Welcome to my Dynasty Football WR Tiered Rankings.
When it comes down to building a successful dynasty team, I’ve found it a lot easier to use a tier-based approach to player values. When you are sticking to a straight rankings list a five-or-six spot difference can seem like a lot, but if the players produce at a similar level and the only difference is the other guy is a little older or has had one or two injuries you can use this to upgrade your roster in other areas.
Tiers also help me break ties in startup drafts. When you’re on the clock in round six and you know you won't be up again for 10+ picks it can be easy to default back to taking whoever is the highest-rated guy in your website's draft room. This can leave your team with positional weaknesses you’ll have to trade out of later. Looking at it from a tiers-based approach, if there are five RBs left in the top tier available but only two WRs, your team may be better served by grabbing one of those WRs with a lower ADP first, and taking whoever is left of those five RBs on your next pick.
Contending vs Rebuilding
Football changes fast, much faster than any other sport. For this reason, I don’t tend to look as far down the road as I would in a dynasty baseball or basketball league. I like to keep it very simple. If I’m a contending team I’m trying to build the best possible team in years one and two. If I'm rebuilding a team I’m building the best team for years two and three. Due to this, my ranks don’t change a ton between contending and rebuilding teams. There may be a few guys that would move up or down one tier, but it’s mostly the same.
If you make smart trades and hit on a few draft picks there is no reason for a rebuild to take more than three seasons. With how quickly injuries change things and GMs and coaches having a shorter leash than ever, I think it’s foolish to try to project out further down the road than that anyways.
Let’s go back four years to 2019 and look at Dynasty startup ADP. You’ll see names like Ezekiel Elliott, Odell Beckham, Michael Thomas, JuJu Smith-Schuster, David Johnson, and Melvin Gordon in the first round. At that time you probably felt like you had your RB1 or WR1 locked down for the future. Fast forward to now and most of these guys can be had for a second-round rookie pick or less.
Football changes fast!
Dynasty Football WR Tiered Rankings
Make sure you also check out our other Award-Winning Rankings here at F6P. We have Draft Rankings, John LaPresto's Dynasty Rankings, and Jon Witt's Rookie Rankings.
*There is a table view below the blurbs and the rookies are below the table - keep scrolling!
Tier 1 - Justin Jefferson, Ja'Marr Chase
Nothing new to see here. ​​Justin Jefferson and Ja'Marr Chase are in a class of their own at the top of the Wide Receiver ranks. They should be the first two non-QBs off the board in all drafts and the only way I’d really entertain trading one of these guys is for an elite QB in Superflex leagues.
If you’re worried about the addition of Jordan Addison, who I’m extremely high on, leading to a drop in Jefferson’s production just remember that Chase has continued to produce at an elite level playing with Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd.
Tier 2 - CeeDee Lamb, A.J. Brown
CeeDee Lamb and A.J. Brown are just a small step down from Jefferson/Chase and are excellent consolation prizes if you find yourself picking near the back of the first round. Both guys are the unquestioned number one passing game option in high-octane offenses, and with AJ Brown checking in as the old guy at age 25, you can bet on at least five more years of high-end WR1 production from both.
Tier 3 - Jaylen Waddle, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson
While some dynasty GMs may prefer some of the more established and steady veterans in Tier 4, I’ll take the young guys that have room to grow while already demonstrating an elite-level floor for fantasy purposes.
Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson were both able to become startable fantasy assets in their rookie seasons despite horrendous QB play. I can’t wait to see what they do now that they are both going to be playing with real NFL-level starting QBs.
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Check out Jordan's QB Tiers, running back tiers and TE Tiered Rankings
