Non-PPR wide receiver rankings in 2020 fantasy football (9/4 update)

September 3 update: As we close in on our drafts, I’m not as confident in “my guys” as I usually am, but I do have them and gave them a little nudge in this update. Here are a few of the wide receivers I’ve been grabbing in drafts:

Chris Godwin — There hasn’t been much noise out of him in camp, but he doesn’t need to make any. He showed his ability last season and Tom Brady isn’t going to be as accurate on the deep ball to Mike Evans at age 43.

Adam Thielen/Davante Adams — These two receivers have extremely similar circumstances as the de facto top target without much competition around them. 150 to 175 targets is a given if they stay healthy.

T.Y. Hilton — Hilton’s injury history is concerning, but I’m buying this Colts team with Rivers at the helm and Hilton’s ADP is out of whack with his ability.

Marquise Brown — It appears that the Ravens No. 1 wide receiver took his health and conditioning quite seriously in the off season. Injuries hurt his rookie year, but he’s in a great spot to shine this season and at an ADP I can get behind.

Sterling Shepard — A healthy Shepard is easily the Giants No. 1 receiver but his ADP isn’t even in the realm of a good No. 1 receiver right now.

Jamison Crowder — The Jets aren’t going to be that good, but Crowder is healthy and should lead the team in targets while being cheap in drafts.

DeSean Jackson — Without Jalen Reagor and Alshon Jeffery the first couple games, Jackson should get off to a good start and if he somehow stays healthy, he’s going to have some blow up games on the cheap.

August 28th update: With just two weeks until the season opener between the Chiefs and Texans, your fantasy football drafts are closing in fast. So far, knocking on wood while crossing my fingers, no prominent wide receivers have gone down with season-ending injuries in training camp. That will likely change, as it always seems to happen, but we haven’t had to make any drastic changes in the rankings.

There are injuries though and they will impact rankings, especially as we get closer to Week 1. Some of the more prominent players have been Tyrell Williams, Mike Williams, A.J. Green, Brandon Aiyuk, and Deebo Samuel. Thankfully, the majority of these injuries shouldn’t linger too far into the season, if at all.

Jalen Reagor, Jerry Jeudy, Chase Claypool, Joe Reed, Keelan Cole, Parris Campbell, Van Jefferson, and Auden Tate have been too good in training camp not to give them a slight bump.

Check out our printable drafting tiers!

The NFL season is fast approaching. With no preseason games and limited media coverage due to Covid-19, it is going to be tougher to evaluate camp battles, but it’s never been that easy either. That makes fantasy football draft preparations a little different than in recent seasons.

Below you will find our wide receiver Standard (non-PPR) fantasy football rankings. Training camp is meaningful and what we learn over the next 20-plus days will help us rank these players more accurately. But, the bulk of evaluation has been done already.

Many default settings on fantasy football platforms are no longer non-PPR, but it is still an often used scoring type. Deep threat receivers usually get a bump in non-PPR while slot receivers often get knocked down. Of course, some receivers can do it all and they are useful across all formats.

Tier 1

This tier is fluid, but elite. I have Tyreek Hill, Michael Thomas and Davante Adams and that’s it. Hill is a great Non-PPR receiver, as he has the highest yardage and touchdown upside due to his speed and the ability of Patrick Mahomes to get him the ball. Thomas is still safer, but Hill has upside coming out his ears.

Tier 2

The Julio Jones to Adam Thielen tier is brimming with talent and Top 5 upside. Thielen is probably the most out of place on the list after his injury riddled 2019, but with Stefon Diggs gone, he’s very much Davante Adams-lite. His target share should be incredible. Julio Jones is always a candidate to give you a No. 1 finish, but he’s been steadily finishing around fifth in wide receiver fantasy points due to his trouble putting up double-digit touchdowns. The duo of Chris Godwin and Mike Evans should be more efficient with Tom Brady in tow and efficiency is what we’re looking for in non-PPR leagues.

Tier 3

The third tier is still very much a safe drafting area, but with slightly more risk. This is a big tier that goes from 10th ranked Odell Beckham Jr. to 25th ranked D.J. Chark. This is likely the tier I’ll get one or two receivers from as I’ll take running backs early. Some of my favorite players from this tier are Robert Woods, Marquise Brown, DeVante Parker and D.K. Metcalf. I can see them inching up the rankings during training camp.