Fantasy Football: Five No. 1 Wide Receivers Going Past the Fifth Round

Quarterbacks love to throw to their top receivers.

Whether they're on the New England Patriots or the San Francisco 49ers, the No. 1 wideouts on NFL teams see a steady diet of 70-90 catches a year.

Where the top top targets get drafted in the early rounds of fantasy drafts, many more than serviceable options remain buried; hidden behind their "flashier" brethren.

Here are five top options on their respective teams who also possess the potential to be the top wide receiver on your fantasy team:

DeSean Jackson, (Philadelphia Eagles)

Mr. Jackson was certainly a thriller last year.  We saw him make electrifying plays but also boneheaded ones as well.

What remains constant, however, is that he totaled 902 yards on 62 receptions while also scoring a pair of touchdowns.

The fact that he was merely a rookie last season makes those totals all the more impressive.  Now that he has a year under his belt, and has found out what the NFL and McNabb are all about, look for an increase in his numbers going forward.

Jackson is going in the middle to late fifth round in 12-team mock drafts.

Projection: 1,100 yards, 6 touchdowns

Antonio Bryant, (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

"Dang" is the only word that truly sums up this guy's stats last year.

Although it was not completely a shot in the dark, (he had broken the 1,000 yard barrier in 2005), it was a vast improvement over 2007's stats which had him achieving only 733 yards and three touchdowns.

Last season, Bryant nearly doubled that yardage total, (1,248 yards) and more than doubled his TD total, (seven touchdowns).

What impresses though is how he attained those numbers.

The QB throwing him the ball never remained consistent, evident by the fact that he caught the ball from three different quarterbacks during the course of the season.

With Josh Freeman now ready to take over the reins full-time, look for consistency in Bryant's numbers to reflect.

Bryant is going at the tail end of the fifth round in 12-team mock drafts.

Projection: 1,000 yards, 6 touchdowns

Bernard Berrian, (Minnesota Vikings)

Bernard Berrian has shown steady improvement in each of his five seasons in the National Football League.

Take a quick peak at the numbers:

• 2004 yards:  225
• 2005 yards:  246
• 2006 yards:  775
• 2007 yards:  951
• 2008 yards:  964

Berrian endured a career year in 2008 not just in yards, but also in touchdowns, (seven).

Like Bryant, Berrian was forced to deal with inconsistency from the quarterback position last season.  A combination of Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels didn't bode well for anybody, let alone Bernard.

However, there has been speculation that Brett Favre may play for the Vikings this year.

If Brett Favre does join forces with the Vikings for this upcoming season, Berrian's potential would certainly take a crazy jump.

Since Favre loves to air-it-out, Berrian would be the prime beneficiary out of any of the Vikings' wideouts since he is a burner who stretches the field.

Berrian is going in the late stages of round six in 12-team mock drafts.

Projection: 1,100 yards, 8 touchdowns

Santana Moss, (Washington Redskins)

Moss (not to be statistically confused with Randy), has played at a high level for the time that he has been in the league.

Three years of over 1,000 yards are in his possession, (among them a stellar 1,483 campaign).

Last season, Moss accumulated 1,044 yards on 79 receptions and added in six touchdowns.

There is no reason to believe that those numbers should drop in the following season.

Moss is going in the extremely late portion of the sixth round.

Projection: 1,100 yards, 8 touchdowns

Hines Ward, (Pittsburgh Steelers)

Mr. Reliable.

In his last eight seasons, Ward has totaled at least 69 receptions in each.  The lowest receiving total he has experienced in those seasons is a still above average 732 yards, and his lowest TD total is that span is four.

Ward is a favorite target of Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, and the statistical evidence proves that notion true.

There is absolutely no reason to expect a decline in numbers this upcoming season.

Ward is going in the middle of the seventh round.

Projection: 850 yards, 7 touchdowns

So if you would rather lose out on a top RB in favor of a "Great WR" in the early rounds, then be my guest.  But wait to take one of these guys in the later rounds, and experience close to the same production at half the cost.