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2019 Fantasy Football Rankings: Wide receivers for Week 3

Ranking the best wide receivers by matchup and opportunity for Week 3 of the 2019 NFL Season.

By Matias Wodner
Arizona Cardinals v Baltimore Ravens Photo by Todd Olszewski/Getty Images

Generally, rookie wide receivers have struggled to produce in their first seasons. Be it due to a lack of chemistry with their quarterbacks or lack of familiarity with their playbooks, they usually don’t get incorporated into offenses too early. In Week 2, though, four rookie receivers ranked in the top 25 at the position. Deebo Samuel, Terry McLaurin, Mecole Hardman and DK Metcalf all put up WR1/2 numbers.

In addition, three sophomore receivers put up big numbers last week. D.J. Chark, Christian Kirk and D.J. Moore ranked in the top 25 last week and look primed for second-year breakouts. With so many young guys showing out, the wide receiver position is as exciting as ever in fantasy football.

WR Rankings - Week 3

Rank Player Team Opponent Notes
Rank Player Team Opponent Notes
1 Odell Beckham Jr. CLE LAR Tapped into his game-breaking ability on a 90-yard scamper last week and will now soak up targets in a game where CLE is likely to trail often.
2 DeAndre Hopkins HOU @LAC Should bounce back from last week's dud, as LAC has allowed a 20+ fantasy point WR in each week so far.
3 Keenan Allen LAC HOU With injuries to LAC's O-Line and Hunter Henry, Allen has enveloped 25 targets in 2 games as the preferred passing option on shorter MOF routes.
4 Julio Jones ATL @IND IND got wrecked by Keenan Allen in W1, Julio has scored 3 TDs in his first 2 games and this game is in a dome. Fire him up everywhere.
5 Davante Adams GB DEN DEN is generally stingy against WRs due to Chris Harris' presence, but Tyrell went 6/105/1 vs. them in W1 and Adams moves around a ton.
6 Sammy Watkins KC @BAL Watkins kind of faceplanted against OAK while Robinson and Hardman outscored him, but the 13 targets were incredibly encouraging.
7 Amari Cooper DAL MIA With Gallup out, Cooper should see an extra-heavy workload against the worst team in the league.
8 Chris Godwin TB NYG Producing as a WR1 as TB's primary form of moving the football out of the slot, Godwin now gets the defense allowing the 4th-most points to WRs.
9 Kenny Golladay DET @PHI Golladay has continued the upwards trajectory he showed off last year. Owns a 26.8% team target share and PHI has allowed 3 100-yd WRs.
10 Michael Thomas NO @SEA I wouldn't downgrade Thomas too much with Brees out, as Bridgewater can get it to him often. SEA's secondary is a weak spot.
11 Adam Thielen MIN OAK Banking on MIN actually taking advantage of a fantastic matchup for its receivers against a disintegrating secondary. Thielen needs more targets.
12 Emmanuel Sanders DEN @GB Sanders is tied for the league lead in RZ targets and has 16 catches and 2 TDs. Flacco loves slot WRs and has since early-Baltimore Boldin.
13 Tyler Lockett SEA NO Followed up a low-target, long TD game with 10 catches and 79 yards. That makes him a high-floor, high-ceiling option against a middling secondary.
14 Marquise Brown BAL KC The overall WR3, Brown has 18 targets through 2 weeks and now gets a secondary that bleeds fantasy points due to game script/lack of talent.
15 JuJu Smith-Schuster PIT @SF Showed some rapport with Rudolph on a 45-yard bomb. Should get plenty of action out of the slot as a safety valve and away from Sherman.
16 Antonio Brown NE NYJ It felt like the Pats were trying to force the ball to Brown last week, especially in the RZ, where he got 5 targets. He might already be NE's WR1.
17 T.Y. Hilton IND ATL Top 5 in RZ targets and has already scored 3 TDs (half of his 2018 total). Should avoid ATL's better corners on the boundaries.
18 Cooper Kupp LAR @CLE Kupp leads the team in targets and has quickly re-established himself as Goff's go-to option.
19 Tyler Boyd CIN @BUF Ross has been hitting the big plays and scoring TDs, but Boyd has quietly racked up 21 targets. Has the best individual matchup in the slot.
20 Calvin Ridley ATL @IND Appears to be taking the next step in his development after a 10 TD season, bumping up his catches and yards while maintaining that TD rate.
21 Terry McLaurin WAS CHI McLaurin is being featured as a WR1 and producing like one. Manny Sanders, who is in the same mold, lit up CHI last week.
22 D.J. Moore CAR @ARI Moore is on pace for 128 catches and 1,320 yards. That won't keep up, but with Cam struggling to throw deep and ARI on tap, it might this week.
23 Larry Fitzgerald ARI CAR Tied for a top 3 target total and has gone over 100 yards in each of the first 2 games.
24 Allen Robinson CHI @WAS Top 12 in targets among WRs, though those targets are less valuable coming from inefficient Trubisky. This is a great spot
25 Mike Evans TB NYG It's only a matter of time before Winston finally finds Evans on one of the many TD opps for Evans. Maybe not this week against Janoris Jenkins.
26 DeMarcus Robinson KC @BAL In his first start in place of Tyreek Hill, Robinson went insane (6/172/2). Earl Thomas has not had the desired effect on BAL's secondary.
27 John Ross CIN @BUF The overall WR1 in fantasy football right now, Ross needed a garbage time 66-yard TD last week to save face. BUF is solid on the backend.
28 Christian Kirk ARI CAR I was low on Kirk following W1 because of his inefficiency on his targets, but 20 targets through 2 weeks and 6/114 against BAL has me buying.
29 John Brown BUF CIN Brown owns a 28.6% team target share and has turned it into a 14/195/1 line. Allen has shown a ton of chemsitry with Smokey.
30 DK Metcalf SEA NO The rookie returned very quickly from knee surgery and has gone over double digit fantasy points in both games as the 1B to Lockett's 1A.
31 Julian Edelman NE NYJ The NE passing target tree has gotten a bit jumbled with the inclusion of AB and it could affect Edelman negatively. Game script will hurt him again.
32 Stefon Diggs MIN OAK Diggs might be a top 10 talent at WR, but that doesn't matter if his coach refuses to throw the ball and his QB can't accurately throw him a pass.
33 Robert Woods LAR @CLE Getting 2 targets is very concerning, although game script had a lot to do with it. Even so, Goff has locked on to Kupp once again.
34 Nelson Agholor PHI DET Put up a stellar 8/107/1 line with Alshon and D-Jax out on SNF and could've had more. A matchup vs. Slay should put a damper on his ceiling.
35 Tyrell Williams OAK @MIN Tyrell has been awesome as OAK's WR1 so far, but he's dealing with a nagging hip pointer and will likely be shadowed by Xavier Rhodes.
36 Marvin Jones DET @PHI Golladay is the clear #1, but Jones will have spike weeks. This could be one, as PHI has allowed the 2nd-most fantasy points to WRs.
37 Curtis Samuel CAR @ARI 13 targets last week only resulted in 5 catches, but variance is likely to hit eventually and Samuel has been getting open at will. Will run free vs. ARI.
38 D.J. Chark JAX TEN Chark has been JAX's best WR this season, racking up an 11/201/2 line and acting as Gardner Minshew's primary target.
39 Robby Anderson NYJ @NE Him and Falk were on the same page a few times in the second half and Anderson was dusting Ward consistently. NYJ will be throwing all game.
40 Will Fuller HOU @LAC LAC has allowed back-to-back 20+ point WRs, so Fuller could take advantage. But with all of HOU's WRs healthy, the target tree is jumbled.
41 Mecole Hardman KC @BAL Got loose for a deep TD last week and matched Robinson in targets, but was much less efficient. He's an upside play vs. a mediocre secondary.
42 Mike Williams LAC HOU Likely will be dealing with a knee injury and has accumulated just 8 targets through 2 weeks. Last week was promising, but he's still TD dependent.
43 Courtland Sutton DEN @GB Naturally took a step back against CHI following a W1 explosion vs. OAK. Jaire Alexander is likely to cover him often, which is not good news.
44 Josh Gordon NE NYJ 4/5 targets a game isn't going to cut it, especially for a guy who relies mostly on big plays. AB is going to hurt his value a lot.
45 Corey Davis TEN @JAX Hoping the talent shines through in a must-win division game, because the targets and offensive play aren't pretty.
46 Deebo Samuel SF PIT Easily SF's most talented WR, Deebo turned 7 targets into a 5/85/1 line last week. PIT is vulnerable on the backend, but SF has a committee at WR.
47 James Washington PIT @SF Banking on a Moncrief benching and the insertion of college teammate Mason Rudolph to get Washington off the ground in fantasy.
48 Devin Smith DAL MIA I love the redemption story following several knee injuries and Smith could flash that big play potential against a nosediving defense.
49 Trey Quinn WAS CHI Could be useful in a full PPR pinch as he has 13 targets through 2 games and Keenum has historiclaly loved targeting the slot.
50 Chris Conley JAX TEN Westbrook showed no chemistry with Minshew last week, while Conley has sneakily produced as a WR2 through the first 2 games.

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