2012 PPR Fantasy Football Week 9: Wide Receivers (WR) Rankings

After a breakout season that sent Antonio Brown to the Pro Bowl in 2011, it appeared he was ready to emerge as a top-15 fantasy receiver in PPR leagues this summer. At that time, Mike Wallace was mired in a prolonged holdout and the odds were against him to make an impact through the first half of the season.

Brown, on the other hand, was given a new contract and looked to be picking up Todd Haley’s new offense with ease. A favorite target of Ben Roethlisberger on third downs a year ago, Brown was slated to be the team's top possession man, and I expected him to make a run for 100 receptions.

Thus far Brown has been a disappointment as he’s produced outside the top 20 receivers in PPR leagues but we can’t point to lack of activity in the passing game as a reason why. Through seven games Brown has 40 receptions off of 64 targets (13 overall among receivers) proving he is still the top possession receiver in Pittsburgh.

The problem is he’s only totaled a 12-yard-per-catch average (16.1 last year) and continues to struggle in terms of touchdowns with only one this year. This was a problem for Brown a year ago as he totaled two touchdowns for the entire season.

I thought because of his role in the offense and his growing maturity as a receiver in the NFL, we would see Brown’s touchdown total go up to around seven or eight by years end. Perhaps that will still happen, but for now his lack of production is hurting fantasy owners and we should look to Health Miller’s six touchdowns on the season as a possible reason why he’s failed up to this point.

This suggests that Brown is still getting most of his work outside of the red zone, or at least is the odd man out close to the goal line because he doesn’t posses the ideal size of Miller or leaping ability of Wallace. Until things change, view Brown as a WR3 play in PPR leagues and possibly a WR4 option in standard scoring leagues going forward.

Jordy Nelson’s Hamstring Issues

While it appears Nelson will test out his hamstring on Friday, I shouldn’t be surprised if the Packers hold him out this week. Nelson was out last week against the Jaguars, and while Green Bay has struggled to blow average teams away this season, I’m sure the coaching staff is tempted to sit Nelson knowing they have a bye week coming up after the game.

Keep an eye on Nelson’s progress later in the week because if he plays you will want him in the lineup against a floundering Cardinals team.

1	Brandon Marshall	@ Titans
2	A.J. Green	Broncos
3	Victor Cruz	Steelers
4	Percy Harvin	@ Seahawks
5	Demaryius Thomas	@ Bengals
6	Vincent Jackson	@ Raiders
7	Reggie Wayne	Dolphins
8	Miles Austin	@ Falcons
9	Eric Decker	@ Bengals
10	Roddy White	Cowboys
11	Randall Cobb	Cardinals
12	Julio Jones	Cowboys
13	Jordy Nelson (I)	Cardinals
14	Denarius Moore	Buccaneers
15	Mike Wallace	@ Giants
16	Marques Colston	Eagles
17	Calvin Johnson (I)	@ Jaguars
18	Larry Fitzgerald (I)	@ Packers
19	Steve Smith	@ Redskins
20	Andre Johnson	Bills
21	Stevie Johnson	@ Texans
22	Dez Bryant (I)	@ Falcons
23	Titus Young	@ Jaguars
24	Torrey Smith	@ Browns
25	Hakeem Nicks	Steelers
26	Mike Williams	@ Raiders
27	Antonio Brown	@ Giants
28	Dwayne Bowe	@ Chargers
29	Jeremy Maclin	@ Saints
30	James Jones	Cardinals
31	DeSean Jackson (I)	@ Saints
32	Cecil Shorts	@ Packers
33	Kendall Wright	Bears
34	Andre Roberts	@ Packers
35	Sidney Rice	Vikings
36	Anquan Boldin	@ Browns
37	Brian Hartline	@ Colts
38	Josh Gordon	Ravens
39	Ryan Broyles	@ Jaguars
40	Santana Moss	Panthers

Week 9 PPR Rankings – RB | WR | Flex | Waivers | Start – Sit |