Ladd McConkey – NFL Draft Sleeper Alert
Jay Felicio
Wide receiver tiers are an important weapon in your fantasy football arsenal. Instead of the rigid approach of fantasy football rankings, tiers allow you more flexibility on draft day, which is key to dominating your opponents. With a tier-based approach, you can see how each player stacks up at his respective position.
Wide receiver is extremely deep this season. As you’ll see in the tiers below, there are a lot of strong options who will likely come off the board in the first four rounds. The good news is that you’ll still have plenty of upside options in the middle and later rounds. Let’s take a look at the 2022 fantasy wide receiver tiers. Of course, don’t forget that you can check out all of our fantasy football rankings and fantasy football projections.
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(Check out the positional tiers: Quarterback | Running Back | Tight End | Overall)
Tier 1 – Elite
Cooper Kupp
Justin Jefferson
Ja’Marr Chase
Kupp is coming off one of the best statistical seasons for a wide receiver in NFL history. While it’s completely fair to argue for a slight decline in his efficiency, he remains the cream of the wide receiver crop. However, the two young LSU products are nipping at his heals and will almost certainly both be first-round picks in 1QB leagues this year.
Tier 2 – Borderline Elite WR1s
We have only the slightest dropoff from the top tier to this group. Adams is no longer with Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay but is set up for a big workload with his former college quarterback, Derek Carr, in Las Vegas. As for Diggs, he’s coming off his first double-digit touchdown season of his professional career and operates as the No. 1 receiver in one of the league’s most high-powered offenses.
Tier 3a – WR1s with High Ceilings
CeeDee Lamb
Deebo Samuel
Tyreek Hill
Mike Evans
The beauty to running backs continuing to go early and often this year is the fact that you can likely still get WR1s spilling into the third round of 12-team drafts. Some of these guys will still be on the board when you’re up for your third pick. But I am subdividing this tier because there are really two types of wideouts going between the mid-second and mid-fourth rounds.
This group is certainly riskier, but you have the potential to get more bang for your buck. Lamb is poised to make the leap this year as the clear No. 1 receiver in Dallas with Amari Cooper now out of the mix. Evans has benefitted from having Tom Brady under center and has racked up a hefty 27 touchdowns over the last two seasons. Samuel and Hill have a lot of similarities as versatile and explosive options in offenses that will heavily feature them.
Tier 3b – WR1s with Slight Question Marks
This group comes with slightly more question markers than Tier 3a, but there’s arguably just as much fantasy upside. Brown is now in Philadelphia as the de facto No. 1 receiver. His production will depend on Jalen Hurts taking a step forward. As for Higgins, he broke out down the stretch in 2021, but he was also a big liability over the first half of the season. Moore has been as consistent as the come with 1,000-plus yards in each of the last three seasons. Of course, he also scored just four touchdowns in each of those seasons. It’s yet to be determined how much of a positive impact Baker Mayfield will have on his fantasy output.
Tier 4a – Risk/Reward WR2s
Michael Pittman
Mike Williams
DK Metcalf
Brandin Cooks
Terry McLaurin
Courtland Sutton
Rashod Bateman
Allen Robinson
Yet again we really need to subdivide the wideouts you’ll find in the WR2 range. There’s a big chunk of them who come with some question marks or who may not be the most consistent options. I wouldn’t go crazy and select multiple players from this tier, but all these guys come with a top-10 ceiling.
Some have pegged Pittman as one of this year’s biggest breakout candidates, but the breakout already happened last season. He finished as fantasy’s No. 18 wideout and gets a nice upgrade at quarterback this season. The same cannot be said about Metcalf, who will have a major downgrade at quarterback. But Metcalf’s high ceiling keeps him in the mix here. Likewise, Williams comes with an enormous weekly ceiling.
Cooks is far from the sexiest option, but he has very little competition for targets. While Carson Wentz doesn’t scream upside for McLaurin’s stock, he did help propel Pittman to a breakout year last season. With Marquise Brown out of the way, Bateman is cemented in as the Ravens top wideout. Robinson slides into the back end of this tier after finally getting paired with a good quarterback.
Tier 4b – WR2s with High Floors
Keenan Allen
Diontae Johnson
Jaylen Waddle
Chris Godwin
You may not get a “nice pick, bro” when you put these names on the draft board, but that doesn’t mean you should turn your nose up at good value. These unsexy options may end up falling further than they should on draft day. Allen isn’t as sexy as his teammate Mike Williams, but you can set your watch to his uber-high floor. Johnson has a major question mark at quarterback, but he remains the clear top target in Pittsburgh. The same cannot be said for Waddle, who will now be second fiddle with Tyreek Hill now in Miami. Godwin managed to avoid the preseason PUP, which is a great sign that he’ll be back on the field for the start of the season.
Tier 5a – Upside City
Gabe Davis
Marquise Brown
Elijah Moore
Jerry Jeudy
Darnell Mooney
Christian Kirk
Drake London
Brandon Aiyuk
DeVonta Smith
Allen Lazard
Kadarius Toney
Tyler Lockett
Fantasy drafts keep giving wide receiver value this year, as this group of wideouts will be on the board in the middle rounds of your drafts. Some of these players have post-hype sleeper appeal (Jeudy, Smith and Aiyuk) while others are viable breakout candidates (Davis, Moore, London and Toney). You also have plenty of underrated value in Lazard, Kirk and Lockett.
Tier 5b – No-Upside City
Amari Cooper
Michael Thomas
Amon-Ra St. Brown
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Adam Thielen
Hunter Renfrow
At the same time, you have this group of wideouts going in this range. A lot of these options are fantasy mainstays who are past their prime or who simply offer no upside whatsoever. While they’re name-brand recognition will get them drafted ahead of some of the upside options in Tier 5a, their low fantasy ceiling makes them less-than-desirable fantasy options. This isn’t the group to go after if you’re swinging for the fences.
Thomas is returning from injury after missing all last season. At this point, we don’t know what he’s going to look like on the field. St. Brown, Smith-Schuster and Renfrow are all low air yards wideouts who will require heavy volume to return fantasy value at their current price tags. And Thielen is very much on the back-nine of his playing career.
Tier 6a – Opportunity Knocks
Treylon Burks
Chris Olave
George Pickens
Jahan Dotson
Skyy Moore
Nico Collins
Rondale Moore
Garrett Wilson
Mecole Hardman
Jalen Tolbert
Joshua Palmer
Christian Watson
Wan’Dale Robinson
Romeo Doubs
Alec Pierce
Donovan Peoples-Jones
Jameson Williams
David Bell
All these receivers are in a position to seize the opportunity available to them heading into this season. Wilson, Olave, Dotson, Pickens, Moore, Williams, Watson, Tolbert and Pierce are rookies who are dripping with upside. Palmer and Hardman have both flashed potential in the past and are positioned well to take a step forward this season.
Tier 6b – Late-Round Targets
Julio Jones
Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Chase Claypool
Isaiah McKenzie
Michael Gallup
DeVante Parker
K.J. Osborn
Parris Campbell
KJ Hamler
Marvin Jones
Unlike running back, you still have a number of intriguing late-round options this year. Julio Jones has sneaky appeal as the potential third target for Tom Brady. While many are looking at JuJu Smith-Schuster in Kansas City, Valdes-Scantling may be the better value in fantasy drafts. Parker steps into favorable a situation. Marvin Jones and Osborn are not atop their respective team’s target pecking order, but each offers favorable profiles. They also are just one injury away from much more prominent roles.
Tier 6c – Late-Round Avoids
Robert Woods
DeAndre Hopkins
Russell Gage
Jakobi Meyers
Tyler Boyd
Jarvis Landry
Kenny Golladay
DJ Chark
Corey Davis
Robbie Anderson
A.J. Green
Laviska Shenault
Van Jefferson
Curtis Samuel
Kendrick Bourne
Sammy Watkins
Jamison Crowder
You know these names if you’ve been around the fantasy block. Some of them have even been strong fantasy assets in the past. But you want nothing to do with these guys in the late rounds of 2022 fantasy drafts. Swing for the fences in the late rounds and draft for upside. Let someone else in your league draft these guys.
Tier 8 – Watch List
Bryan Edwards
Terrace Marshall
Braxton Berrios
Kyle Philips
James Proche
Devin Duvernay
James Washington
Velus Jones
Amari Rodgers
It’s unlikely any of these guys is drafted in your leagues, but it’s worth keeping an eye on all of them as we progress through camp and into the season.
More fantasy football draft strategy and rankings
FTN Fantasy has plenty to help you win your fantasy leagues in 2022. Check out the rest of our rankings and strategy content:
- 2022 fantasy football rankings
- 2022 fantasy football draft strategy guide
- 2022 fantasy football draft day checklist
- Fantasy football tiers: Overall
- QB tiers for fantasy football
- RB tiers for fantasy football
- TE tiers for fantasy football
- Fantasy keepers and value chart
- Dynasty rankings for fantasy football
- Dynasty rookie rankings for fantasy football
