Week 12 Rankings (2018): Top 50 Wide Receivers

by Will Overton

There is nothing better than football on Thanksgiving, and while we may not have the marquee matchups we should get plenty of fantasy goodness to start Week 12 off right. On top of that we’ll have a decently full Sunday with just two teams on bye. There should be plenty of fantasy options to choose from at wide receiver and we’re going to give you our Top 50 right now:

1. Michael Thomas – New Orleans Saints vs. Atlanta
2. DeAndre Hopkins – Houston Texans vs. Tennessee
3. Odell Beckham – New York Giants at Philadelphia
4. Antonio Brown – Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver
5. Julio Jones – Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans
6. Adam Thielen – Minnesota Vikings vs. Green Bay
7. Davante Adams – Green Bay Packers at Minnesota
8. Stefon Diggs – Minnesota Vikings vs. Green Bay
9. Mike Evans – Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. San Francisco
10. Keenan Allen – Los Angeles Chargers vs. Arizona
11. T.Y. Hilton – Indianapolis Colts vs. Miami
12. A.J. Green – Cincinnati Bengals vs. Cleveland
13. Emmanuel Sanders – Denver Broncos vs. Pittsburgh
14. Julian Edelman – New England Patriots at NY Jets
15. Josh Gordon – New England Patriots at NY Jets
16. Kenny Golladay – Detroit Lions vs. Chicago
17. JuJu Smith-Schuster – Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver
18. Jarvis Landry – Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati
19. Alshon Jeffery – Philadelphia Eagles vs. NY Giants
20. Corey Davis – Tennessee Titans at Houston
21. Amari Cooper – Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington
22. Tyler Boyd – Cincinnati Bengals vs. Cleveland
23. Doug Baldwin – Seattle Seahawks at Carolina
24. Larry Fitzgerald – Arizona Cardinals at LA Chargers
25. Golden Tate – Philadelphia Eagles vs. NY Giants
26. Calvin Ridley – Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans
27. Allen Robinson – Chicago Bears at Detroit
28. Tyler Lockett – Seattle Seahawks at Carolina
29. Keke Coutee – Houston Texans vs. Tennessee
30. Tre’Quan Smith – New Orleans Saints vs. Atlanta
31. Sterling Shepard – New York Giants at Philadelphia
32. Courtland Sutton – Denver Broncos vs. Pittsburgh
33. DJ Moore – Carolina Panthers vs. Seattle
34. John Brown – Baltimore Ravens vs. Oakland
35. Marquez Valdes-Scantling – Green Bay Packers at Minnesota
36. Tyrell Williams – Los Angeles Chargers vs. Arizona
37. Anthony Miller – Chicago Bears at Detroit
38. Devin Funchess – Carolina Panthers vs. Seattle
39. Taylor Gabriel – Chicago Bears at Detroit
40. DeSean Jackson – Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. San Francisco
41. Christian Kirk – Arizona Cardinals at LA Chargers
42. Danny Amendola – Miami Dolphins at Indianapolis
43. Mohamed Sanu – Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans
44. Marquise Goodwin – San Francisco 49ers at Tampa Bay
45. Michael Crabtree – Baltimore Ravens vs. Oakland
46. Adam Humphries – Tampa  Bay Buccaneers vs. San Francisco
47. Demaryius Thomas – Houston Texans vs. Tennessee
48. Chris Godwin – Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. San Francisco
49. Donte Moncrief – Jacksonville Jaguars at Buffalo
50. Mike Williams – Los Angeles Chargers vs. Arizona

Thoughts:

• All the attention for Minnesota seems to be geared towards Adam Thielen, and rightfully so given the guy has 85 catches. However Stefon Diggs has been great too and he is one of the hottest receivers out there right now. Diggs has 31 catches in his last three games with a TD in two straight. He has had a reputation as being boom or bust, but he actually has eight or more catches in six of his nine games. He doesn’t make the discussion for the top tier it seems, but maybe he should.
• Signs are pointing towards A.J. Green being able to play this week given how he appeared close to playing last week and the Bengals fighting for their playoff lives. Green is having a fantastic season with 75 yards or more in all but one games and 5 or more receptions in all but one as well. There may be some skepticism with a matchup against Denzel Ward and having just come off injury, but if he’s playing you are crazy to use him.
• Things seem to be starting to pick up for Doug Baldwin in Seattle after a rough season marred by injury. He has 16 receptions in his last three games and was finally able to find the end zone in this last game against the Packers. The Panthers defense is just coming off a game where they got torched by Kenny Golladay and Baldwin will look to keep that going.
• There is a lot of buzz on Tre’Quan Smith after his massive game this past week against the Eagles. I’m going to be the guy pumping the breaks though. This is a fantastic matchup against the Falcons and the Saints should rack up the points, but they’ve been racking up the points every week and in the four games before this past Sunday he had only four catches total. There is a nice ceiling with, but there’s also a really low floor and no guarantee which end you’re going to get.
• It kind of feels like the Arizona Cardinals offense has some momentum going with Byron Leftwich as the offensive coordinator and Josh Rosen making strides at QB. This has had a positive effect on Larry Fitzgerald, who now has four TD catches in his last four games after not catching one the entire season up to that point. With a pretty decent matchup against the Chargers on tap he could certainly add to it this week.
• The Baltimore Ravens could be better off with Lamar Jackson at quarterback the rest of the way, but the fantasy value of the Ravens wide receivers are not better off at all. Jackson isn’t going to be throwing the ball any more than necessary and when he does throw it they are likely going to be safe throws. It’s a shame as John Brown was having a fantastic season, but it’s going to be really hard to trust him the if Jackson remains the starter.

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