NFL Fantasy Football - Top-6 WR Rankings for 2022 - Redraft

DFS Army’s Gthom breaks down wide receiver rankings 1-through-6 for the 2022 fantasy football season (prior to the NFL Draft).

• QB rankings 1-12
• RB rankings 1-6 and RB rankings 7-12
• WR rankings 7-12
• TE rankings 1-6 and TE 7-12 rankings

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1. Cooper Kupp (WR) Los Angeles Rams

Kupp does not need an introduction after his unforgettable 2021 season. He was the triple-crown winner at the receiver position, meaning he led the league in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns… 145/1947/16 respectively.

21.6-FPPG was what Kupp averaged in half-PPR leagues in 2021, more than any other player who was not a quarterback. He scored at least 15-fantasy points in all but two weeks and he only busted one-time.

Despite new signings and a new offensive coordinator, little will change for the Rams’ offense in 2022 and that keeps Kupp’s fantasy value as the WR1 overall. The Rams lost their offensive coordinator, but head coach Sean McVay runs the offensive scheme anyway. Additionally, Matthew Stafford is set to return as the quarterback of the future for LA. Lastly, Robert Woods and Odell Beckham JR departed while Allen Robinson was added. Arob will not detract from Kupp, however.

Kupp is a juggernaut for fantasy football. There is not another receiver you should consider over Kupp. Select him as the first receiver off the board.

2. Justin Jefferson (WR) Minnesota Vikings

Finishing top-6 in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns, Justin Jefferson was able to finish the season as the WR4 overall last season. In 2022, Jefferson remains to be one of the safest receivers that you can select in your fantasy draft.

Jefferson flashed an excellent floor/ceiling combination in 2021. He finished with at least 10-fantasy points in all but two weeks. On top of that, Jefferson was able to score more than 18-fantasy points on five different occasions.

His fantasy outlook for 2022 is one of the safest as well. Obviously he is a fixture in this offense since he scored 16.3-FPPG. Jefferson has undoubtedly jumped Adam Thielen on the depth chart as well. And Kirk Cousins is returning at the quarterback position.

The biggest risk for Jefferson would be the new head coach, Kevin O’Connell. However it is a very small risk because O’Connell was the offensive coordinator for the Super Bowl winning Los Angeles Rams, a juggernaut offense. O’Connell is not an idiot and Jefferson will still get the ball a lot.

The third-year vet feels like the safest pick at the wide receiver position, not named Cooper Kupp. Jefferson is very young and he still has ceiling potential left in the tank.

Jefferson is good enough to be the second receiver selected in fantasy drafts. Ja’Marr Chase could be selected above him, but Chase does carry a little more risk than Jefferson. Therefore, Jefferson stands as the WR2 overall for 2022.

3. Ja’Marr Chase (WR) Cincinnati Bengals

The most dominating season by a rookie wide receiver, Ja’Marr Chase will have crazy expectations from fantasy managers in 2022.

Chase was the WR5 overall last season and averaged 15.5-FPPG. He had a jaw-dropping 18-yards-per-catch, scored 13 touchdowns and finished with 1455 receiving yards. Chase smashed all pre-season expectations in 2021 and never looked back.

The fantasy stock of Chase is also boosted by the team around him. Cincinnati has one of the best up-and-coming quarterbacks. Additionally, there are multiple weapons other than Chase which can prevent defenses from solely focusing on Chase.

Looking at the game logs in his Rookie season, it was a tail of two halves. In weeks 1-through-8 Chase was able to finish with double-digit fantasy points in every single week. Then in weeks 9-through-18 Chase finished with scores as low as 5.9, 5.4, 7.7, 0.8 and 3.6. Granted, in this poor stretch, Chase scored 22.8-fantasy points in Week 14 and 50.1-fantasy points in Week 17, which encapsulates Chase’s valuable ceiling potential.

Figuring out how to maintain a safer fantasy-floor could be the biggest area he can improve in 2022. This progression is already built into Chase’s ADP, so you will have to pay up for him.

Feel confident taking Chase as the third wide receiver off the board. Justin Jefferson seems to be a little more consistent compared to Chase, and therefore safer, but fantasy managers who want to gamble on ceiling potential can select Chase as the WR2. His fantasy-ceiling is only second to Cooper Kupp.

4. Davante Adams (WR) Las Vegas Raiders

A staple for fantasy football, Adams has attained five straight Pro Bowl appearances and two consecutive 1st-Team All-Pro selections. But Devante Adams enters 2022 with unknowns and this creates a new outlook for the former Green Bay Packer.

Adam’s recent fantasy dominance has been led by his lethal floor/ceiling combination, the best combo any fantasy player can achieve. He busted four times last season but scored 25-or-more fantasy points in five weeks. This led Adams to averaging 17.7-FPPG and finishing as the WR3 overall.

Losing his old quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, will certainly lower Adams’ fantasy outlook. Luckily, Adams landed on a team with a solid NFL quarterback, Derek Carr, plus an established offensive mind as the new head coach. It could have been much worse for Adams’ outlook had he landed on a different team.

While change makes it tough to predict a player for fantasy, you can count on Adams being involved in this offense. He is the undisputed best player on the Las Vegas roster and they are paying him as such. When the Raiders landed Adams in a trade from the Packers, they immediately signed Adams to the richest contract in NFL history for any receiver (at that time). This front office, and coaching staff, would be idiotic if they did not feature Adams early and often.

There are risks with Adams because no one has a crystal ball for fantasy, especially when they change teams. Nevertheless, Adams remains a top-four pick at his position. He is still crazy talented and he will be utilized a ton in Las Vegas.

5. Stefon Diggs (WR) Buffalo Bills

Those who paid up for Stefon Diggs in 2021 selected a top-end wide receiver, but having him on your fantasy football roster still felt like a minor bust, especially for how high he went in drafts.

Comparing 2020 to 2021, Diggs averaged 16.6-FPPG but that fell to 13.8-FPPG last season. Additionally, his receptions per game went from 7.9 to 6.1, a near two-reception drop per game. All of this amounted to 31 less fantasy points scored in 2021 compared to 2020 (and 2021 even featured an extra game). Despite these minor woes, Diggs was still able to finish as the WR7 overall.

Do not take this analysis as being bearish on Diggs, because you should still be excited to grab him in fantasy football drafts. He was top-10 in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns – 103/1225/10 respectively. In addition to this, you can argue that he poses less risk than Devante Adams, CeeDee Lamb and A.J. Brown, all players selected around Diggs’ ADP.

Diggs remains the Alpha in arguably the best NFL offense. Likewise, his quarterback could be the best at his position as well and that always boosts receivers’ fantasy floors and season-long outlooks.

The Bills’ WR1 seems like a small step back compared to the players ranked before him, but selecting him as the fifth receiver off the board is right in line with his 2022 fantasy outlook.

6. Deebo Samuel (WR) San Francisco 49ers

Samuel could have been the biggest steal in 2021’s fantasy football season. In most drafts he went after two other 49ers’ receivers: Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle. In the league that I commission, I was able to grab Samuel in the 11th-round, what a steal!

2022 will feature no discounts for Samuel though, and this is because he is the best offensive player in San Francisco. Additionally, in 2021, Samuel was a WR/RB hybrid. While he caught 77 receptions for 1405 yards and six receiving touchdowns, he also finished with 59 carries for 365 rushing yards and a whopping eight touchdowns. This crazy season allowed Samuel to finish as the WR2 overall.

Samuel was also extremely safe from a fantasy-floor perspective. Looking at his game log you can quickly see he only busted on two occasions, that is elite. Outside of these two bust-weeks he never finished a single week with less than 12.4-half-PPR points.

While it may seem like sunshine and rainbows for Samuel, there are legitimate risks with him. Last season it was clear that head coach Kyle Shanahan did not trust his quarterback or his running backs. This likely fed into Samuel’s utilization of running the ball around the red zone. And in 2022, there will likely be a scrambling quarterback under center for the 49ers. Quarterbacks that have a tendency to run the ball typically steal a lot of the team’s touchdowns with their legs.

Furthermore, Samuel’s outrageous 18.2-yards-per-catch is a statistic that shows likely regression, much like touchdowns are year-to-year. Samuel’s 18.2-YPC would have been league leading in the years 2014-through-2018 and 2020 (minimum of 65 receptions).

While Samuel is an elite fantasy weapon, it is hard to ignore the likely regression coming his way. This minor regression is why Samuel finishes sixth on this list, yet he remains an elite fantasy piece for prospective managers.

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