Wide receiver rankings for 2021 fantasy football before March free agency

The top fantasy receivers of 2020 weren’t too surprising, as Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill led the way as many predicted. But, the biggest letdown was Michael Thomas, who dealt with injuries and an old Drew Brees, who also missed time with injuries. And now with Brees likely retiring, Thomas loses some of his sheen heading into 2021.

Here are my pre-draft and -free agency wide receiver half-ppr rankings:

Tier 1

Adams and Hill remain at the top of the rankings going into 2021, but DeAndre Hopkins is my No. 3 and Stefon Diggs is No. 4. Both had strong seasons in their first year with a new team, which isn’t an easy accomplishment, even for such fantastic players. Their second seasons with their respective teams could be even better than their first.

Tier 2

It looked liked D.K. Metcaf was squarely on his way to a Top 3 fantasy finish last season, but the Seahawks offense bogged down in the second half. Metcalf is right on the edge of tiers one and two, while Calvin Ridley, Thomas, A.J. Brown, Allen Robinson, Keenan Allen, Chris Godwin, Julio Jones and Justin Jefferson round out the second tier.

Robinson could move down to Tier 3 if he lands in the wrong spot in free agency, but for now he’ll sit in Tier 2. This tier has a lot of great receivers, who will likely move around the rankings quite a bit until we draft.