2024 tier-based wide receiver rankings

Tier 4: Pile of WR2s

16. DJ Moore, Chicago Bears
17. Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders
18. DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles
19. Brandon Aiyuk, San Fransisco 49ers
20. Davante Adams, Las Vegas Raiders
21. Michael Pittman, Indianapolis Colts
22. Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams
23. Jaylen Waddle, Miami Dolphins
24. Amari Cooper, Cleveland Browns
25. Malik Nabers, New York Giants
26. DK Metcalf, Seattle Seahawks
27. Tank Dell, Houston Texans
28. Calvin Ridley, Tennessee Titans

This tier was so hard to rank, as there is an argument for anyone interchanging these rankings around. But regardless, each of these players should have around the same value in 2024.

Moore finally got put in a position to show his true talent in Chicago, which translated to a WR6 finish in 2023. He also got an upgrade at quarterback in Caleb Williams. Even though Williams is a better quarterback than Justin Fields, he is still a rookie who will make rookie mistakes. Rookie quarterbacks typically don’t support fantasy WR1s. To go along with that, the Bears added Keenan Allen via trade and Rome Odunze with the ninth overall pick in the draft. Moore will be great for fantasy, but he doesn’t have that WR6 ceiling from 2023.

McLaurin, just like Moore before he got to Chicago, is a great NFL wide receiver who has not been allowed to show how good he really is in fantasy due to his situation with Washington. The hope is that rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels pans out and allows McLaurin to show his true ceiling. Even if that happens, as mentioned with Williams, rookie quarterbacks typically don’t support fantasy WR1s leading to a WR2 finish being a lot more realistic in 2024.

Smith and Waddle are both first-round wide receivers from the 2021 class that are WR2s on their team. Even with being WR2s on their team, they are both amazing NFL receivers and great for fantasy. For Smith, it will be more or less the same as 2023, where he finished as WR19. The playcalling will be better with Kellen Moore, but a new weapon in Saquon Barkley might take a little opportunity away from Smith.

Expect a fantasy bounce-back season from Waddle, who finished as WR34 in 2023. There were no problems with his gameplay, he was just in and out of games with constant injuries. Waddle just needs to stay healthy.

Expect a little bit of a fantasy drop-off for Adams going into his age-31 season. He finished as the WR10 in 2023. It's not about his talent, as Adams is still one of the league’s best receivers. Quarterback play is his biggest concern.

Adams was extremely inconsistent in 2023 due to the quarterback play, as he only finished as a top-24 wide receiver in nine out of 17 games in 2023. Jakobi Meyers will still be a threat to Adams’ volume, and now rookie tight end Brock Bowers will be entering the fold in target competition.

Pittman finished 2023 as WR13. He may not have the same week-to-week ceiling as a lot of players around him, but he is maybe the most consistent wide receiver for fantasy in this tier, only having three games under 10 points in 2023. He will get a major quarterback upgrade in 2024, as Anthony Richardson looks to build on his extremely short 2023 season. WR21 might be underselling Pittman a little bit, as his consistency may get him up to fringe WR1 status.

Kupp likely won’t be the elite fantasy option he has been in the past, but he will still be valuable. Nacua should still be the WR1, but this offense will not run through just him. With Kupp being fully healthy and ready to go, he should be a WR2 with upside. The only concern for Kupp is Matthew Stafford’s health and continuing decline.

Cooper, Metcalf and Ridley are all similar cases. All three are the alphas on their team and have the upside to finish higher. They are just prone to dud games here and there that will hold them back and keep them in low-end WR2 to high-end WR3 status. There will be weeks when all three of these guys win fantasy games. Ridley is the one with the biggest value in drafts out of these three, being taken as the WR32 in ADP.

Nabers has looked amazing in the offseason and preseason, and it makes it tempting to put him higher than WR24. However, he is a rookie and still has Daniel Jones as his quarterback. Any manager who takes Nabers in a draft in 2024 will likely be itching for more as he plays. His immense talent will be evident but Jones holding him back and the occasional rookie struggles will keep him at low-end WR2 status.

Houston's wide receiver group is so good and confusing for fantasy. Everything can change in an instant, but Collins should be the WR1 with Dell as the primary WR2 for the team. In 2023, Dell was on fire before going down to a season-ending injury, averaging 24 PPG from Week 9 to Week 12, all as a rookie. He could absolutely explode and finish a lot higher than this in 2024, but with how crowded the receiver room is, bet on Collins being the fringe WR1 from the Texans.

Tier 5: Great flex option receivers

29. Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
30. Zay Flowers, Baltimore Ravens
31. Diontae Johnson, Carolina Panthers
32. Christian Kirk, Jacksonville Jaguars
33. Keenan Allen, Chicago Bears
34. Curtis Samuel, Buffalo Bills
35. Christian Watson, Green Bay Packers
36. Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos
37. Rashee Rice, Kansas City Chiefs
38. Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers
39. Jordan Addison, Minnesota Vikings
40. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks
41. Stefon Diggs, Houston Texans
42. Jayden Reed, Green Bay Packers
43. Joshua Palmer, Los Angeles Chargers

This tier is extremely crowded because this is the last tier of receivers that managers should be confident in as week-to-week starting options. There are a few with some upside in here to finish as WR2s or better, like Rice and Diggs, but a lot of these receivers or more so high-floor players who should be plug-and-play flex options.

I’m going to first talk about my favorites in their tier, which include Samuel, Sutton, Watson, Rice and Palmer. All five of these guys are valuable where they are going, and not only have a good floor but a solid ceiling, too. For Samuel, he has the chance to be the WR1 and second target only behind tight end Dalton Kincaid for Josh Allen. Bills’ offensive coordinator Joe Brady also has loved Samuel when they have been together in the past.

Sutton should be the locked-in WR1 for the Broncos and finished with a great season in 2023. He had 10 touchdowns and finished as the WR35. His touchdowns will likely go down a little, but he should get more than the 90 targets he saw in 2023 and therefore, likely more around 1,000 yards.

Watson has talked about how he thinks he has resolved his hamstring issues, which is a major positive. If he can stay healthy — a big if — he should establish himself as Jordan Love’s WR1 and therefore sustain a higher floor with big-time boom potential every week. However, the constant guessing game of Green Bay's receiving corps lowers his floor.

Rice has been rising lately, and if there was a more clear outcome on his pending suspension, he would be more around a WR2. The possible suspension looming is scary, but if it does not hit him in 2024, he is going to be a huge value. He is a great NFL wide receiver and Patrick Mahomes’ WR1.

Flowers will have a good ceiling week-to-week, but he has a very low floor. Mark Andrews is the top target for the Ravens, and Lamar Jackson just doesn’t target his receivers a crazy amount. Even without Andrews for the majority of 2023, as Jackson's top receiver, Flowers only had 108 targets.

McConkey might start the season slow, but like a lot of rookies who break out, will finish the season much stronger. Scouts loved McConkey the player ahead of the draft but just think he will have a low floor until the second half of the season.

Maybe the fantasy community as a whole is low on a sophomore receiver who had 900 yards and 10 touchdowns as a rookie, but Addison has some concerns. Targets may be an issue with Sam Darnold, who will hyper-target Justin Jefferson. Addison will still be good, just more of a flex option.

Smith-Njigba should slide into the WR2 role for the Seahawks, it is just concerning with how he was utilized in 2023, finishing with just a 6.4 average depth of target on the season. Now, that can change in 2024, but it may be just due to the type of player he is. He should be a flex option in 2024.

Kirk, Godwin, Johnson, Allen, and Diggs are all veterans who are good NFL players. Kirk is going to be good for fantasy but will just have virtually no ceiling. Godwin’s possible larger role — that being the Cooper Kupp role from new offensive coordinator Liam Coen, who came from Sean McVay’s system on the Rams — makes him an exciting pick. He should be good but cannot be put higher than a solid WR3, yet.

Johnson will undoubtedly be the Panthers’ WR1 and their best one since DJ Moore. He should volume his way to being a great flex option. However, Bryce Young's inconsistency limits his floor.

Allen and Diggs are both veterans on new teams who are just going to be overtaken by the receiver talent around them. Allen should be the Bears’ WR2 for at least half the season, with rookie Rome Odunze’s role growing later in the season.

Diggs has taken a step back. That was evident at the end of last season. Due to his decline and sharing a receiving room with Nico Collins and Tank Dell, Diggs will be the WR3 in the Texans offense. He still will have spike weeks and be a week-to-week flex option, he just won’t be a fantasy star anymore.

As good as Reed looked last season, he is getting overrated for fantasy. In two wideout sets last season, Reed was only on the field for four of them. That won’t change at all if Watson and Doubs stay healthy. Reed is simply just purely a slot receiver for the Packers. I still see him getting the second-most targets on the team and being a good flex option, just not as good as some people think.

Tier 6: Rookie receivers with high ceilings

44. Brian Thomas, Jacksonville Jaguars
45. Rome Odunze, Chicago Bears
46. Xavier Worthy, Kansas City Chiefs

Thomas has apparently been tearing Jaguars camp up and could solidify himself as the WR1 for this team. I really liked him coming out of college, and if this is all true he could finish a lot higher than WR44.

Odunze's ability to succeed across the whole route tree is some elite talent, and he was pretty much tied as a prospect with Malik Nabers. The only reason he is this low is because DJ Moore and Keenan Allen are in that receiver room with him. He should explode later in the season, however, and his talent might have him earning targets sooner than I think.

Worthy is a prospect I was lower on, but his game-changing speed is not ignorable. His speed will give him huge splash plays, and his quarterback is Patrick Mahomes, so that will give him a high ceiling.

Tier 7: Late round darts

47. Kendrick Bourne, New England Patriots
48. Marquise Brown, Kansas City Chiefs
49. Romeo Doubs, Green Bay Packers
50. Jakobi Meyers, Los Vegas Raiders
51. Brandin Cooks, Dallas Cowboys
52. Ricky Pearsall, San Fransisco 49ers
53. Adonai Mitchell, Indianapolis Colts
54. A.T. Perry, New Orleans Saints
55. Greg Dortch, Arizona Cardinals
56. Dontayvion Wicks, Green Bay Packers
57. DeAndre Hopkins, Tennessee Titans
58. Tim Patrick, Denver Broncos
59. Keon Coleman, Buffalo Bills
60. Mike Williams, New York Jets
61. Rashid Shaheed, New Orleans Saints
62. Jameson Williams, Detroit Lions
63. Khalil Shakir, Buffalo Bills
64. Jerry Jeudy, Cleveland Browns

Most of these guys can finish as receivers that any manager can flex in most weeks, but there are a few that are more appetizing to draft and target in the later rounds. Bourne, Doubs, Meyers, Cooks, Pearsall, Perry, Dortch, and Patrick stick out from the rest.