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We didn’t expect it, but in Week 9 we saw a miracle of the highest order. Julio Jones, He Who Must Not Visit the End Zone, scored a touchdown. We all saw it with our own eyes, but it didn’t seem real. After 12 full games and 90-consecutive catches without a score, Jones took a screen pass the distance with sheer speed and will. His teammates swarmed him with congratulations after the play, and it must have been a massive sigh of relief for one of the best receivers this sport has ever seen.
Some other Week 9 storylines for the wide receiver position included Curtis Samuel having a huge game despite all signs pointing to D.J. Moore exploding, Adam Humphries scoring more points than Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and DeSean Jackson combined, and Maurice Harris catching 10 passes for 124 yards. Fantasy football makes no sense; that’s why we love it.
We’re on to Week 10.
WR Rankings - Week 10
Rank | Player | Team | Opponent | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Player | Team | Opponent | Notes |
1 | Michael Thomas | NO | @CIN | Thomas is 2nd in the NFL in catches and 4th in yards. CIN has given up the 3rd-most yards and 7th-most catches to WRs. |
2 | Odell Beckham | NYG | @SF | A game against terrible OAK masked what has been one of the worst secondaries in the league. Eli had found Odell for big gains before the bye. |
3 | Julio Jones | ATL | @CLE | Julio has 604 yards on 40 catches over his last 5 games. Now faces a below-average secondary that will be without 2 of its top 3 CBs. |
4 | Antonio Brown | PIT | CAR | Despite the "down" year (by his absurd standards), AB leads the NFL in receiving TDs. |
5 | Keenan Allen | LAC | @OAK | Was finally fed like a WR1 and he responded with a massive 152-yard day. Now gets the worst defense in the league. |
6 | Davante Adams | GB | MIA | He's been as consistent as they come, scoring a TD in all but 2 games. Went 8/81 and 5/133 in those 2 scoreless games. |
7 | Tyler Boyd | CIN | NO | A.J. Green is out and Boyd is going to be CIN's clear #1 option in the passing game against the team giving up the most fantasy points to WRs. |
8 | Mike Evans | TB | WAS | WAS hasn't done a great job of limiting WR1s and their defense collapsed last week. Evans won't catch 1 of 10 targets again. |
9 | JuJu Smith-Schuster | PIT | CAR | Leads all WRs in RZ targets. CAR just got eviscerated in the slot by Adam Humphries. PIT is at home. |
10 | Jarvis Landry | CLE | ATL | He's been as inefficient as ever this year, but he gets peppered with targets and ATL has been a sieve on defense (3rd-most fantasy points to WRs). |
11 | Alshon Jeffery | PHI | DAL | DAL has limited WRs all year, but Alshon is in prime form. Awuzie is exploitable on the other side of Jones and Tate should allow for single coverage. |
12 | Cooper Kupp | LAR | SEA | Went 6/90/1 against SEA in W5 and SEA is most vulnerable in the MOF. Kupp has 6 TDs in 6 full games and went 6/63 in his only scoreless game. |
13 | Tyreek Hill | KC | ARI | Has been solid but not a week-winner the last 3 games. Now will get the Patrick Peterson treatment, although Watkins being out is a boost. |
14 | Josh Gordon | NE | @TEN | As long as Malcolm Butler is on the field, any outside WR will have a chance to score a long TD. Many less talented than Gordon have done so. |
15 | Brandin Cooks | LAR | SEA | Got blanked by SEA in W5 before leaving the game with a concussion. SEA has given up a 100-yard WR in 2 straight games. |
16 | Calvin Ridley | ATL | @CLE | With Ward and Gaines out, ATL is going to be able to throw the ball all over the field. Ridley seems to have passed Sanu as ATL's WR2. |
17 | Marvin Jones Jr. | DET | @CHI | DET was stuck in neutral all game last week, but MJJ still emerged with 6/66. He is the biggest beneficiary of Golden Tate's departure. |
18 | Larry Fitzgerald | ARI | @KC | KC has given up the 3rd-most catches and 5th-most yards to WRs. Fitz was the focal point of the offense in Byron Leftwich's first game as OC. |
19 | Julian Edelman | NE | @TEN | He's been a consistent machine since returning from suspension, but Logan Ryan has been very stingy against slot WRs. |
20 | Robert Woods | LAR | SEA | SEA has gotten tattooed by MJJ and Keeenan Allen in consecutive weeks. Woods has surpassed 5 catches and 70 yards in every game since W1. |
21 | Amari Cooper | DAL | @PHI | Wasted no time getting acclimated, catching 5 of 8 targets for 58 yards and a score. PHI's secondary has given up a ton of production (5th-most) to WRs. |
22 | Corey Davis | TEN | NE | In a tough matchup last week, caught 6 of 10 targets for 56 yards. In the playoffs last year against NE, Davis had his breakout 5/63/2 game. |
23 | Marquez Valdes-Scantling | GB | MIA | Geronimo Allison is on IR, but MVS had his grip on the starting job anyway. Now entrenched as Rodgers' #2 passing option, he can be a WR2/3. |
24 | Golden Tate | PHI | DAL | Would like to see how he's deployed first, but the odds are Tate slides right into the starting slot WR position We'll see if him and Ertz cannibalize, |
25 | Kenny Golladay | DET | @CHI | CHI has quietly been a target in fantasy for WRs, as they had given up the 8th-most points to the position before facing the horrible Bills. |
26 | T.Y. Hilton | IND | JAX | JAX's defense has struggled, but they still give up the fewest points to WRs and Hilton had just 9 targets in his 2 games played since coming back. |
27 | Tyler Lockett | SEA | @LAR | Went 3/98/1 against LAR in their first meeting this year and Peters/LAR CBs continue to get burned at an astonishing rate. |
28 | DeSean Jackson | TB | WAS | Last week was only his 2nd game where he was under double digit fantasy points. Good matchup this week away from Norman. Plus, #RevengeGame. |
29 | Devin Funchess | CAR | @PIT | He's just a TD-or-bust option right now and Joe Haden has fortified the Steelers' backend, but Cam is on fire and Funch is CAR's top option in the RZ. |
30 | Tyrell Williams | LAC | @OAK | Anyone can put up points against OAK and Tyrell has scored 4 TDs over his last 3 games. |
31 | Sterling Shepard | NYG | @SF | Ranks in the top 10 among WRs in RZ targets and has a great matchup against SF's lesser corners. Eli Manning can nuke his potential, though. |
32 | Maurice Harris | WAS | @TB | This ranking is contingent on Jamison Crowder not playing. TB is the worst secondary in the league and Harris is coming off a breakout 10/124. |
33 | Christian Kirk | ARI | @KC | Of the 6 games in which Rosen has played, Kirk has gone over 77 yards or scored a TD in 4 of them. He got 9 targets in the 2 others. |
34 | Mike Williams | LAC | @OAK | Oakland Raiders defense. |
35 | Doug Baldwin | SEA | @LAR | Hasn't gained more than 37 yards against the Rams since 2015. His last two games against LAR: 1/1 and 1/6. |
36 | Allen Robinson | CHI | DET | Will likely return this week and gets the treat of going up against shutdown CB Darius Slay while getting over a groin injury. |
37 | John Ross | CIN | NO | There are worse dart throws than a speedster for a team without its WR1 going up against the team giving up the most points to WRs. |
38 | Chris Godwin | TB | WAS | He's only ranked this high because of his TD upside. |
39 | D.J. Moore | CAR | @PIT | Disappointed heavily last week as Samuel took the spotlight, but Torrey Smith is out again and PIT has given up the 7th-most points to WRs. |
40 | Dede Westbrook | JAX | @IND | Seems like the only reliable option in the JAX pass game since he plays in the slot. Has had a usable week every other game since the start of the year. |
41 | Danny Amendola | MIA | @GB | As expected, DeVante Parker was an afterthought with Stills back. Amendola continued his solid form and MIA will have to throw plenty in Lambeau. |
42 | Randall Cobb | GB | MIA | He's turned 11 targets over the last 2 weeks into 9 catches for 64 yards. At least he's getting looks and plenty of screens. |
43 | Josh Doctson | WAS | @TB | 22 targets over the last 4 weeks and broke through last week for a TD. TB has the worst secondary in the league. But Alex Smith is his QB. |
44 | Adam Humphries | TB | WAS | He exploded last week and racked up 28 targets over the last 3 games while gaining over 76 yards in 3 of the last 4. |
45 | Tre'Quan Smith | NO | @CIN | Has established himself as the WR2 in NO. CIN has hemorrhaged fantasy points to WRs (4th-most) all season. |
46 | Robby Anderson | NYJ | BUF | McCown will be under center and he loves to sling it, especially to Anderson, who has long been his favorite WR. |
47 | Brandon LaFell | OAK | LAC | Has played an absurd amount of snaps since signing with the team as Gruden tanks the season. OAK will probably have to throw all game. |
48 | Antonio Callaway | CLE | ATL | Has put together 2 straight decent weeks and now gets the 3rd-most forgiving secondary to WRs that has been torched for big plays all year. |
49 | Cordarrelle Patterson | NE | @TEN | Putting him in the WR rankings seems cheap, but that's what he's still listed as on most fantasy sites. If Michel sits again, C-Patt will be the COP back. |
50 | Mohamed Sanu | ATL | @CLE | Sanu has sandwiched a great 4-game stretch with 4 unusable weeks. Ridley is more talented and is likely to vacuum more targets as the season ages. |