2012 Early Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings

Here’s an early look at the 2012 LestersLegends fantasy football wide receiver rankings.

1.  Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions
Megatron was an absolute beast last year with 96 catches for 1,681 yards and 16 scores. He’s No. 1 and it’s not really close.

2.  Wes Welker, New England Patriots
What knee injury? All Welker did last year was catch 122 passes for 1,569 yards and nine TDs. With Gronk and Aaron Hernandez, it is hard to key in on Welker. Not to mention the addition of Brandon Lloyd.

3.  Hakeem Nicks, New York Giants
Victor Cruz put up better numbers last year, but Nicks was a force as well with 1,192 yards and seven TDs.

4.  Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals
Michael Floyd should relieve some of the attention on Fitz, who had his fourth 1,400-yard season.

5.  Victor Cruz, New York Giants
After 1,536 yards and nine TDs there should be plenty more salsa dancing in 2012.

6.  Steve Smith, Carolina Panthers
He’ll be 33, but he still has plenty of speed and an emerging quarterback.

7.  Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons
Recorded his fourth 1,200-yard season and has 29 scores over the past three years.

8.  Julio Jones, Atlanta Falcons
At times, he was even better than Roddy. He should really emerge in his second season.

9.  Jordy Nelson, Green Bay Packers
He has sneaky quickness and a great rapport with the best QB in the game. He scored 15 times last year.

10.  Andre Johnson, Houston Texans
He makes me nervous because he couldn’t get healthy last year. He finished strong though and should be a great value this year.

11.  Brandon Marshall, Chicago Bears
Assuming he stays out of trouble he should build on the 1,214-yard, six-TD season as he’s reunited with Jay Cutler.

12.  Mike Wallace, Pittsburgh Steelers
For now, I consider him likely to return to the Steelers. He has elite speed and is coming off his second big year. Look for more of the same.

13.  Greg Jennings, Green Bay Packers
He was limited to 13 games last year, but still caught nine TDs with 949 yards.

14.  Marques Colston, New Orleans Saints 
He continues to produce 1,000-yard seasons. He’s averaging 1,040 yards and eight TDs per year in his six seasons.

15.  A.J. Green, Cincinnati Bengals
He had a great rookie year (1,057 yards, seven TDs). Look for even more.

16.  Brandon Lloyd, New England Patriots
Played with a ridiculously bad cast of QBs in his time with Denver and St. Louis last year. Brady should help him improve on the 966 yards and five scores.

17.  Percy Harvin, Minnesota Vikings
The Vikes will have to figure out a better way to use Harvin and Adrian Peterson at the same time. He was dominant at times, and should continue to be productive, both running and catching the football.

18.  Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys
928 yards and nine TDs last year with plenty of room to grow. Will have to stay healthy to join the elite. 

19.  Reggie Wayne, Indianapolis Colts
Wayne will take on the role of Andrew Luck’s security blanket. The Colts still figure to be behind most of the time and forced to throw a bunch.

20.  Miles Austin, Dallas Cowboys
I think Dez has surpassed him, but there is still plenty there. 

21.  DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles
Coming off a disappointing season (961 yards, four TDs). He’ll be hit or miss, but he should be much better in 2012.

22.  Vincent Jackson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
He isn’t in as fantasy-friendly a situation, and you’ll have to worry that he won’t be as motivated after getting paid. Still, he’s got a great speed-size combo and should remain a difficult cover.

Also check out:

• 2012 Early Fantasy Football QB Rankings
• 2012 Early Fantasy Football RB Rankings
• 2012 Early Fantasy Football TE Rankings
• 2012 Early Fantasy Football DEF Rankings

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