Tuesday, May 07, 2024

Fantasy Football

Dynasty WR Rankings 2020 — Top 10

Here, they are– my Top 10 Dynasty WRs. This list has been fun to compile as the WR landscape changes so much year after year. There is such a large array of WR that I would love to own on my dynasty teams. It is silly to say, but I would love to own any of my Top 10 Dynasty WRs. Whether you value their youth or their ability to help win now, they all have a place on your dynasty team. I hope you enjoy my Top 10 and go back and read who I ranked in my earlier articles. Thanks for all your support during these tough times. I love bringing content to you people.

Read my whole series of Dynasty WR here; 80-7170-6160-51;5 0-41;  40-3130-2120-11

10. Julio Jones

Yes, I know that many of you are going to say that I have Julio way too high for a dynasty ranking. Yes, Julio is getting older. We all get older every day so what’s the point? I haven’t seen any signs of Julio slowing down and he continues to be one of the most dominant WRs in the league. Jones just had another 1,400 receiving yard season and the Falcons offense did struggle at points of the 2019 season. The Falcons now have added Todd Gurley that will help tremendously in the run game. Calvin Ridley is getting better and now Hooper and Sanu are gone which will leave targets on the table.

The NFC South has gotten better with the addition of Tom Brady and Teddy Bridgewater. I expect NFC South divisional games to be shootouts in 2020 and this will help Jones out a ton as he has the potential for 150+ yards a week. Julio is dropping in dynasty start-ups into the 4th round or 5th round. I have seen him fall into the 6th round in some drafts. If you are looking to win now, which is the approach I take in dynasty leagues, Jones is the biggest steal of the draft! He will have over 1400 yards again in 2020 barring any injury to him or Matt Ryan. Julio can be bought fairly cheap right now as well and I would take advantage of this price to win now.

9. Odell Beckham

OBJ disappointed many fantasy owners last season but managed to top over 1000 yards with a lackluster 4 TDs. The 1000 yards he had, however, didn’t represent great fantasy games. He had one game-winning week against the Jets early in the season with 160 yards and a TD. After this, he would only have between 40-60 yards a game. The standard for OBJ is a lot different than 95% of other receivers and with high expectations, he didn’t live up to it. For these reasons, it is hard to rank OBJ for the 2020 season. Odell is still one of the most talented WRs in the league and can make catches other WRs can’t.

He will have a new coach in 2020, but I find Stefanski way more offensive-minded than Kitchens. Will he have a bounce-back season? Will Jarvis continue to steal more opportunities? And will the addition of Hooper inflate/deflate his role? There is so much up in the air with OBJ but his talent can trump all of that. He goes in the late 2nd to 3rd round in dynasty startups and comes with risk. But with high risk comes high reward, and OBJ can bring high reward for fantasy owners.

8. Kenny Golladay

Kenny G is one of the most underrated WRs in the sport’s world. The lack of media attention along with being on a subpar team will do that to you though. However, Kenny should be a household name in sports. He is coming off back to back 1000 yard seasons and got off to a hot start in 2019. Even with the injury to Matthew Stafford, Golladay managed to still put together fantasy-relevant games together with Jeff Driskel and David Blough. Golladay is about to enter his 4th year in the NFL. In my opinion, he still has room to improve.

I would expect his receptions and yardage to increase while having his TD total similar to 2019. Golladay is a WR1 in fantasy. If you play it right you could have two top 10 RBs along with a top 10 WR. Golladay will go in the late 2nd to mid 3rd round in dynasty startups. He would be a great option for a WR1 if you were to go RB-RB in the first 2 rounds.

7. Amari Cooper

Amari just got PAID but he turned down more money from the Redskins to stay with the ‘boys. He knows that to continue to be great in the NFL he will need a stable QB to throw him the ball (assuming Dak doesn’t sit out). An argument people will make with Amari Cooper is his consistency, however, Amari can go off every week. The frustration is reasonable, but for weeks where fantasy owners won, it was mostly because of Amari.

With Dak back for 2020, if Amari can stay healthy, he will be a top 10 fantasy WR. Amari Cooper will only be 26 going into the 2020 season, and I can very much see a career-best season coming. Cooper will go no earlier than the 3rd round in dynasty start-up drafts and his value there is tremendous. I am expecting a big year out of Amari as he will have his first healthy complete year with Dak Prescott.

6. Chris Godwin

We saw the emergence of slot WR Chris Godwin in 2019. Many were expecting a breakout year from him, and he delivered. Between Godwin or Evans, one of them was usually the highest scoring WR on the week. Godwin performed week after week as he maneuvered his way in the slot and relieved some of the stress off of Winston’s shoulders. Godwin will now have Tom Brady throwing him the ball and I can see Godwin bringing close to 100 receptions in 2020. CG14 (gave Brady #12) will work routes much like Julian Edelman has done for Brady in the past.

Brady will find ways to get this young talented WR the ball. The Bucs will continue to play in a lot of shootouts in 2020 as they play the Saints and the Falcons twice a year. Godwin goes as early as the mid 1st to mid 2nd in dynasty drafts. I do like Godwin but I would much rather take the WR that I have listed ahead of him first. We have only seen a small sample size of Godwin and I’m intrigued to see what he can do going forward.

5. Mike Evans

Mike Evans was on pace for the best season of his career before he went down with a season-ending hamstring injury in Week 14. Evans suffered the injury as he ran down the sideline for a 61-yard score. This crushed fantasy owner’s hearts as many had expected Evans to lead them to a fantasy championship. I am positive that we could have seen Evans’ best season last year if Winston wouldn’t have thrown 30 interceptions. Evans may not post the great fantasy points week to week but as you look back at the end of the year, he is always a top 10 WR and usually within the top 5.

Let’s talk about an upgrade. Tom Brady will be throwing the ball to Evans in 2020, and I think this will ultimately help Evans a ton. Brady still has it and he will be a gun-slinger in Tampa Bay. Brady still had over 4,000 yards passing in 2019 with a banged-up Julian Edelman and a terrible receiving core. Evans will be 27 going into the 2020 season and now will be playing with the best QB he has ever had. I can really see Evans taking his game to the next level with a better passer. Evans goes in the mid to late 2nd in dynasty startups and that’s a steal for a guy that has the floor a top 10 season and the ceiling of a top 3 season.

4. Davante Adams

Over the past 3 seasons, there haven’t been many fantasy WRs as good as Adams has been. By surprise, we saw the Packers transition into a more run-first style of play under new head coach Matt LaFleur in 2019. Adams suffered an injury Week 4 against the Eagles which made him miss the next 5 weeks. As Rodgers’ favorite red-zone target, it was unusual for Adams’ first TD to come in Week 11. I can only imagine that Adams will jump back into the double digits for receiving TDs in 2020. As Aaron Jones‘ total TDs will decrease after his career-best season.

The Packers defense was much improved in 2019 and they relied more on the running game. A full season of Adams will do much better for fantasy production in 2020. He is still an elite route runner and will be heavily targeted by Aaron Rodgers as long as the #2 option remains Devin Funchess. Adams goes in the late 1st to early 2nd in dynasty leagues. I think that is a great spot for him as he continues to one of the elite WR in this league.

3. DeAndre Hopkins

I love Hopkins’s long term value with Kyler Murray. My belief is that Hopkins may take a little hit in 2020 as he transitions into Arizona. I think it may take a year for him to develop strong chemistry with his new young QB. Hopkins is now in an air-raid offense with a great offensive mind for a head coach in Kliff Kingsbury. I would love to see Hopkins continue to get up to 150 targets a season and I would say Murray would be smart enough to target his new star WR. The Arizona Cardinals should have a much-improved offense in 2020 if they address some offensive line holes in the draft.

A plus for Hopkins owners is that the Cardinals defense will continue to give up points and they will have to play catch up in most games. Hopkins will be 28 entering the 2020 season but I still can see him playing for at least 5 more seasons. Nuk should continue to be one of the most consistent fantasy WR and will be a first-round pick in dynasty startups. It is a coin flip for me between Hill and Hopkins, but I lean Hill due to Mahomes.

2. Tyreek Hill

Tyreek Hill started 2019 with a major clavicle injury Week 1 against the Jaguars. Hill came back Week 6 and it took him a couple of games to get back in stride. We saw Hill’s true self in Week’s 9 and 10 when he went for over 140 yards and a score in both games. A lack of production for Hill can also be due to Patrick Mahomes going down with an injury and missing a few weeks with a knee injury. Mahomes only threw for 26 TD in 2019, and I can only expect that number to be a lot closer to 40 in 2020.

Tyreek Hill will continue to be a Top 3 fantasy WR. Hill is entering his 4th year and should continue to stay healthy and appears to be free of any criminal trouble. Hill will continue to see close to 10 targets a game and those will be coming from the NFL’s best QB in Mahomes. The speedster is only 27 and will continue to see new career bests with Patty. Tyreek is a 1st round pick in dynasty startups and would love to grab him on the turn. In 2 dynasty startups this spring, I grabbed Hill at the 1.10 in both leagues and I’m excited about his bright future.

1. Michael Thomas

MT is the unquestioned top dynasty WR. I have been on Michael Thomas since his rookie year. A little bit before MT’s rookie season, Sean Payton came out and said that if he was to own a Saints’ WR in fantasy it would be Thomas. Thomas has emerged as one of the best WRs in this league. I would argue that there are much better-talented WRs in this league, but no one compares to what Thomas can do fantasy-wise.

Thomas saw double-digit targets in 12 out of 16 games and had 8+ catches in 13 of 16 games. The best thing about MT is his consistency. Only behind CMC, Michael Thomas has the best floor of all non-QB options. MT goes in the top 5 picks of dynasty leagues, and he should continue to be a top 2 fantasy WR with Drew Brees. It will be interesting to see what Thomas can do post-Brees but I wouldn’t let that worry me now. Michael Thomas is my top dynasty WR and is in a tier on his own.

Catch up with the WRs I am ranking in March: 80-7170-6160-51;5 0-41;  40-3130-2120-11

Don’t forget to check out where I ranked my full dynasty QB (Post Combine):1-2526-44

Check out my Rookie QB Dynasty Rankings and my Rookie TE Dynasty Rankings

Check out my 2020 Dynasty RB Ranking: 70-6160-5150-4140-31 ;30-21; 20-1110-1 (Please note that I am currently revising these rankings– I know that I have Jonathan Taylor and the other rookie RB way too low, I am currently reworking these articles to accurately rank my RB. The way I publish articles is in a 10 player group so I am able to fully focus on the players and not get overwhelmed. My first evaluation on the rookie RB was very wrong and I will acknowledge their true rankings here soon. Thanks for your consideration and patience as I work on updating these players.)

Follow my work on Twitter @FinalDriveFF and check out other Belly Up Fantasy Sports articles.