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Fantasy Football Rankings: Wide receivers for Week 3

Ranking the best wide receivers by matchup and opportunity for Week 3 of the 2018 NFL Season.

By Matias Wodner
NFL: Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

It’s imperative to not overreact to two weeks of football, but we’re beginning to get a clearer picture of who is demanding a high target share, who is doing a lot with a little and who is unusable. Where you drafted a player back in August or early September doesn’t matter anymore. If a player you drafted relatively high just isn’t performing, feel free to explore a trade or flat-out drop him for a player with more upside.

I don’t want to ramble and go off on a tangent, but an interesting byproduct of the NFL becoming a pass-happy league is the advent of wide receiving duos and trios being fantasy relevant within the same week. Antonio Brown/JuJu Smith-Schuster, Adam Thielen/Stefon Diggs and DeAndre Hopkins/Will Fuller all come to mind as WR duos that came away with high-end production last week. Then there are the trios in Tampa Bay and Detroit, which feature Mike Evans/DeSean Jackson/Chris Godwin and Golden Tate/Kenny Golladay/Marvin Jones Jr. Both trios have put together very usable weeks from all three receivers during the start of the season. The Los Angeles Rams have a trio of their own that is knocking on the door.

We’ll see if those trends keep up in Week 3 and beyond.

WR Rankings - Week 3

Rank Player Team Opponent Notes
Rank Player Team Opponent Notes
1 Antonio Brown PIT @TB Despite off-field drama, AB should get fed against a secondary that's allowed 3 20+ point PPR games to 3 WRs through 2 weeks.
2 Michael Thomas NO @ATL On a historic pace in terms of catches and has a 28/269/3 line through 2 games. No one can cover him and he's a workload monster.
3 Tyreek Hill KC SF SF is susceptible on the backend and Hill can blow by all of them. If he gets matched up on Sherman, he'll catch several bombs.
4 Mike Evans TB PIT 17 catches through 2 games and now gets a Steelers defense that's given up 3 TDs and 2 separate 100-yard games to WRs.
5 Julio Jones ATL NO The Saints gave given up the most fantasy points to WRs so far, getting burned by D-Jax/Evans/Callaway in consecutive weeks.
6 Stefon Diggs MIN @BUF BUF is a disaster and Diggs has become Cousins' favorite receiving target near the GL and on deep routes.
7 JuJu Smith-Schuster PIT @TB Has racked up 240 yards on 27 targets and PIT will need to throw to catch up in this one. TB has gotten killed out of the slot this year.
8 A.J. Green CIN @CAR CAR has been good at limiting WR1s for a while and road Dalton is not the same as home Dalton. But hard to downgrade a stud.
9 DeAndre Hopkins HOU NYG Tough to move down a WR1 who gets 11+ targets a game and can beat any CB, but Janoris Jenkins is stellar and could limit his upside.
10 Adam Thielen MIN @BUF Him and Diggs will be WR1s nearly every week if Cousins keeps slinging it. Thielen a better bet for catches, but less scoring upside.
11 T.Y. Hilton IND @PHI PHI has been one of the worst secondaries in football, getting burned for 3 20+ point games and gave up a TD to every TB WR last week.
12 Odell Beckham Jr. NYG @HOU Can we sign a petition to get him out of NY? The matchup is great against a banged up HOU CB group, but Eli is atrocious.
13 Davante Adams GB @WAS Even if Norman shadows him, it doesn't matter. He's commanded 20 targets and 2 TDs through 2 weeks and his QB is Aaron Rodgers.
14 Golden Tate DET NE In a game where DET is likely to be down all game, Tate is in line for another 13+ targets as Stafford's main guy.
15 DeSean Jackson TB PIT At some point, the long plays will cease, but it might not be this week against a porous PIT secondary.
16 Nelson Agholor PHI IND Has now caught 16 of 22 targets and PHI's WR corps is decimated. IND doesn't present an imposing matchup.
17 Keelan Cole JAX TEN Finally exploded like many believed he would and now faces TEN, who give up bulk yardage in the intermediate range, where he excels.
18 Jarvis Landry CLE NYJ Disappointed last week with only 7 targets, but showed a secure floor. Should be able to get plenty of snaps away from Tru/Claiborne.
19 Keenan Allen LAC @LAR Allen will get the targets, but can he be efficient with them? LAR is giving up the fewest fantasy points to WRs and have truly elite CBs.
20 Emmanuel Sanders DEN @BAL Very clearly the WR Keenum feels most comfortable throwing to and should get a lot of action in the slot, where Boyd hurt BAL last week.
21 Allen Robinson CHI @ARI A matchup against Peterson is daunting, but he's being used in the slot more than ever and has an absurd team target share.
22 Quincy Enunwa NYJ @CLE Darnold's favorite WR has 13 catches on 21 targets through 2 games. Darnold missed him wide open in the EZ last week.
23 Kenny Golladay DET NE Babytron has more targets and nearly double the yardage of Marvin Jones, and just flat-out looks like the Lions' best WR.
24 Will Fuller V HOU NYG HOU's offensive splits with/without Fuller are staggering. Looked uncoverable at times against TEN and should match up against Apple.
25 Brandin Cooks LAR LAC LAC's boundary CBs are tough, but McVay is scheming up ways to get Cooks the ball in good situations.
26 Chris Godwin TB PIT Fitz is running hot and PIT has given up 4 TDs to WRs and 206 combined yards to the other starting WRs they've faced (Landry/Watkins).
27 Chris Hogan NE @DET This looks like an extremely favorable matchup and he's coming off a 2 TD performance against stingy JAX. Concern is low target count.
28 Cooper Kupp LAR LAC Has the best CB/WR matchup and will avoid Hayward/Williams on the outside. Goff should exploit the MOF.
29 Tyler Lockett SEA DAL Tough to trust any SEA player right now, but Lockett has scored in consecutive weeks. Rod Marinelli's D conssitently limits opposing WRs.
30 Marvin Jones Jr. DET NE Looks like the third option at WR for DET, but that isn't all bad considering they've thrown 105 times through 2 games and now face NE.
31 Devin Funchess CAR CIN The de facto #1 receiver with Olsen out, Funch went 7/77 last week and was a solid option all of last year when Olsen was injured.
32 Amari Cooper OAK @MIA As soon as I pronounce Amari dead, he rises. A tough matchup is abound against MIA's stout secondary which features a shutdown CB.
33 Randall Cobb GB @WAS Will have the best matchup in terms of CB/WR and will likely be peppered with quick, short targets with Rodgers gimpy.
34 Sammy Watkins KC SF SF's secondary is vulnerable and Mahomes finally showed a rapport with Watkins last week.
35 Larry Fitzgerald ARI CHI Dealing with a hamstring injury and with terrible Sam Bradford, it's hard to trust Fitz against a rising defense like CHI.
36 Demaryius Thomas DEN @BAL Painfull inefficient last week and now will likely be shadowed by Carr in a tough road game. Targets are encouraging, though.
37 Tyler Boyd CIN @CAR Looks to be the #2 target in the offense (ahead of Ross and Eifert) and will be used as a safety valve in the MOF against a tough defense.
38 John Brown BAL DEN DEN isn't quite the shutdown defense it used to be and Brown looks all the way back from his numerous injuries.
39 Robert Woods LAR LAC Aside from Tyreek Hill going nuts, LAC has held every other WR in check. Williams/Hayward on the outside pose a tough matchup.
40 Kenny Stills MIA OAK Just 8 targets through two weeks in a conservative offense that likes to spread the ball around.
41 Dede Westbrook JAX TEN TEN has gotten burned by fast WRs (Fuller and Stills) and Dede fits the bill.
42 Michael Crabtree BAL DEN Brown has caught Flacco's eyes more than Crabtree and this could be a low-scoring game.
43 Marquise Goodwin SF @KC A possible return looks likely, and he should slot right in as Jimmy G's #1 option. May take time to acclimate, though.
44 Corey Davis TEN @JAX Owns 35.1% of the team target share and looks good, but the matchup can't be worse and his QB situation is unclear.
45 Paul Richardson WAS GB Own the highets target share within the WAS WR group and has the most big-play ability. WAS is likely to trail often in this one.
46 Josh Gordon NE @DET Still dealing with a hamstring injury and with a role that's still unclear, he'd be a true dart throw this week.
47 Antonio Callaway CLE NYJ Snap rate shot up with Gordon out last week and he responded with 3/81/1. NYJ's boundary CBs are very solid, so don't expect the same.
48 Pierre Garcon SF @KC In a game where SF might have to chase points, Garcon could be relied upon for short completions.
49 Calvin Ridley ATL NO This could turn into a shootout, which would benefit Ridley as he gains more of Matt Ryan's trust after a good W2 and poor W1.
50 Cole Beasley DAL @SEA If you have to play anyone from DAL's WR-by-committee, Beasley is the best bet. SEA is perenially vulnerable in the short MOF.

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