2013 Wide Receiver Rankings
Hitting on wide receiver in 2013 fantasy football is going to prove to be incredibly important to your fantasy teams sake. Deciding to take Calvin Johnson or Dez Bryant at the top of your draft dramatically shifts your strategy for the rest of the season, or deciding to wait on Vincent Jackson or Marques Colston as your WR1 will have the same impact on how you play the waiver wire and trades all season.
More than other position, Wide receiver is subject to wild variation in out put from week to week, which means that players who consistently are targeted and a part of the teams offense in the Redzone are incredibly valuable. Every year, players with no track record of excellence are selected far too high, and the same goes for older players with declining athleticism. Finding the perfect mix of upside and safety at wide outwill define the success of your fantasy squad.
Players I Like Versus ECR
Vincent Jackson- Coming off of a career year, I see more of the same for Vincent Jackson. Josh Freeman is a classic bad ball quarterback and V-Jax is a classic bad ball wide receiver. He is the teams #1 option in the red zone and after a finish of WR for 2012, the Rotoviz projection machine loves him in 2013. His median projection places him in elite territory.
| - | Standard | Half PPR | PPR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low | 8.7 | 10.9 | 13.2 |
| Median | 10.9 | 13.3 | 15.7 |
| High | 11.6 | 14.1 | 16.8 |
Marques Colston- Colston’s finishes over the last 4 seasons: WR11, WR11, WR19, and WR13. He is boring, but he is mister consistency. That is why he is consistently drafted and ranked lower than his value. Getting Sean Payton back will get the offense back into top gear, and Colston will be the 1B to Jimmy Graham’s 1A.
Cecil Shorts- Short’s game log is something that fantasy football pornography is made off. His points per game average from week 7 on in standard leagues: 11.9 points. Over that period, he only had 2 games under double digit fantasy points. The worries of Blaine Gabbert and Chad Henne won’t stop him if he is seeing 8 targets a game, but the concussion problem is bothersome and one to monitor.
Pierre Garcon- When he is playing, he will be a WR1. Garcon and the chemistry with Robert Griffin was absolutely outstanding and this is the type of guy who can make a fantasy season. The risk of injury is priced into his ADP and makes him an attractive buy.
There are some others, and there will be pieces on Rotoviz coming soon to explain why that is. Now on to the black clouds.
Players I Don’t Like Versus ECR
Larry Fitzgerald- I’m not buying the come back. Check this article on Rotoviz for the full explanation. The points are pretty basic. Fitz has only ever been a true stud with Kurt Warner throwing him the ball, and I’m not buying into the Cardinals offensive line being improved enough to provide Carson Palmer enough time to make Fitzgerald a sure-fire WR1.
Wes Welker- Welker being drafted before Eric Decker strikes me as pretty insane. Welker is not efficient in the redzone (17 touchdowns on 57 targets the last 3 years) and is not going to keep getting his record breaking number of targets. He is being drafted and ranked high based on name value alone.
Greg Jennings- C’mon, guys. Greg Jennings is 30 years old and playing with a quarterback with a career adjusted yards per attempt is 5.5 yards. The only reason Percy Harvin had consistent fantasy value with Ponder at the helm is a a crazy amount of targets and his run after catch ability. The same won’t be true with Jennings.
Keep an eye out here and on Rotoviz for more of wide receiver loves and hates.
About Davis Mattek
20 Year old student of English at Kansas State University. Writer for Sports Wunderkind, The Fake Football and Hockey, and various other media outlets. Fan of the Cowboys, Thunder, Avalanche and Royals
