Time moves quickly in any fantasy football draft, and preparation is critical. Many fantasy managers simply rely on the overall rankings in the draft application, but draft rankings are rarely enough. They offer no context for how much more valuable one player portends to be over another, or how a fantasy manager should covet them based on perceived value of later options. Each pick has an opportunity cost, and we can and should do better than bare-bones rankings by seeing the bigger picture.
Positionally tiered systems add the necessary context, especially as the seconds tick off in the draft room and the sounds pulsate in a pressure situation. Value is the key word in any fantasy football draft, and following a tiered system is critical to properly grouping what may appear to be similarly valued players. Those top available players may be indistinguishable from each other, or perhaps not.
Regardless, decisions must be made quickly on draft day, analyzing expected supply and demand within one position and compared to others, so here are one analyst's always-evolving tiers for wide receivers, based on 10-team standard, PPR leagues. The order and tiers of some players will change as news (roles, injuries, etc.) dictates through August, but mostly, these are your drafts, so follow your own tiered rankings.
Check out more tiered rankings: QB | RB | TE
Tier 1: Round 1
1. Tyreek Hill, Miami Dolphins
2. CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys
3. Ja'Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals
4. Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings
5. Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions