Thursday, August 27, 2020

Fantasy Football Half-PPR WR Rankings 2020

Here are our fantasy football wide receiver rankings heading into 2020:

1. Michael Thomas, New Orleans Saints

Thomas has outdone himself every season of his young career -- 92/1,137/9 (2016), 104/1,245/5 (2017), 125/1,405/9 (2018) and 149/1,725/9 (2019). While keeping that streak alive will be challenging, the reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year makes for an easy choice as fantasy's WR1 heading into 2020.

2. Davante Adams, Green Bay Packers

Missing four games due to a toe injury, Adams still averaged the sixth-most fantasy points per game as Aaron Rodgers' go-to receiver in 2019. While he scored only five touchdowns in 2019, Adams had double-digit touchdowns in each of the three previous seasons and has a league-high 40 receiving touchdowns over the past four seasons.

3. Julio Jones, Atlanta Falcons

The obvious knock on Jones has been his lack of red-zone production as he still has just one season (2012) with double-digit touchdowns. That said, Jones now has 1,394 receiving yards in six consecutive seasons; the only other active streak is two (Michael Thomas, WR1). Over the past six seasons, Jones has averaged a receiving line of 103.8/1,564.7/6.2.

4. Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs

Not only did an early-season injury sideline him for four games, but he was only the WR9 on a per-game basis after he returned in Week 6 through the end of the season. With good health from both Hill and Patrick Mahomes, however, he has as much weekly upside as any receiver in the league.

5. DeAndre Hopkins, Arizona Cardinals

With 150-plus targets in five consecutive seasons, Hopkins has a league-high 830 over that span and he's second in receptions (504), yards (6,590) and touchdowns (46) since 2015. Even if he doesn't dominate targets to the same degree he did in Houston, Hopkins remains a top-end WR1 heading into 2020 with his new club.

6. Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

With DeSean Jackson departing in free agency, Godwin (more than) delivered on the breakout that was expected of him. Despite missing two games, he shattered previous career highs with 86 catches for 1,333 yards and nine touchdowns to finish as fantasy's WR2.

7. Kenny Golladay, Detroit Lions

Golladay had 65 catches for a career-high 1,190 yards (18.3 Y/R) and a league-leading 11 touchdowns on 116 targets in 2019. Those numbers would have likely been better had Matthew Stafford not missed the second half of the season. Golladay posted a 35/640/7 line and had four of his five 100-yard games through the first eight weeks with Stafford.

8. Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Teammate Chris Godwin ranked second in fantasy points per game; Evans ranked third. The dynamic duo gets a new (or old?) quarterback and the only thing that may hold back the passing game is the likelihood that Tampa plays with more leads, which in turn could lead to fewer pass attempts in 2020.

9. Allen Robinson, Chicago Bears

Playing a full 16-game season, Robinson had a career-high 98 receptions for 1,147 yards and seven touchdowns in 2019. With steadier quarterback play, Robinson should post another top-12 fantasy season in 2020.

10. Robert Woods, Los Angeles Rams

Woods scored only three touchdowns -- two receiving and one rushing -- in 2019, but he posted very similar numbers in other categories -- 9.3 targets per game (8.1 in 2018), 6.0 receptions (5.4) and 75.6 yards (76.2) last season. After the team's bye (Week 9), Woods had a minimum of nine targets every week and averaged 11.3 per game to yield 7.4/94.7/0.3 receiving per game. Woods is one of my favorite WR targets in fantasy drafts this year.

MORE: Robert Woods 2020 Fantasy Football Profile

11. D.J. Moore, Carolina Panthers

Moore had a breakout second season with 87 catches for 1,175 yards and four touchdowns. Before sustaining a Week 16 concussion early and missing Week 17, Moore was playing his best football. Prior to that point, he had a seven-game streak of 75-yard games and no receiver had more yards from Weeks 9-15 than Moore (711). While Moore will have to adjust to a new offense and quarterback, he broke out with less-than-optimal quarterback play last year.

12. Calvin Ridley, Atlanta Falcons

Ridley posted per-game career highs in targets (7.2), receptions (4.8) and yards (66.6) in 2019, although his season was cut short (Week 14) by an abdominal injury. Through Week 14, Ridley was a top-15 receiver across the board -- WR13 in half-PPR, WR14 in full PPR and WR10 in non-PPR. With a lack of depth behind starters, Ridley is poised for a big season as long as his health cooperates.

13. Tyler Lockett, Seattle Seahawks

While the Seahawks rank near the bottom of the league in pass attempts every year, Lockett is one of the most efficient receivers in the NFL and saw a significant uptick in target share (21.3% in 2019 vs. 16.4% in 2018) with the retirement of Doug Baldwin. Despite playing through injury in the middle of the season, Lockett set career highs in targets (110), receptions (82) and yards (1,057) in 2019. The 5'10" receiver led the NFL in red-zone targets (23) in 2019.

14. Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings

Thielen played just 16 snaps from Weeks 7-14 last year. Before leaving Week 7 early, Thielen was a top-10 fantasy wide receiver (WR9) through Week 6. The former UDFA was also a top-10 fantasy wide receiver in 2018 (WR7) and 2017 (WR10). With Stefon Diggs out and rookie Justin Jefferson in, Thielen enters 2020 as the team's clear No. 1 wide receiver for the upcoming season.

15. Amari Cooper, Dallas Cowboys

In his first full season with the Cowboys, Cooper had 79 catches and set career highs in receiving yards (1,189) and touchdowns (eight). Adding CeeDee Lamb to the receiver room with Cooper and Michael Gallup gives the team the league's most-talented wide receiver trio, but at the same time, the net effect will likely be a few less targets for Cooper in 2020. In addition, fantasy owners may be even more frustrated by the boom-or-bust nature to Cooper's game logs in 2020.

16. Odell Beckham, Cleveland Browns

The good news is that Beckham Jr. played a full 16-game slate for the first time in three seasons. The bad news is that he averaged per-game career lows of 4.63 catches, 64.7 yards and 0.25 touchdowns and finished his first season in Cleveland as fantasy's WR26 (half-PPR). As disappointing as 2019 was for his fantasy owners, Beckham has a top-five skill set and should produce much better numbers in 2020.

17. Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams

Kupp posted career-best numbers in targets (134), receptions (94), yards (1,161), yards per game (72.6) and touchdowns (10) in 2019. With the spike in targets to tight end Tyler Higbee over the final month of the season, Kupp saw his per-game targets drop to 6.0 over the final five games compared to 9.45 per game from Weeks 1-12. Trading Brandin Cooks to Houston should help both Kupp and Woods, however.

18. JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pittsburgh Steelers

With Ben Roethlisberger lost for nearly the entire season, Smith-Schuster struggled to get anything going and finished with career lows in receptions (3.5) and yards (46.0) per game, yards per target (7.9) and catch rate (60.0%). A healthy Big Ben will lead to improved numbers in his age-24 season but far less than his career-best 2018 season (111/1,426/7) when he benefited from the presence of Antonio Brown as the WR1.

19. DeVante Parker, Miami Dolphins

It was the unconvential fifth-year breakout for Parker, who shattered previous career highs with 72 catches on 128 targets for 1,202 yards and nine touchdowns. Over the final eight games with UDFA Preston Williams sidelined, Parker was at his best -- 44/802/5 on 76 targets in eight games without Williams; 28/400/4 on 52 targets with him. Given the opt outs of the 2020 NFL season by Albert Wilson and Allen Hurns, the duo of Parker and Williams may see an even larger target share with Wilson and Hurns sitting 2020 out.

20. Terry McLaurin, Washington Football Team

Beginning his career with five consecutive 50-yard games including a pair of 100-yard performances, McLaurin was quick to emerge as the team's top receiver. Finishing his rookie campaign with 58 catches for 919 yards and seven touchdowns in 14 games, McLaurin should be even better in 2020 as Dwayne Haskins becomes more comfortable as the starter.

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