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Fantasy Football Rankings: Wide receivers for Week 2

Ranking the best wide receivers by matchup and opportunity for Week 2 of the 2018 NFL Season.

By Matias Wodner
NFL: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Tennessee Titans Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

Week 1 is in the books and everything went exactly according to plan. DeSean Jackson is currently the WR3. Ted Ginn is the WR11. Phillip Dorsett and Quincy Enunwa are top-18 in scoring for the position.

While there were plenty of surprises during the first week of the regular season, particularly at the wide receiver position, a lot of things played out like they were supposed to. Antonio Brown, Julio Jones and Odell Beckham Jr. are the studs we expect them to be for the whole season. Michael Thomas and Tyreek Hill are set for superstardom and receivers like Golden Tate and Demaryius Thomas seem to be as reliable as ever.

With Week 2 upcoming, there will be some new faces in these rankings. Odds are that many players will regress to the mean after a huge or disappointing Week 1. Unless it’s Amari Cooper; then it’s probably all bad all the time.

Let’s check out what the second week of the season has in store for us.

WR Rankings - Week 2

Rank Player Team Opponent Notes
Rank Player Team Opponent Notes
1 Antonio Brown PIT KC KC backend is quite susceptible and this one could turn into a shootout.
2 Julio Jones ATL CAR Has always had success against CAR and looks like he's in for a record-breaking season.
3 Odell Beckham Jr. NYG @DAL Went 11/111 against mighty JAX and now gets DAL in primetime. Get your popcorn.
4 Michael Thomas NO CLE Game script this week won't force Brees to throw so much, but Thomas should eat against inferior CLE CBs.
5 Mike Evans TB PHI With Fitz running hot, Evans will benefit greatly. PHI's CBs are not that great and easily beatable by talented WRs.
6 DeAndre Hopkins HOU @TEN TEN's secondary is great on paper, but they are leaky. Stills just exploded vs. TEN, Hopkins will be next.
7 Tyreek Hill KC @PIT PIT is susceptible on the backend and no one in the NFL can cover Hill on any route.
8 Keenan Allen LAC @BUF BUF just gave up three WR TDs in Week 1. Allen is the lifeblood of LAC's passing game and will be fed.
9 A.J. Green CIN BAL Carr may shadow him, but it doesn't matter. Green is still in his prime and Dalton looks good.
10 Jarvis Landry CLE @NO NO looks horrid on defense and Landry is coming off a 15-target game where he was actually used downfield.
11 T.Y. Hilton IND @WAS WAS lost its slot corner over the offseason, forcing Fabian Moreau to start. He did well on Fitz in W1, but Hilton is another animal.
12 Adam Thielen MIN @GB For all the talk about Cousins-Diggs, Thielen was the main target and go-to guy in W1. Just like all of last season.
13 JuJu Smith-Schuster PIT KC In a likely shootout and the clear-cut #2 in a good offense, JuJu is set up for another 100+ yard outing.
14 Stefon Diggs MIN @GB Has scored a TD in each of his last 3 games vs. GB. Has shown chemistry with Cousins and MIN will likely have to throw in this one.
15 Emmanuel Sanders DEN OAK Struggled against OAK last year, but looks healthy and revived as Keenum's preferred target in the slot.
16 Golden Tate DET @SF Thielen just went 6/102 from the slot vs. SF. The main guy on a team with a bad defense, Tate looks set for a huge year.
17 Larry Fitzgerald ARI @LAR In last matchup vs. LAR, Fitz went 10/98/1 against Robey-Coleman, who returns as the slot corner.
18 Davante Adams GB MIN Has scored a TD in last two matchups vs. MIN, but with low yardage totals. Rhodes will shadow him, making him a low-ceiling WR2.
19 Corey Davis TEN HOU Was TEN's leading receiver in W1 and got 3 RZ targets. HOU is banged up at CB, fueling a possible breakout for Davis.
20 Kenny Stills MIA @NYJ A matchup against Johnson/Claiborne is daunting, but Stills can get open against anyone and looks to be MIA's WR1.
21 Cooper Kupp LAR ARI With Peterson focusing on Cooks/Woods, Kupp should be in line for the biggest WR workload for LAR.
22 Tyler Lockett SEA @CHI Will soak up all of the deep targets and a lot of the intermediate stuff with Baldwin out.
23 Demaryius Thomas DEN OAK Sanders got most of Keenum's attention in W1, but DT still caught a TD and played well. OAK isn't an imposing matchup.
24 Quincy Enunwa NYJ MIA Quickly established himself as Darnold's favorite target, accumulating 10 TGTs on 21 of Darnold's passes. MIA is vulnerable in the MOF.
25 Nelson Agholor PHI @TB TB defense is easily exploitable and Agholor is PHI's WR1, but he was used frustratingly close to the LOS in W1 and Foles looks bad.
26 Kenny Golladay DET @SF Looks like a stud with size, speed and catching ability. The matchup is unimposing.
27 Brandin Cooks LAR ARI Will see a lot of Patrick Peterson. McVay will scheme him open a few times throughout the game.
28 Chris Hogan NE JAX Can't jump ship yet, but 1 catch for 11 yards against HOU is absurd given NE's WR situation. JAX isn't exactly a soft rebound spot.
29 Randall Cobb GB MIN History vs. Mike Zimmer's MIN defense isn't pretty, but Cobb looked as good as ever in Week 1.
30 Brandon Marshall SEA @CHI CHI is a tough matchup, but B-Marsh looks good and Baldwin is out. Revenge game narrative is in play, as well.
31 Allen Robinson II CHI SEA Likely to see a lot of Shaquil Griffin. Trubisky fell apart in the second half last week, which makes A-Rob risky.
32 Marvin Jones DET @SF Golladay just looks better. Narrative might be different if Marvin comes down with one of the many deep balls he couldn't corral in W1.
33 Robby Anderson NYJ MIA Caught just one pass in W1, but made it count with a 40-yard TD. MIA's CBs easier to beat than Darius Slay.
34 Devin Funchess CAR @ATL With Olsen out, Funchess will occupy all of the passing looks in the RZ.
35 Josh Gordon CLE @NO How he only got 1 target on 69 snaps, we'll never know, but he should be featured more in a potential shootout game.
36 Amari Cooper OAK @DEN Hopefully you listened last week to my caution about Amari vs. LAR. With Derek Carr regressing exponentially, Cooper isn't startable.
37 Marquise Goodwin SF DET Dealing with a bruised thigh that could keep him out or limit him. If he's good to go, he's in a tempting spot against a horrible DET team.
38 Chris Godwin TB PHI Just like he has throughout his short career, made the most of his opportunities in W1 (4/3/41/1). If Jackson sits, Godwin will blow up.
39 Keelan Cole JAX NE Theoretically the lead WR. Big plays per receptions are there, but the volume is slightly concerning.
40 DeSean Jackson TB PHI Went nuts in W1, but did it on just 5 targets and is working his way back from a concussion.
41 Michael Crabtree BAL @CIN Tough to judge a performance against BUF. If CIN sticks William Jackson on Crabtree, it will be a long night.
42 John Brown BAL @CIN Has looked like BAL's best WR through preseason and it carried over into W1. Should do some damage from the slot.
43 Geronimo Allison GB MIN Should get most of his looks against Trae Waynes, who can be beaten. Allison is a legit part of the offense and is very talented.
44 Ted Ginn Jr. NO CLE We keep hyping up other WR pieces, but Ginn is still a big part of NO's offense and Brees trusts him.
45 Sammy Watkins KC @PIT Good luck picking out which will be his blowup games. He's non-existent in most of them.
46 Dante Pettis SF DET Big-play creator will earn more looks as the season goes on. Should be able to get loose once or twice against a terrible DET defense.
47 Sterling Shepard NYG @DAL Eli looks as meh as ever and Shepard's targets come in non-threatening areas.
48 Ryan Grant IND @WAS Looks like a streamable PPR asset, though his upside is severely capped by the offensive scheme with Luck not ripping it yet.
49 Dede Westbrook JAX NE Tough to decipher who the Jags will feature at WR on any given week.
50 Mike Williams LAC @BUF There are a lot of mouths to feed, but Benjamin and Tyrell committing horrid drops should help him get more playing time.

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