Fantasy Football Week 1 Wide Receiver Preview: Waiver adds, starts, sits, numbers to know, and more
Everything you need to know about wide receiver for Fantasy Football in Week 1
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Going into the 2025 NFL Draft the story was that the running back class was awesome and the wide receiver class was below average. While I still agree that the running backs are the pride of this class, it has been a pretty great summer for some of the wide receivers as well. Tetairoa McMillan has already established himself as the clear WR1 for the Panthers, Matthew Golden appears to be doing the same, Travis Hunter looks like he will play at least as much at wide receiver as cornerback and Emeka Egbuka has been the talk of Tampa all summer.
For Week 1 all four of these rookies rank between WR24 and WR38 in my projections. In practice, that means they are all best viewed as high upside WR3s in Week 1, though McMillan could easily be a top-20 option. Hunter is definitely the most interesting, because he has just as much upside as McMillan but significantly more risk due to questions about his playing time. Egbuka is the one I will really be watching.
Coming into the draft Egbuka was the receiver I viewed as the most polished and ready for the NFL. Nothing we have heard this summer dispels that. What has changed is the fact that Chris Godwin won't be ready for Week 1 and Jalen McMillan and Cade Otton both got hurt as well. There is a real opportunity for Egbuka to see eight-plus targets in Week 1. If he handles them as well as the summer suggests, we could view even his elevated August ADP as a discount.
You always find all of my projections over at Sportsline.
Here is the rest of the Week 1 WR Preview:
Week 1 WR Preview
WR Preview
Numbers to Know
- 20 -- Xavier Worthy averaged just over 20 FPPG in his final six games, including the playoffs. With Rashee Rice out for the first six games, we will get a chance to see if he can maintain that.
- 10.3 -- Jerry Jeudy averaged 10.3 targets per game in his final 10 games. That was with Jameis Winston and without Cedric Tillman.
- 13.4 -- Marvin Harrison's 13.4 yards average depth of target was part of the problem as a rookie. Let's hope there are a few more layups drawn up for him in Week 1.
- 6.9 -- Garrett Wilson has only averaged 6.9 yards per target in his career. If that doesn't increase he is no more than a WR3 because Justin Fields means an offense with far fewer pass attempts.
- 8.5% -- Amon-Ra St. Brown had a career-high 8.5% TD rate last year. If the Lions scoring regresses, as I expect, he can still be a top 12 wide receiver but he won't likely be top five.
- 2.5 -- Deebo Samuel has averaged at least 2.5 carries per game each of the last four seasons. Week 1 will help us understand if Washington plans on using him as a rusher as well.
- 27.2% -- Both Puka Nacua and Davante Adams were targeted on more than 27% of their routes last year. It will be fascinating to see how Matthew Stafford distributes the ball in Week 1.
- 174.8 -- The Jaguars gave up 174 yards per game to wide receivers, it could be a big Week 1 for McMillan.
- 11 -- The Broncos only gave up 11 touchdowns to wide receivers all year last year, don't expect a score from Calvin Ridley.
- 16.2 -- Cooper Kupp was averaging over 16 FPPG through Week 14 last year. if he's fully healthy, he could be good early in the year.
WR Preview
Waiver Wire Targets
Week 1 Adds (WR Preview)
Kirk isn't particularly exciting, but he opens the season as the pretty clear second target for C.J. Stroud. Stefon Diggs got off to a very good start last year operating in the same slot role for Stroud and the Texans. I wouldn't want to start Kirk as more than a flex, but he could be a high floor WR3 in a pinch.
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Jayden Reed is trying to play on a broken foot, Matthew Golden is a rookie, and Christian Watson won't be ready early in the season. While Doubs isn't exciting, there is an underrated chance that he could lead the Packers in targets, like he often did last year. He had three different games with more than 17 PPR Fantasy points last year, so there may be more upside than you think there is.
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With Jalen Coker on Injured Reserve, Renfrow is set to operate in the same slot role that both Adam Thielen and Jalen Coker have feasted in the past two seasons. That role won't be as prominent with Tetairoa McMillan giving the team a true number one wide receiver, but in deeper leagues I do think Renfrow has a chance to score double digit points per week until Coker gets back.
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Stashes (WR Preview)
Burden is pretty clearly behind Olamide Zaccheaus to start the year. So you shouldn't start him in Week 1. But there is a well established history of rookie wide receivers starting slow then turning into league winners in the second half. If I was going to bet on one rookie doing that this year, it would be Burden, who was the first wide receiver Ben Johnson drafted after taking over as head coach of the Bears.
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WR Preview
DFS Plays
Top DFS Play
Projections powered by
Sportsline
Whatever you think of Russell Wilson, he is an enormous upgrade over Daniel Jones. Drew Lock, and Tommy DeVito. After the rookie year Nabers had in 2024 with that trio, I could not be more excited to see what Nabers does with real quarterback play. He is underpriced this week against a Commanders defense that he scored 21.8 PPR FPPG against last year.
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Contrarian DFS Play
Projections powered by
Sportsline
Kliff Kingsbury admired Deebo Samuel when they were going against each other in the NFC West. I expect him to show Samuel off in their first game together against the Giants. It could be a slow start for Terry McLaurin, due to his hold-in and I expect Samuel to have at least a small role in the running game as well. I mostly blame Samuel's poor 2024 on injuries and pneumonia. Expect him to be an upside WR3 at worst as long as he stays healthy.
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WR Preview
Heath's Projections
My full set of Week 1 Fantasy football projections for every position are now available on SportsLine. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 1. Projected stats for all starting wide receivers are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.
