Half PPR Wide Receiver Draft Rankings #51-60

Last season my wide receiver draft rankings finished 15th in the FantasyPros accuracy contest. To create these rankings, I have projected each player's stat lines. In this article, I share my receivers #51-60, with a detailed analysis of each player. 

My projections are created based on the number of passing yards, completions, and touchdowns that I believe each team will get. Using previous year's data and the current betting lines for players' individual yards and touchdowns, I collected the data and made my projections

If you're looking for analysis on deep receivers, you've come to the right place! Here is the link to all of my rankings and projections for each position. I hope you enjoy the list!

Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings #51-60

51. (42) Chris Olave (WR, NO): I think Olave could be the best receiver in this class. I loved him coming out of college and I think he lands in the perfect situation to succeed in the future. Unfortunately, the situation right now is crowded with veterans Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry eating up the majority of targets. Thankfully, both players are getting older which gives Olave a path to greatness in the future. It's never bad drafting the upside of a rookie in your drafts, but I think it'll be hard for him to break out this year.

52. (33) JuJu Smith-Schuster (WR, KC)

This might be surprising, but I am terrified of his knee issue that has limited his preseason and camp play. I do not have him projected to play the full season which also doesn't help his rank. I also think there are a lot of red flags here after he signed a relatively cheap one-year deal, and now has knee soreness once again. The lack of interest in the young "star" WR from other teams in free agency, and the short contract makes me think that other teams were worried about his knee. As a result, I'm also very worried and would avoid him at his draft value right now.

53. A.J. Green (WR, ARI): Would you be surprised if I told you that A.J. Green had the 40th most targets at the position and had 850 yards? I know I would be surprised because both of those stats are true. Despite the sun setting on his elite career, Green was surprisingly involved last season. Now, with Hopkins out for six weeks, I think he will find his way to fantasy relevance once again. I don't love drafting him over the unknown upside of rookies, but if you are in a deep league that needs a weekly play to start the season, I think he could be your guy.

54. (47) Treylon Burks (WR, TEN): The excitement was out of control once the Eagles traded for A.J. Brown and the Titans used the exact pick on Burks. Coming out of college, Burks had everything you wanted in a rookie WR. He's big, talented, quick, and great at contested catches. In fact, there are many similarities between him and A.J. Brown. Unfortunately, this entire offseason has been a mess for the young WR, showing up to camp out of shape and also struggling with asthma. Any rookie that has questionable reports out of camp immediately concerns me. As a result, I think Burks will be solid at the end of the season, but I don't see him breaking out in the first half of the year.

55. Zay Jones (WR, JAX): Does anyone remember that Zay Jones was a second-round pick by Buffalo in 2017? This one won't be sexy, but I think Jones could work his way to fantasy relevance. After the team broke the bank to bring in him, Christian Kirk, and Evan Engram, this is a whole new Jaguars team. Although Kirk is the undisputed one on the team, I think Jones will receive more volume than veteran Marvin Jones Jr. and should easily be ahead of Engram in target share. As a result, you shouldn't need to draft him in your leagues, but if he is heavily involved in Week 1, then I'd grab him everywhere in case the volume continues.

56. Chase Claypool (WR, PIT): From scoring 11 total touchdowns in his rookie season, Claypool fell back to earth with only two last year. Now, it has appeared that George Pickens has overtaken him on the depth chart. Now with Pickens and Claypool splitting targets, for as long as Diontae Johnson is around, I don't think Claypool will have the target share to succeed again for fantasy. However, if he ends up being a favorite target for either of their young QBs, he has the talent and physical ability to have monster weeks in 2022.

57. K.J. Hamler (WR, DEN): Steadily rising higher and higher in my rankings, I think I can officially say I'm excited for Hamler. the 2020 second-round pick from the Broncos has managed to turn some heads all camp. In his rookie season, we saw him flash big plays, primarily the game-winning touchdown against the chargers as time expired. Then last season was a lost year as he was injured for all of it. Now that Tim Patrick is missing the season, Hamler has a clear role as the team's third receiver. Plus, his 4.32 speed can easily take the top of defenses and lead to the historic Russell Wilson magic. He may not be consistent, but he's a starting WR on a great offense that's worth drafting everywhere.

58. (38) DeAndre Hopkins (WR, ARI): What do you do with Hopkins? If you ask me, you completely remove him from your draft board. However, that's not how rankings work and why he makes this list. Last year was the first year we've seen Hopkins have a decrease in targets and an increased endzone usage. It's hard to speculate whether this was intentional by Kyler Murray, or if Hopkins' age was finally catching up to him. Either way, it won't be fun asking those questions well into the season when he finally sees game time. As a result, I think he is going too high to be a value currently, but if he falls and your league has an IR spot, he could be a sneaky end-of-season star.

59. (50) Tyler Boyd (WR, CIN): The lost receiver in this exciting team comes in at WR59 for me. I love Tyler Boyd as a player, however, I think this will be the first year where we clearly see Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase dominate the targets. Last year we saw this start to happen and Boyd managed to spring long touchdowns over the final weeks of the season. Although I think these big plays will still happen, they may be impossible to predict. As a result, I think he'll consistently get 40 yards and a few catches each week, but that's nothing that'll excite me for fantasy.

60. Garrett Wilson (WR, NYJ): I was surprised how low Wilson fell in my rankings. I truly think he is a top-tier talent, but everything out of camp has been news about his teammate Elijah Moore. I don't think either QB can support multiple receivers, making Moore the guy in my projections. However, Wilson might be an excellent trade target in a dynasty league if he starts the year slow.

Thanks for reading my work!

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