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Fantasy Football Rankings: Wide receivers for Week 1

Ranking the best wide receivers by matchup and opportunity for Week 1 of the 2018 NFL Season.

By Matias Wodner
NFL: Super Bowl LII-Philadelphia Eagles vs New England Patriots Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The time has finally come. Week 1 of the NFL Regular Season is knocking on the door. All of the offseason and preseason speculation will finally be put to rest on Thursday, Sunday and Monday.

Last season saw players like Tyreek Hill, Marvin Jones Jr. and Adam Thielen leap into the upper echelon of fantasy football wide receivers, finishing within the top 10 at the position. Young, up-and-coming stars like Stefon Diggs and Corey Davis struggled with injuries that didn’t allow them to fulfill their potential. Julio Jones scored just three touchdowns, yet he went over 1,400 yards for the fourth season in a row.

What will this year have in store for the wide receiver position? We can’t wait to find out. For now, let’s take a gander at the Week 1 matchups for our fellow diva pass-catchers.

WR Rankings - Week 1

Rank Player Team Opponent Notes
Rank Player Team Opponent Notes
1 Antonio Brown PIT @CLE AB is over his quad injury and ready to torch the Browns' soft defense.
2 DeAndre Hopkins HOU @NE Belichick will likely sell out to neutralize Hopkins, but garbage time points will be plentiful.
3 A.J. Green CIN @IND The Colts' defense is pitiful. Rashaan Melvin no longer there to keep WR1s in check.
4 Keenan Allen LAC KC Allen is 1A and 1B in this passing offense and KC has no one to matchup with his route running.
5 Michael Thomas NO TB Had solid but unspectactular games vs. TB last year. TD or two will come in this game against undersized Grimes.
6 Chris Hogan NE HOU Hogan's only competition for WR targets is Dorsett and C-Patt. All the volume.
7 Julio Jones ATL @PHI Darby is too small, Douglas/Mills too slow to keep Julio from having a typical Julio game in primetime.
8 Larry Fitzgerald ARI WAS WAS lost stellar slot CB Kendall Fuller in FA. Fitz has the best matchup among all ARI offensive players.
9 Stefon Diggs MIN SF Showed a lot of chemisrty with Cousins in preseason. Sherman is still good, but Diggs is too quick to contain.
10 Davante Adams GB CHI CHI is good at neutralizing offenses, but they don't have a CB to matchup with Adams' route running/shiftiness in the open field.
11 Jarvis Landry CLE PIT Likely to get peppered with targets in game they should be trailing often as Gordon works his way back.
12 Tyreek Hill KC @LAC Hayward played injured in one of the games, but Hill went above 77 yards and scored in each matchup vs. LAC last year.
13 T.Y. Hilton IND CIN CIN has an assortment of solid corners, but IND is likely to be trailing all game and Hilton could post good numbers from the slot.
14 Odell Beckham Jr. NYG JAX Moves around enough to avoid Ramsey/Bouye for small percentage of plays, but the matchup is daunting for him and Eli.
15 Adam Thielen MIN SF SF D is short on established talent and Thielen has the best matchup within the offense.
16 JuJu Smith-Schuster PIT @CLE Was too inconsistent last year, but the matchup is right in this one.
17 Emmanuel Sanders DEN SEA With Shaquill Griffin likely to shadow Demaryius, Manny could be the Broncos' main form of moving the chains.
18 Nelson Agholor PHI ATL He is the only reliable receiving option for Foles outside of Ertz with Alshon and Mack Hollins out.
19 Golden Tate DET NYJ Jones and Golladay will open up things for him in the MOF, where the Jets are more susceptible.
20 Brandin Cooks LAR @OAK The Raiders' DBs are quite underrated, but the Rams will attack the backend with Cooks' speed often.
21 Allen Robinson CHI @GB GBs young corners look great so far, but they have a lot of growing up to do. CHI will be chasing points and A-Rob will benefit.
22 Kenny Stills MIA TEN Likely to lead all MIA players in targets against a stout secondary.
23 Robby Anderson NYJ @DET Will get shadowed by Slay, but he's made big plays against great CBs in the past. NYJ likely to need to throw often.
24 Devin Funchess CAR DAL Return of Greg Olsen could hurt him, but he is easily CAR's #1 WR and has prototypical RZ monster size/profile.
25 Doug Baldwin SEA @DEN Knee isn't 100% and the matchup is brutal against Chris Harris. Baldwin will be fed though, as long as he's out there.
26 Mike Evans TB @NO Was god-awful against NO/Lattimore last season, but he has looked great
27 Rishard Matthews TEN @MIA I'm expecting Xavien Howard to shadow Davis, which makes Matthews the best bet for WR production against a middling defense.
28 Marvin Jones Jr. DET NYJ Trumaine Johnson will shadow him, which dampens his outlook.
29 Cooper Kupp LAR @OAK OAK lost their slot CB T.J. Carrie in the offseason, which bodes well for Kupp.
30 Demaryius Thomas DEN SEA Rising star CB Shaquill Griffin will likely shadow him, but Demaryius finally has an accurate QB.
31 Marquise Goodwin SF @MIN Vikings defense can shut down just about everyone, but Goodwin's speed/route running presents some problems.
32 Michael Crabtree BAL BUF BAL passing offense is tough to trust and Tre White is a legit CB, but Crabtree will see RZ looks in a game they'll be in the area often.
33 Randall Cobb GB CHI We'll have a good idea of how GB feels about Cobb after Week 1 in a decent matchup.
34 Amari Cooper OAK LAR Supposedly will be the "center piece" of the passing offense, but Talib, Peters and Robey-Coleman await.
35 Will Fuller HOU @NE Lingering hamstring injury makes his outlook murky. If healthy, he will get a fair share of looks while down to the Pats.
36 Jamison Crowder WAS @ARI Will avoid PP in the slot and be a safety blanket for Alex Smith in the MOF.
37 Michael Gallup DAL @CAR Exploitable CAR secondary should see Gallup targeted heavily, especially if the CAR run defense neutralizes Zeke.
38 Corey Davis TEN @MIA Xavien Howard likely to shadow him, but Davis needs to start his second season the right foot. Mariota will look for him early.
39 John Ross CIN @IND IND secondary has no playmakers outside Malik Hooker. No one can keep up with Ross' speed and he should have bigger role this year.
40 Kelvin Benjamin BUF @BAL Outlook is improved by Jimmy Smith's absence, but his QB is still Nathan Peterman.
41 Keelan Cole JAX @NYG JAX WRs could prove to be a headache, but the matchup is right and Cole has shown the most chemistry with Bortles in the past.
42 Robert Woods LAR @OAK With Cooks in the fold, Woods could be fourth in line for targets behind Cooks/Kupp/Gurley.
43 Josh Gordon CLE PIT Won't start, but will likely play a handful of snaps. That's all he needs to make an impact. Boom-bust play for this week.
44 Pierre Garcon SF @MIN The matchup is among the toughest out there and it's made even worse by going on the road.
45 Sammy Watkins KC @LAC Hasn't been in sync with Mahomes and Hayward/Williams is a frightening CB duo.
46 John Brown BAL BUF If Tre White sticks on Crabtree, the field could really open up for shifty Smokey Brown.
47 Tyrell Williams LAC KC KC secondary is a weak spot and Tyrell consistently makes big plays when given an opportunity.
48 Sterling Shepard NYG JAX The matchup is tough on the boundaries, but Shepard mostly plays inside.
49 Cameron Meredith NO TB Finally got going in the final preseason game and should be able to keep that momentum going against soft TB secondary.
50 Chris Godwin TB @NO With Lattimore on Evans, Godwin should see a fair share of targets. The talented second-year wideout just needs an opportunity.

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