Week 5 Wide Receiver Rankings - Standard Leagues

We have now reached a point where we have four teams on bye. What's worse is that there were a lot of players owners were relying on starting. Those include Allen Robinson, Jeremy Maclin, Brandin Cooks, Willie Snead, and Doug Baldwin. Owners surely need to find replacements to start in their place. Whether you have someone on your bench who can fill in, or you have to go and find a player off of the waiver wire, these ranks should help you with your decision.

Injuries at the QB position shakeup some of these rankings from past weeks. Not only that, but the good and bad matchups are starting to take form. Some defenses we thought as poor matchups before, Carolina, have changed into being good matchups. That is why we wait three to four weeks to get a full picture of what defenses help or hurt your receivers. Now to the rankings.

Teams on bye: Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, New Orleans Saints, Seattle Seahawks

Kelvin Benjamin - With the Panthers playing on Monday night this coming week, I believe that we will be seeing Cam Newton playing. That extra day of rest and time to get out of the concussion protocol should be enough to have him ready to go this week. Even if Newton doesn't play though, I have confidence in Derek Anderson to do a decent job of running this offense. Because the run game has been struggling, the Panthers will need to throw the ball regardless of who is starting at QB.

Alshon Jeffery - This ranking is based on the assumption that Jay Cutler will be coming back this week. While this isn't fully known yet, he appears to be on track to be healthy enough to give it a go. Whether the Bears decide to start Cutler though is a different question. If Brian Hoyer is the starter, Jeffery will fall to number 22 in my rankings right behind Terrelle Pryor.

Julian Edelman - Welcome back Tom Brady! The suspension is finally over, and now we will be seeing the Patriots of old again. Edelman was a top 15 guy on a per game basis when he is healthy and Brady is not suspended. You should feel confident in starting Edelman again going forward, and he becomes the guy with the highest floor outside of the top 3 receivers.

Arizona Cardinals Receivers - Not only is Carson Palmer in the concussion protocol currently, but the Cardinals have a short turnaround by playing against the 49ers on Thursday night. While I could go on a rant about how terrible having football games on Thursday night is here, I will refrain as that would take too long. I would be shocked if Palmer is ready to go on Thursday, which means that Drew Stanton is going to start. This feels like a game where David Johnson gets a heavy workload. This has lowered every single receiver for the Cardinals, but do take notice that I now have John Brown ahead of Larry Fitzgerald again now that Brown is fully healthy.

Robert Woods - With Sammy Watkins out, Woods has been getting the most looks out of the Bills receievers. Over the last two weeks Woods has 18 targets, and he has converted 13 of those into receptions. While Woods lacks the speed and threat of catching the ball deep, he is a nice intermediate option for Tyrod Taylor. Woods is far more valuable in PPR leagues, but for those of you in deeper 14 team leagues, he does make a safe WR3 option with the volume of targets he is seeing.