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Fantasy Football is just around the corner as the NFL regular season kicks off on Thursday, September 8th. Redraft leagues are in full swing getting their drafts underway as fans craft their teams of the best players for the upcoming season. Regarding drafting in standard fantasy football leagues, wide receivers can sometimes be de-valued. With that in mind, here are some tips and notes to consider when completing your fantasy football drafts with wide receivers in mind.
The first round of your draft will be fairly sparse of wide receivers depending on league size. When it comes to standard leagues that don’t have the added boost of more points per reception, wide receivers fall down draft boards. Most leagues still make you start two per week, though, so you still need to be on the lookout. For the back end of the first round, you can look at Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp or Cincinnati Bengals second-year Ja’Marr Chase. After them, you will likely see more wideouts drafted in the second and third rounds.
If you are looking for Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, you will have to scroll down the draft board. He was suspended for the first six games of the season due to PED use but will still have 11 games to play with quarterback Kyler Murray. He had faded in his time with the Cardinals but is still going as the WR40 in drafts, so could be a steal later.
There will be some rookies to keep an eye on in your drafts. New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave, Atlanta Falcons wideout Drake London and the Green Bay Packers’ Romeo Doubs are all rookies that are waltzing into opportunity. Olave has the chance to be the leading wide receiver on the team if Michael Thomas continues to have injury problems. London is the leading receiver for the Falcons after Calvin Ridley was suspended for the upcoming season due to gambling while away from the team. Green Bay traded away Davante Adams in the offseason, so back-to-back MVP Aaron Rodgers needs a new favorite target. Doubs was drafted in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft and has impressed in camp.
Some wide receivers that will end up fantasy relevant will be found on the waiver wire as the season progresses. For your draft, though, check out our rankings for any questions about which wide receivers we like ahead of the 2022 football season.