Wide Receivers

AJB

New Places, Familiar Faces – 2026 Wide Receivers

A change of scenery can sometimes breathe new life into a player’s fantasy value. But is the grass greener on the other side? That’s what we’re hoping to find out with several wide receivers this season. 

Below, I highlight five familiar faces in new places and discuss how their new situations should impact fantasy football in 2026. 

A.J. Brown (New England Patriots)

The offseason’s worst-kept secret. A.J. Brown finally got his wish and was shipped out of Philadelphia, reuniting with head coach Mike Vrabel in New England. The hope is that Brown will be happier in a pass-first offense quarterbacked by Drake Maye. And with that happiness, perhaps more productivity from Brown. Receivers are simple creatures; they just want the ball.

The issue is that Brown was already plenty productive last season. Excluding Week 18, he finished as the WR8 in total fantasy points scored. He was even better down the stretch: from Week 10 through the fantasy championship, Brown averaged 16.7 fantasy points per game, good for WR7.

That said, Maye could unlock Brown’s true ceiling. Last year’s MVP runner-up ranked first in yards per attempt (8.9), true passer rating (116.3), and true completion percentage (77.3%), per PlayerProfiler data. He was also fourth in deep ball completion percentage (50.0%). Brown ranked 12th in deep targets (22) in 2025 and remains one of the league’s premier downfield threats.

I’m all in on Brown this season and have him as a top-eight receiver. In dynasty, I’d be trying to add him if I were looking to push my chips in as a contender. With Maye slinging it, Brown’s upside is colossal, and I don’t want to miss out on what could be a special season. 

Jaylen Waddle (Denver Broncos)

After a lot of trial and error with multiple players, Sean Payton finally has a dangerous weapon to deploy at flanker and in the slot: Jaylen Waddle. The Broncos were a Bo Nix ankle injury away from potentially reaching the Super Bowl and decided to go for broke by trading three picks, including their 2026 first-rounder, to land the former No. 6 overall pick this offseason. 

Despite only totaling 910 yards and six touchdowns last season, Waddle remained efficient and explosive. He ranked sixth in first downs per route run (0.127), 10th in yards per route run (2.41), 10th in EPA with a mark of +64.0, and 13th in PlayerProfiler’s Explosive Rating (115.3). 

Waddle now gets to catch passes from Bo Nix, who led the league in pass attempts a season ago. Nix was also third in deep ball attempts (71), which should mesh well with Waddle’s game. He produced his highest EPA per target on deep outs, digs, and post routes, per Dynatyze data. 

You don’t trade a first-round pick for a decoy, so expect Payton and new offensive coordinator Davis Webb to feature Waddle early and often. The setup is there for him to smash this season and top 1,000 yards for the first time since 2023. 

Waddle is a mid-WR2 for me in all seasonal formats and only a low-end WR2 in Dynasty because he’s already 27. 

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alec pierce

When to Target Wide Receivers in Redraft Leagues

Continuing my Redraft series, I’m now going to look at the average draft position (ADP) for wide receivers in 2025. My goal for this is to identify the ideal ADP windows for targeting the RB position versus other positions.

I looked at the top 96 players in 2025, and 43 wide receivers were taken in that range. I looked to see how the player did based on their draft position. I am using sleepers’ ADP (average draft positions).

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jefferson

Which Wide Receivers Can Average 17+ FPPG in 2026?

The goal of this article is to determine the makeup of an elite fantasy football wide receiver. I am looking for wide receivers who average more than 17+ PPR a game, which is about the top 8 each year.

Since 2010, we have had 32 wide receivers with multiple seasons of 17+ PPR. These quarterbacks have accounted for 111 of 138 seasons since 2010. We have had 27 wide receivers only do it once so far. Some of those guys that are still playing and could join the list of 32 are:

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Marvin Mims

23 Rookie Wide Receiver Analytics Spotlight Series: Marvin “Meh”ms

Marvin Mims burst onto the scene as a freshman at Oklahoma with a stellar season of 610 yards and nine touchdowns. This put him squarely into the conversation as one of the top wide receivers in the 2023 draft class. Mims is a big play threat. His 20.1 yards per reception were the third most in the country for 2023. For PPR formats, he is not the most desirable archetype of a wide receiver. His reception totals are relatively low and this can lead to inconsistency in his game-to-game performance. In dynasty best ball formats he is of more interest.

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luke musgrave

Dynasty Prospect Combine Winners

It’s combine week! Time for all of our favorite prospects to compete in the underwear olympics. If you talk to different people, you will get different answers on just how meaningful the combine is. NFL scouts look for traits and this helps them determine that on a comparable scale. Here are the biggest winners from this week in Indianapolis and how it effects your preparation for dynasty rookie drafts.

Throughout this article you will see a tool called the Relative Athletic Score. This is a wonderful tool created by Kent Lee Platte to provide an overall size adjusted athleticism score utilizing inputs from combine results. It runs on a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest. Give him a follow on Twitter @mathbomb.

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Sam Howell Touchdown

Washington Commanders: Offseason Update

We may have thought this was coming but it is now official, the Commanders have cut Carson Wentz. This coming shortly after former Chiefs offensive coordinator, Eric Bieniemy, joined the team to run their offense means we should see some big changes in dynasty value for some of these players. Let’s not waste time and get right into the trickle-down of these moves.

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Josh Downs WR North Carolina NFL Draft Scouting Report

’23 Rookie WR Analytics Spotlight Series: Josh Downs is That Dude

When analyzing wide receiver prospects, analysts such as myself, like to check boxes when a player eclipses a designated threshold for a certain metric. No prospect in this class checked more of these boxes across all metrics than Josh Downs. Downs was an uber-producer during his time at Chapel Hill. When Sam Howell or Drake Maye needed a big play, Downs was the unquestioned target. In this article, I will take you through the numbers and display why you should be targeting Josh Downs in your dynasty rookie drafts.

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