Fantasy Football Week 1 Wide Receiver Rankings: What to expect from Davante Adams, Tyreek Hill, more

Putting together rankings for Week 1 of the Fantasy Football season always requires some amount of assuming, but it feels like nearly the whole wide receiver position requires you to go out on a limb this season. Between high-end options switching teams this offseason — Davante Adams, Tyreek Hill, A.J. Brown, Marquise Brown, Amari Cooper, among others — and high-end options playing with new quarterbacks — D.J. Moore, Michael Pittman, Diontae Johnson, DK Metcalf, Courtland Sutton/Jerry Jeudy, again, among others — there are just a ton of question marks about the position.

There’s still a ton of talent at wide receiver, but the range of expectations for many of the higher-end options is just a lot wider than we’re used to seeing. Adams, for instance, is dealing with a QB downgrade from Aaron Rodgers to Derek Carr. However, the Raiders offense should also pass more than the Packers did last season, and Adams has that whole college teammate connection with Carr, so it could be a smoother transition than you think. Or, he could be totally held back by a QB who has never been nearly as comfortable taking high-risk, high-reward chances as Rodgers. 

And then you’ve got Hill, who is dealing with an even more stark contrast, moving on from the massive-armed Patrick Mahomes to the … uh, slightly-less-massive-armed Tua Tagovailoa. Hill is also in an offense coached by first-timer Mike McDaniels, and while I’m optimistic about what that combination could mean — McDaniels comes from the Kyle Shanahan school of coaching — it’s certainly a pretty massive unknown for a guy who has been one of the most reliable big-play receivers we’ve ever seen.

Week 1 will provide us some answers to those and more questions, and it’s possible I’m going back into my projections spreadsheet for Week 2 with some wildly different assumptions than the ones I have now. For now, this is the best I can do, given the situations we’re dealing with. 

1. Cooper Kupp vs. BUF
2. Justin Jefferson vs. GB
3. Davante Adams @LAC
4. Ja’Marr Chase vs. PIT
5. Stefon Diggs @LAR
6. CeeDee Lamb vs. TB
7. Tyreek Hill vs. NE
8. Mike Evans @DAL
9. Keenan Allen vs. LV
10. D.J. Moore vs. CLE
11. Tee Higgins vs. PIT
12. Deebo Samuel @CHI
13. Michael Pittman Jr. @HOU
14. Brandin Cooks vs. IND
15. Amon-Ra St. Brown vs. PHI
16. A.J. Brown @DET
17. Marquise Brown vs. KC
18. Diontae Johnson @CIN
19. Mike Williams vs. LV
20. Darnell Mooney vs. SF
21. Elijah Moore vs. BAL
22. Michael Thomas @ATL
23. JuJu Smith-Schuster @ARI
24. Adam Thielen vs. GB
25. Allen Robinson vs. BUF
26. Jaylen Waddle vs. NE
27. Robert Woods vs. NYG
28. DK Metcalf vs. DEN
29. Terry McLaurin vs. JAX
30. Hunter Renfrow @LAC
31. Jerry Jeudy @SEA
32. Julio Jones @DAL
33. Courtland Sutton @SEA
34. Kadarius Toney @TEN
35. Drake London vs. NO
36. Gabe Davis @LAR
37. Amari Cooper @CAR
38. Christian Kirk @WAS
39. Tyler Lockett vs. DEN
40. Allen Lazard @MIN
41. Rashod Bateman @NYJ
42. Isaiah McKenzie @LAR
43. Russell Gage @DAL
44. DeVante Parker @MIA
45. Tyler Boyd vs. PIT
46. DeVonta Smith @DET
47. Corey Davis vs. BAL
48. Chris Olave @ATL
49. Chase Claypool @CIN
50. Brandon Aiyuk @CHI
51. Robby Anderson vs. CLE
52. Jarvis Landry @ATL
53. George Pickens @CIN
54. Sammy Watkins @MIN
55. Nico Collins vs. IND
56. Rondale Moore vs. KC
57. Mecole Hardman @ARI
58. Curtis Samuel vs. JAX
59. DJ Chark vs. PHI
60. Treylon Burks vs. NYG