Week 16 Wide Receiver Rankings

If you are still looking at these rankings, that means you are either still alive in the fantasy playoffs, whether that be the championship or semi-finals match.  Last week was no different than the weeks preceding it with a couple of the stud receivers putting up mediocre numbers, potentially harming your chances at a championship.  Jordy Nelson, and A.J. Green put up pedestrian numbers, the former because of drops, and the latter because of gameflow.  I wouldn't worry about either of these two guys this week as I expect a full rebound.  The Thursday night game doesn't have any receiver who is highly ranked, but the Monday night game is completely different story with Denver playing against the Bengals.  Even if you are down by 20, there is still a chance if you own one of the top three receivers in the Monday night game.  As my rankings have gone all year, you start the guy who is ranked the highest.

With that, lets get into my top 50 WR rankings, with some commentary on guys that I feel standout by where I have them ranked.

Jeremy Maclin - The Eagles play the Redskins this week, and guess what, you start your receivers that are playing against Washington.  Beckham Jr. torched them last week, and this is something that has been happening to Washington every week.  Start Maclin with confidence, and watch as he goes for at least 100 yards and a score.

DeAndre Hopkins - Even with his top two QB's on the IR, and Tom Savage already ruled out for this Sunday's game, I believe that Case Keenum can get the job done.  Keenum showed last year that he is able to get the ball out to his receivers down the field.  In what is a terrific matchup against the Ravens, I am not shying away from Hopkins, and would start him as my WR2 or FLEX.

Baltimore Ravens Receivers - One of the two Smith's will have a great game against Houston, but which one will it be?  The way Joe Flacco has been throwing the ball has given me no indication as to which one has the better game.  I have Steve ranked one spot ahead of Torrey, and that is only because Torrey is still coming back from that knee injury two weeks ago.

Josh Gordon - Johnny Manziel was exposed last Sunday against the Bengals.  Marvin Lewis did a great job of showing how he can be stopped, and that is terrible news for Josh Gordon owners.  Manziel is a good enough QB that he will learn how to play the position in a way that doesn't result in games like last Sunday's, but I think that won't be until next year.  Gordon still has upside potential in his game by breaking one 80 yard catch, but the downside is also one catch for 5 yards.  Use him if you feel you need a complete upside play, and stay away if you are trying to minimize risk.

Nate Washington - Over the last five weeks, he has been averaging just over 9 fantasy points a game.  With Justin Hunter on the IR, and Kendall Wright possibly still siting out another week, Washington is the number one receiver in Tennessee.  The Jaguars defense has been playing much better as of late, and because of that, Washington slots in at #33, instead of the mid 20's like he would have with a better matchup.

Malcom Floyd - Keenan Allen has a broken collarbone, which means he is most likely done for the season.  Because of that injury, it would be presumed that Floyd would have the most to gain from this, but I don't believe that is true.  Antonio Gates is going to get more targets I think, with Floyd maybe getting one or two more passes his way.  You can pencil Floyd in for 4 catches this week, with about 60 yards, and an okay chance at a TD.

Dwayne Bowe - I ranked Bowe number 50 this week, but for some odd reason I feel as though he is going to score a TD this week against the Steelers.  The likelihood of this happening is about slim-to-none, and that is why he is this far down in the rankings.  I think the Steelers secondary is bad, and that is where this feeling of a TD for Bowe occurs.  Even with a TD, Bowe would still struggle to get to double digit fantasy points, and that is just kind of sad from the top receiver of a potential playoff team.