Fantasy Football Wild Card Weekend: Ranking the Wide Receivers

By Vincent Frank on Thursday, January 5th 2017
Fantasy Football Wild Card Weekend: Ranking the Wide Receivers

1. Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers

Brown finished the regular season as the third-best fantasy receiver. He also ranked second in receptions, fifth in targets, fifth in receiving yards and second in receiving touchdowns. Needless to say, Brown boasted the highest consistency mark of any receiver in the league. That's really what we won't to focus on when it comes to a limited playoff slate in the DFS world. 

Set to take on a Dolphins defense that yielded 600-plus yards and six passing touchdowns in the final two regular season games, it goes without saying that Brown is the top fantasy reciver Wild Card weekend. That's only magnified by the fact that Miami also gave up the 10th-most fantasy points to receivers during the regular season. 



2. Jordy Nelson, Green Bay Packers

Again, it's all about consistency here. That's why we have him No. 2 ahead of OBJ. Nelson finished the regular year as the third-most consistent fantasy receiver. He also just beat out Mike Evans as the top fantasy receiver at his position. This was surely aided by the fact that Nelson caught 59-of-79 passes for 648 yards and seven touchdowns in the final eight games. 

The bad news for Nelson here is that he's taking on a Giants defense that yielded the sixth-fewest fantasy points and a low 56 percent catch rate to receivers during the regular year. New York also held Nelson to four receptions on 38 yards when the two teams met back in October. 
 

3. Odell Beckham Jr, New York Giants

We don't hate this matchup for OBJ. Instead, we're just not too sold on his lack of consistency. Over 44 percent of his fantasy points came in three games during the regular season. That pretty much clouds OBJ's No. 4 overall ranking. In fact, he put up 100-plus yards just four times in 16 games. 

Like Brown before him, OBJ does have a solid matchup here. Green Bay gave up the most fantasy points to receivers during the regular year. More than that, the Packers gave up an absurd 66 percent catch rate and 14.4 yards per reception. OBJ could very well have one of his patented huge outings in this game. 
 

4. Doug Baldwin, Seattle Seahawks

Baldwin's numbers weren't awe-inspiring by any stretch of the imagination during the regular season. He caught 94 passes for 1,128 yards and seven touchdowns. Solid numbers.

Baldwin, however, did put up a ludacrious 75 percent catch rate. Now taking on a Lions defense that yielded a 70 percent catch rate and the sixth-most points to receivers, look for a solid outing from Baldwin in this one. 

 

5. Davante Adams, Green Bay Packers 

It's hard to believe that Adams' regular season performance makes him the playoff's fifth-best fantasy receiver. He ended the regular year having caught 75 passes for 997 yards and 12 touchdowns. That 16 percent touchdown rate is what put Adams right up here in the top five. In fact, he was targeted at a higher clip in the red zone than any of the other four receivers ahead of him on this list. 
 

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