Week 13 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings & Tiers: Studs, Sleepers, and Must-Starts (Ep. 1867)

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up, friends, and welcome into Fantasy pros. This is
the Fantasy Football Podcast, and this is the Wide Receiver
Ranks episode for week thirteen. I'm Chris Welsh. We've got
Andrew Erickson, Pat fitz Morris on a Thanksgiving Day week Yes,
we are here, even a tiny bit early, hopefully delivered
early to you for a whole slate of football weekend.

(00:21):
Maybe a little bit of turkey, maybe maybe a little
bit of family, probably a bit more football than family.
I don't know about you, FITZI what takes What is
the dominant force for you on Thanksgiving weekend? Is it
the football or is it the family?

Speaker 2 (00:35):
No, it's a nice blend. There's family with whom to
watch football. I guess you could say, and you know,
let's let's not give the food short shrift. I feel
bad because I'm apparently I'm the only person on the
show who's not coming down with something on Thanksgiving week.
I'm ready to eat my weight in turkey and mashed potatoes.
But you know, hopefully you guys are able to also

(00:58):
not eat, you know, saltines and drink seven up.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:02):
Ericson and I are both slightly under the weather.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
I think Ericson is two levels ahead of me right now,
so I'm I think I'm holding a little bit tighter. Ericson, Hey,
it's okay to be a little bit loopy going into Thanksgiving,
even if you and I aren't going to be consuming
a lot. Like we both came into the show being like, oh,
we're going to be sick on Thanksgiving. So at least
we are here in a okase space for the ranks,

(01:25):
right Ericson.

Speaker 5 (01:26):
Yeah, of course we got to do it for the
people get their fantasy football lineups set and ready to
go to dominate on Thursday Friday. Basically, it's gonna be games.
Every gonna lookup and there's gonna be football on some
way somehow. So enjoy it, Enjoy the family. Enjoy what
is it is tripped to fan? Is that the thing
that's in the.

Speaker 6 (01:42):
Turkey that they sleep?

Speaker 5 (01:44):
Yeah, so maybe maybe that will be what I'm taking
part in as I'm taking naps.

Speaker 4 (01:48):
You got a little Friday.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
You've got a little trip to fan vibe going on
right now too, So I think like we could hold that.
And by the way, maybe football is the family in
that whole discussion where you don't have to put them
against you each other. Football can be the family. So yes,
we have a ton.

Speaker 4 (02:02):
Of football to talk about.

Speaker 3 (02:04):
This.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
We're going to go through the wide receiver ranks top
thirty six. Obviously there's weird tiers of when all these
games are going on, but there are some interesting discussions
to be had. We'll go through the big board in
each section of kind of in the twelves. As you
guys know, and we've got some players that will be discussing.
We do not have the accuracy to talk about and
give shout outs, so clearly this week it'll be Fits one,

(02:26):
ericson two and Welsh three. That'll be the top three
when we're not giving any shout outs. But you guys
want to go check it out. You can check out
the tab for accuracy over on Fantasy Pros. If you've
been wanting to follow along, you have the ranks fantasypros
dot com slash rankings to follow along. But before we
do anything else, in spirit of thanksgiving, we want to
give to you this is your chance to win a

(02:49):
Justin Jefferson signed Vikings jersey for free, courtesy of our
friends at Pristine Auction dot Com. All you gotta do
go to Fantasypros dot Com slash contest. You just sitting there,
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Complete the form, download the Fantasy Pros app. You can
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(03:13):
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in Thanksgiving spirit. All right, fantasypros dot Com slash rankings.

(03:33):
If you would like to follow along with us, gentlemen,
the big board is here. The top twelve wide receivers
four week thirteen starts with Jackson Smith and Jigba. Jamar
Chase is back after Spitgate, Rashi, Rice Pukinakua, Mono, Saint
Brown and Ceedelam.

Speaker 4 (03:49):
Is your top twelve or top six.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
The bottom half into the twelve, Devanta Adams at seven,
George Pickens, Nico Collins, Jalen Waddle, AJ Brown and Heetoa McMillan.
There's Thursdays, there's Friday, everything in between here for the
top twelve wide receivers that don't necessarily require a lot
of discussion.

Speaker 4 (04:08):
But let's talk about maybe one guy that does.

Speaker 3 (04:10):
Actually a J.

Speaker 1 (04:10):
Brown would be one, but he did go off and
he's got a really nice matchup this week. Terteroa McMillan
does not have a fantastic matchup.

Speaker 4 (04:18):
He comes in at.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
Number twelve here ECRs twelve. You guys both have him
slightly lower fits You've got him at fifteen, the lowest Erickson,
you've got him at thirteen. Rams matchup it's a three
star rating. It's like, you know, there's two two star
ratings in the top twelve and then you get this one.
A couple fours and one five, so this is like
second median matchup. Wasn't the best game against the forty

(04:40):
nine ers either. He had a case of the yips,
changing gloves and stuff like that. Did get the touchdown,
but do you think, I mean, you guys both don't
have him there, but you think it's deserved that he
should be in this elite tier fits. Let's start with
you the lowest on teter ROA McMillan versus the Rams.
Probably not not starting him here, though he's been in
that discussion most of the season. Do you think about

(05:01):
Tetoroa four week thirteen against the Rams.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
That's right, you're probably not not starting him. But I
have him three spots below consensus, and I still am
worried that I have him too high. Yeah, the matchup
the reason I liked him against the forty nine ers Welshamian.
You know, the forty nine Ers had not been getting
much of a pass rush on anyone, dead last in sacks,
sack rate, pressure rates. They actually did get a little

(05:26):
bit of heat on Bryce Young at times on Monday Night,
and like Tederoe McMillan, he needed that long touchdown catch
to kind of save his day. Would he would have
had a pretty bad day if not for that. Now
he gets the Rams, who have no trouble whatsoever generating
pressure on quarterbacks. They're gonna be in Bryce Young's face
all day. I think we've seen all season that Dave

(05:47):
Kanalas will hide Bryce Young if he can and limit
him to like under thirty.

Speaker 3 (05:52):
Pass attempts, sometimes closer to twenty.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
So I don't like this matchup at all, and I'm
definitely not feeling like this is a great spot for Teto.

Speaker 4 (06:02):
McMillan, Yeah, I think ericson.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
The thing I'm most worried about is the forty nine
ers got a version of a pass rush, and now
you're going to go a good defense out there. And
you know in Teturo was just a little bit off
in that game with a couple catches he absolutely should
have brought in. But I mean, what do you think
about this? Like, I think he has defied a couple
of weeks of expectations where you know, like people just

(06:25):
being out.

Speaker 4 (06:26):
I know piece of p has been like I.

Speaker 1 (06:27):
Don't want any part of Tetroha for a certain week,
but he kind of is able to defy the expectations.
I'm not sure I feel so great about it this week,
and I feel like, not only is twelve too high,
but I'm in the Fitzi camp of like maybe even
fifteen is questionable, but you have him at thirteen, so
you tell.

Speaker 5 (06:41):
Us, well, I think that he's shown this year that
he has a pretty high floor as the clear cut
wide receiver one on this Panther's passing attack, which at
times is more anemic than exciting, especially when you're not
going to get the Bryce Young fourge and fifty yards
passing game every single week, like we saw against the
forty nine Ers, which we thought was a good matchup,
banged up secondary still wasn't able to get it done.

(07:01):
Now Te Mac saved his bacon with the touchdown catch,
which I did miss. I fell asleep during that part.
I was like, wait, what happened? How did did the
Panthers score? It's like touchdown Team Mac. I was like, yes,
that's good, But I think that what you're playing here
is volume, right. One of the issues with the Panthers
in their passing game is, oh, well they try to
hide Bryce Young and they try to run the football. Well,

(07:22):
they're down by three touchdowns against the Rams, because I
don't know how this Panthers defense is going to stop
Matthew Stafford and the pursuit of fifty passing touchdowns with
Sean McVay calling the shots, especially with two starting corners
out for the Panthers, like we saw two guys get
hurt against the forty nine ers, So this is a
bad spot for the Panthers defense. And if you're looking

(07:43):
at a just an opportunity for is.

Speaker 6 (07:44):
There going to be volume for t Mac?

Speaker 5 (07:46):
Yes, and I think that gives him at least a
higher floor, So I would not view him as an
elite option. I don't think that he really has ever
been in an elite option this year when you're just
attached to Bryce Young. But if he's going to see
double digit targets, he's probably gonna d up being in
the wide receiver two tier. And then depending if he
finds the Enzo for two straight weeks, well then you'd
be glad you started him.

Speaker 1 (08:05):
Let me ask you here is one really quick question
on this, because there's nothing really else for us to
talk about in this tier. I mean we could break
down aj brown Bagman brought something up on the Out
of Bound show which people don't check out with live
on Twitch.

Speaker 4 (08:18):
Just as a quick aside, here a do.

Speaker 1 (08:22):
You think that George Pickens belongs in the tier that
Ceedee Lamb exists, which is the A man rob maybe
pooka range. And then the question I threw out is
do you think that we should be considering George Pickens
over ceed Lamb. It's a little arbitrary in this. You're
starting both guys, But Fitzy, let's start with you. Do

(08:43):
you think that George Pickens deserves to be in the
conversation of those players moving forward? And or do you
think George Pickens singularly is more valuable at this point
than Ceedee Lamb.

Speaker 3 (08:53):
Yes and yes. Cool.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
In the past, I've been slow to adjust on things
like this, not ranking one teammate over another more highly
regarded teammate even though the more highly regarded teammate is
being outperformed a week after week. Pickens has been fully
unleashed in this Dallas offense. Like the only bad game
he's had for Fantasy was that Thursday night season opener
against the Eagles when he had three catches for thirty yards,

(09:18):
And now he just had a much better game against
the Eagles nine for one hundred and forty six in
a touchdown, and Pickens went over one thousand yards in
that game. He's now on pace for one hundred and
four catches oney six hundred and twenty nine yards and
twelve touchdowns, and Ceedee Lamb is awesome. I don't feel
like I'm dissing him by ranking him below George Pickens

(09:39):
in any given week. I just feel obligated to rank
Pickens higher. He's averaging significantly more yardage per game than
Ceedee Lamb and scoring more touchdowns than Ceedee Lamb, and
we've now got a pretty good sample size for the season.

Speaker 1 (09:51):
Same thing to you, Erickson, not a week thirteen necessarily questioned,
but an overarching question. Pickens in the same group and
Pickens over Lamb.

Speaker 5 (10:00):
Yeah, I think that it's definitely worth the conversation. I
do think that more often than not, it's going to
be kind of like ping ponging most tips of weeks,
because again, you saw what happened with Lamb. He doesn't
drop a touchdown for two weeks in a row, then
the production doesn't look nearly as stark. I mean, I
don't know what is wrong with Lamb in his hands, like, dude,
just catch the ball.

Speaker 6 (10:16):
Especially when he's like in the end zone. So that's
kind of been an issue with Lamb.

Speaker 5 (10:21):
But there's no debate who's had the higher ceiling this
year on a week to week basis. So George Pickens
has four top five finishes this year on weekly finishing,
two of which have come with Lamb and two of
which have come without Lamb. Ceedee, Lamb has zero top
ten finishes this year and have PPR. Now that changes
if he just catches like a couple more touchdowns. So

(10:42):
the opportunities have been there, but he's wide receiver ten
and expect the points per game and wide receiver ten
actual points per game, So he's really been more of
a low endth the nbacy wide receiver one, whereas Pickens
has really been more of the top five guy and
basically what we thought Lamb was going to be when
we were drafting him as a top three, top five
wide receiver during draft season. So I didn't think that
we'd see a scenario where Pickens was actually hurting Lamb

(11:05):
like I thought it was going to be the other
way around. But that has really been the case with
how well Pickens has played, and I mean, there's no
stopping this guy right now, like like him and Dak
are humming. And I think that the opportunity that Pickens
got when Lamb missed time, I think that that was
a opportunity for Pickens and Dak Prescott to really build
their chemistry. And now you're kind of seeing it on

(11:26):
display of how good they are and how Dak trusts
George Pickens to win these fifty to fifty balls. I mean,
like Dak just chucks it up there. He's like, dude,
Pickens can come down with it, especially on the sideline.
So he's been an absolute monster. Look, I don't think
you're in a situation where you have to figure out, oh,
which Cowboys receiver.

Speaker 6 (11:40):
Do I start? The Starbowl guys.

Speaker 5 (11:42):
I will say that after the game, coach speak was, hey,
we got to get the ball more ceede Lamb and
Seelamb did still have more targets than George Pickens. So
I know I feel like, and I do this with
the Eagles receiver sometimes too, where I'm like, Nope, I'm
going Devonte Smith this week over AJ Brown, and then.

Speaker 6 (11:56):
It's like the reverse, and then the next week gets
the reverse.

Speaker 5 (11:59):
So I know, we try to be very clear and
defiant about no, it's going to be Pickens the rest
of the way, no matter what. No one's gonna be
surprised if Lamb goes for two touchdowns one hundred yards
this week, right, and you're like, oh, man, Mike, why
did I make that move, So that's kind of my
read on it. But overall, like the sample size has been, Yeah,
Pickens has been the guy with the higher ceiling.

Speaker 1 (12:17):
Easy stuff on the wide receiver ones. So let's make
it a little bit more of a challenge going to
the wide receiver twos.

Speaker 4 (12:22):
These are guys.

Speaker 1 (12:22):
Ranked thirteen through twenty four on ECR. Your list starts
with a mechag buka at thirteen, followed by Lad McConkie,
Chris Olave, Stefan Diggs, Devonte Smith, and Justin Jefferson all
the way down at eighteen. We haven't seen that ever,
Jamison Williams, Save Flowers, Wanda Robinson, Michael Wilson, Romadunesday and
Khalil Shakir. So here's the meat of some of the

(12:43):
big discussions. Let's start with a mechag buka. You two find,
gentlemen are on opposite ends. He is ECR thirteen on
the list, he actually was twelve, even as much as
a couple hours ago. And this one Erickson you've got
at fourteen, and Fits you've got at twenty two. So
let's start on a little bit on the positive. Ericson
you've got him right around ECR last week's performance. There's

(13:06):
also a question about Baker Mayfield. Of course your take
on a Mecca Agbuca moving forward for this week.

Speaker 5 (13:13):
He has a twenty nine percent target share in the
last five games. I like the matchup this week against
the Arizona Cardinals, who just play in shootouts after shootouts
because of the way that Jacoby Brissette plays football. So
I still think like Buka is a wide receiver too,
and I'm sick of getting burned by lower and wide
receivers when they get the backup veteran quarterbacks in and
then they just end up doing better and then they

(13:34):
do with the starters. Like I'm just like sick of it,
to be totally honest. So I'm just trying to not
downgrade Abuka like substantially. Yeah, there is now more risk
layered in with Teddy Bridgewater, But I mean Baker Mayfield
has been like playing through injuries like the last five weeks,
which is why you've seen Egbuka's production tail off in
the last five weeks. So still believe Agbuka is a

(13:54):
super talented player. He's the clear alpha in this passing game.
I'm not really concerned about whatever Chris Godwin as Johnson
Kata and like, these guys are all ancilarity pieces in
this Bucks passing attack. So again, the Bucks defense still
can't stop anybody. If ch Cob Brisset's going to be
dropping back fifty times, Michael Wilson balling out, then I
think that this is an environment where you want to
start different pieces, and that includes a Buka for me.

Speaker 6 (14:17):
So I still think.

Speaker 5 (14:18):
He's like a high end wide receiver too, because he's
the target leader and he's a really talented player.

Speaker 1 (14:22):
So FITZI, you've got him outside the top twenty, you've
got him at twenty two. There is something because I
agree with the first part of what Erickson was saying,
where it's like, you know, we do look at these
wide receivers and the backup comes in and we want
to downgrade, and then like the realization comes in that
they want to these guys want to play it safe,
and you know they're just NonStop throw it to the
number one wide receiver. The only slight caveat into this

(14:44):
is like Chris Godwin is black is it kind of
is is kind of one of those like safety net guys,
you know, can play out of the slot where a
guy like Teddy Bridgewater might just sling the ball to
him a bunch if they don't want to play it deep,
and I don't know how comfortable they are. I don't
know if that is playing a role in thought process
at all, or is it simply going from Baker Mayfield
to Teddy Bridgewater. If that does happen, is kind of

(15:06):
the concern. But you haven't met wide receiver twenty two
this week.

Speaker 2 (15:09):
Yeah, that was a small part of it, Welsh, especially
when there has been some talk. I don't know if
it was who was talking about it, if it was
Josh Grizzard or someone else saying maybe it was kind
of a ramp up game for Godwin last week and
he plays more a little this week. For me, though,
it's mostly about I love the player, I love Abuka,
but the Buccaneers passing game has kind of hit skid row,

(15:32):
and maybe Ericson is right. Erickson made a lot of
really good points on this, and I might move Abuka
up a little bit because Ericson was so convincing, Because
maybe Teddy Bridgewater isn't a big drop off from Baker
Mayfield based in the way Mayfield has been playing lately,
Like in the four games before that Sunday night wipe

(15:54):
out against the Rams where Baker Mayfield got hurt, He'd
average five point seven yards per pass attempt in the
four previous games, and Abuka had forty or fewer receiving
yards in three of those four games. So now Mayfield
probably is going to be out with his shoulder injury.
We get Teddy Bridgewater instead, And I don't think anyone
is going to talk about Teddy Bridgewater being an upgrade

(16:15):
over Baker Mayfield. But maybe if Mayfield has been affected
by these injuries he's been dealing with, maybe it's not
as much of a downgrade as we.

Speaker 6 (16:23):
Would have thought.

Speaker 1 (16:24):
Well, speaking of downgrade, Justin Jefferson, that's the name of
the game for Justin Jefferson, who had been a top
five guy. Maybe pushes round eight or seven or eight
or something like that. We're down at eighteen on the list. Fitz,
you've got him at nineteen ericson you have him even
lower fits not that you're in like the massive positive range,
but you're one spot off of ECR. Let's start with

(16:44):
you on him. They're likely. I think that it's already confirmed.
We're not going to have JJ McCarthy this week, it's
been pretty abysmal. I don't know if Brosmer makes you
feel any better of the backup quarterback is going to
get them the ball, but you got him at nineteen.
Your thoughts fitsy on Justin Jefferson this week. This is
legit range of like not playing a wide receiver when
you get into the late teens ranked, like where might

(17:07):
be better options out there?

Speaker 3 (17:09):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (17:10):
Remember how in summer of twenty twenty four we spent
so much time debating whether Justin Jefferson was quarterback proof
because he was about to be paired with Sam Darnold. Well,
I mean, maybe Justin Jefferson Drafters should be blaming Sam
Donald for having such a good season and for making
us think Justin Jefferson was QB proof, because clearly he

(17:30):
is not. I can't believe I'm barely keeping Justin Jefferson
inside my top twenty and wondering if he's still ranked
way too highly.

Speaker 3 (17:41):
I mean it's probably going to be like how could
it be worse? Swalsh?

Speaker 2 (17:48):
Like, how could Max Brosmer be a downgrade from JJ McCarthy.
I know Max Brosmer is an underrafted free agent.

Speaker 4 (17:54):
I agree but like.

Speaker 3 (17:55):
McCarthy has been so bad, and while like.

Speaker 2 (18:00):
I don't know, well, it would be hard for things
to get any worse for Jefferson than they've been. Now
we've got this rookie with no pedigree whatsoever, making his
first NFL start on the road in Seattle, one of
the toughest places in the league for visitors to play
against a top five defense. Yikes. Maybe this is another
case where I should defer to Ericson and just be

(18:22):
where he is.

Speaker 1 (18:23):
With this ranking, everything screams you run away. But as
an agent of chaos that I'd like to be, I
sit in a world of what if it got better?
Give me a world where all of a sudden Jefferson
does get twelve targets and catches, and then we get
to have the chaos conversations with JJ McCarthy, because it
is hard to look as bad as JJ McCarthy has.

(18:45):
But Rushman might be that player. But everything lines up
for this to be a horrible situation unless chaos takes
over Ericson.

Speaker 4 (18:53):
So I see you are committeed you twenty four.

Speaker 1 (18:55):
I mean you see here twenty four You almost have
him as a wide receiver three this week.

Speaker 5 (19:01):
Yeah, Yeah, it's really sad to see, but I think
the spot for this matchup. I mean, the Viking's not
going to get destroyed on the road against Seattle with
an undrafted rookie quarterback making his first start. We talked
about the betting Pro show that you want to bet
against rookie quarterbacks making their first starts, especially on the road,
especially when they're undrafted from you.

Speaker 6 (19:19):
And age, like, let's run out my backyard.

Speaker 5 (19:21):
University of New Hampshire not known for a lot of
football talented players. Now, he did spend his last year
at Minnesota, which is why again picked up with the
Minnesota Vikings as a local, local guy. I share some
optimism with Welsh about can Rosmer be better for Jefferson
because at frankly, it can't be worse, And I was
actually looking at some of the scouting stuff for him.

(19:43):
So again, one of the things that I didn't like
about McCarthy this year was doesn't have a lot of experience, right,
Like he's a really young quarterback, Like he didn't start
a lot of games at Michigan, and that's not the
case with Rosmer, Like he played six years in college
forty eight starts, so he has a little bit more
experience under his belt. And this is per Sports Info Solutions.

(20:04):
When you're looking at like kind of like the scouting
report with him, because I'm not going to pretend like
I scouted Brozmer, I did no such thing. But basically
they had this to say, being an offense that prioritizes
getting the ball in the hands of playmakers as opposed
to vertically challenging defenders down the field will benefit him
greatly if he called upon to fill in as a backup.
So to me, that reads, get the ball Jefferson, Like,
we don't need you to flash amazing arm talent in

(20:26):
any way, shape or form.

Speaker 6 (20:27):
You just find Jefferson and get him the ball. Let
him do the rest.

Speaker 5 (20:30):
So that's why I have him in the wide receiver
two range because I think that, yeah, he's still going
to get vol him because the opportunities aren't It's not
like those aren't there for Jefferson, Like he's getting double
digit targets every single week, and that prevents him a floor.
But I would say just in general with Jefferson this year,
there really hasn't been a ceiling. He has zero top
eight finishes this year.

Speaker 6 (20:48):
Zero.

Speaker 5 (20:48):
So if you want to be like I mentioned this
guy because I'm sick of it. Then I mean, if
you think more guys on your team have more Top
eight finishes or upside, then yeah, I can get behind that,
but I don't. He is zero twenty point games this year,
two and half PPR. So this again, the ceiling hasn't
been there, even when it's Ben Carson Wentz, whether it's
been J. J. McCarthy, like, he hasn't been able to

(21:09):
combine touchdowns with one hundred yard games. So yeah, I
just don't think that there's a ton of upside with Jefferson.
I think he's definitely more of a floor play just
because of the volume that he gets.

Speaker 6 (21:20):
And then also too, you gotta layer in.

Speaker 5 (21:22):
The Vikings are missing half of their left offensive line,
like they had two guys get hurt, and now they're
going on the road against Seattle. So again I looked
at him in my rankings and two guys that kind
of popped out to me as I feel way better
about these guys, Like do you really want to start
Jefferson over the Broncos wide receivers Franklin and Sutton when
they're playing the Commanders.

Speaker 6 (21:41):
Like those guys have way more.

Speaker 5 (21:43):
Upside in my opinion, to finish like as a top
five guy, whereas Jefferson, Dude, he's not finished in top
five this week, Like this is like not happening. He
hasn't done it all year long. So that's kind of
my read on him. I don't think that he is
like an outright you gotta sit no matter what, especially
in like full PPR. I mean, like I I generally
don't move guys like Jefferson just because I think that

(22:03):
he's an elite talent.

Speaker 6 (22:04):
So I don't even really consider like benching him.

Speaker 5 (22:05):
But if I look at my bench, I'm like, man,
like a lot of upside receivers I have, maybe you
can bench Jefferson.

Speaker 6 (22:11):
So that's why I'm twenty four.

Speaker 1 (22:13):
Well, and one of the guys that you guys can
talk about that you have ranked and probably even at
a full PPR would also get that push above is
Wandel Robinson. So you guys are both essentially saying you
will play Wanda Robinson over justin Jefferson. This week, Wandell
comes in with an ECR that is lower than Jefferson
at twenty one, but you guys both have him higher.
Fits at eighteen and ericson you have him at seventeen,

(22:35):
sericson why don't you kick this one off real quick?
Wandell over Justin Jefferson going up against the Patriots. Jamis
just great to watch and got Wandell massively involved. Talk
to us about Wanda, you know, I mean, I'm kind
of laying it out, like, talk to us about Wandell
over Jefferson, but it is just more like your positivity
of Jefferson.

Speaker 4 (22:52):
As a high teens ranked.

Speaker 5 (22:54):
Player, Wandell has been a target machine, nine plus targets
in five his last six games, averaging north of a
thirty one percent target chair. Look, I mean, Wanda Robinson
kind of doesn't get the respect that he deserves. I mean,
this guy got one hundred and forty targets last year,
and I get that. Last year it was a lot
of underneath short ad out type of stuff, and we
don't love that for Fantasy necessarily besides in full PPR.

(23:17):
But this year they've really kind of expanded his role,
like he's not just a guy that's catching underneath pastes,
Like they will use him downfield on occasion. He is
good after the catch and he's not pigeonhole to only
playing in the slot. Darius Slayton, we know, is a
guy that you can't really trust. He had one catch
last week coming back from his injury. Hodgens THEO Johnson like, look, Wanda,

(23:37):
Robinson doesn't look like an alpha. But if you just
zoom out and look at the target chair numbers, but
it's like absolutely ridiculous, averaging over a thirty one percent
target chair over the last six games.

Speaker 6 (23:47):
He is an Alpha.

Speaker 5 (23:48):
So whether you like it or not, and it's a
good matchup against the Patriots, you don't expect Gonzoals to
shadow him in any way, especial because Gonzols doesn't tend
to really go into the slot that much. So yeah, Wanda,
whether it's Winston, whether it's Jackson Dart, Yeah, it's great
spot for him, and you want to keep playing him.

Speaker 4 (24:02):
And FITZI you're kind of in agreement here.

Speaker 1 (24:04):
You've got him at dad, you got him at eighteen,
so you guys are really close. You got him also
above Jefferson, So what's your read on Wandal.

Speaker 2 (24:12):
Yeah, and Wandale is right on justin Jefferson's bumper in
half point PPR Fantasy points per game it's eleven point
one for Jefferson, ten point nine for Wandale, and I
don't think we're point chasing with this ranking. Wandale did
have a really nice game against the Lions last week,
but Ericson mentioned that the target outlook for Wandeal and

(24:34):
how good it's been lately. Here is target counts over
his last six games twelve for eleven, eleven, nine, fourteen,
So except for the one blip with four targets like,
he's been at or very close to double digits for
most of the last month and a half. And this
week Wandal gets the Patriots or easier to throw on

(24:57):
than run on, and he might be getting Jackson dartback
from acussion. And even if he doesn't get dartback, Jamis is,
you know, pretty good backup who can certainly get Wandale
to the finish line for fantasy.

Speaker 1 (25:09):
The final one in this range that we're going to
talk about is Michael Wilson, who comes in at twenty
two going up against Tampa Bay, which I really love
this setup. At a long discussion with Bogman about that
Zion was a turnstile and I haven't seen I know
that if Marvin Harrison were to come back, I don't
actually think that's a negative. If not, we clearly know
he is just a target hog. Fitz You've got him

(25:32):
at sixteen Ericson you also met sixteen. You guys are
both in the same spot, Fitzy, let's start with you.
I love the matchup. I'm kind of kinna go down
that Kobe Brissette the rabbit hole again this week, which
we'll talk about in the Quarterback Rank show. But it's
double digit or double digit weeks of double digit targets here,
and Michael Wilson has just kind of been the dude.

Speaker 2 (25:52):
Yeah, And basically how quickly Marvin Harrison Junior was ruled
out last week. I'm guessing he's probably gonna miss at
least one week. You know, the guy had surgery, Like
most people are not back from surgery in like less
than three weeks. So this ranking of Michael Wilson is
based on the assumption that Marvin Harrison Junior is out again.
I just want to keep riding the wave well. In

(26:14):
the two games Marvin Harrison Junior has missed, Wilson has
thirty three targets, twenty five catches, and three hundred and
three receiving yards. All indications are that Jacoby Brissett is
going to keep targeting Michael Wilson heavily, and the matchup
against the Buccaneers not bad at all.

Speaker 3 (26:32):
This is just I was.

Speaker 2 (26:34):
Worried because Michael Wilson trying to take over as the
alpha receiver. Just prior to this two game run, his
yards per route run for his career were terrible one
point zero nine. I think that was maybe more of
a Kyler Murray stat than a Michael Wilson stat, Like,
based on what we've seen, Wilson is better than that number,

(26:56):
and Kyler is kind of a first read quarterback, and
I just don't think Michael Wilson was his first read
very often now.

Speaker 1 (27:04):
And Erickson and I miss obviously not double digit games,
but two games he's.

Speaker 4 (27:08):
Had double digit targets. As clear what I was saying.

Speaker 1 (27:11):
He has been the guy for Burssett and Ericson you
were ranking him as such as well. So this is
another guy, by the way, in this little grouping. Would
you have thought if I would have told you, you know,
I don't know two months ago that Windel Robinson and
Michael Wilson would be no brain starts over justin Jefferson,
you probably would have thought I was insane, but talk
to us about Wilson Erickson.

Speaker 5 (27:31):
Well those just Jefferson doesn't have to go u Bersett
and James Winston as his backup quarterback. And again going
back to that point, the reversal was McCarthy was originally
the starter, right and he's a young quarterback, and Jefferson
was better with Winz. So again I want to look
more at this next year in the offseason, looking at
some of these backup quarterbacks, I think that our immediate
response is, okay, just got to drop this receiver when

(27:52):
the backup comes in. But with some of these backup veterans,
you're just seeing that it doesn't really matter, and sometimes
they're even better for now. It's not every single like
Jake Brian was obviously a disaster when he was starting
games to the Bengals, but I mean it seems like
you just bilo right after the starting quarterback gets hurt
and you profit more often than not. So but when
it comes to Michael Wilson, I think that saying he

(28:12):
has had double digit target dead double digit targets the
last two weeks, I think you're kind of being modest here, Welsh.

Speaker 6 (28:18):
He has when you.

Speaker 5 (28:18):
Include penalties too, he has eighteen plus targets in back
to back games, not ten, not eleven, eighteen targets.

Speaker 6 (28:26):
That's bunkers.

Speaker 5 (28:29):
I don't see how you can mention him whether Marvin
Harrison Junior shows up or not. Like, I honestly don't
know what's gonna happen when Harrierson comes back. I would
assume that it's just guys like Greg Dortch, like he
kind of like fades back intobliving because even he's been
productive the last two weeks somehow, like he scored some touchdowns,
but he's been productive as the third receiver. So this
isn't to say that Marvin Harrison Junior can't also be
productive again if we're getting just like so much passing

(28:51):
void from Jacoby Brissett and all of these matchups that
everyone can eat. But I don't think Michael Wilson's going
away anytime soon. So I know, I posted like the
eighteen plus targets back to back weeks and people were
concerned that, oh, well, Marvin Harrison Junior comes back. I'm like, really, like,
are we so convinced that he's like been this like clearcut.

Speaker 6 (29:07):
Alpha, I mean would have been on the field.

Speaker 5 (29:08):
Yeah, Harrison has been the guy, but was that more
of the Cardinals. Hey, we got to justify the pick,
like where we took him, like top five versus Well,
Michael Wilson's actually like pretty good and he's a former
second round pick, Like he was really talented at Stanford.
Dealt with a lot of injuries, but I think he's
a talented guy in is. Obviously he's showcased that the
last couple of.

Speaker 1 (29:25):
Weeks, maybe the genies out of the bottle. We say
that with the running backs and all them, maybe you
just can't put my Maybe you can't have eighteen targets,
but maybe so he.

Speaker 6 (29:34):
Rego doubt all Marvin Harrison Junior. Is that you're saying,
I've got saying.

Speaker 2 (29:37):
I mean I mentioned this on one of the other shows.
I know Matt Waldman, author of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio,
he thinks Michael Wilson's a better route runner than Marvin
Harrison Junior.

Speaker 4 (29:47):
Yeah, I think he might be better all around.

Speaker 1 (29:49):
Like the Marvin Harrison is a super talented player, but
you know you he runs routes in a way where
he gets the quarterback comfortable enough that they can throw
the ball.

Speaker 4 (29:59):
He catches like.

Speaker 1 (30:00):
Maybe it's not explosive in certain spots, but he's exactly
what they need and it's showing out in targets. Wide
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Speaker 1 (31:41):
All right wide receiver threes to finish off the show
coming in at twenty five, we've got Michael Pittman, followed
by Troy Franklin, Courtland Sutton. I didn't realize that Franklin
above Sutton. This week Deebo, Samuel Juwan, Jennings, Christian Wantson
at thirty thirty one through thirty six is DK metcalf
Alec Pierce, Darnell Mooney, Quentin Johnston, DJ Moore, and Jacoby Myers.
So let's talk about that Troy Franklin ECR wide receiver

(32:03):
twenty six fits. You've got him one spot lower at
twenty seven. Ericson, you've got him at twenty three. So
the question is, Ericson, do you have Troy Franklin above
Courtland Sutton like the ranks have him?

Speaker 6 (32:14):
I am double checking right now.

Speaker 5 (32:16):
I do not, but I'm fraud because it's they're back
to back, So I'm not really like going out on
a limb saying that, oh yeah, he's like clearly the
better guy. I think both guys are got to mention
them talking about Jefferson and you're facing the commanders. You
have top five weekly upside. In my opinion, both guys
have flashed at times this year. I don't necessarily like
disagree with the ECR rank of Franklin, because Franklin's been

(32:38):
kind of getting the wide receiver one treatment in this offense.
But I just can't imagine that Corlton Sulton's just going
to like lose the alpha job at Troy Franklin. Like
I understand that it's been that way expected points per game,
nicks or excuse me, Franklin has really been the guy.
But I mean, Chroy Curlton Sulton's still like an alpha receiver,
right And eventually I do think that it's going in

(33:00):
to ping pong back to him as a feature piece
of this offense, especially in a plus matchup against the
Washington Commanders.

Speaker 6 (33:06):
So we saw last.

Speaker 5 (33:07):
Year Courtland Sutton was not great in the first half
of the season with Bonix. He had that bomb game
against the Saint where he basically got no targets, and
then the second half of the season he was a
wide receiver won the rest of the way. So again
not trying to poo poo on Troy Franklin. Think he's
a great start this week too, especially if this usage
continues and he still operates as that number one guy.
But Courtland Sutton's still a beast, and I still think

(33:27):
that he's good and he can take advantage of this matchup.
So I like both guys this week as Top twenty
four plays Fitz, he.

Speaker 1 (33:32):
Does Cortland Sutton get the choice of cutting the turkey
or is that going to Troy Franklin? And what do
you think about Troy Franklin as a start this week?

Speaker 2 (33:40):
Yeah, I also have Courtland Sutton ranked higher, and I'm
not lamb like Erickson putting them back to back. I
have Michael Pittman in between.

Speaker 3 (33:48):
Them, so.

Speaker 4 (33:51):
As one would perfect two.

Speaker 2 (33:53):
Spots higher, and maybe I should have both higher based
on the matchup against the Command who are absolutely dreadful
against the pass. Their pass defense, it's the worst in
the league by far. I keep selling Troy Franklin short
in the rankings. I'm still trying to figure out whether
he's actually good or just a guy who's running hot
with touchdowns. Franklin has five touchdowns on the season, four

(34:17):
in his last five games. He's only averaging one point
four to nine yards per run and six point three
yards per target. Not very impressive numbers, but Troy Franklin
is consistently drawing targets, with at least eight targets and
five straight games. I just can't quite get to the
ECR here, although I don't think it's like egregiously high.

(34:37):
I'm only one spot below, I think.

Speaker 5 (34:39):
So do you want to add one thing too? With again,
eight plus targets, five straight games, two games with.

Speaker 6 (34:44):
More than forty receiving yards.

Speaker 5 (34:46):
Right, So like that goes back to the Okay, how
good is Troy Franklin actually doing or is he kind
of sun running and does the bye week kind of
cause a kind of fizzles out? Things go back in
favor of Courtland Sutton because we know that he's also
a really talented good matchup.

Speaker 1 (35:01):
It's it's a good matchup for everybody to get. Right, though,
there's a little bit of phone Dick. There's a little
bit of bon Nix that should be down into.

Speaker 4 (35:07):
This as well.

Speaker 3 (35:08):
Right, how much of that?

Speaker 2 (35:10):
It's not like Troy Franklin is playing with John Elway here,
He's playing with bone necks. So it's really hard to
judge Franklin based on that.

Speaker 1 (35:18):
Yeah, all right, let's go to the next wide receiver
DK metcalf ECR Wide Receiver thirty one FITSI. You're a
tiny bit lower ericson you are at twenty seven, so
you're higher than consensus. It looks like we're going to
get Aaron Rodgers back, So ericson whyn't you kick it off?
DK Metcalf now that this is like resounding big positive rank.
He's still kind of a wide receiver three in this

(35:39):
But what do you think about Metcalf?

Speaker 5 (35:41):
I think he's kind of just on that wide receiver two,
wide receiver three kind of fringe. Is Rogers healthier coming
back after one week that he missed? Maybe also from
that fingeringjur I know I talked about that on some
show last week, how he hurt his finger warming up
against the Colts and then he'd been terrible those following
three games after that. Metchal's still seen a lot of
volume in this game or in this offense. He scored

(36:03):
a rushing touchdown last week, so they're still using him
a lot in the red zone and or we're not
afraid of the Bills defense in any way. Yeah, it's
really more that their run defense is pretty bad, so
we know those Peers are going to establish it. But
Metcalf is so clearly the alpha in the passing game
like that they have a three man tight end rotation Calvin, Austin,
Roman Wilson are just the quintessential beta wide receivers that

(36:26):
are just running kind of clear out routes for Metcalf.
So again, he's like fine, Like I'm not over the
moon for him in any way. I think that upside
is probably like a wide receiver to Again, it just
really depends on like what Rogers looks like, right if
he comes back, he looks like healthy, Like okay, great,
Like we can feel better about Metcalf the following week,
but I think for this week it's.

Speaker 6 (36:45):
Wide receiver two or three rate Mike flexplay.

Speaker 1 (36:47):
Another kind of comparison, FITZI just doing the same bit here,
is that like you're playing Troy Franklin over DK. Metcalf
didn't kind of think we get to that spot. But
Franklin might be even a tier above. So you've got him.
You've almost pushed Metcalf out of like the top three
wide receiver range. So what does your take on him?

Speaker 4 (37:04):
At thirty two?

Speaker 2 (37:05):
DK Metcalf has had fifty five or fewer yards in
six straight games, and he scored only one touchdown over
that stretch. Like Arthur Smith, Arthur Smith's offense is not
doing DK Metcalf, and he favors Rickson just talked about
Calvin Austin and Roman Wilson being the guys who clear
out for DK Metcalf. It used to be DK Metcalf

(37:27):
being the guy running deep routes during his hey day
in Seattle. I just don't know if this whole thing
where they turn DK Metcalf into a short area receiver
and have him try to get yards after the catch,
like that's not his game, never has been. So I
just I think he is a square peg in a
round hole in Pittsburgh.

Speaker 1 (37:47):
Yeah, I mean the only play that they have it
looks like with DK Metcalf, his screen is a screen pass.
It's just every time I ever see DK Metcalf, it
is a one yard screen pass and he's looking to
break yards after that.

Speaker 4 (37:57):
They just don't have any ability to get him deep.
Final one here is Darnell Mooney.

Speaker 1 (38:01):
We actually had a lot of conversation about darn On
Mooney this past week with the Drake London situation. He
comes in at ECR thirty three, probably a good matchup
against the Jets. You guys are on opposite ends, FITZI.
You've got him at twenty eight Ericson's got him at
thirty six fits you are the positive take, So let's
you kick it off with Darnell Mooney this week.

Speaker 2 (38:19):
Well, Mooney is playing an enhanced role in the Falcons
offense with Drake London sidelined with this knee injury. London
had three catches for seventy four yards and a touchdown
last week, only three targets, but it was a low volume.

Speaker 3 (38:31):
Passing day for the Falcons.

Speaker 2 (38:32):
They just didn't need to throw that much against the Saints,
held a lead pretty much the entire game. Kirk Cousins
only threw twenty three passes. So Mooney had been having
a rough year. Injuries were a big part of it.
He dealt with a shoulder injury. I think he had
a hamstring issue too. But maybe Darnell Mooney has better
chemistry with Kirk Cousins than with Michael Pennix junior. Mooney

(38:54):
had a pretty good twenty twenty four season with Cousins
at quarterback most of the year, and he and Cousins
kind of clicked last week. So I just I think
there's gonna be target volume for Mooney more even than
he got last week, and last week was still pretty good.

Speaker 1 (39:09):
For him, Erickson, if I remember correctly, he was like
the worst rated PFF grade of any wide receiver. So
is he now maybe the second worst? After this good
week last week? You've got him at thirty six. He's
just barely hanging on as your wide receiver. Three what's
your take on Darnell Mooney for Week thirteen?

Speaker 5 (39:25):
Three targets last week, and he just happened to catch
one for a fifty yard touchdown. I'm not chasing that
against an offense that low passing volume last week, But
why would that change? They're facing the Jets. I think
it's gonna be Algier, it's gonna Bejean, and I think it's
gonna be another low passing game for Kirk Cousins, And
I just don't think. I don't want to bet on

(39:46):
lightning striking twice yere with Darno Moody catching another bomb
from Kirk Cousins, who we know traditionally isn't a great
deep ball thrower. So I feel like this to me
feels it feels like a trap for me. I think
last week again I was wrong about Mooney.

Speaker 6 (39:59):
I was lower on him.

Speaker 5 (40:00):
Contents and he caught the long touchdown. Will you do
it twice in a row? I'll bet against him, So
that's why I'm lower.

Speaker 2 (40:05):
Poor Man's Michael Wilson, Eric Well, I mean no, but
the targets are way different.

Speaker 6 (40:10):
Wilso got eighteen targets?

Speaker 3 (40:11):
True?

Speaker 4 (40:12):
True, you got three?

Speaker 6 (40:13):
You got three target I mean that's really low.

Speaker 3 (40:15):
Eighteen is more than three. You're right like.

Speaker 1 (40:18):
Math, so we can even do math on Thanksgiving week.
Tripp Devan hasn't kicked in too much.

Speaker 6 (40:22):
Right. There you go.

Speaker 1 (40:23):
Those are the week thirteen wide receiver ranks that is
going to do it for this show.

Speaker 4 (40:28):
And whether it.

Speaker 1 (40:29):
Is a happy Thanksgiving, a happy Black Friday, happy Saturday,
or Sunday, whatever it is, I hope you enjoy it
with lots of football and lots of success. Playoffs are
right around the corner. Make sure you're locked into Fantasy Pros,
whether it is for live streams, whether it is the podcast,
or it is all the ranks and stuff. Go to
fantasypros dot com to make sure you are in the know.
For Ericson and Fitzie, I am Chris Welsher. We'll talk

(40:52):
to you next time right here on Fantasy Pros.

Speaker 8 (40:54):
Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy football podcast.
If you love the show, the best freeway support us
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Episode Transcript

Hosts And Creators

Andrew Erickson

Joe Pisapia

Derek Brown

Thor Nystrom

Ryan Wormeli

Pat Fitzmaurice

Matthew Freedman

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Week 13 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings & Tiers: Studs, Sleepers, and Must-Starts (Ep. 1867)