Fantasy Football Week 2 Rankings: Top 50 Wide Receivers

After numerous huge passing performances in Week 1, how do things stack up for Week 2?  Let’s take a look at our current rankings:

Wide Receiver Rankings (Top 50)

1. Andre Johnson – Houston Texans – at Miami
2. Calvin Johnson – Detroit Lions – vs. Kansas City
3. Greg Jennings – Green Bay Packers – at Carolina
4. DeSean Jackson – Philadelphia Eagles – at Atlanta
5. Larry Fitzgerald – Arizona Cardinals – at Washington
6. Hakeem Nicks – New York Giants – vs. St. Louis
7. Mike Wallace – Pittsburgh Steelers – vs. Seattle
8. Vincent Jackson – San Diego Chargers – at New England
9. Miles Austin – Dallas Cowboys – at San Francisco
10. Roddy White – Atlanta Falcons – vs. Philadelphia
11. Reggie Wayne – Indianapolis Colts – vs. Cleveland
12. Mike Williams – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – at Minnesota
13. Wes Welker – New England Patriots – vs. San Diego
14. Brandon Marshall – Miami Dolphins – vs. Houston
15. Santonio Holmes – New York Jets – vs. Jacksonville
16. Anquan Boldin – Baltimore Ravens – at Tennessee
17. Brandon Lloyd – Denver Broncos – vs. Cincinnati
18. Stevie Johnson – Buffalo Bills – vs. Oakland
19. Kenny Britt – Tennessee Titans – vs. Baltimore
20. Steve Smith – Carolina Panthers – vs. Green Bay
21. Santana Moss – Washington Redskins – vs. Arizona
22. Dez Bryant – Dallas Cowboys – at San Francisco
23. Jeremy Maclin – Philadelphia Eagles – at Atlanta
24. Dwayne Bowe – Kansas City Chiefs – at Detroit
25. Mario Manningham – New York Giants – vs. St. Louis
26. Percy Harvin – Minnesota Vikings – vs. Tampa Bay
27. Robert Meachem – New Orleans Saints – vs. Chicago
28. Deion Branch – New England Patriots – vs. San Diego
29. Nate Burleson – Detroit Lions – vs. Kansas City
30. Plaxico Burress – New York Jets – vs. Jacksonville
31. Braylon Edwards – San Francisco 49ers – vs. Dallas
32. Malcolm Floyd – San Diego Chargers – at New England
33. Devery Henderson – New Orleans Saints – vs. Chicago
34. Julio Jones – Atlanta Falcons – vs. Philadelphia
35. Jacoby Jones – Houston Texans – at Miami
36. Jordy Nelson – Green Bay Packers – at Carolina
37. Devin Hester – Chicago Bears – at New Orleans
38. Mike Thomas – Jacksonville Jaguars – at New York Jets
39. Mike Sims-Walker – St. Louis Rams – at New York Giants
40. Johnny Knox – Chicago Bears – at New Orleans
41. Davone Bess – Miami Dolphins – vs. Houston
42. Early Doucet – Arizona Cardinals – at Washington
43. Hines Ward – Pittsburgh Steelers – vs. Seattle
44. Austin Collie – Indianapolis Colts – vs. Cleveland
45. Mohamed Massaquoi – Cleveland Browns – at Arizona
46. Jacoby Ford – Oakland Raiders – at Buffalo
47. Brandon Gibson – St. Louis Rams – at New York Giants
48. Nate Washington – Tennessee Titans – vs. Baltimore
49. Jabar Gaffney – Washington Redskins – vs. Arizona
50. A.J. Green – Cincinnati Bengals – at Denver 

Thoughts

• Andre Johnson vs. a Miami defense who got rocked by Tom Brady for over 500 passing yards and four TDs or Calvin Johnson vs. a Kansas City defense who got burned for not as many yards, but an equally poor four TDs?  In other words, take your pick as to who the best option is, but both should continue to shine.
• While Roddy White is one of the premier wide receivers in the league, taking on the stellar Eagles secondary is going to put him to the test. While he remains a WR1 this week, he has to be considered a bit of a risk.
• Both Wes Welker and Kenny Britt had questions hanging over them heading into Week 1. Does anyone have any more doubts?  Both receivers posted huge performances and should be considered solid plays in all formats. 
• While Welker takes on the defense that was statistically the best against the pass in Week 1 (28 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT), does anyone really think the Chargers can contain the Patriots?  The biggest concern for Welker is if he gets enough targets in the team’s spread the ball around philosophy.
• As if the threat of injury wasn’t enough for Hakeem Nicks, the Giants passing game looked fairly poor in Week 1 (though Nicks remained productive with seven receptions for 122 yards). You have to think that Eli Manning and company will figure it out. If he plays he should be considered a WR1. We’ll include him on here for now, but if the news changes we’ll update things later in the week.  If he’s out of action, Mario Manningham looks like a much better option.
• Seattle may have performed well against the pass in Week 1, but they were also facing a rather weak 49ers attack.  They don’t get as lucky this week against the Steelers, who are going to come out with something to prove.  Mike Wallace was targeted early and often and should post another big game this week. 
• Does anyone really believe Steve Smith can post numbers even close to what he did in Week 1 (eight receptions for 178 yards and two TDs)?  It was a great debut for Cam Newton, but for some reason it just seems unlikely to be repeated against the Packers.  Don’t consider Smith more than a lower-end WR2 for now.  If he can repeat the type of performance, however, that will change heading into Week 3.
• Dwayne Bowe and the Kansas City Chiefs did not look very good in Week 1.  While we learned in 2010 not to write him off due to early struggles, consider him more of a WR3 for the coming week.
• As the top receiver for the Jaguars, will Mike Thomas find himself on Revis Island in Week 2?  He was a great breakout story in the opening week, but the chances of him struggling look significantly higher.
• After the performance of Donovan McNabb, does anyone trust Percy Harvin as anything more than a WR3?  Hopefully it was just an aberration, but until they show something you need to proceed with caution.
• Without Marques Colston, who will the Saints use as their go to receiver?  Robert Meachem is my guess, for now, but until we get a little bit of a better idea he isn’t going to be more than a WR3.
• Danny Amendola is out, which should allow the Rams to move Mike Sims-Walker around the field.  If you are going to use one of their receivers, he’s the direction I would take for now.
• The Raiders showed that they want to get Jacoby Ford the ball, any way possible.  That should give him an opportunity to produce, though he’s not quite at the level of usability quite yet.

Make sure to check out the rest of Rotoprofessor's Week 2 information:

• Top 25 Quarterbacks
• Top 40 Running Backs
• Waiver Worthy
• Deep Format Waiver Worthy
• Trending Targets