The Shuffle Up series rolls along, with receivers on the docket today. This is where I give you an idea of how I rank the players at each position — broken into tiers — for the rest of the fantasy football season. Use it for fantasy scouting, pickup ideas, trade themes or heck, draft a new team and put this list into play. It’s up to you.
Players at the same salary are considered even. What’s happened to this point is merely an audition; we’re trying to skate where the puck is headed.
Players marked with an asterisk are currently hurt. I’m not going to debate the value of injured players; everyone has a personal view of injury optimism and risk tolerance. Season to taste.
Tier 1: The Big Tickets
$44 Ja'Marr Chase
$43 Jaxon Smith-Njigba
$42 Puka Nacua
$39 CeeDee Lamb
$39 Amon-Ra St. Brown
$37 Justin Jefferson
$35 Drake London
$35 Davante Adams
I don’t know what’s more shocking — that Jake Browning was that bad for Cincinnati or that Joe Flacco has been this good. It doesn’t matter. The Cincinnati carnival rolls along — horrible defense, star skill talent, narrow usage tree. Chase has league-winner written all over him. In four Flacco games, here’s the Chase return: 44-457-2, on 62 targets. Repeat until rich.
Keeping Jefferson in this space is a bet on his talent and a bet on the Minnesota infrastructure. J.J. McCarthy is still largely an unknown at quarterback, but we’ve seen Kevin O’Connell coach up miracles with lesser talents.
Adams was put on this Earth to score touchdowns, and that’s what he continues to do. He might be the best confined-space receiver in league history. Of course, it’s been tied a lot of volume — he has 20 red-zone targets this year, six more than anyone else (and 12 more than his teammate, Puka Nacua). But Matthew Stafford has always been a talent elevator at quarterback, and Sean McVay likes to lean on his primary talents.
Tier 2: Legitimate Building Blocks
$33 Rashee Rice
$31 Nico Collins
$29 Emeka Egbuka
$28 George Pickens
$25 A.J. Brown
$23 Tee Higgins
$22 Michael Pittman Jr.
$21 Ladd McConkey
$21 DK Metcalf
$21 Rome Odunze
$20 Zay Flowers
$20 Marvin Harrison Jr.
$19 Garrett Wilson
$19 Jaylen Waddle
Rice has hit the ground running, posting three solid games in a row. If you folded that pace into a full season, you’re looking at 113 catches, 1,218 yards and 17 touchdowns. Kansas City doesn’t have an impact player in the backfield, so Rice probably has 8-10 targets off the bus, along with a heavy share of goal-line equity. Patrick Mahomes didn’t play well at Buffalo, but he’s been mostly sharp this season.
[Upgrade to Fantasy Plus and gain your edge in player projections and much more]
The day Wilson joins a bonafide NFL offense, I’d push him into the 30s immediately. The Jets did receive calls on Wilson and were told he was untouchable, a reasonable stance for the franchise. But obviously, life with the Jets continues to cap Wilson’s ceiling.
The Chargers keep losing impact players on the offensive line, and in general, I expect teams hurting in this area to lean into the pass — it’s easier to mask o-lines in the pass game than the run game. The Chargers also lost their top two backs, keep in mind. McConkey's had to share a lot more this year than I anticipated — there are three talented teammates next to him, jostling for targets — but he’s still the first player I’d trust in this passing game. Last year’s second-half explosion can’t be completely ignored.
Tier 3: Talk Them Up, Talk Them Down
$19 Courtland Sutton
$18 Tetairoa McMillan
$18 DeVonta Smith
$17 Xavier Worthy
$16 Brian Thomas Jr.
$15 Jordan Addison
$15 Chris Olave
$14 Stefon Diggs
$13 Keenan Allen
$12 Deebo Samuel Sr.
$12 Jameson Williams
$11 Quentin Johnston
$11 Romeo Doubs
$10 *Ricky Pearsall
$10 Jauan Jennings
$10 DJ Moore
Sutton has struggled against some of the shutdown corners of the league (one catch against the Jets and the Texans), but thankfully, most teams don’t have that type of personnel. Even with Troy Franklin gaining ground and seeing plenty of goal-line opportunity, Sutton is a locked-in WR2 on my sheet most weeks.
McMillan is another star receiver held back by his surroundings — not only is Bryce Young struggling this year (5.7 YPA), but the Panthers are dead last in pass rate over expected. Said a different way, Carolina runs when it’s ahead, runs when it’s tied and runs when it’s behind. McMillan has a respectable market share of 26%, though on this roster, it should probably push into the 30s.
Tier 4: Some Plausible Upside
$9 *Terry McLaurin
$9 Rashid Shaheed
$9 Khalil Shakir
$7 Alec Pierce
$7 *Chris Godwin Jr.
$7 *Travis Hunter
$6 Jakobi Meyers
$6 Keon Coleman
$6 Wan'Dale Robinson
$6 Troy Franklin
$6 *Kayshon Boutte
$5 Josh Downs
$5 Jerry Jeudy
$5 Christian Watson
$4 Matthew Golden
$4 Tre Tucker
$4 *Cooper Kupp
$4 Kendrick Bourne
$4 Parker Washington
If Shaheed went to a different city, his salary would have collapsed more. But he has a history with Seattle OC Klint Kubiak — it was Kubiak cooking up all those gorgeous Shaheed splash plays at the front of 2024. Sam Darnold ranks among the leaders in both deep-throw rate and completion percentage overall, a combination you rarely see.
In a Buffalo WR room that doesn’t have any home runs, they’ll have to settle for Shakir constantly getting on base. The slot specialist will catch at least 75% of his targets, and it’s not like he never makes a splash play — averaging more than 10 yards on his route tree is actually acceptable. He’s also scored three times in his last six games. At minimum, Shakir has the trust of Josh Allen and play caller Joe Brady.
Tier 5: Bargain Bin
$3 *Calvin Ridley
$3 Darius Slayton
$3 Rashod Bateman
$3 Luther Burden III
$3 Tory Horton
$3 Chimere Dike
$3 Marquise Brown
$2 Darnell Mooney
$2 Elic Ayomanor
$2 Christian Kirk
$2 Tez Johnson
$2 Jayden Higgins
$2 *Jayden Reed
$2 Cedric Tillman
$2 DeMario Douglas
$2 Jaylin Lane
$1 Jalen Coker
$1 Marvin Mims Jr.
$1 Malik Washington
$1 Jaylin Noel
$1 Isaac TeSlaa
$1 DeAndre Hopkins
$1 Calvin Austin III
$1 Xavier Legette
$1 Tyquan Thornton
$1 Olamide Zaccheaus
$0 *Brandon Aiyuk