Top 75 WR: 2012 Wide Receiver Fantasy Football Rankings (Updated 8/25)

As the third week of the preseason slows down, I wanted to talk about a couple of talented big-play  receivers who could start off slow this season.

Lloyd's O-line

The Patriots have had some linemen leave this offseason, and Logan Mankins is coming off an ACL injury. Still, it seemed like all would be well with one of the games top quarterbacks under center in Tom Brady.

After watching New England’s third preseason game, it’s time to be a little concerned about Brady’s offensive line. Marcus Cannon has struggled mightily on the right side, but it appears Sebastian Vollmer will be activated off the PUP to start ahead of him.

Nat Solder is moving from right over to left tackle this season and has had some problems as well.

I believe the Patriots will figure things out as we move through the season but early on we could see Brady forced into checking down to options like Aaron Hernandez and running back out of the backfield.

In Brandon Lloyd, New England finally has a depth threat since the departure of Randy Moss. Look for Brady to take his shots down the field to Lloyd, but the speedster may not connect enough to make him a WR1 like I was projecting through most of this month.

Smith's Foot

Going around the fifth round in 10-team standard leagues this summer, Steve Smith is back on the map as a quality WR2 with Cam Newton as his quarterback. As has been the case for some many of Smith’s training camps throughout this career, we are dealing with another ailment.

This time, Smith has some type of foot problem that has kept him on crutches and out of the teams third preseason game.

Panthers Head Coach Ron Rivera did note that Smith would be listed as out if this was week one of the regular season, so we should be a little concerned.

According to Rotoworld.com, Chris Mortensen of ESPN noted that the injury was a staph infection, which can be a serious problem if it went untreated.

Will Smith miss time in September? Who knows at this point, but he does have a few weeks to get ready. Still, fantasy owners need to keep this in mind when targeting him, as we have a quality list of top thirty options at receiver.   

1	Calvin Johnson
2	Julio Jones
3	A.J. Green
4	Jordy Nelson
5	Andre Johnson
6	Larry Fitzgerald
7	Victor Cruz
8	Brandon Marshall
9	Roddy White
10	Greg Jennings
11	Wes Welker
12	Hakeem Nicks
13	Brandon Lloyd
14	Demaryius Thomas
15	Antonio Brown
16	Eric Decker
17	Dez Bryant
18	Steve Smith
19	Percy Harvin
20	DeSean Jackson
21	Dwayne Bowe
22	Jeremy Maclin
23	Reggie Wayne
24	Pierre Garcon
25	Marques Colston
26	Torrey Smith
27	Vincent Jackson
28	Mike Wallace
29	Titus Young
30	Stevie Johnson
31	Miles Austin
32	Nate Washington
33	Malcom Floyd
34	Greg Little
35	Justin Blackmon
36	Alshon Jeffery
37	Randy Moss
38	Sidney Rice
39	Michael Crabtree
40	Mike Williams
41	Robert Meachem
42	Darrius Heyward-Bey
43	Denarius Moore
44	Kenny Britt
45	Danny Amendola
46	Steve Smith, Stl
47	Kendall Wright
48	Brandon LaFell
49	Anquan Boldin
50	Emmanuel Sanders
51	Randall Cobb
52	Laurent Robinson
53	Davone Bess
54	Austin Collie
55	Earl Bennett
56	Santonio Holmes
57	Jonathan Baldwin
58	Leonard Hankerson
59	Mario Manningham
60	Jerome Simpson
61	Donald Jones
62	Golden Tate
63	Nate Burleson
64	Brandon Tate
65	Rueben Randle
66	David Nelson
67	Ryan Broyles
68	Lestar Jean
69	Brian Quick
70	Santana Moss
71	James Jones
72	Keyshawn Martin
73	Rod Streater
74	Armon Binns
75	Doug Baldwin

2012 Standard Position Rankings - Top 200 | QB | RB | TE | Cheat Sheets |