Early Look at Dynasty WR Rankings

We have just one game left of the actual 2021 NFL season, but the 2022 dynasty fantasy football season is already underway.

Whether you’re entering (another) startup, looking to improve your squad, or taking over an orphan, you need some cornerstone WRs to build your team around. Wideouts are massively valuable in dynasty, as a good young wide receiver can be an elite producer for your team for twice (or even three times) as long as a good RB. If you’re able to get an elite nuclear of WRs — a position that’s usually more predictable year-over-year — you can afford to take more shots on RBs (a position that’s not).

Let’s take a look at early dynasty WR rankings for 2022.

Tier 1

• Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals
• Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings
• A.J. Brown, Tennessee Titans

This is the elite (and young) tier. Chase gets the top spot because he’s paired up with Joe Burrow for a long, long time. Jefferson and Brown, while still elite, aren’t as set long-term with great QB play.

Tier 2

• Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs
• Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams
• Davante Adams, Green Bay Packers
• Deebo Samuel, San Francisco 49ers
• DK Metcalf, Seattle Seahawks

We’re still in the elites here, obviously, but these players are either slightly older than the Tier 1 group (like Hill, Kupp and Adams) or haven’t dominated as consistently (Metcalf, Samuel). Either way, you’re set with a wideout from this group. 

Tier 3

• Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals
• Jaylen Waddle, Miami Dolphins
• Terry McLaurin, Washington Football Team
• CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys
• DJ Moore, Carolina Panthers
• Stefon Diggs, Buffalo Bills
• Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The players in this group can still be fantasy world-beaters, but — aside from Diggs, whose age hurts him here — they haven’t shown as consistently high of a ceiling as those above. Any player from this group can make the leap to Tier 1 or 2 and it wouldn’t be a surprise.

Tier 4

• Diontae Johnson, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Amari Cooper, Dallas Cowboys
• Elijah Moore, New York Jets
• Keenan Allen, Los Angeles Chargers
• Michael Thomas, New Orleans Saints
• Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers
• Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions
• Marquise Brown, Baltimore Ravens

Our Tier 4 group is firmly split between two types of players. The first are vets still capable of weekly WR1 finishes, but who are hurt in these rankings by age (Evans, Cooper, Allen, Thomas, Johnson). The second set are young players who have shown elite upside but haven’t broken through yet (Moore, Aiyuk, St. Brown, Brown). This is a group to take shots on if you want a cheaper version of a player with Tier 2-3 upside, or if you want a cheaper vet that will still produce for several years.

Tier 5

• Calvin Ridley, Atlanta Falcons
• Mike Williams, Los Angeles Chargers
• DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles
• Darnell Mooney, Chicago Bears
• Michael Pittman, Indianapolis Colts
• DeAndre Hopkins, Arizona Cardinals
• Rashod Bateman, Baltimore Ravens
• Chase Claypool, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Hunter Renfrow, Las Vegas Raiders
• Odell Beckham, Los Angeles Rams
• Tyler Lockett, Seattle Seahawks
• Jerry Jeudy, Denver Broncos
• Christian Kirk, Arizona Cardinals
• Hunter Renfrow, Las Vegas Raiders
• Brandin Cooks, Houston Texans

We’re getting deep enough into the rankings that there’s really no catch-all paragraph for this group, so I’ll just make a few notes of the players most interesting in this range. Ridley is a buy for the risk takers, as is Jeudy. Smith, Mooney, Pittman and Bateman all fall under the same umbrella for me: High-upside and young but not fully proven yet. Claypool is a dynasty player I still love based on raw potential, while vets like Hopkins, Renfrow, OBJ, Lockett and Cooks can still prove weekly value for your squad. 

Tier 6

• Gabriel Davis Buffalo Bills
• Kadarius Toney, New York Giants
• Tyler Boyd, Cincinnati Bengals
• Rondale Moore, Arizona Cardinals
• Michael Gallup, Dallas Cowboys
• D.J. Chark, Jacksonville Jaguars
• Laviska Shenault, Jacksonville Jaguars
• Robert Woods, Los Angeles Rams
• JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Allen Robinson, Chicago Bears
• Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings

We’re still in the mixed bag territory here, but the question marks are a little bigger with this group. Is Gabriel Davis legit? What about Kadarius Toney or Rondale Moore? Can Michael Gallup be a WR1? Will Allen Robinson ever be one again? This group can be described as “the hopefuls” for both the young players and the old.

Tier 7+

If your targets aren’t listed above, they are either big-time works in progress or aging vets — who may have short-term value for win-now teams but don’t make my list of top 50 for dynasty.