky (see video) throwing him the ball, and defenses can now double-team him. Expect to see a little more of Rudi Johnson and Kevin Smith carrying the ball in Detroit.

Worried about Peterson, Moss, others?

Week 4 is the perfect time to take stock of your fantasy team and figure out which direction it’s headed.

By now we’ve got a good idea of which NFL offenses look like powerhouses and which are just plain offensive. We’ve seen how certain running back timeshares will operate, which quarterbacks’ jobs are in jeopardy, whose surgically repaired body parts are holding up and whose legs have too many miles on them.

Also, with six NFL teams enjoying a bye week, the depth of fantasy rosters will be tested. It’s time to examine your squad with a critical eye and see where you stand. Some players will hold up to the scrutiny despite some early season question marks and injury concerns, while others are in serious danger.

Here are some notable guys I’m not too worried about, and some who deserve a red flag:

NO PROBLEMS HERE

LaDainian Tomlinson: His toe may be bothering him, but Tomlinson still rushed two touchdowns Monday night. That’s why I’d never sit LT – as long as he can stand on two feet, the San Diego Chargers will continue to feed him meaningful touches, no matter how good backup Darren Sproles looks.

Adrian Peterson: Even with a sore hamstring and the possibility he might sit out last Sunday, Peterson still started and gutted out a tough 17 carries for 77 yards against a good Carolina Panthers defense. Things get no easier this week against the Tennessee Titans, but Peterson is simply too dangerous and too valuable a fantasy commodity to leave on your bench if he’s active.

Brian Westbrook: He’s listed as day to day with an ankle sprain, but worse injuries than that haven’t stopped this tough little S.O.B. Westbrook is the most dangerous player in fantasy football and can never be benched unless he’s officially ruled out. Grab Correll Buckhalter or Lorenzo Booker as insurance if you feel compelled, but expect to see a Westbrook touchdown or two Sunday night in Chicago.

Brett Favre: The veteran QB’s numbers have been acceptable as a low-end fantasy No. 1 to this point (six TDs vs. three INTs) even as he’s learning on the fly with the New York Jets. Expect him to soar in the coming weeks (vs. Arizona, Cincinnati, Oakland, Kansas City).

PROCEED WITH CAUTION

Steven Jackson: From last season’s struggles to his holdout during camp, we had enough worries about Jackson entering the season. So far he and the miserable St. Louis Rams have done nothing to quell our fears, and the switch to QB Trent Green doesn’t help. This situation’s a mess.

Roy Williams: If the Detroit Lions can’t figure out Williams needs to get more than three targets a game, there’s no hope for them. With frustration mounting, Mike Martz gone and Calvin Johnson taking on a bigger role, I’m officially worried about our boy Roy.


Randy Moss: From Moss’ perspective, QB Matt Cassel looks a lot more like Andrew Walter than Tom Brady so far. Might it be that Moss is only as good as the quarterback throwing to him? If true, it could be a long year.

Braylon Edwards: We know his shoulder’s bothering him, but Edwards better start pulling down some catches starting this Sunday at Cincinnati, or he’s going to cost QB Derek Anderson and maybe coach Romeo Crennel their jobs. He’s got a long way to go in proving he’s a fantasy No. 1

Photos by The Associated Press.