USA Today/Pete Rogers Illustrations

Wide Receivers to Target in 2021 Fantasy Football

The staff lets you know which wide receivers you should be targeting this year in fantasy football.

As we get close to finishing up WR Week, here are the wide receivers our staff is targeting this year in fantasy football (ADP via FF Calculator).

Keenan Allen, Los Angeles Chargers (Pete)

ADP: WR10, 3.06

Did I want to just triple-down on my Robert Woods love and write a long love poem dedicated in his honor? Of course. But since that’s what my bold predictions article basically became, I figured I’d spice it up a little.

I have Keenan Allen ranked as my WR5 this year in fantasy and while that may not seem like a lot higher than the WR10 he’s currently at, the discount in terms of draft position is notable. Calvin Ridley is currently the WR5 going 2.08. Allen is going a whole round later. This means I can draft two top running backs with my first two picks and then get a wide receiver who I think is easily a top 5 option and has a legit shot to be the WR1 this year.

Last year with Justin Herbert under center (between Weeks 2 and 14), Allen was the WR4 in .5PPR. DeAndre Hopkins is the only other receiver in the NFL to have had at least 110 targets and 90 catches in each of the last three seasons. Only Hopkins and Davante Adams have seen more red zone targets than Allen in the last three years. Basically, Allen is about as sure-a-thing at wide receiver as you could ask for in terms of volume and production and is going a round later than the company he keeps.

Also you should be aggressively targeting Mike Williams in the 10th round.

D.J. Moore, Carolina Panthers (Paddi)

ADP: WR25, 6.04

If there’s one player I’m finding myself drafting fairly consistently over the past month, its D.J. Moore. He’s currently available in the sixth round in drafts as the WR25, which feels like great value considering he’s coming off back-to-back 1,000 yard receiving seasons, and has proven to be one of the most consistent fantasy receivers around. A lot depends on how productive Sam Darnold can be now he has made the move from the New York Jets to the Panthers, but Moore has proven to be productive without premier quarterback talent and should help Darnold lift his game in 2021.

Moore saw a big jump in his yards per reception in 2020, increasing from 13.5 to a whopping 18.1, the highest of any 1,000 yard receiver last season. This is super encouraging as I’m projecting a reception increase this year. I have Moore raising his game to finish as a top-20 receiver and have given him a fourth round grade, hence why I keep snapping him up in drafts.

Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers (Nic)

ADP: WR27, 6.08

Brandon Aiyuk started his career with a hamstring injury suffered in training camp, during the COVID-19-stunted offseason, spent two weeks on the COVID-19/Reserve list, and suffered an ankle injury in Week 17. Despite all this, he still finished as the WR33 in overall .5PPR scoring and 17th in .5PPR points per game (12.9).

With a full training camp and their quarterback of the future, Trey Lance, now on the roster, Aiyuk’s career can really take flight. His biggest obstacle to success will be the other mouths to feed in San Francisco—tight end George Kittle and wide receiver Deebo Samuel to name a few. Still though, WR1 honors are in play for Aiyuk this year, both in real life and in fantasy. His current ADP is far too low.

Will Fuller, Miami Dolphins (Clark)

ADP: WR38, 9.01

I wouldn’t call Will Fuller a sleeper, but people are certainly sleeping on him. Fuller’s ADP is the beginning of the ninth round, and that is at least a two-round discount. When DeAndre Hopkins was traded to the Arizona Cardinals, I didn’t think Fuller had it in him to be the focal point of a passing game. I was obviously wrong. 

Fuller was the WR6 in standard, WR8 in PPR points per game last year. He only played 13 games as he failed a drug test for performance enhancing drugs and was suspended. That suspension will carry over one game into 2021, but come Week 2, it will be wheels up for Fuller and this Miami Dolphins offense.

 

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