Here at Fake Teams, we are going to try something new in the Wide Receiver Ranks for the remainder of the season. Each week before I post my rankings for the current week, I like to review my calls from the prior week to judge if I was sane or insane. So far, I am about 50/50 in my "Players I Like/Don't Like" section. I'll take it. I have helped you all in one way or another I hope. Going forward, based on all that I've seen and read since Sunday, I'm going to guesstimate which results of the prior week can be viewed as a fact or fluke.
The Jaguars' Jason Hill goes off for 5 catches for 118 yards against the #1 Bengals' D. FLUKE. With an erratic Blaine Gabbert at the helm, Hill will not keep this up. His big day can be largely attributed to a 74 yard touchdown catch on blown coverage. Avoid all players on Jacksonville not named Jones-Drew.
Marques Colston of the Saints leads all WR's on his team in catches with 5. FACT. In just his 2nd game back from injury, Colston led all Saints' Wide Receivers in snaps. This trend will continue, and his numbers will begin to rise as defenses attempt to stop TE Jimmy Graham.
Pierre Garcon leads the Colts in receiving again with 5 catches for 125 yards and 2 touchdowns. FACT. Garcon has proven to be Curtis Painter's go-to guy so far and probably the guy he is most comfortable throwing to. Reggie Wayne will continue to take away targets, but with Garcon the #2, he'll likely go up against defenders of lesser caliber.
More flukes, facts and ranks after the jump..
Vincent Jackson disappoints his owners with only 3 catches for 34 yards in an Antonio Gates-less offense. FLUKE. V-Jax was nursing a hamstring injury as Champ Bailey was all over him. Philip Rivers and the Chargers leaned on the run game as a result and didn't need to air it out to beat the 1-4 Broncos. Jackson will heal during the bye, and I expect him to finish with top-7 numbers at the WR position when all is said and done.Seattle Rookie Doug Baldwin catches 8 balls for 136 yards and a score in an explosion during upset win over Giants. FACT, sorta. Baldwin has a few things going for him in Seattle. #1 WR Sidney Rice is constantly double covered, and his QB trusts him. Even better is backup Charlie Whitehurst threw to Baldwin all day when Tarvaris Jackson went down with an injury. I don't know if Baldwin will be consistent, but I do think the targets will be there. Too bad you're going to have to wait another week to use him. While we're at it, Victor Cruz (8-161-1) gets a FACT, sorta as well. The majority of experts are telling you to sell Cruz high, but how many people in your league are going to buy a #3 WR who has had 2 monster games sandwiching a good one? He hasn't proven anything other than being a preseason superstar, so I'd suggest waiting him out. If he continues to play well, then hold him. He clearly has Eli Manning's trust; watching that game on Sunday, it didn't appear Manning was going to anyone else but Cruz in the 4th quarter. That has to be pretty telling, right?
Former 1st-round bust Darris Heyward-Bey put in a second straight solid game for the Raiders, finally making the corpse of Al Davis look good a day after his death. Heyward-Bey, fresh off of a 115 yard game against New England, led Oakland with 7 catches, 99 yards and a score in a huge win at Houston. Until Heyward-Bey shows me again, I consider it a nice run, but a FLUKE. He has shown just glimpses of talent in the past, and as long as the Raiders remain a run-heavy team and possess other talented speedy receivers who can break out at any given game (I'm looking at you, Jacoby Ford and Denarius Moore), I'm not buying...yet.
Players I Like This Week: A.J. Green, Harry Douglas, Miles Austin, Greg Little, Victor Cruz
Players I Don't Like This Week: Brandon Marshall, Rams WR's
Don't Panic On: Santonio Holmes, Julio Jones, Mario Manningham
Some Panic is Acceptable: Mike Williams, Brandon Lloyd, Eric Decker
Go All In On: Cowboys WR's
Fold: 49ers WR's
Buy Low: Percy Harvin, Marques Colston, Greg Little, Larry Fitzgerald, Brandon Marshall
Sell High: Wes Welker (I'll list him here every week - you can get so much for him especially those who need bye-week help)
Rankings are below, and please let me know if you have any questions or concerns with the list. You can follow me on Twitter or ask any questions there.
For all other rankings, head on over to our friends at Fantasy Rundown and Fantasy Football Librarian.
| Player | Team | Opponent |
| 1. Calvin Johnson | Lions | 49ers |
| 2. Wes Welker | Patriots | Cowboys |
| 3. Hakeem Nicks | Giants | Bills |
| 4. Mike Wallace | Steelers | Jaguars |
| 5. Steve Smith | Panthers | Falcons |
| 6. Miles Austin | Cowboys | Patriots |
| 7. Greg Jennings | Packers | Rams |
| 8. Desean Jackson | Eagles | Redskins |
| 9. AJ Green | Bengals | Colts |
| 10. Roddy White | Falcons | Panthers |
| 11. Dez Bryant | Cowboys | Patriots |
| 12. Jeremy Maclin | Eagles | Redskins |
| 13. Marques Colston | Saints | Bucs |
| 14. Steve Johnson | Bills | Giants |
| 15. Victor Cruz | Giants | Bills |
| 16. Anquan Boldin | Ravens | Texans |
| 17. Santonio Holmes | Jets | Dolphins |
| 18. Santana Moss | Redskins | Eagles |
| 19. Pierre Garcon | Colts | Bengals |
| 20. Mario Manningham | Giants | Bills |
| 21 Brandon Marshall | Dolphins | Jets |
| 22. Jordy Nelson | Packers | Rams |
| 23. Mike Williams | Bucs | Saints |
| 24. David Nelson | Bills | Giants |
| 25. Greg Little | Browns | Raiders |
| 26. Percy Harvin | Vikings | Bears |
| 27. Reggie Wayne | Colts | Bengals |
| 28. Michael Crabtree | 49ers | Lions |
| 29. Deion Branch | Patriots | Cowboys |
| 30. Johnny Knox | Bears | Vikings |
| 31. Mike Thomas | Jaguars | Steelers |
| 32. Lance Moore | Saints | Bucs |
| 33. Darrius Heyward-Bey | Raiders | Browns |
| 34. Antonio Brown | Steelers | Jaguars |
| 35. Denarius Moore | Raiders | Browns |
| 36. Plaxico Burress | Jets | Dolphins |
| 37. Harry Douglas | Falcons | Panthers |
| 38. Titus Young | Lions | 49ers |
| 39. Robert Meachem | Saints | Bucs |
| 40. Jacoby Ford | Raiders | Browns |
| 41. Lee Evans | Ravens | Texans |
| 42. Kevin Walter | Texans | Ravens |
| 43. James Jones | Packers | Rams |
| 44. Mike Sims-Walker | Rams | Packers |
| 45. Davone Bess | Dolphins | Jets |
| 46. Hines Ward | Steelers | Jaguars |
| 47. Nate Burleson | Lions | 49ers |
| 48. Jabar Gaffney | Redskins | Eagles |
| 49. Jacoby Jones | Texans | Ravens |
| 50. Brandon Gibson | Rams | Packers |